Transform into a human

While Yuehao and Mo were playing hide-and-seek, Li was on his way to the preparatory society building, the meeting place they had arranged with Lou Wen to discuss their next steps.

She also gathered some information along the way.

"Junior, you mean the entire university town is under lockdown?"

"Yeah, we can't even send packages now, but it's the Zhenhai Sword, so it's not surprising."

Her boyfriend chimed in, "You don't know this, do you? Actually, the day before the Zhenhai Sword was stolen, the university town only allowed entry but not exit, and now you can't even enter or leave."

"The day before?" Li was taken aback.

"I heard that the police were trying to catch a highly wanted suspect, but by sheer luck, they also caught the notorious heirloom thief."

The young couple walked away chatting and laughing, but Li's heart sank. Where would a place like the police headquarters get so many wanted criminals? Who else could it be but Yue Lai!

But she couldn't understand how the two of them had been exposed. A meticulous, piecemeal approach might work in less crowded areas, but places like the train stations he and Yue Lai had walked through…

Wait, the train station?

The policewoman broke out in a cold sweat – Donald's train ticket!

Because she didn't want Yue to evade the fare, she took it upon herself to buy an extra ticket using Donald's identity. Although such things wouldn't usually attract attention, they were fugitives!

How could I have been so careless!

"If that were true, even I would have been exposed long ago..."

She couldn't wait to fly to the preparatory school to discuss the follow-up plan with Lou Wen and then tell Yue Lai about it, but something even worse happened: she was stood up by Weiswood and Lou Wen!

"These two guys, are they scared off by this show of force and sold me and Yue Lai out?"

She waited in the preparatory club hall for a long time, but the two of them never appeared. Her suspicions deepened, and she even began to wonder if she was late.

She walked to the reception desk in the center of the lobby: "Excuse me, this is my identification. I'm currently investigating a case. Have Lou Wen and Weisswood been here before?"

The volunteer at the front desk blinked: "Are these two people you're talking about members of our preparatory club?"

"Yes, they are members of the Love and Kindness Group."

"I'm sorry, I know most of the members of the preparatory club, but I've never heard of these two. As for the Love and Kindness Group, it disbanded last year because its members always unrealistically focused on the three campus legends."

Li's smile froze: "This...how is this possible? They were recruiting people just a few days ago!"

Seeing her disbelief, the volunteer immediately pulled out the survey group registration form from the preparatory group: "Look, the Love and Kindness Group disbanded at the beginning of last year."

Li quickly took the registration form and found that the volunteer was right. The last activity record of the Love and Kindness Group ended in March of last year, when she was a junior in college!

"Wait, something's not right."

Two names were prominently listed in the last registrant column: Lou Wen, and... Weiswood Shammer.

She quickly pointed to the volunteer: "But these two people's names are real!"

The volunteer scratched his head sheepishly: "Sorry, I'm a new member who just joined the preparatory club. If you're a former member who has already left, then I really wouldn't know."

"However, I can help you check."

"This is troublesome."

The front desk volunteer closed her eyes, then quickly opened them again, and uploaded the two photos to Li's Lianjing Network.

"Are these the two people you met?"

"Yes, it's them."

"But that's impossible," the volunteer said, somewhat surprised. "They died in an accident last year!"

Li felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

……

……

The policewoman rushed back to the apartment building faster than she ever had ever done. Yue Lai was leisurely admiring her photos, and Li didn't even bother to scold him for entering her bedroom without permission.

"Yue Lai, we've been fooled! There's no such person as Lou Wen and Weisswood. They're either vengeful spirits like the Ghost Society, or someone else impersonating them!"

Yue Lai frowned, immediately giving himself a mental pep talk: "I haven't been fooled."

He could sense that his feigned mystery was fiercely clashing with the secrets of another person—who was also a con artist!

His face turned grim: "I never imagined that someone who spends all his time hunting geese would have their eyes pecked out by one of them! One of those two is a swindler!"

He was actually fooled! What a disgrace!

The university environment made him a bit lax. He was thought to be a clear-eyed college student, but he suddenly turned into a man-eating tiger!

As the two were talking, the shadow on the photo wall behind Yue Lai suddenly flickered. In the photo of Li and his mentor, the Andic man seemed to have a strange smile on his face and slowly stretched his hand out from the wall.

