Fog Formula-Warning Book of Fog City Search Chief's Strange Talk

an hour later.

"coming?"

The place where the two agreed to meet - the coastline of Shangcheng District is a famous scenic spot in Xuejianze. The layout near the coast was once specially designed for sightseeing tourists. After getting off the subway, walk along the road all the way and look at it all the way, and the moment you cross the guardrail, you will have a vision that suddenly opens up.

It was a sunny morning, and the sea breeze rolled up the waves and set off pure white waves, which shattered into countless crystal waves on the cement stone pillars of the pier. The seabirds soar leisurely in the sky, and with the blue sea and sky in the distance, it has a particularly leisurely and leisurely atmosphere.

But today there are no tourists here. Even the search and rescue team that was stationed here a few days ago was also withdrawn, and Jian Shenxiu was the only one present. The search chief was wearing his tall black uniform as usual, standing at the front end of the pier overlooking the distant coastline in front of him. The sea breeze blew the hem of his clothes, making his figure extraordinarily slender.

"a little slow."

Hearing the voice behind him, seeing Shenxiu looking back, he raised his eyebrows at the white-haired boy who was walking over the rocky beach, and said casually.

"I came by subway, it's morning rush hour now."

Qihai Kazumiya walked across the rocky beach and came to his side, first lowered his head and complained a few words, then looked at the search chief and asked in surprise.

"Have you been here to watch the scenery all this time?" The white-haired boy paused at this point, trying not to say the words [you really have leisure]. just turned around and said

"I saw the news this morning and thought you would be very busy at such a time."

"The case is over, what else is there to do?" Jian Shenxiu glanced at him, as if he could see what he was thinking. He frowned and said, "As for those reports and other things, other people will naturally do them. It's my turn to do those things myself."

"Um……"

The young man was dumbfounded, seeing that Shenxiu's face was so young that people often subconsciously ignored his identity after seeing him, but in the end it was the misjudgment of others, not his. In terms of identity, the search bureau he is in charge of is one of the three powers of NAVI, and he is one of the few high-ranking people in the entire Yukimizawa.

"Then... do you want me to come here for something?" He couldn't help but lower his voice, and said in a low voice: "As you said, the case is over, right? Do you have anything else to do?"

"I just feel that you are also a cooperator in this operation. There are some things you are entitled to know." Jian Shenxiu handed him a document.

"But forget about it after you read it. It's not a good thing to know too much about this kind of thing."

"this……"

Nanami Kazumiya took the file hesitantly and opened it. However, the first time he saw the document, his fingers trembled violently, and he almost couldn't grasp the folder in his hand.

The first page of the document was a passport photo of a middle-aged male, in his forties, with red skin, and years of life at sea had left obvious marks on his appearance. However, what surprised Nanami Kazumiya was not these ordinary things, but - he knew that face.

There is no way not to recognize it - the strange fish with a human face that was dissected by the gods under his command has such a face. During those tossing and turning late nights these days, this face had surfaced in his nightmares countless times, waking him up again and again, torturing every inch of his nerves.

"This is the first thing. Xia Yan, known as Lao Xia, is the captain of the Polar Bear. Their ship disappeared a week ago, and only Utsui came back on board—the survivor who was found with that strange fish." Utsui is a crew member on his ship."

See Shenxiu's voice coming from the side.

"You questioned me before the dive. I didn't tell you the result of our face comparison. Now you know the answer."

"...So was my guess at that time true? Did we really kill someone?" Qihai Hegong was silent for a while, looked up at Jian Shenxiu, and asked bitterly, "Why are you willing to tell me now?"

"Because of this man we rescued."

However, seeing the answer given by Shenxiu, Qihai and Gong were taken aback. He motioned to Qihai and Gong to turn the document to the back page, on which was a photo of this person named Xia Yan lying in the ward wearing a breathing mask.

"We still haven't figured out why those strange fish with human faces have his face, but this Xia Yan himself is indeed still alive. He was in a coma when we found him, but he was still awake for a short time this morning , the mental state is good, and it can be confirmed that the body is only weak."

"This...rescued?" Qihai Hegong was a little dumbfounded looking at the photo. However, the photos taken from various angles are printed on the document, and detailed physiological data are accompanied by the photos, which does not seem to be fake. And those data also proved that Jian Shenxiu was telling the truth, the person involved was indeed weak - but he was indeed still alive.

"Yes." Jian Shenxiu smiled, and there was a sense of relief in the smile. "You didn't kill anyone, not even indirectly. Now you can sleep well."

"But I didn't see his name on the rescue list? Isn't that the only person on the list who was on Miss Ye Du's boat?" Qi Hai and Gong showed surprise, but they were still a little unbelievable.

