Chapter 166 Encounter
After lying in bed scratching my head and thinking for a while, another idea formed in my mind.
Return to the underwater ruins in Hanwan.
The illusory crystal was taken from there. The investigation bureau has not been able to find it for all these years, and there has been no contamination. If it weren't for the clues in the notebook, I wouldn't have discovered it.
Perhaps... some of the remaining structures in the ruins, or the scene itself, have the effect of containment.
Or perhaps there's some information there I've missed? After all, the Apocalypse Cult didn't place it there to recruit marine life as believers, did they? Perhaps there's some sort of "matching" inhibitory mechanism.
Moreover, it is not too far from Tiannan City, so it would be most efficient to go there alone to explore.
Although this approach has little chance of success, I can't think of a better solution at the moment.
"That's it," I muttered to myself, standing up, pulling out my torn diving suit, and gathering up some usable gear. Let's take advantage of the night to head to Hanwan Harbor!
At Hanwan Port, the night is as dark as ink.
The smell of the sea is still strong, and the fog is even thicker at night. I stand on the edge of the pier where I dived into the underwater ruins. My real vision penetrates the darkness and scans this dead sea.
My preparations this time were not as thorough as last time, but I also prepared an anchor point. Although I don't know why I didn't hear the mermaid's singing, it is night now and the situation may be more dangerous than last time.
Just as I was about to jump into the sea, an extremely weak but unusually pure power fluctuation, like a firefly in the dark, suddenly came from the abandoned warehouse area on the other side of the port!
This wave... carries a sense of warmth that can soothe restlessness and dispel gloom, which is incompatible with the cold malice of the surrounding ocean pollution.
And why does this feel familiar to me?
The next second, a person suddenly came to my mind - Lin Hanning!
My heart skipped a beat! How could she be here?
Shouldn't she be taking action with Jiang Wang and the others?
Curiosity and a sense of familiarity overwhelmed my desire to immediately dive into the sea. I restrained my breath, blending my figure into the thick fog and shadows, and silently crept towards the source of the pure wave.
Walking around the rusty stacks of containers and the gantry crane frames, I arrived at a relatively empty unloading area, where the fog was lighter and the pale moonlight barely outlined the site's contours.
In the center of the field, a petite figure crouched on the ground. She wore a dark, comfortable tracksuit, covered by a slightly loose waterproof jacket. Her curly golden hair gleamed in the moonlight, and her delicate, doll-like face was now filled with a solemnity and focus that belied her appearance. It was Lin Hanning!
She placed her hands on the ground, as if she was feeling for something. After searching for a while, it seemed that she found nothing, so she stood up and moved to another place to repeat the action.
This is the edge of Tiannan City. There is no "Dark Moon" watching here anymore. I cleaned up a lot of those meatballs some time ago. It is relatively safe compared to other areas. There are not even many mutant monsters here.
Logically speaking, it is indeed possible that she joined the Investigation Bureau or cooperated with the Investigation Bureau to explore whether it is possible to establish a base in this area again.
But she came alone in the middle of the night, and chose to be in Hanwan.
Suspicious, very suspicious!
Just when I was hesitating whether to retreat quietly, she suddenly looked up at me as if she sensed something, and looked straight at the shadow corner where I was hiding!
The corners of her mouth curled up in an innocent, even slightly surprised arc, and her voice was crisp and pleasant, breaking the dead silence of the port:
"Huh? What a coincidence? Ji Ling, are you hiding there?"
Yeah, I was discovered.
After not seeing each other for so long, she called my name directly when she spoke. It was obviously not luck. There really was something wrong with her!
Now that I've been exposed, hiding would only make me look worse. I simply stepped out of the shadows, my figure gradually becoming clearer in the moonlight. A look of just the right amount of surprise appeared on my face: "Han Ning? Is it really you? It's so late, what are you doing alone in a place like this? Where are the others?"
Lin Hanning stood up and dusted her hands, her movements as natural as if she were in her own backyard. She took a few steps toward me and replied naturally, "Jiang Wang joined your investigation bureau. I don't like being tied down, so I didn't join him. As for why I'm here... I can only say that I came here to look for something and take in the night view."
He was surprisingly direct. It seemed like he wasn't afraid at all that I might ask any questions.
Even though I was thinking this, I kept a straight face. "Looking at the night view? The 'view' here isn't very pretty." I glanced at the ground she had just explored and continued, "What would you come here to look for so late at night? You can't be looking for shells, right?"
Lin Hanning's smile remained unchanged, but his eyes deepened. "It's definitely not picking up shells. I'm not that bored."
"But..." She changed the subject and glanced at me with a hint of inquiry, "After not seeing you for so long, you seem to have become more special than last time. It feels like... um... you were touched by something 'big'?" Her words were pointed, referring directly to the fact that I had seized Gali's power.
The last time we were fighting the fake container created by the Apocalypse Sect, she should have guessed it more or less.
And from the very beginning, Lin Hanning gave me a very different feeling, not like those people in the Investigation Bureau, nor like An Xiaowei.
She didn't try to hide the fact that she had a secret; anyone could see it. But she also seemed to have no ill will towards any of us, making her unpredictable.
But since she brought it up, I just kept going. "Well, after waking up, I was taken to the Apocalypse Cult's base—a church in the mountains. Perhaps you know it?"
The reason I ask this is because I still remember Jiang Wang mentioned to me that he was contaminated there and then rescued by Lin Hanning.
Lin Hanning nodded: "I roughly know which one you are talking about, but I have never been in there. But you don't have to guess to know that there... is a certain evil god enshrined there, right?" After she said that, she looked at me again, with a desire to explore in her eyes.
"You guessed right." I nodded, confirming her guess.
"?!" Lin Hanning's pure blue-gray eyes widened instantly. This time, a hint of shock flashed across his face, but it was immediately replaced by a strong desire to explore. "Is it that... the one worshipped by the Apocalypse Sect...? Ji Ling, have you met Him? He is now..."
"Now? Who knows? But we don't have to worry about the Apocalypse Sect for the time being." I spoke vaguely, interrupting her questioning.
But Lin Hanning nodded in understanding, as if he understood something.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
