“How much of what he said was true, do you think?” When the interrogation ended, Director Xiao left behind two team members to watch Zhen Li while the others went to a soundproofed room to discuss. 

Cen Xiao cleaned up the transcript of the interrogation, printed it out, and gave each person a copy. A Protector of similar age to Director Xiao said, “Truth mixed with lies, I think. He’s a good liar.” 

He laughed lightly, seeming to be fondly remembering the past. “This is my first time seeing such a stupid ‘Destroyer.’ Adding in the fact that he voluntarily revealed the phone app and the final big boss without self-destructing, perhaps he really isn’t a ‘Destroyer.’”

The Protectors weren’t so easily fooled. They were battle-tried and had seen too many Destroyers of all kinds. They had experienced every kind of trap. They wouldn’t easily believe Zhen Li’s story. 

Director Xiao said, “I’ve had the technicians thoroughly test that phone countless times. They’re certain the app Zhen Li told us about isn’t on it. I also had a Protector who’s skilled at detecting power investigate it. He also didn’t find any unusual power. Either the power in that phone is one we can’t access, dark matter energy that can’t be detected, or it’s a hallucination.” 

“Hallucination?” You Zhengping’s younger generation of Protectors were at this meeting to look on and learn, to understand the Destroyers according to their big shot elders’ thoughts. At the same time, they could also put forward some creative suggestions. 

A Protector wearing a Zhongshan suit turned on a projector and played a video. There were a several different Destroyers in the video. These were some representative segments chosen from the surveillance camera records of public places when the Protectors had been tracking their movements after determining their identities. 

In the video, the Destroyers simultaneously began talking to themselves and pointing at empty space, as thought there was a giant screen in front of them. 

“Through many years of analysis and exchanging information with each country’s Protection Organization, we can determine that Destroyers really do have a sort of ‘control panel’ or ‘system interface.’ This interface is planted in their brains and can appear in front of the Destroyers’ eyes when it’s in use. Furthermore, only the Destroyers themselves can see it,” Director Xiao narrated for the young Protectors. “We’ve never seen a Destroyer use a phone app to manipulate the interface. If everything Zhen Li says is true, then either he isn’t a Destroyer, or the Destroyers’ technology has deteriorated.” 

You Zhengping’s brain turned rapidly. He remembered Zhen Li’s performance at the mall and instantly seized on two times. 

He pulled up the surveillance from inside the mall, cutting out images from those two times. “The first time is at 10:03 AM. After eating a hamburger on the first floor, Zhen Li rubbed his belly, burped, and showed other signs of feeling full. But right after that, he went to the second floor to buy cake. After he got the cake, he didn’t eat it immediately. Instead, he clicked on his phone many times, and then started eating the cake.” 

The resolution on the mall’s cameras was very high. You Zhengping found a camera that was facing the phone and enlarged the video. Everyone saw that Zhen Li was wildly clicking and sliding on the phone’s main screen, as though he were picking out a product. The main screen didn’t change the whole time. When Zhen Li had clicked heavily on the phone as though he had finally made a decision, he started bolting down the cake. Then he went to third, fourth, and fifth floors to buy food. 

“From this you can see that Zhen Li was already full on the first floor, but he was still unsatisfied. He wanted to eat more. So he used the phone, paid some price, and got the ability to keep eating,” You Zhengping said. 

Then he found another video. It was at 12:54 PM, the scene of You Zhengping, turned into a handsome uncle, going one-on-one at shooting hoops with Zhen Li. 

You Zhengping said, “My basketball throwing match with Zhen Li increased from one ball at a time, to two at a time, all the way to five. When there were two basketballs, Zhen Li hadn’t touched his phone. When I increased the number of balls to three, there was a trace of stiffness in his expression. Then he called a time-out. He told me then that he had to respond to a message and took out his phone. After he clicked on his phone a few times, it was as if his basketball technique had divine assistance. He wasn’t even afraid when the number of basketballs went up to five. I had to set up a space track to get five in at once. How was he doing it?” 

You Zhengping hadn’t seen Zhen Li’s phone during the basketball throwing competition. Looking through the mall’s surveillance now, he could clearly see that Zhen Li hadn’t been responding to a message. He had once again been repeatedly clicking aimlessly on the phone’s main screen. 