"That's the second thing." Jian Shenxiu paused, then continued.

"Actually, we rescued more than those 14 people. But we didn't release this information to the public - because there were more people we failed to rescue, and they died before we went in."

Qihai and Gong were taken aback.

"In fact, the legend of disappearing at sea has been circulating among the fishermen for a long time. Some people disappeared as early as several months—or even years ago." Jian Shenxiu motioned the young man to turn back.

"Most of these people failed to make it to our rescue, and had already turned into dry bones before we entered. We can only identify their identities through their belongings and sort out this list."

"..."

So Nanami Kazumiya turned the document to the next page. Dozens of names appear from top to bottom in the document. It is indeed as Jian Shenxiu said. Most of the names are followed by [Death], and only the last few names are marked with [Survived].

"So as long as those who failed to be rescued are hidden on the announced missing list, can the rescue operation be defined as [a complete success] in a grandiose manner?" Qi Haihegong's heart was cold, and the original joy was also extinguished. .

"But why didn't you rescue them sooner? If Ms. Yedu and the others can be rescued, then those people..."

"Two reasons." But Jian Shenxiu directly interrupted his words, and stretched out two fingers at him.

"The first one is that there are endless legends about Xue Jianze's disappearance after Yong Ye. Some of them are weird incidents, and some are just ordinary cases. People are panic-stricken, and the two are mixed, which has caused great difficulty in the work of the search bureau. Search With so many people in the Bureau, it is difficult for us to take the initiative to investigate those folk legends, and it is even difficult to collect records. We can only conduct limited investigations on legends that are suspected to be of great danger, and the investigation is still based on reporting."

"..." Qihai and Gong were silent.

"Second, the sea is a remote area, and their disappearance is often the whole ship. Some people even say that they have found a way to leave Xue Jianze. Due to various factors, the "disappearance at sea" has only stayed in the [legendary] ] This level. In fact, we didn’t accept any report information until Yedu Yuya.”

Jian Shenxiu said calmly.

"Unfortunately, no one reported the crime, and of course no one rescued."

"……I see."

Qihai and Gong took a deep breath, then nodded emotionally, and accepted Jian Shenxiu's explanation.

"Is there any more?"

"As for the third thing." Jian Shenxiu said calmly.

"Tetsu Sangmura is dead."

"——!"

Qihaihegong was shocked, even if he had heard enough shocking things today, he was not as shocked by this incident. The names on the list are just names after all, and it is difficult to feel them. But Sang Cun Tetsu, the bald person in charge of Fanxing Pharmaceutical, was someone he had actually met a few days ago, and his voice was still in his mind.

he died?

"It happened during my decompression. After the diving bell was put on board, I stayed in it for about eighteen hours to decompress." The search chief also seemed a little annoyed when he said this.

"During that time, the person in charge of guarding him made a mistake. Let him take poison and commit suicide."

"The kind of fangs in TV dramas?" Qihai Kazumiya blinked and gestured to his chin. "The kind that fits in the back molars?"

"No, it's pills." Seeing Shenxiu gave him a surprised look, as if he was surprised that someone like him would have such thoughts. "A very small box, hidden in the waistband of his trousers to evade inspection. After being imprisoned, he found the opportunity to kill himself."

"Okay..." the white-haired boy said with a blushing face.

"You said you failed to find the mastermind behind the scenes? But didn't you know that he had a problem?"

"I didn't know there was something wrong with him, I was fishing. It's just that I caught him when he appeared." Jian Shenxiu turned to look at him and shook his head. "It wasn't because I knew he had a problem that I set up a special bureau to catch him, but because he got into my bureau and was caught by me."

"...Did you do it on purpose?" Qi Haihe Gong finally understood.

"That dive was very dangerous. If something happened to you underwater, both you and the Nightwing Feather Crow would die. This is a great temptation for those who want you to die. You are... seducing him on purpose shot."

"The facts are indeed as I expected." Jian Shenxiu said calmly. "That's why I acted so urgently on that dive. I decided to do it on the same day after I decided to dive. Because the time is equal, I don't have time and neither do they. If there is no time, I will be anxious, and if I am anxious, I will show my flaws and be caught. I got it."

"So this dive was for this purpose from the very beginning?" Nanami Kazumiya thought about it for a moment, feeling a little shuddering for a moment. "Actually, which [Pony Foal] was your real rescue plan? You were led by [Pony Foal] to find the place where the missing person was. And the previous dive...was just a round from the beginning? "

"No, the dive was originally our expected rescue plan, and the urgency is also true. If these are all fake, those people will not be hooked." Jian Shenxiu shook his head.