Yue Lai thought things were bad enough, so he started to think about the origin of "Senior Lou," but Li gave him a timely blow.

"Besides, it seems our whereabouts have been exposed..."

"What's going on now!"

The policewoman told Yue Lai the information she had gathered, and then shyly shared her guess about the "ticket".

"While it is indeed a loophole, it's too much of a coincidence... You left Starport under the pretext of taking leave. Countless agents on leave every day in such a large police hub, who would have the time to investigate you..."

"unless……"

The two said in unison, "We've already attracted attention!"

Behind them, the shadowy hand reached out from the photos, its claws silently reaching for the back of Yue Lai's head. Even Li, who was facing the wall, seemed to be blind and didn't see it at all.

"We can't stay here any longer; we must complete the ceremony and leave immediately... Damn it, I don't even know if there's a trap involved with the Zhenhai Sword!"

"If that fraudster's target is the Zhenhai Sword, then Mo and Yuehao are in danger!"

To avoid being tracked and located, Yue Lai reminded the two to shut down the Chain Crystal Network just like him, so now they can't be contacted at all!

Moreover, the entire city is currently under a massive search, and there are spies from the Four Gates everywhere, so he can't even leave the house!

However, Yue Lai soon realized Lou Wen's purpose. Just as he was at a loss, a sea-blue light suddenly shot out from outside the window, and the two of them rushed to the window.

Li stammered, "That...that is..."

It was as if a vast blue sea was being forcibly "squeezed" out of the space above the museum. It gradually grew larger, covering half of the university town in just a moment, and was still expanding at an astonishing speed.

If you look closely, the sea carries countless fragments of history, like a series of automatically playing historical films, but there is always a blurry mist on it, making it difficult to see clearly.

Tang Xiao's voice echoed across the sky:

"Stop it! We must not allow the distorted timeline to leak out!"

The extraordinary talents from several universities reacted swiftly. Dozens of "anchormen" were the first to leap into the air, plunging their giant anchors into the void, and then throwing the heavy iron chains attached to the anchors at the approaching ship captains.

The captains, holding nothing back, each threw out their most prized creations. In an instant, several warships appeared beneath the sky, their scale blotting out the sun, far surpassing the size of the Homecoming.

The moment the chains were connected to the ship's hull, they suddenly burst forth with dazzling light. The chains and the ship intertwined to form a giant net, sealing off the "ocean," which was nearly half the size of a city, completely.

This is the extraordinary formation created to fight against the sea monsters – the Iron Chain River!

Today's scale is only one-thousandth or one-ten-thousandth of what it used to be. Back then, the entire planet was sealed off by armies of extraordinary warriors, to the point that even the "gods" had to compromise.

Having barely managed to forcibly control the "Lost History," Tang Xiao still looked grim. The Qishi's strength would eventually run out. If the Zhenhai Sword couldn't be found before sunrise tomorrow, the police would definitely intervene. At that time, under the Red Heart, the only nail left by the Empire in Serena would be gone!

Even with Chi Xin alone, the matter of the relic might not be resolved. After all, the Director is not currently in the Central Star System, and the Police Hub, as one of the Federation's core security systems, would face unimaginable consequences from such turmoil.

If it eventually comes to the point where the military has to be deployed... the resulting political storm could be far more terrifying than historical pollution.

"Damn it, who did this despicable thing?!"

At the living room window, Yue Lai and Li finally realized the foolish thing they had done.

"That Lou Wen... his real purpose is probably to create chaos. The true location of the historical seal isn't in the school history museum, but in the history museum!"

"The contamination we experienced at the school history museum that night was just a negligible fraction of what had escaped!"

Li was numb. Having never caused trouble before, this was the first time she had ever gotten into a major mess. Suddenly, she remembered something, as if she had grasped at a straw:

"As for the Zhenhai Sword, it might still be in time to return it!"

Yue Lai said quietly, "Do you know where they're hiding?"

Li was in despair once again.

Behind them, the shadowy claw in the photo had completely broken free of the wall, its five fingers as sharp as insect limbs, its slightly crouched posture gathering strength, making it look more like a ferocious beast lurking in the shadows of the jungle.

