Chapter 905 - 23: "Strong Observer
"Spiritual field reaction alert!"
——A tense voice.
"This intensity? Is... is it the highest rank above Type B? Or has it reached that level already..."
——A voice of astonishment.
"Damn it! It actually appeared right in the city, what kind of joke is this!!"
——A voice distorted by excessive anger.
In the Strategy Room’s headquarters building, the sharp sound of alarms blared urgently, and even the break room had frequent flashing red lights, urgently waking up the resting staff. Many had been on night shifts, just lying down during the day, barely asleep when the piercing alarms jolted them awake.
Almost all of them changed their expressions immediately, realizing this was not mere morning grumpiness, but a serious matter.
This had to be a significant crisis of life and death to warrant a level one combat readiness.
Each person seemed like they had springs in their bodies, bouncing directly off the bed or sofa, grabbing the demon-exorcising weapons at hand, and rushing out frantically... Something big had happened! Something big had happened! If they’re not sharp enough now, it would lead to an unimaginable disaster.
These are lessons learned in blood.
Though the Strategy Room is a modern semi-official organization that hasn’t been established for long, it has absorbed many rules and traditions from official organizations in other countries, coupled with strong support from many domestic Demon-Exorcising Clans, almost embodying the essence of Japan’s Mind Industry.
Therefore, everyone understood the gravity of this incident; even writing a will would be too late if they weren’t careful.
Such a commotion could only be a level one combat readiness, and this situation usually corresponded to multiple Type B appearances, possibly involving a Type A emergence...
It was truly too sudden!!
Weren’t they planning to combat a very ancient Type A recently? Why had such an urgent situation suddenly erupted behind their main base, could it be that the combat plan had flaws, unable to suppress it, and the enemy has come directly to their doorstep?!
At this moment, this was the thought in many people’s minds.
Including Kenshan Yellow Springs, who hurriedly went to the upper floors, rushing into the operations conference room. Slightly out of breath, she asked anxiously while pulling Togami Kagura, "Chief, what happened?!"
The operations conference room was empty, except for Chief Jinguji Ayame and her assistant. The two of them were almost the fastest to get here... mainly because they had just finished school and came directly to the headquarters building to check in. Also, due to the recent offensive plan, many personnel were dragged into the deep mountain.
In preparation for the final battle, a lot of pre-battle work was necessary to ensure everything was foolproof. Locking down the existence of that non-existent shrine was only the basic first step.
Clearing the field and repelling minions...
Carving talismans and dispelling bystanders...
The more preparation work done, the higher the odds of success in the final battle. The best could be to block all directions outside the shrine, sealing all escape routes, ensuring that no matter what, it remains the exorcists’ home ground. In that case, no matter how the Type A struggles in death throes, it will be trapped in a sky-tight net.
Indeed, this is a scheme to eliminate unexpected events and is the most stable approach.
Yet, it requires extensive human and material resources, almost mobilizing the Mind Industry and official forces. Many backbone members of the Strategy Room are also dragged there.
"Yellow Springs, you’re here..."
Sitting in a wheelchair, Jinguji Ayame glanced at the two high school girls who had slammed through the door hastily. She didn’t blame them for their recklessness, instead, she sighed slightly in relief, although this incident was very disconcerting. Fortunately, considering the emptiness of the headquarters, not everyone was left in the deep mountains.
Otherwise, by now, it would really be beyond salvation... although she still felt somewhat cold-handed, her forehead sweating to the sound of the urgent alarms.
"Chief..."
Kenshan Yellow Springs took a step forward worriedly, concerned about her condition.
Jinguji Ayame gently raised her hand, holding her forehead and swaying slightly: "I’m fine, just got startled... the situation is very urgent now, there were abnormal spiritual pressure fluctuations detected in Area B, you should take a look, maybe you’ll understand the current situation."
On the wall of the operations conference room hung a giant screen, with a projector displaying a bird’s-eye view of the entire city and its surroundings, like a satellite photo, yet dynamically changing in real-time, the most conspicuous part being densely dotted with red marks.
These were the spiritual pressure changes detected by the Ministry of Environment, monitoring the entire city and surrounding areas in real-time through special spells and means.
The spirit field is the natural supernatural force field emitted by evil spirits; the stronger the evil spirit, the more violent the power, the more potent the mindlessly emitted interference force field becomes. Even under the constraint of a law as unwavering as iron, it can already affect living people to a certain extent.
These red dots represent the detection results, with each red dot indicating the position where an evil spirit is active.
At first glance, they densely cover the entire Kyoto area, with countless evil spirit reactions wandering around... however, this has been filtered. Without a rating above D, ineligible ghosts and monsters simply won’t appear, otherwise the screen would be flooded with red.
Because there are truly way too many evil spirits, completely eradicating them is unrealistic...
"This is..."
Kenshan Yellow Springs and Togami Kagura looked at the projection, their pupils slightly constricted.
On the projection, there was a massive red spot, like a red vortex, slowly rotating, with a "cloud belt" gradually expanding... this sight was exceedingly horrifying, like watching a tropical cyclone form on a satellite cloud map.