"[The foal] was released, but we couldn't do nothing until he moved. We would have had to investigate underwater for clues, and only a mix of true and false would lead People take the bait."

"It's a pity that the fish that was finally caught, the clue was broken in the end." Seeing Shenxiu sighed, with the sea breeze blowing his hair, he seemed a little helpless.

"We have guessed some possibilities, but we have not been able to track down the most obvious Fanxing Pharmaceutical. In the beginning, Sang Cun Tetsu came to participate in this operation in a private capacity, and even the people he brought were formed by private individuals, not The background of Fanxing Pharmaceutical. Over there, it was completely pushed away. In the end, it became useless."

"...Is that so."

Qihai and Gong Moran lowered their heads and let out a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of our [pony]." Jian Shenxiu signaled Nanami and Gong to turn the document to the last page.

"That's the last thing. This weird—truth."

"Um?"

Nanami Kazumiya turned the document to the end, which was different from the previous printed paper. The last page was a plastic-sealed bag containing an old, even dilapidated photo.

The photo was a little unclear through the plastic bag with a grid. The young man looked up and saw Shenxiu, and took it out of the bag after seeing Shenxiu nodding. A family of four is printed on the photo, which is a group photo of parents and a pair of children standing by the sea. The four people above were smiling happily in the sun and the sand. That day was also a sunny day like today.

"[Mimicry: Torsion Theory]." Jian Shenxiu pointed at the youngest daughter in the photo. "It is the original culprit that caused these disappearances at sea."

"Mimicry?" The boy stared blankly at the innocent little girl in the photo, and asked Jian Shenxiu with a wink.

"The relevant part of Xue Jianze refers to certain weird phenomena." Jian Shenxiu explained:

"Xue Jianze's research on the fog over the years shows that the fog covering Xue Jianze seems to embody something in people's hearts. For example, a certain [concept], or some [ideas], they are refracted by the fog, The strangeness that condenses into an entity. This kind of weirdness is usually born by a dead person. It will have some previous memories and hold some mysterious powers, but in essence it is no longer the previous person. We will call this phenomenon Call it [mimicry]."

"For example, in [Torsion Theory] this time, their family was a victim of a shipwreck five years ago. The youngest daughter was revived by the concept of [jumping into the sea] and turned into a mimic monster."

“The concept [Torsion Theory] was born under the influence of social pressure. When the pressure formed by society on the individual cannot be mediated, [Torsion] occurs, which eventually manifests itself as suicide. So her character is distorted. She thought that life It is very painful for human beings in the land society, and returning to the sea is the happy destination. Therefore, she stripped off her flesh and blood, integrated it into the sea water, and worked hard to guide people back to the sea. She thought she was doing good things, but the fact is that It is a curse. People who come into contact with those flesh and blood will see what they fear most in their dreams, and uncontrollably choose to jump into the sea and commit suicide."

"Is that the giant whale we saw at the bottom of the sea?" Nanami Kazumiya remembered what he had seen before. "Its tail festered, but it kept throwing its blood into the sea, forming those cursed marine snows."

"Yes, that is the illusion she refracted in the outside world. Her body is hidden in the hidden place—it is a mysterious space in the mist." Jian Shenxiu nodded.

"After those people committed suicide by jumping into the sea, she will take them into the hidden place where her body is. They will remain in a coma there until they die."

"So those people actually starved to death." Jian Shenxiu said softly: "It's been too long in a coma, and the nutrients in the body have been exhausted. Yu Jinjing is the only one among them who managed to escape. He is afraid of all the people there. , but the way back was etched into the depths of his memory. So he became our [foal]. We followed him to find our way into that hideaway."

"..." Qihai and Gong were dumbfounded. Although they already knew that weirdness was a kind of mystery, he only realized that there was such a tortuous truth behind this case.

"Did you see her after you went in?" After a while, he looked at the photo in his hand and said with some disbelief.

"Actually, we have seen all the families in the photo." Jian Shenxiu glanced at the photo in the boy's hand. "After she became a mimic, her dead family members also turned into irrational monsters. They could no longer recognize her, and could only instinctively help her walk those cursed bones and blood."

"Is that the monster that attacked you underwater?" Nanami and Gong suddenly remembered. "At that time, the two monsters were one big and one small."

"It's the son and father in the photo." Jian Shenxiu nodded. "As for the mother in the photo... I don't know if you still remember, those two monsters were holding weapons made of the same kind of bones in their hands."

"...I still remember that you said at that time that the big monster watched the little monster get killed." Qihai and Gong hesitated as if thinking of something. "But now I find that they are actually father and son."

