Chapter 137: Encountering an Acquaintance in the Elevator at Night; The Surveillance Bureau Staff and the City God Temple...

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for the investigators in the Exotic Investigations Department's office building.

...Although the staff on night duty don't sleep anyway, that's not the point.

In short, a temple suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the office building of the Investigation Department.

The night shift investigators had just finished handing over their work to their day shift colleagues and were already dressed in their gear, ready to patrol the city, when the entire building suddenly began to shake violently.

The Paranormal Investigation Department's office building, located at the entrance of the Bureau of Supervision, is the Bureau's first line of defense. The investigators, who initially thought it was a paranormal intrusion, immediately prepared for battle the moment they sensed the building shaking, rushing out of their respective offices.

And that's why they witnessed an incredible scene.

—The entire six-story building is like malleable clay, or like building blocks being manipulated by an invisible hand, with its internal structure being rapidly reorganized.

The original offices and facilities did not disappear, but rather slid to the surroundings as if they had been moved. The unknown force carved out a huge square area in the very center of the building.

The five floors were completely opened up, creating a high-ceilinged atrium that runs vertically through the space. Although the top floor floor was not opened up, a skylight appeared, directly facing the square area created below.

In this area that appeared out of nowhere, a magnificent temple rose from the ground.

The office building's interior structure has been transformed into a "回" shape, with six floors of offices surrounding this suddenly appearing temple. No matter which floor you're on, simply opening your door will lead you directly to this incense-filled temple.

This is a City God Temple, surrounded by several lush trees. The vermilion gate is tightly closed, with a golden bell hanging above it. The eaves, covered with green tiles, curve upwards to both sides, and two red lanterns hang beneath them, emitting a warm red glow.

Moonlight streamed down through the skylight, casting a hazy glow over the entire temple. Combined with the wisps of smoke rising from the large incense burner at the temple entrance, this dreamlike scene, along with the miraculous appearance of X out of nowhere, created an indescribable sense of awe.

All the investigators who witnessed this instinctively held their breath, afraid of disturbing the unknown entity.

When the building's structure changed, the three ministers of the Intelligence Department, the Monitoring Department, and the Logistics Department were all in the conference room on the first floor, reporting the abnormal situation to the Director of the Inspection Bureau.

The three ministers came together because the same strange thing had happened in their three departments.

Two days ago, the warehouse guarded by the logistics department lost an S-level sealed item, a router. Yesterday, it was even more outrageous; three A-level and B-level sealed items disappeared from the warehouse in a row... They all vanished into thin air without any warning or any supernatural fluctuations.

The Monitoring Department and the Intelligence Department also lost something at noon today—the information they had jointly recorded about the vengeful ghost that had been sealed and suppressed by the Supervisory Bureau vanished into thin air.

Although there were backups, the most secure original intelligence documents were lost, which is terrifying.

If the person who stole the information was after the evil spirits, then things are going to get really bad.

Given the current manpower shortage in the Supervisory Bureau, they absolutely cannot use the sacrifice of investigators for a suicidal sealing as before. Once the vengeful ghost is unsealed, it will be a huge disaster for the entire Linjiang City, killing at least half of the citizens.

The matter was of great importance, so the three ministers went together to the bureau chief to report it.

The thieves left no traceable information about the items that were stolen from the three departments, leading them to suspect that it was the work of the same person.

To the surprise of the three ministers, the bureau chief showed no emotional reaction upon hearing their report, as if he had known all along.

Compared to them, who were sweating profusely with anxiety, the bureau chief seemed very calm. He simply said that there was no need to worry, and that if there were any similar disappearances in the future, they only needed to be reported and there was no need to investigate.

During their conversation, the building shook, and all the surveillance screens inside the building automatically projected onto the projection screen in the conference room. All four people present witnessed the temple's spectacular appearance.

While the three ministers looked on in surprise, the director calmly explained, "It's just changing the exterior of the office building. The renovation of the building is also within my plans. Don't worry, it's nothing serious."

Seeing that the director had said so, the three ministers, who completely trusted him, didn't say anything more and left the meeting room with puzzled expressions.

Watching the three leave, the bureau chief sighed softly.

After witnessing the terrifying power that appeared at Liwan Hospital and choosing to completely trust the mysterious landlord of Liwan Apartments, a strange electronic voice appeared in his mind.

