Chapter 108

Chapter 108

"Isn't it you again?" Lin said.

"I was about to say the same thing," Lingfei Ge squinted his eyes.

The short birdman, followed by a dark-skinned centaur and a black-robed undertaker, truly a familiar trio.

With Lin added, this combination became even more familiar.

"Could we already be considered an elite team in the eyes of the higher-ups?" Shanta said happily.

Lin glanced at her silently, then moved closer to Lingfei Ge and whispered, "There must be another reason, right? Do you know what it is?"

"Because this mission is to investigate citizens affected by the power of dreams." Lingfei Ge, who indeed knew the reason, explained, "Without mentioning the previous overlap between dream and reality, you and Yan Tang are the only two people in Spire City who have experienced Dream Magic, though that was probably a castrated version performed by the criminal Shuye.

"The higher-ups want to see if this experience can enhance your intuition, and perhaps your déjà vu might provide assistance during the investigation."

Ah, this reason does make sense.

But as the new Dream God being tracked, Lin still felt a bit absurd.

"And," Lingfei Ge continued, "we're not the only ones."

"Hmm?" Lin secretly raised his guard but kept his tone relaxed, "New members? To fill the gap in the team, would they be a Sealer or a Light Mage?"

Lingfei Ge's squad was configured with specific targets in mind. Lingfei Ge himself, acting as both commander and heavy artillery, often served multiple roles depending on the types of magical machinery he carried—making him the soul of the entire team. The veteran member, Yan Tang, was an undertaker who didn't bury the living but rather the spirits bound to the mortal world.

Together with Lingfei Ge, they formed a perfect combination for dealing with necromancers. Lingfei Ge's mechanical army versus the necromancer's undead army, while Yan Tang seized the opportunity to freeze the undead and, with the high resistance of Bellringing Frost Crows to soul attacks and curses, directly assault the necromancer.

Finally, they had a healer... a Bloodflesh Doctor, so even injuries were nothing to fear.

Most necromancers, upon seeing such a combination, would undoubtedly turn and run.

Although now joined by Shanta, whose healing skills as a Blood Knight fell far short of those of a Bloodflesh Doctor, her presence expanded the possibilities for Lingfei Ge's team, allowing them to handle the Aberrant Cult as well as necromancers.

As for the Shadow Blades and the Plague Seminar, the Tribunal, as a large armed organization, could certainly dispatch other more suitable teams.

That was the issue.

Assuming, just assuming, that this investigation mission develops into a confrontation with an enemy capable of using Dream Magic, Lingfei Ge's team might not be the best fit.

Professionals of the Dragon of Light and the Goo Smith might be more targeted.

This was a suggestion from Lin's expertise, after all, no one understood Dream Magic better than he did.

But Lingfei Ge smiled and said, "Nope."

He made a "cool" gesture, openly admiring the new member, praising, "A very trendy guy!"

Trendy? That wasn't exactly a positive evaluation for a judge.

But Lin believed Lingfei Ge had his reasons, and regardless, this Skalan birdman was reliable in his work.

Curiosity piqued, Lin asked, "I'm starting to look forward to it. Is it someone I know?"

"Yes," a mechanical voice came from behind Lin, "Judge Lin, we've met before."

"..." Lin didn't turn around, but he had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, a white cube about the size of a suitcase floated low from inside the building, joining Lin and Lingfei Ge's team at the elevator plaza.

Even the guards at the elevator entrance cast curious glances, after all, even though every judge had a city flying license, they had never seen a flying device of this shape.

Mainly, how do you sit on it?

Under several dozen curious gazes, the white cube approached Lin and Lingfei Ge's team.

It emitted a mechanical sound, saying, "I probably don't need to introduce myself. Please continue to call me by the name you like, such as Aiper."

The Lingfei Ge team, familiar with each other's nicknames for the "Gift" system, looked at Lin.

Shanta asked, "What does Aiper mean?"

Lin didn't answer; he was trying hard to control his face to avoid showing a twitching eye, and asked calmly, "What is this?"

"It's the self-moving battlefield auxiliary terminal of the 'Gift' system!" Lingfei Ge's eyes sparkled as he introduced it loudly, "Lin, isn't it cool!"

Lin smiled on the surface, "Very cool."

Inside, Lin was panicking, "Aaaaaah Golden Hammer!"

We have no grudge! Why are you doing this to me!!!

Lin tried to ask, "What's its role in the team?"

Lingfei Ge's eyes shone even brighter, "It's said to have an experimental mental attack shielding device built-in, hoping to obtain successful experimental data during this investigation mission."

What? Golden Hammer! This is your "Gift"?

There won't be any experimental data! Dream on! Lin swore by the name of the Mirror Eye that there was no one using Dream Magic to interfere with the citizens.

...Right? Moses has been extremely busy lately.

From the moment he was slandered, Lin's emotions had fluctuated greatly, making him feel very exhausted.

Despite feeling very exhausted, as a worker, he had no right to refuse his teammates and could only follow them onto the elevator in a daze.

