Investigation Report of the Gods

Chapter 94: Twist of Fate

Han Su didn’t really take the unexpected encounter with Xu Ji to heart. After all, he was someone with principles. Before officially confirming the Ghost Truck capture mission, he had taken money from the Xu family, so naturally, he had to send Xu Ji back.

After watching him get into the car and leave peacefully, Han Su also furrowed his brows slightly and left the library.

In his heart, there was only a threadlike doubt suspended—those gods from the dust of history, Knowledge, Machinery, Chaos, Sea Beasts, Giants, Bronze…

Why did it increasingly feel like the Ancient Castle?

But if it was really as that Death Follower said, and the thing in the Ancient Castle was that kind of god, then its performance seemed completely mismatched with the level that Death Follower had described…

…Or perhaps, was it the Ancient Castle's function?

  …In the past, he had always subconsciously linked the Ancient Castle to the monsters. But what if they weren’t one and the same, but instead weakened each other?

He vaguely considered this possibility, but there was simply too little information to grasp—he could only speculate, not conclude.

It was only through dealing with the Death Follower that Han Su began to develop growing doubts about the tasks assigned by Miss Ai. So, without wasting time, he completed the remaining two tasks as quickly as possible.

The second task was to transfer an antique.

The antique was a vase of unknown origin, stored in an old villa filled with strange objects—mysterious wooden racks, strings of garlic, and some mysterious symbols that looked like they were dug out from ancient document piles.

Han Su placed it into a specially made box and brought it out. After handing it over to the security personnel, the task was considered complete.

The vase was very odd.

At the moment, Han Su was wearing gloves made of low-sensitivity fiber material obtained from the Disaster Management Bureau Base, which could effectively block certain types of Mysterious Power penetration.

But even so, when he touched the vase, he faintly heard what seemed like singing.

The song resonated with his brain, as if stirring his thoughts.

Vaguely, he even had the urge to hold the vase in his arms—he even wanted to kiss it.

‘What the hell, not even the gloves can block it?’

Han Su first poured a glass of water to observe. There were no ripples. Then he grabbed the vase with his left hand, felt the strange sensation transmitting from its surface, picked up the electric baton, and jabbed it twice.

The vase instantly quieted down.

He put the vase into the box and carried it out. The fully armed vehicle was already waiting at the villa entrance. After handing over the item and watching the vehicle, which had mysterious snake symbols painted on it, drive away, Han Su completed his second task.

But when he turned to leave, he glanced at a car parked on the roadside and felt a faint sense of familiarity.

It was an extremely expensive sports car, but the hood had a high-end spray-paint of a busty anime girl, which drastically lowered the overall classiness of the vehicle.

‘Which rich guy is this? As tacky as Xu Ji?’

‘……’

The third task soon came to him: go to a shop on a remote street corner and purchase a black cat-patterned porcelain mug.

The task required that no matter how much the storekeeper asked for, he must pay in full. After the purchase, regardless of what else the shopkeeper gave him, he must bring everything back. Once he handed the items over to the contact, the mission would be considered complete.

The shop was very small and dim. Like other convenience stores, it was filled with all kinds of goods. But strangely, every item seemed blanketed in dust and incredibly old.

It was like one of those shops in every city that made people wonder how the owner made a living.

When Han Su entered and saw the female shopkeeper behind the counter, whose face resembled that of a monkey, he truly felt extremely uneasy.

Women loved beauty and would apply makeup, but she seemed to have smeared lime directly onto her face. Her skin was as white as a paper figurine. In every way, she broke conventional standards of beauty and instead evoked a distorted sense of horror.

“I want to buy a black cat-patterned porcelain mug. It’s for Miss Li from the Disaster Management Bureau.”

“Sixty-six thousand six hundred.”

Han Su didn’t dwell on how bizarre her response was. He simply paid with the link Miss Ai had provided, then received a pack of cigarettes from the shopkeeper.

He didn’t ask questions and turned to leave.

Behind the counter, the shopkeeper suddenly giggled. Her voice was sharp. “Don’t want anything else?”

Han Su looked back at her. Half her body was hidden in the shadows, a stark contrast to the bright sunshine outside the store.

Just then, a figure suddenly burst in through the entrance, shouting, “Boss, a bottle of water, ice cold.”

Han Su looked up sharply, and his expression immediately changed. The person entering the store, dripping with sweat, was none other than Xu Ji.

While shouting, he was also scanning around with his eyes.

Inside this cramped shop, the atmosphere had clearly turned strange.