"Indeed, they don't have much human emotion left." Jian Shenxiu nodded. "That's why I say they're monsters."

"..."

The field was quiet for a few seconds, only the sound of the waves hitting the rocks was still ringing under the feet of the two of them.

"Then... where's that little girl?" After a while, Qi Hai and Gong asked Jian Shenxiu. "Has she turned into that monster too?"

"She doesn't. As I said, mimicry is the resurrection of human beings. The appearance is no different from ordinary people. When I saw her in the hidden place, she was sitting alone by the seaside watching the sea." See Shenxiu shook his head.

"But I knew who she was the first time I saw her, because her leg was broken and wrapped in dirty gauze, but she still poured sea water on her injured leg with great effort, making her Her blood flowed into the sea. And behind the ruins where she sat lay a mass of unconscious people."

"Alone?" Qihai Kazumi looked down at the photo in his hand again, looking at the girl's happy and bright smile in the photo, imagining the scene in Jianshenxiu's mouth, feeling a little sad for a while.

"Alone." Jian Shenxiu nodded. "Before we went in, she had been sitting there looking at the sea for an untold amount of time."

"..."

So Nanami Kazumiya could not help subconsciously shifting his gaze to the coastline in front of him. Suddenly, he understood why Jian Shenxiu, who was next to him, was willing to stand at this place for an hour while waiting for him to come, silently looking at the coastline in front of him, watching the ebb and flow of the tide, and the rise and fall of seabirds.

"Actually, she is also very lonely. The family members have become monsters, and the people [rescued] by her will not respond to her." Beside the white-haired boy, seeing that Shenxiu was doing the same thing, he looked into the distance. The ocean, the line of sight is a little wandering.

"But how can monsters not be lonely. After all, they will always be different from humans."

"..." Qihai and Gong were a little silent, just looked at the sea in front of them, and raised their hands to stroke their hair that was blown by the wind. After a while, he asked softly.

"Then what happened next?"

"I talked to her, and she gave me this photo." Jian Shenxiu pointed to the photo in the white-haired boy's hand. "Then I brought the person out, and as I was leaving... I killed her."

"kill……?"

"Otherwise? Those who do wrong should be punished." Seeing Qihai Hegong's astonished expression, Jian Shenxiu looked away.

"There are so many victims' names written on the document in your hand. If you don't kill her, who will give these victims an explanation?"

"..." This left the young man speechless. He watched the girl's expression in the photo in his hand change several times, with sympathy and helplessness. For a moment, the girl's bright smiling face in that photo was so dazzling, and the photo was burning like burning hot at his fingertips, so that he could barely hold the fluffy piece of paper steadily.

"You just said that she was a victim of a shipwreck five years ago. In fact, she was also a victim of the fog, right?" The white-haired boy lowered his brows slightly, and finally just sighed leisurely.

"But who is not a victim? Don't everyone in Xue Jianze live under this fog? Pity is not a reason to make mistakes. What I practice is the justice that most people expect." Jian Shenxiu shook his head , without the slightest hesitation.

"Those who do wrong should be punished!"

"...I did kill her. But I will avenge her."

Then his words suddenly paused, and he looked up at the sea and sky in front of him. When doing this movement, his back was as straight as a steel gun. Although it was a very simple movement, there was a sharp edge on him. His voice is very soft, but every word is very clear, just uttering the words seems to make people feel firm, with a blade-like will and persistence.

"I know what the cause of all this is, and I don't avoid confrontation with the fog. Whether it's weird or man-made, there will always be a day when I will wipe everything out. All the evils..."

Speaking of this sentence, a strong will suddenly burst out from him, and at this moment, he was dazzling in the eyes of Qihai and Gong. He roared in a low voice, his red pupils flickered, with volcanic suppressed anger, hatred and unyielding, his stubborn will seemed to cut everything open.

"They should all be cleaned up!"

"Wow--!"

The waves whizzed past and shattered into countless splashes on the pier. His standing back on the huge coast is lonely and insignificant like an ant, but this ant is so arrogant that he wants to declare war on everything.

"..."

At that second, both Qihai and Gong were shocked by his aura, subconsciously took half a step back. It wasn't until the last moment that he seemed to have glimpsed the frightening reality under the body of Jianshenxiu. There is a monstrous anger hidden in this man's body, and he is suppressing it to express it. But anger is not the kind of thing that can be erased, the more he suppresses, the more angry he becomes, and the more angry he is, the more he wants to roar. One day, when the anger breaks free and comes out of that body...

It will be like a sky fire, igniting everything.