"Judge Lin," Aiper said, "Do you need help with your luggage?"

"No," Lin's smile never left his face, "Thank you."

The elevator descended and arrived at the sixteenth floor two minutes later.

Four judges plus a terminal stood in the elevator lobby, surveying the exceptionally tidy wealthy neighborhood.

Lin’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked in a certain direction.

A strange feeling...?

Suddenly, he had an ominous premonition, especially when Lingfei Ge, who was leading the way, headed straight toward the direction that felt odd to him.

Lin wanted to investigate ahead of time, but while walking, he could only enter the Divine Realm for a brief half-second to a second without leaving his body behind. To stay there longer would require abandoning his physical form.

He couldn’t just say he was sick and ask for a break, especially since Judge Lin would continue working even when ill if he could earn field duty pay. That was his character.

Moreover, Blood Knights could act as half-medical practitioners, and Lin didn’t think he could fool Shanta with a sudden illness.

Damn, Lin’s confidence had already turned into unease.

It couldn’t be, could it? Could there really be something about the power of dreams?

They continued walking, passing a restaurant called Mute Bear on the street.

Lin vaguely remembered the name; it seemed to be a very high-end restaurant. But on this Thursday, which was a workday, the restaurant was inexplicably closed.

Shanta, who often ate at this restaurant, showed more obvious confusion. In her experience, the restaurant rarely closed on Thursdays.

However, this was unrelated to their work, so Shanta didn’t speak up. Instead, Lingfei Ge turned his head, glanced at the dimly lit restaurant and its locked glass door, and suddenly said:

"The subject of our investigation is the daughter of the restaurant’s chef and owner."

"Ah?" Shanta was surprised, "What happened to Nala?"

"Do you know all the rich kids in Spire City?" Lingfei Ge was also surprised by Shanta’s connections, but since they were in work mode, he didn’t continue the conversation and focused on introducing the details of the mission to the team.

"Nala Serris, a bear person, fifteen years old, a fourth-year student at Private Smokepipe Middle School. She has been suffering from hypersomnia for the past two days, crying in her sleep. After confirming that doctors from Sacred Heart Hospital and the Psychiatric Physicians Association couldn’t wake her, her father discharged her this noon. Currently, Nala Serris is resting at home.

"This case was reported to the Court by Sacred Heart Hospital and the Psychiatric Physicians Association and immediately marked as a ‘Gift.’ An hour ago, Sacred Heart Hospital reported a second case of hypersomnia, and the ‘Gift’ raised the alert to Level 2. The Chief Judge believes this might be a sign of the Dream God’s activity and has assigned us to investigate."

"What about the second case?" Lin asked.

"A husband from an ordinary family on the fifth floor, a mouse person, who works as a laborer. He is currently hospitalized at Sacred Heart Hospital. We will go there after we finish investigating Nala Serris."

Without needing to check the files, Lingfei Ge answered immediately.

Lin nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

"Nala..." Shanta’s expression turned worried, "What a despicable evil god!"

Lin said nothing as they cut through an alley to another street. This street had no shops, only individual houses with plastic grass lawns.

Shanta, who knew this area better than Lingfei Ge, instinctively moved to the front due to her horse nature.

She stopped in front of a two-story house, gazing at the spacious balcony on the second floor, almost wishing she could jump up to check on her friend. But she couldn’t do that, so she tapped her feet lightly on the ground, the heels of her short boots making loud sounds, unconsciously easing her anxiety.

However, the moment Lingfei Ge rang the doorbell, she stopped and stood straight, like a guard behind Lingfei Ge.

The door opened.

Lin sensed a familiar tall bear person, casting a large shadow against the light from the foyer.

But no matter how tall, he was now just a weary father.

It seemed to be a bear person named Honey Mouth. Upon seeing the four judges in black leather coats, tears welled up in his eyes. Lin gently touched the worry and fear in the tears within the Divine Realm, then turned his head to look at a pitch-black pearl not far away.

A foreboding curse aura swirled within the pearl.

Lin stared at it, the dull pink of his left eye beginning to glow faintly.

In reality, the blindfolded ritualist suddenly gripped the handle of his briefcase.

He looked at Shanta, who, despite her anxiety, had to wait for Lingfei Ge to finish talking with the bear person before speaking, and despite a fleeting hesitation, he shouted:

"Shanta! Go up!"

"Yes!"

Shanta, who hadn’t even realized it wasn’t Lingfei Ge giving the order, immediately responded, leaped, and landed with a thud on the balcony.

The balcony was connected to the second-floor bedroom.

Through the window, Shanta could directly see Nala Serris, who was supposedly in a coma.

To her surprise, her supposedly unconscious friend was sitting on the bed.

Sitting on the bed, eyes tightly shut, tears wetting her cheeks.

At the same time, Nala Serris’s right hand held a gun, the barrel pressed against her temple.

Shanta’s pupils dilated.

"Bang!"