The electronic voice said that the Inspection Bureau is now an absolutely friendly force to the Liwan Apartments, and the apartments can help protect all of the Inspection Bureau's buildings from supernatural intrusions. The apartments will also help guard those warehouses filled with sealed artifacts that might get out of control.

Shortly after that, most of the sealed items in the warehouse were cleared out... The head of the logistics department only had the authority to see the warehouses on the first and second basement levels, while the head of the inspection bureau had the authority to view the status of all warehouses on the third basement level in real time.

While the first and second layers of sealed artifacts are also dangerous and have strong side effects, they can still be used after paying a certain price. However, the third layer is a completely sealed artifact that cannot be removed.

The head of the logistics department only saw that four seals had disappeared, while the director saw that, apart from those four, all the most dangerous seals on the third level had also disappeared.

Compared to these vanished sealed artifacts, the information about the vanished vengeful spirits is nothing.

Judging from the electronic voice saying "please help keep an eye on things," these items were probably taken by the apartment's landlord.

Later, the landlord contacted him personally, saying he wanted to renovate a supervisory bureau building and asked him to decide which one to renovate...

And now, the Department of Abnormal Investigations' office building has actually been renovated.

Looking at the temple that had appeared out of nowhere inside the building in the surveillance video, the bureau chief couldn't help but smile bitterly.

...They took over, plundered, and transformed the bureau so easily, taking whatever they wanted and using it as they pleased. Invading the Bureau of Supervision was like returning to their own territory, leaving them no room for resistance.

It may seem like a choice they made themselves, but from beginning to end, the apartment only offered them one path to choose from.

Outbreaks of supernatural events and wandering ghosts can be considered natural disasters that can be prevented and rectified.

The ever-growing power of Liwan Apartments is like the collapse of the sky... The difference in strength is too great, it's a complete dimensional reduction attack, and this terrifying power cannot be resisted by humans uniting together.

Even if all the existing forces in the country were gathered to fight against the apartment, it would be nothing more than moths to a flame.

Compliance might buy some time; let's think about whether there's a solution.

For them, disobedience would likely only lead to their annihilation.

Thinking of this, the director sighed heavily again and turned off the monitor projection.

But what solutions can we possibly come up with...?

At this moment, all he, the bureau chief, could do was stabilize morale and pray silently... praying that the landlord was truly on the side of humanity, and that everything he did was to solve the ghost problem and protect humanity.

Just then, an investigator rushed into the office in a panic: "Director! Something terrible has happened! The head of the logistics department—the head of the logistics department—he's gone!!"

The bureau chief was stunned, somewhat doubting his own ears.

He looked at the investigator, his dark, scarred face filled with confusion: "Ascension?"

"It's true! It's literally ascending to heaven! Chief, come out and see for yourself!"

The bureau chief followed the investigator out of the conference room and then witnessed what could only be described as a 'miracle'.

He had assumed the three ministers who left the meeting room had already left the office building, but now, the two ministers from the intelligence and monitoring departments were leaning on the railing, looking up at the rising figures with anxious expressions.

The head of the logistics department... has really ascended to heaven.

It was as if an invisible hand was grabbing the minister by the back of the neck and lifting him into the air.

Everyone looked up and watched as the minister rose higher and higher, eventually reaching the top floor and arriving below the skylight.

The logistics department head went from being panicked and struggling at the beginning to becoming strangely calm in the end... probably because he knew that no matter how much he struggled, it was useless.

His limbs hung naturally at his sides, his head was bowed, and his expression was serene. Moonlight shone down from above him, making him appear radiant and exceptionally holy... He was only missing a pair of wings and a halo to officially ascend.

"Director! This—" When the two ministers saw the director come out, they seemed to have found their pillar of support and rushed to his side.

They pointed at the ascended Minister of Logistics with one hand, while tugging at the Director's arm, their minds in a daze, unsure of what to say.

The bureau chief, flanked by two ministers, remained silent for a moment before managing to utter, "No need to worry..."

The head of the monitoring department nearly popped his eyes out: "Huh? There's nothing to worry about about this?"

The head of the intelligence department took a deep breath, trying to convince himself to accept the absurd scene before him: "If the director says there's no problem, then there's no problem. Everything is under the director's control."

The bureau chief's lips moved, but he ultimately remained silent.

Everyone looked up in awe at the Minister of Logistics who was suspended on the top floor, and the building became deathly silent without anyone noticing.

The logistics minister, who had successfully ascended, did not remain suspended in the air for long. After being admired by everyone for a short while, he was thrown into the City God Temple that had appeared out of nowhere by an invisible hand.

