The Aberration's Source, a Hint

*There's someone here who's been aberrated?*

Lu Yuan stared at the smiling senior staff of the Yali City Night Watchman branch standing before him, his mind reeling with shock.

His gaze swept across the assembled officials.

Five people in total — and he had no way of knowing which one of them had been aberrated.

Keeping his expression neutral, he let a smile drift across his face.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"

The middle-aged man at the front slapped his forehead with an apologetic smile.

"My apologies — the Aberration incident has had us completely swamped and I forgot entirely. I'm Sha Jian, Director of the Yali City Night Watchman branch. This is Vice Director Maika, this is Tang Fei, Head of our Action Teams, this is Bernie, Head of Archives, and this is Gillian, Head of the Mission Hall."

Lu Yuan looked each of them over, matching face to name, and gave them a brief nod.

Gillian was the only woman among them; the rest were all men.

He studied their faces carefully but found nothing unusual — no telltale flickers of emotion.

*Not surprising, really. If any of them had been aberrated, they wouldn't give themselves away so easily — otherwise they'd have been caught long before now.*

While exchanging pleasantries, Lu Yuan was already working through how to isolate the aberrated one from the group.

*The simplest approach would be to get each of them alone in a room. If the Evolution Cube reacted during a one-on-one encounter, that would be as good as a confirmation.*

*He just needed a convincing reason to make that happen.*

"Elder Lu, ordinarily we'd hold a proper welcome banquet for you and your team." Sha Jian spoke with an apologetic look. "But with the Aberration situation this severe — especially at night, with people disappearing constantly — evenings are when we're at our busiest. I'm afraid a formal reception isn't possible right now."

Lu Yuan snapped back to attention and smiled. "No need to worry about that. Dealing with the Aberration incident is what matters—"

He stopped, a thought catching him off guard. "Wait — all of you have been working nights recently?"

Sha Jian blinked, puzzled by the question, and nodded. "Yes, Elder Lu. Is something the matter?"

Something didn't sit right with Lu Yuan.

*If they were all working overtime, then who was responsible for the disappearances?*

*Could the Evolution Cube's vibration have nothing to do with Aberrations at all?*

*But even Tong Menghan had confirmed a connection. Was it really possible that the Cube's reaction here had an entirely different cause?*

His thoughts raced. He smiled and shook his head.

"Nothing. I'm just impressed by your dedication as Night Watchmen."

Smiles spread across their faces.

"It's our duty. Nothing more."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"Why don't we head inside," Sha Jian offered, "and Bernie can brief you on the specifics of the Aberration incident? There may be clues in the records."

Aberration events always had documented case files. As Head of Archives, that naturally fell under Bernie's purview.

Lu Yuan glanced at Bernie — serious-faced, with the quiet air of a scholar — and gave a small nod.

"That works."

*He'd been wondering how to get each of them alone. Looks like he already had his opening.*

*First step: find out whether Bernie is the one causing the Evolution Cube to vibrate.*

The group returned inside the building.

Sha Jian was too swamped with the Aberration crisis to spare any time, so he had Bernie escort Lu Yuan and Franming's team to the Archives while the others dispersed to their own duties.

The Archives were on the second floor.

Lu Yuan and Franming's group followed the largely silent Bernie into a vast room packed with documents on every surface. Bernie had a few case files retrieved and handed them over with a polite smile.

"These are all the records pertaining to the current Aberration incident."

Lu Yuan nodded and glanced over at Franming and the others. "Take a look."

Franming gave a curt nod. When it came to reading and analyzing case records, they were clearly far more experienced than he was.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan had already confirmed what he'd come here to learn: Bernie wasn't the aberrated one.

*At least in close proximity, the Evolution Cube hadn't reacted to him at all.*

*So it has to be one of the others.*

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes and flipped through the files, though his mind was already elsewhere.

*If the aberrated person within the branch wasn't present at the scene when the Aberration events occurred, does that mean they aren't directly responsible?*

*Or are there accomplices? Someone embedded at a senior level, running cover for whoever is actually causing the disappearances?*

*If there really are accomplices, moving now would be premature. Acting too soon would only tip them off and send the real culprit underground. He needed to find all of them first, then take them down at once.*

*One thing at a time. Identify the person first.*

The records showed the Aberration incident had begun thirty-seven days ago. At first, only a handful of people had gone missing — scattered cases, mostly vagrants.

Then the numbers climbed, eventually spreading across the entire city.

Every missing person was untraceable — vanished as though they'd dissolved into thin air, leaving not a single clue behind.

*That didn't surprise him. Gene Warriors alone had plenty of methods to make someone disappear without a trace. Aberration phenomena were far stranger still.*

Initially the branch had considered it a minor incident. It was only when a senior official at Battle Venerable rank also vanished that they understood the severity and sent an urgent request to headquarters.

The records consisted mostly of names and last-known addresses. Given the sheer number of victims, some entries were nothing more than rough names and general living areas — the bare minimum of data.

There was precious little information about the Aberration phenomenon itself.

Lu Yuan finished with the files and turned to Franming's group, who were in the middle of a discussion. "Anything?"

"My Lord," Franming said, "based on the geographical distribution of victims, the earliest disappearances originated in the South District. I believe we should investigate there."

Bernie spoke up gently.

"With respect, our branch reached the same conclusion and already sent investigators there. They found nothing. Furthermore, Gao Yu — the Night Watchman who disappeared — vanished in the North District, as far from the South as you can get."

Gao Yu was the Battle Venerable-rank Night Watchman who had gone missing.

Franming smiled pleasantly. "I'm sure you did. But who's to say you didn't overlook something? You asked headquarters to send help for a reason — that suggests we might be just a little more capable, don't you think?"