It's time to end these mistakes!

The sharp claws suddenly shot out, like the hand of a demon snatching life, aimed straight at the back of Yue Lai's head—as if the next instant would bring a gruesome scene of his skull splitting open and his brains splattering.

At the critical moment, a jet-black chain suddenly emerged from the shadows of the table leg, coiling around its claws like a venomous python and binding it tightly in mid-air.

From the depths of the shadows, it was as if a gaping maw had opened, forcefully dragging sharp claws under the table to devour them completely. Yue Lai and Li, however, remained completely unaware of the perilous confrontation that was unfolding so close behind them.

Li gritted her teeth: "Whether we can find it or not, we have to find it!"

This time, Yue Lai did not object: "Since you've already been targeted, it's not appropriate for us to act together anymore, especially since you're now in the open. So... I might as well tell you all the arrangements for the future."

"you say."

"My promotion plan needs to be changed, but as long as you receive news that the preparatory club has been promoted to vice president, it means that I have successfully completed the ritual. As for the breakthrough of the chess star... I have already prepared the ritual and the cipher plate."

"Could I ask what the rituals are for a hoodlum?"

Li quickly realized her mistake and waved her hand hastily, "Sorry, I was just asking casually, I didn't mean anything by it..."

"It's okay, it's actually very simple: live to be a thousand years old."

"You call this easy?!"

Even immortal beings rarely live past ten centuries!

The shadow under the table fell silent; the sharp claw seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Yue Lai continued, "In short, my breakthrough as a chess star will definitely come naturally. You just need to follow these eight words when the time comes."

He kept her in suspense, and the policewoman could never guess what kind of plan could be summarized in just eight words.

"Heading south, doing whatever I please."

What does it mean to do whatever you want?

"I can do whatever I want."

Li frowned deeply: "Are you serious?"

"Of course," Yue Lai looked at her earnestly, "but before that, I must ask you a question."

"What?"

"Li, do you believe me?"

Li was somewhat dazed. She had only known this guy for a week at most, yet he had experienced a life completely different from the first half of her life.

And what exciting things await her in the future: the underground dance hall where the building is closed, the terrifying night at the school history museum, her first experience stealing from the museum...?

The person in front of her had deceived her, seen her naked, and saved her life; the two of them even shared the same goal.

The policewoman turned around gracefully:

"I told you, I'd be a fool to believe your nonsense again."

She opened the door:

"But if you can help me get revenge, I don't mind playing the fool."

Yue Lai smiled happily:

"Then, the contract is complete, and you're now in the game, Li."

"Go do whatever you want to do."

……

After the policewoman left, Yue Lai stood quietly by the window, admiring the "Iron Chain River" formation on the horizon.

As time went on, the school deployed many more extraordinary individuals to limit the spread of spacetime pollution, and the number of people sent out to track down the whereabouts of the Zhenhai Sword became almost insane.

"I'm all alone now, aren't you going to come out and see me?"

There was no sound from inside the house. Yue Zi muttered to himself:

"I have a good idea of ​​my own strength. If those people had found Li's whereabouts, I would definitely have been followed like a shadow. It's a miracle that I'm still alive."

"Aren't you helping me? You're the one who dragged me into this mess."

There was still no sound from inside the living room.

"Still unwilling to tell the truth? That's okay, I'll wait until the truth comes out."

Suddenly, voices came from the hallway:

"I don't know if anyone lives in this apartment."

"Let me check the property registration... it seems like no one has lived here for almost a month."

"This is a critical time. We have to search, whether anyone's there or not. I'll break down the door!"

With a loud "bang," the security door was kicked open.

The man and woman searched the place thoroughly, inside and out, but found no clues such as cat hair.

Girl: "Looking at this photo wall, it seems to be alumni who graduated."

The boy went closer and saw a woman in an academic gown. He also recognized the pink-haired Andic woman next to her.

"It's Professor Kavita. This should be her student's room. I did hear that one of her students graduated last month, and was an outstanding graduate."

The girl nodded: "That matches up now. It seems there's no problem here. Let's move on to the next room."

The two closed the broken door and registered it for future compensation, completely unaware that the boy had a mask as thin as a cicada's wing on his back.