The placement was simple and brutal; they simply threw the person down. Everyone watched as the head of the logistics department, like a missile, pierced through the green tiles of the City God Temple roof and was thrown directly into the temple.

Even more amazingly, a living person was thrown off, yet the roof showed no signs of damage whatsoever.

Seeing this, the head of the monitoring department disregarded the tradition of "observing before dealing with anomalies," flipped over the railing, took out emergency medical equipment from his personal gear, and rushed towards the closed City God Temple.

The investigators on the first floor also came to their senses and hurriedly followed the head of the monitoring department into the City God Temple.

The director also led the head of the intelligence department toward the temple.

...It can't get any worse than this. Since the temple was renovated by the landlord, it shouldn't harm the members of the Inspection Bureau, especially since they haven't angered the landlord yet.

Just as the head of the monitoring department rushed to the temple gate, the tightly closed vermilion gate opened automatically.

The crowd saw the scene inside the temple.

The head of the logistics department stood unharmed next to the donation box.

Not only was he completely unharmed, but he even changed his clothes in that short period of time.

His supervisory bureau uniform had disappeared, replaced by a flowing ancient-style robe. His buzz cut had been replaced by long hair that could be tied into a bun, with a wooden hairpin inserted into the bun on top of his head.

Two tall, dark, indistinct ghostly figures stood on either side of him, while six slightly shorter ghostly investigators dressed in ancient police uniforms stood below him.

The logistics minister, dressed in a long robe and with long hair, looked like a hermit, especially with his dejected expression, which made him seem even more otherworldly, with a kind of "whatever"... cough, a kind of beauty that said, "I'll remain indifferent to the world's troubles."

In short, it's good that everything is alright.

The head of the monitoring department breathed a sigh of relief and put away the medical equipment in his hands: "Old Qin, are you alright?"

Other investigators and the bureau chief also arrived.

One of the investigators asked, "Logistics Director, are you alright?"

The Minister of Logistics solemnly said, "From now on, I am no longer the Minister of Logistics. Please call me Temple Keeper." The moment he was chosen to become the Temple Keeper, the idea of ​​how to manage the City God Temple and the benefits of doing so were imprinted in his mind.

The bureau chief asked in a deep voice, "Qin Temple Keeper, what exactly happened? What just occurred?"

The newly appointed temple keeper briefly explained the City God Temple, emphasizing its protective effects, and then made a suggestion to the bureau chief:

"Chief, let's move the reporting hall here, so that citizens can light incense after reporting their cases."

The temple keeper has adapted to his new job and has professionally found a way to quickly increase the temple's incense offerings.

"Perhaps a single incense stick can solve ordinary paranormal problems. In the future, we can allocate our investigators to other serious paranormal incidents."

*

After finishing the business of the City God Temple, before teleporting to the second floor, Zhou Fangdong bought a mural from the [Decorations] section of the decoration interface and installed it on the fourth floor.

With the mural, you can teleport directly.

Zhou Fangdong first went to the second floor, found the metal cabinet at the end of the corridor, and then picked up a small note with clues about the key ghost written on it.

The clue was very simple; it only mentioned one floor: the 10th floor.

The clue on the third floor is the same as on the second floor: the 10th floor.

The clue on the fourth floor leads to the 15th floor.

Looking at the three slips of paper in his hand, Zhou Fangdong thought for a moment and decided to start looking from the 10th floor.

Lower floors are safer; the 15th floor is too close to the top floor.

Since direct teleportation wasn't possible, Zhou Fangdong decided to take the elevator up.

If you walk the night road too often, you're bound to encounter a ghost.

If you ride the elevator too much at night, you might encounter ghosts.

As soon as Zhou Fangdong arrived at the elevator, before he could even press the button, the floor number above the elevator began to jump rapidly, jumping directly from 18 to 4.

The elevator doors slowly opened.

Upon sensing that familiar aura, Zhou Fangdong narrowed his eyes slightly.

Wow, it's someone I know.

Isn't this the guy he met in the elevator when he first explored the apartment at night as a newbie?

Zhou Fangdong no longer feels the same fear he once did.

He stood motionless in front of the elevator, a cold smile playing on his lips, watching the elevator doors open wider and wider.

...You were the one who messed with me back then, weren't you?

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, fortunes change, brother. Today I'll use you as my target and test the [Judgment - Verdict] skill that I just upgraded with a huge sum of 15 points.