Chapter 57 This world is a giant pink...
Morofushi Kagemitsu woke up from his dream, slowly opened his eyes, and was immediately met with a bright white light.
[Anti-fraud expert #26: You're awake! The surgery was a success, you're now a woman... (mouth covered)]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: Alright, stop joking. It's okay, bro, don't worry, your gender hasn't changed.]
[Anti-fraud expert #66: Great! We've finally reconnected! Not only were #19 and I on edge, worried that Hagiwara and Matsuda would tear us apart, but we were also worried about you all night. Thankfully, you're all okay!]
Sensing the various reliable yet unreliable traits of the anti-fraud team, Morofushi Kagemitsu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For a while, the anti-fraud team had been communicating with him in electronic voices, and he had thought these clowns were never coming back.
He has to admit that he's gotten used to these guys' constant bickering after spending so much time with them.
He half-covered his eyes with his hand, got up, and adjusted to his surroundings. He found himself in the hotel room he had stayed in before, with the less-than-vibrant rose still on the bedside table.
But the next second, it withered away right before his eyes.
Um? ? ?
[Anti-fraud expert #148: Quick, quick, close your eyes!]
Zhu Fujingguang closed his eyes, not understanding why.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: Luckily it's almost dead. Hmm, there's a glass of water on your left, pour some on it, then move it over to get some sun.]
He fumbled around and did as instructed, waiting for the anti-fraud officer to give him an explanation.
[Anti-fraud expert #205: You've just foreseen a crucial turning point in this flower's life. Before that point arrives, you need to do something to change its state. If its fate doesn't ultimately shift, then you'll need to use your own "time" to replenish the energy consumed by your advance observation.]
Is this some kind of...superpower? It sounds like something you guys do all the time.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: What we do is a bit more complex, but the principles are similar. This isn't a superpower.]
Were those previous reports actually you looking ahead to those people's futures and then telling me about them?
[Anti-fraud expert #205: That's right. But since it's an indirect operation through you, there's a small "handling fee" to pay. Fortunately, the changes you make each time are quite significant, so you've managed to accumulate a little bit.]
How many?
The anti-fraud expert conjured up a large glass bottle in his mind.
Morofushi Kagemitsu examined the bottle carefully and found a thin layer of shimmering gold powder at the bottom.
...It really is just a tiny bit.
[Anti-fraud expert #26: Actually, you had saved up quite a bit before, five times more than you have now! But you just saw some things you shouldn't have, and then you used a lot of it.]
What I shouldn't have seen... was it that dark figure?
Morofushi Kagemitsu finally began to recall what had happened at the bar in Kyoto that day.
[Anti-Fraud King No. 19: Yes, sometimes, due to significant deviations in observations or encountering too many special individuals in the future, that thing will appear. It will devour the most unusual or inappropriate things in this spacetime. Our current level is not high enough; as an ordinary human, knowing too much about this will make you appear as "abnormal."]
So what are you telling me now?
[Anti-Fraud Guru #214: Just now, to prevent you from becoming an idiot under the energy shock, we shared our vision and magnetic field with you, which is why you're alright. But your vision can't be filtered or blocked through calculations, so you'd better close your eyes, or you'll really be overwhelmed.]
How long will this state last?
[Anti-fraud expert #26: Hmm...probably a lifetime.]
What? !
[Anti-fraud expert #198: There's nothing we can do about it. If your memory were erased again, you'd probably be mentally impaired. For now, the only thing we can do is have you visit the shrine every seven days and carry a good luck charm with you every day.]
But keeping my eyes closed all the time is too inconvenient. Putting aside the undercover work, I can't help you with your observation operations like this.
[Anti-fraud expert #198: Well... I'll just make you this one for now, it'll have to do.]
The next second, he blinked again, and a bunch of pink heart-shaped bubbles appeared in his field of vision. The overly ambiguous filter made him feel that the world was incredibly romantic.
Zhu Fujingguang: ...
Is this really necessary?
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: These two filters can currently offset the observational energy on your eyes. The other one is too sanity-lowering, so this one is much more positive and uplifting! It even comes with colored contact lenses, so there's a heart pattern in your pupils (heart emoji)~]
...Or you could give me the other one.
[Anti-fraud expert #198: You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, huh? Humph, change it for him.]
No sooner had No. 198 finished speaking than Morofushi Kagemitsu's perspective changed.
...
Well...
It's rare for No. 26 to be so composed.
Five minutes later →
Morofushi Kagemitsu ripped off his wig and rummaged through his briefcase, which contained several disguise props, to find a pair of sunglasses. After putting them on, he looked around and found that they didn't make much of a difference; the pink heart-shaped bubbles were still popping out, at least they could cover the little hearts in his pupils.
That's good enough.
He has a very peaceful state of mind now.
"Master Jing, how much is a divination?"
...What a load of rubbish!
When Matsuda Jinpei's voice, which was trying to suppress a laugh, rang in his ears, he realized that he still found it difficult to reach the state of mind that Gao Ming had, where one is "not elated by external gains, nor saddened by personal losses."