Fully understanding what it was, they felt that deep shivering sensation even more profoundly.
"Hopefully, it’s not a Type A..."
Jinguji Ayame pressed her forehead, smiling bitterly: "It seems to be in the direction of that unfinished building. There were many disturbances before, but it was limited to that... it seems now, that thing is truly patient, being hidden under our noses for so long."
"The abandoned building..."
Kenshan Yellow Springs tried hard to remember. She had heard of that building herself but had never undertaken any tasks there.
There was a bit of a commotion, yet it wasn’t really a big deal, so it left little impression on her... Besides, with so many evil spirits in the world and so few people in the Mind Industry, how could they possibly take care of everything? But now, it seems that this is actually a time bomb that has slipped past everyone?
"I have already sent a message to the higher-ups, and they have started arranging for people to check the barriers around the city; results will come out soon. But before that..."
Jinguji Ayame turned back, staring at the giant red dot that was slowly spinning, as if witnessing a storm forming, about to engulf the entire city.
It detonated precisely at this critical juncture, regardless of what the truth might be. It was enough to make her imagination run wild and keep her in a state of doubt and uncertainty.
"I understand..."
Kenshan Yellow Springs nodded vigorously, speaking seriously.
Indeed, it was only her who could step forward at this time, facing this sudden supernatural disaster... She hoped she could buy some time and hoped that it was not an already planned conspiracy. Could it be that those Type As really possessed such advanced intelligence?
"Wait a minute! I... I’ll go too!"
Togami Kagura also reacted, shouting loudly.
......
...
In the dark domain.
"So dark..."
Sighing inwardly, Yatsugaya Miko anxiously glanced around, feeling her spirit stretched to the limit. At any slight noise, she would get suspicious for a while.
If it wasn’t for the white figure in front showing the way in this dark, lightless world, she felt she probably wouldn’t have the courage to keep going... She couldn’t even tell if it was the inside of an abandoned building anymore; it was like another strange space.
In the completely dark and silent environment, even the concept of time seemed to blur. It appeared as if either little time had passed or she had been walking for days...
"Ugh..."
The girl with long, straight black hair nervously followed the person ahead closely, fearing that with one careless move, she would get lost in this dark domain.
"There, something seems to be over there..."
Unable to restrain herself, she glanced in a certain direction a few more times and still softly reminded. She had noticed it earlier; some kind of anomaly seemed to be in that direction. She vaguely saw the dark distortion spreading from there.
Like a black mist, that was the source from where it emerged...
About the source, she vaguely saw some outlines, although she couldn’t discern them clearly. But there was an inexplicable outline forming in her mind. Instinctively, she felt it seemed like an egg nurturing something or a giant heart beating rhythmically.
"Oh, is it that way?" The young man in front nodded readily, turning on his heel towards the direction the girl pointed to.
"Uh... aren’t you sure?"
Yatsugaya Miko asked with a worried heart, though being able to help was truly pleasing. But the way he pressed forward confidently and undeterred in the dark made her realize he had no clue and was merely wandering aimlessly?
She had thought he was composed and confident, but now her mood was somewhat shaken.
"Of course not, this is the other party’s domain; an intruder’s perception will be suppressed and disturbed..." Gu Mo said matter-of-factly, stating such alarming words, "But since you can see it, you lead the way next."
Yatsugaya Miko: "..."
What else could she say? She could only nod reluctantly.
Such amazing eyesight...
Gu Mo’s steps didn’t halt as he walked in the front. Although he was serious and utterly nonsensical earlier, he did say one truth—that this domain would suppress an intruder’s perception. Yet under such conditions, this girl still saw the core of the space.
——Her eyes are really extraordinary. As the "Strong Observer" in the next planned technique, it seems like a certainty.
——No one would be more suited to this position in the technique than her.
Considering anthropic principle, natural laws demonstrate incredible adaptability to the existence of life, whether it’s the energy levels of atoms or the precise power of weak nuclear force, as if to cater to the survival of humans. So, can it be reversed to hypothesize that natural laws might have emerged because of life’s observation?
Even though it sounds absurd, the Technique designed by Gu Mo indeed could prove the Strong Observer Principle in reverse.
If the world is a stage, then it certainly exists for the audience, and Yatsugaya Miko is just such an audience... because of the audience’s existence, the stage will exist, and because of what the audience sees, that’s what the play on stage is.
Next, all that’s needed is to guide Yatsugaya Miko to fully believe in the world she sees...
And then there’s the script——
Should I play the role of a paternal guide, like a patronizing grandfather with a golden finger, portraying the role of Fox Immortal to the girl? Or should I tread the path of a villain? After all, it seems conspiracy theories have a broader appeal and are easier to believe?
......
(PS: Time to try stirring things up... Speaking of which, AMD’s driver dropping issues are a bit annoying. Got a taste of it; it was fine when I first got it a few days ago, but now it’s dropped three times in two days... (+_+)?)