It felt as if the air had thickened. Han Su couldn’t explain why, but it felt like there were more living things around him. In the shadowy corners of the shop, something seemed to be quietly opening its eyes.

Han Su stood his ground, eyes slightly narrowed.

And just then, Xu Ji, who had taken two steps into the store, suddenly looked up and spotted Han Su, whose body was mostly hidden in shadow.

His face froze instantly. “I’m out.”

Before the words were finished, he had already bolted out the door with remarkable speed, not giving the shop any chance to react.

The surrounding strangeness vanished. Han Su could feel the things in the shadows retreating. The shopkeeper behind the counter slowly sat back in her chair.

 Leaving the shop calmly and returning to the street, Han Su finally let out a small breath.

He first delivered the items to the designated location, completing the task. Then, on his way to the Subway station, he took out a business card and dialed the number. Soon, a voice answered:

“Mr. Han, is there anything I can help you with?”

“……”

Hearing Special Assistant Xu’s voice, Han Su spoke after some thought: “Isn’t your young master supposed to be grounded right now?”

“These past couple of days, I seem to be running into him a bit too often.”

“……”

Special Assistant Xu’s tone turned slightly tense: “When did you encounter him?”

Han Su said, “Once at the library, once while shopping.”

“Oh, and another time, when I went to a villa on Chunyang Street, I saw a particularly flamboyant car with a nearly-nude anime girl painted on it…”

“Could that be his?”

“……”

“It is his!”

After a long silence, Special Assistant Xu replied in a low voice: “That’s from his cringy teen years. He rarely drives it anymore. His usual sports car got wrecked, so he had to bring that one out from the garage.”

“Thank you, Mr. Han. The young master has indeed made a good friend.”

“As for now…”

He seemed to be considering something: “Do you have time to meet at Haiyan Club?”

The tasks were complete, and Han Su was also somewhat concerned about Xu Ji, so he agreed.

On the way, he couldn’t help but find it strange—why did Xu Ji keep appearing at the exact places where he was carrying out missions?

Was it deliberate?

  No, he didn’t have the brain or cunning for that…

He bought two kilos of apples from a roadside vendor and then took a cab to an old street in the city’s east. The taxi driver glanced at the low buildings around them, all hidden behind clusters of greenery, and looked back at Han Su in amazement:

“Young man, quite something, huh…”

“To be able to spend in a place like this?”

“……”

Han Su said, “What spending? Someone else is footing the bill.”

The driver’s respect grew even more, and when he got off, the man took the hundred yuan Han Su gave him but didn’t bother giving change.

Han Su watched the taxi drive away with a speechless look, then turned toward the entrance of the club.

The security booth at the entrance had already received a call and came up right away to ask questions.

Once Han Su’s identity was confirmed, he was taken onto a shuttle car, which drove toward the buildings hidden deep in what seemed like a forest. Even Han Su found the place astonishing.

It was clearly a place of consumption, yet it was arrogantly low-key, not revealing its name or its services.

As he stepped into the quaint main hall, he heard a voice shouting in grievance:

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t! I’m innocent!”

“I went to the library just because I love learning!”

“I was near that villa because my brother warned me studying was dangerous. So I quit that bad habit and went to a friend’s house to play 3D Wild Social Game!”

“I went to that store because I went to play basketball, got tired from gaming, and needed to exercise. I was all sweaty and wanted to buy water, okay? If the only shop next to the basketball court hadn’t been that creepy one, do you think I’d have gone to such a tiny store?”

“……”

Han Su recognized Xu Ji’s voice and was genuinely shocked.

What the heck was a 3D Wild Social Game?

  He walked toward the source of the voice. As he approached, he heard an elderly voice speaking gently:

“You don’t need to be too harsh on the young master. There are no such coincidences in this world. He’s likely affected by some kind of Mysterious Power.”

“I had previously tried to remove the remnants of certain Mysterious Powers from him and thought I’d succeeded. But those things are like bacteria on the human body—you can’t clean them out completely. One can only say this Mysterious Power is still influencing him.”

“This Mysterious Power is like a magnet. Its influence on reality follows a deeper logic, which is why you can’t find a reason on the surface.”

“You think sending him east might be dangerous, so you make him go west or stay at home. But it doesn’t solve anything. There will always be coincidences or unexpected events guiding him to that predestined direction.”

“The people he must meet, the things he must face—no matter what happens, he will encounter them.”

“This is the twist of fate caused by Mysterious Power!”