Bernie's expression stiffened, a flash of irritation crossing his face.

What Franming had essentially said, in the politest possible terms, was: *Your branch is full of incompetents. What you couldn't figure out, we'll handle without breaking a sweat.*

For someone of Bernie's senior standing, that would have stung.

Still, Bernie kept his composure and gave a measured nod. "Very well. We'll proceed however you see fit, Captain Franming."

Franming nodded with a smile and turned to Lu Yuan. "Elder Lu, I think we'll need some of their Action Team members to assist us. Our numbers are a bit thin."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Then let's go find Head Captain Tang Fei."

*He'd been looking for a reason to check on Tang Fei anyway.*

He bid Bernie farewell and headed toward Tang Fei's office.

The Action Teams were always the largest division in any Night Watchman organization. Here in the Yali City branch, they occupied floors three through eight.

Tang Fei's office was on the eighth floor.

Lu Yuan brought Franming's group up and stopped outside the door. He knocked. Tang Fei's voice came through almost immediately.

"Come in."

Lu Yuan pushed the door open and stepped inside to find Tang Fei behind his desk, sifting through paperwork, his face drawn with exhaustion.

The moment Lu Yuan crossed the threshold, he felt the Evolution Cube vibrate.

A sharp glint flashed through his eyes. He took in Tang Fei's refined, clean-cut features. *Well, well. So it's you.*

But he didn't let himself relax entirely. Tang Fei had been here all along, and the Aberration incidents were still ongoing — which suggested Tang Fei might not be acting alone.

*The Evolution Cube's earlier vibrations might not have been caused by him alone. The remaining three still can't be ruled out.*

He'd need to check all of them before he could be certain.

Tang Fei looked up with a tired smile. "Ah, Elder Lu. What can I do for you?"

Lu Yuan glanced at Franming beside him. "My team was hoping to borrow some of your Action Team members. Is that possible?"

A wry look crossed Tang Fei's face.

"Under normal circumstances, absolutely. But with the Aberration situation this severe, Elder Lu, we're stretched thin. Everyone's already been deployed. I don't have anyone to spare right now."

Franming had anticipated this and stepped in smoothly. "Captain Tang, we're heading to the South District. If needed, we just need whoever's already stationed there to back us up."

Tang Fei paused, then nodded with a smile. "That's doable. I'll give you the contact information for the squad leaders operating in that area."

He passed along the details, then looked up with a polite expression.

"Is there anything else, Elder Lu?"

Lu Yuan met his gaze and shook his head. "No, that's everything. We won't take up any more of your time."

He and Franming took their leave, Franming pulling the door shut behind them.

With the contact information secured, Franming broke into a grin. "Elder Lu, we'll head out and start the investigation — you should rest. I'll report back the moment we find anything."

Lu Yuan smiled faintly. "Be careful."

Franming, Lin Hong, and Xue Wang all nodded, then turned and left.

What they didn't notice was that wisps of shadow had silently slipped into the shadows they cast, following each of them in silence.

Lu Yuan glanced back at Tang Fei's closed door and narrowed his eyes.

Shadow Dominion activated. A tendril of darkness seeped slowly through the gap beneath the door and dissolved into the room.

He intended to find out whether Tang Fei was actually responsible for the Aberration incidents.

*If he's not, this situation is more complicated than I thought.*

*There could be more than one aberrated individual here — or more than one Aberration Entity at work.*

Recalling something Li Qinghe had complained about in passing, Lu Yuan realized the surge in Aberration incidents really had been significant lately.

*What's driving it?*

He shook the thought away. This wasn't the moment to dwell on it.

He headed next for the Mission Hall, and then planned to go up to the top-floor offices where the Director and Vice Director worked — he still had three people left to check.

First: Gillian, Head of the Mission Hall.

The Mission Hall was on the ground floor. As department head, Gillian had her own office. Lu Yuan knocked.

A soft voice came from within.

"Come in."

He pushed the door open to find Gillian seated at her desk, tea in hand, looking perfectly at ease.

The Mission Hall, while indispensable to the Night Watchmen, wasn't a combat division. A good portion of its staff were support personnel who weren't even Gene Warriors. Of all the departments, it had the weakest overall fighting strength — and the most relaxed atmosphere.

The Archives needed capable guards to protect its sensitive records. But the Mission Hall was different — even its head, Gillian, was only at the early stages of Battle Venerable.

At that rank, however, one's lifespan stretched to nearly a thousand years. Though Gillian carried herself with a mature, polished air, she still looked remarkably young — that blend of youth and sophistication lent her a distinctly captivating quality.

*For the head of a whole department, she's having quite a leisurely afternoon,* Lu Yuan thought, watching her sip her tea.

Gillian clearly hadn't expected him to come looking for her. She blinked, then rose quickly to her feet with a warm smile.

"Elder Lu! What brings you here?"

"Nothing in particular," he said pleasantly. "I'll be staying in Yali City for a while — at least until we find the source of the Aberration incidents. I'm just making the rounds, getting a feel for the branch."

*He could hardly tell her he was there to find out whether she'd been aberrated.*

He'd already confirmed what he needed: the Evolution Cube hadn't stirred at all. Gillian was fine.

Something he'd said, however, gave her pause.

*He's going to be staying in Yali City for a while... Does Elder Lu not have a place to stay? Is he hinting at something?*

*He is exceptionally handsome. And talented beyond measure...*

A coquettish expression bloomed across Gillian's face, her eyes softening into something warm.

"If Elder Lu doesn't mind, you're more than welcome to stay at my home for the duration of your time here. I live alone — my husband passed away in one of the Aberration incidents some time ago..."

Lu Yuan: *...???*