"Stop reminiscing. Murderers return to crime scenes to admire their work, not to hang around waiting to be discovered."

As a normal member of society, Lin Ye could adapt to various situations that arose at work. The only thing he found hard to tolerate was his colleagues' work efficiency.

He hated meaningless actions and wasting time.

"I'm not a murderer!"

Phoebe walked around the corpse and hurried toward the stairs.

"You certainly aren't a murderer, but you need to be prepared to be treated as one. Otherwise, you'll pay the price for it sooner or later."

Lin Ye continued researching the Spiritual Energy Core Modification Technology.

"...That sounds awful."

Phoebe quickly walked out of the teaching building. Her body still carried the lingering weakness from exhaustion, and brisk walking was already her limit.

The school gate faced a road. Just before stepping out of the school gate, Phoebe suddenly stopped.

A female student in a school uniform stood in the middle of the road. A strange smile hung on her face, her two eyeballs bulging outward, staring fixedly at Phoebe who stood inside the school gate.

"...Why are these things appearing so frequently today? Is it related to you?"

Phoebe froze in place. Then she suddenly noticed a Silhouette also standing inside the dim security booth, and that figure seemed to be watching her too.

"You've got the cause and effect reversed. It's because there's a problem on your end that I'm here to complete my work. Tell me about your situation, and I can help you analyze it."

Although Lin Ye couldn't use his mental energy to sense the surroundings, he was absolutely certain this world was a troublesome mess.

"...It started about a year ago, on a certain day, I began seeing some strange things. At first, they were just inexplicable illusions that would quickly disappear. But as time went on, the situation became increasingly severe. Even some physical monsters started appearing, and the frequency kept increasing. What happened in the teaching building was a first, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to last this long.

It's not just happening to me. Abnormal incidents have been occurring in many places recently."

Phoebe looked at the female student in the middle of the road. She had seen her before; she was the Class President of the neighboring class who had gone missing inside the school a week ago.

"It's likely this world is undergoing some changes, and these changes are intensifying. Your mental energy is much stronger than an ordinary person's, so you're more susceptible to being affected."

Lin Ye thought about his work. The Director must have some understanding of this world's changes and wants to obtain something from them.

"Then what should I do? Can you weaken my mental energy a bit?"

Phoebe didn't want to encounter these dangerous things every day.

"Weakening your mental energy would indeed reduce the probability of you encountering abnormal incidents, but it would also lower your survival probability during such incidents. Are you sure you want that?"

Lin Ye wouldn't stop others from making their own choices, even if they chose suicide.

"Then forget it. By the way, how do we deal with the current situation? We can't just stand here forever!"

Phoebe seemed to have noticed Lin Ye's attitude; her perception ability was very sharp.

"That's your problem. My job is to keep you alive until the work is finished. Given the current circumstances, standing here might be a relatively good solution. If you don't want that, make another decision yourself."

Lin Ye could resolve this abnormal incident, but after solving it, they might just encounter a new one. It might be better to just stay put.

"...I want to go home."

Phoebe hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

"A reasonable request. But have you considered why you want to go home? What will you do after going home? What will you do after I leave?"

Lin Ye didn't see a problem with wanting to go home; after all, she was just a high school student. But everyone must bear the consequences of their decisions.

"...Will this current state continue indefinitely?"

Phoebe asked.

"I don't know. But you'd better prepare for the worst-case scenario."

If Lin Ye were facing this situation, he wouldn't waste time here.

"Then can you help me find a safe place?"

Phoebe really wanted to go home and take a look, but she was afraid of dragging her family into abnormal incidents.

"Not right now. But if we can resolve more abnormal incidents, perhaps I can help you find a relatively safe place."

Lin Ye needed enough spiritual energy to support his use of abilities. He had collected some from that corpse earlier.

"Then I'll trouble you."

Phoebe handed control of her body over to Lin Ye.

"It is troublesome."

Lin Ye casually flung the bone dagger. The dagger passed through a gap in the security booth window and stabbed into the eye socket of the Silhouette.

The Silhouette convulsed a few times before collapsing to the ground.

Lin Ye opened the security booth door, pulled the dagger from the figure's head, then walked out of the school gate holding the dagger.

The female student kept staring at Lin Ye, but she didn't move from her position, still standing in the middle of the road.

Lin Ye walked to the roadside. The female student began moving along the road's centerline, keeping herself in the same plane as him.

Whether Lin Ye sped up or slowed down, the female student could match his speed.

"Why is she following me?"

Looking at the female student standing in the middle of the road, Phoebe felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"Probably waiting for a truck to pass by, then swapping positions with you so you get hit and killed by the truck."

Lin Ye said offhandedly.

"So that's it!"

Phoebe realized that seemed like a real possibility.

"Ah, that was just a random guess. I'm not sure what it intends to do either."

Lin Ye didn't directly attack the female student precisely because he feared something like that might happen, given her dangerous position.

"Then can we go over and pull her to the roadside?"

Phoebe wasn't leaving all the problems for Lin Ye to handle; she was also thinking about what to do.

"You mean, we actively walk into the middle of the road, actively putting ourselves in danger?"

Lin Ye countered.

"...That doesn't seem very feasible?"

Phoebe said, not entirely sure.

"What I mean is, it's a good idea, but implementing it is very dangerous."

Lin Ye walked toward the middle of the road. The moment he stepped one foot onto the road, a heavy-duty truck suddenly accelerated from one side of the road, heading straight for the female student at full speed.

The female student didn't dodge. She kept staring at Lin Ye from her spot.

Lin Ye quickly stepped forward, punched the female student in the abdomen, then grabbed her by the head and dragged her to the roadside.

During the dragging process, the female student and Lin Ye swapped positions several times, but this didn't affect Lin Ye's movements. He completely controlled the female student's body, preventing her from making any movements beyond his control.

The heavy-duty truck roared past the center of the road. After the truck passed, the female student vanished.

"A good idea, but it requires sufficient strength to support it. Otherwise, you'd get crushed to death by the truck."

Lin Ye summarized.