"Alright, Jinpei, let's not disturb Morofushi's cosplay." Hagiwara Kenji seemed to be trying to calm things down, but he was actually adding fuel to the fire. "After all, fortune tellers have to maintain their air of superiority and can't laugh, right? Pfft!"
He shouldn't have gone to pick up those childhood friends and arrived at the scene early! His fist was getting harder and harder!
Morofushi Kagemitsu turned to look at the two of them... well, they were both completely overwhelmed by pink bubbles, and pink hearts were even flying out of Hagiwara Kenji's mouth. He had never felt so vividly that his friend spoke in such a "romantic and sweet" way.
Such a scene greatly calmed his anger.
Never mind, business comes first. If he remembered correctly, he hadn't had time to explore what was hidden inside the artificial hill before the emergency evacuation yesterday. Today, he naturally needed to explore this area before this problematic arms deal, and also eliminate some potential security risks.
God knows how disheveled he was as he rushed to the park while urgently contacting the police.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: We know that too~]
Group closed...
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Bro! Brother Jing! I was wrong! I was really wrong! I'll never talk nonsense again!]
Morobuchi Kagemitsu sent a signal to the police team, holding a detector in his hand and mentally telling the anti-fraud team to keep an eye out as well—he couldn't help it, everything he saw was bubbly with pink bubbles—and took the lead in walking towards the artificial hill from yesterday.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #148: Watch your step! Who puts that black paint bucket there, afraid someone will see you?]
Morifushi Kagemitsu subconsciously looked down, and another bunch of pink bubbles sprayed out of the paint bucket like fireworks.
Isn't this also a form of seeing? = =
"There are a lot of paint buckets here too." Matsuda Jinpei's voice rang out at this moment, but he was much more serious as he shone his flashlight deeper into the area, where there were also these kinds of things along the way.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: This is somewhat suspicious. Although there's no strange smell, let the police team check it out.]
"These are chemicals." Matsuda Jinpei had already taken the plunge. It was unclear what he had pulled out, but Morofushi Kagemitsu could barely make out some purple light through the gaps in the pink bubbles. "It's best not to open them before they're delivered to the lab."
[Anti-Fraud Guru No. 11: Are these the "treasure" they're hiding?]
[Anti-fraud expert #148: No way, it's not that easy to find them. These weren't even here when we came yesterday.]
That means it was just temporarily placed there.
Unfortunately, the surveillance footage was tampered with last night, so now there's no trace of it.
He stopped arguing with the paint buckets and instead walked further inside.
Meanwhile, Matsuda had finished communicating with the police team. They were planning to send a few people disguised as a construction crew to secretly transport these items away for inspection.
[Anti-fraud expert #66: Jingguang, move your left-hand flashlight 1.6 meters to the right.]
Um?
Although Zhu Fujingguang did not understand, he subconsciously cooperated.
"Ah, look at the wall of the artificial hill!" Kenji Hagiwara's voice suddenly rang out.
Morofushi Kagemitsu did not change his posture, but simply raised his head slightly.
[Anti-fraud expert #198: It's a map of China with three six-pointed stars marked on it, and blurry latitude and longitude lines next to it. It's been there for too long, and the data is unanalyzable.]
"Interesting, there really is a treasure map here." Matsuda Jinpei was probably examining the map.
"Have them bring some more surveying tools," Morofushi Kagemitsu instructed into his earpiece.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: Today's reaction is quite an interesting set of data. Yesterday we took such a big risk but didn't gain much, but today we only brought the two of them, yet we made so much progress...]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: Let me see... Hmm? Someone changed their fate before?! No wonder they have traces of rules on them, but why isn't there a record in the database?]
What's the meaning?
When it came to his friends, Morofushi Kagemitsu couldn't help but feel nervous. He remembered that none of the missions he had done before had involved the life or death of these two.
[Anti-fraud expert #205: We don't understand it either, but this issue will probably trigger certain "rules." It's best to wait until the negative energy surrounding this matter has dissipated before discussing it separately at a popular shrine.]
Okay, I'll go tonight.
Morofushi Kagemitsu walked out of the dimly lit artificial cave and looked back at his two friends who were still lingering inside. The pink bubbles had deepened in color and were everywhere, making it look like a huge explosion had occurred.
He suppressed his unease and his gaze drifted to the few small white boats in the park's artificial lake.
Staff from Nichiri TV have arrived in small groups and are preparing for the upcoming filming.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Ah, this light, this water... how about we make a peace sign and check in?]
Morofushi Kagemitsu's current perspective completely lacked the conditions and atmosphere to appreciate the beautiful scenery, but he could sense the anti-fraud guy's silly good intentions, so he picked up his phone and took a picture.
He had just saved it when, on a whim, he sent one to Ethan Hondo as well, thus completing his goodwill check-in for the day.
[Anti-fraud King No. 148: I've already said, this isn't a gala game...]
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Author's Note: Jingguang unlocked a new skin today: Fortune Teller
Upon receiving the photos, Ethan Bentang exclaimed: "It's confirmed! This smiling tiger is threatening me with his daughter!"
And news articles are also great sources of material!
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