The older Protectors nodded. “He really did use the phone to activate some abilities. That probably requires some price, so he wouldn’t use the abilities lightly. From these points, we can confirm that it’s true that there’s a mysterious app on the phone. The essential nature of both the phone app and the floating interface are beyond the technology and power we understand. Our current technology has no way to detect them. But judging from the change from an interface implanted in the brain to a phone app, we can see that the Destroyers’ technology level has deteriorated Why would such a phenomenon take place?” 

Director Xiao considered, then put forward his own view: “Two reasons. First, there was some special circumstance among the Destroyers, an internal conflict or a natural disaster, and that’s why no Destroyers have appeared in our world for fifteen years in a row. Having recovered from that period, the Destroyers have come to our world again, but because of the special circumstance, their technology deteriorated, concretely expressed in the change in the interface and the Destroyers being unable to self-destruct. 

“Second, Zhen Li isn’t a Destroyer. He’s just an ordinary person from our world who was chosen and used by a Destroyer to attain some goal.” 

Both were possible. At present they had no definitive evidence to determine which possibility was the greater likelihood. And as for how to handle Zhen Li, that would depend on his identity. 

If Zhen Li were a Destroyer, then he was an enemy. The Protectors would use torture to get him to talk, learn more information from him before he self-destructed. If Zhen Li were being used, then he was a victim, and behind him there was a more frightening enemy. The Protectors may choose to keep a protective watch on him. 

You Zhengping reviewed the materials and video of Zhen Li’s interrogation over and over. He pressed “pause” at a certain time and said to his superiors, “Right here, doesn’t it seem like he’s looking at a floating interface?” 

This was precisely when everyone had returned after leaving the room due to concerns that Zhen Li would self-destruct. Zhen Li, staring at You Zhengping, who had walked in first, rubbed his eyes. He seemed to be confirming You Zhengping’s identity, but looking closely, his eyes looked like they were moving from right to left. Instead of looking at You Zhengping, it looked more like he was reading words written right-to-left. 

The Protectors silently replayed the video of Zhen Li’s interrogation. Director Xiao snorted. “If not for Xiao You’s attentiveness, he would have pulled one over on us.” 

“I don’t think his panic when he was caught was an act. Zhen Li hadn’t looked at the floating interface then. Only after he revealed information without self-destructing afterwards could he see the interface,” the Protector in the Zhongshan suit said. 

Everyone exchanged looks, feeling that everyone’s views had unified. 

It wasn’t that something had gone wrong within the Destroyers, causing their technology to deteriorate. There was someone behind Zhen Li, and that person was the Destroyer! 

“Question him again!” Director Xiao said. 

—

Zhen Li curled up and squeezed his eyes shut, remembering the last words he had read on the floating mirror after the Protectors had left: “You reading words in midair will definitely be noticed when the surveillance footage is reviewed. They’ll guess that someone is instigating you. When they question you the second time, you just have to invent a backstage manipulator based on the System, and they’ll let you go and use you to lure in the hidden instigator. You’ll be safe then. I won’t give you any more hints. You have free rein.” 

Would it really be like this mysterious person had said? Zhen Li thought nervously. 

The people who had questioned him before came back into the room. Zhen Li stood up in a dither and looked innocent. “I really did tell you everything. Not one word was a lie!” 

“Really?” Director Xiao said majestically. “Then why didn’t you tell us what you read in midair just now?” 

Zhen Li was surprised. He didn’t cover up his expression at all, as though he had never thought that Director Xiao and the others would find out. In reality, he was astonished at the insightfulness of the person behind the mirror. That person wasn’t even here, but they could still foresee so many things. They had even guessed how the other side would judge! 

Director Xiao pulled up the video and explained everyone’s analysis. He cried out, “If you dare to lie again, we’ll execute you on the spot!” 

You Zhengping and the others cooperated with Director Xiao, raising their guns and aiming them at Zhen Li’s head. 

Zhen Li was terrified, but what he was afraid of wasn’t the Protectors; it was that person who could predict everything without being on the scene or showing themselves. 

He raised his hands and said, “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you. There really was a person… No, I can’t say for sure that it was a person. He installed an app on my phone and told me to act according to his orders. If I didn’t do what he said, I would die. I could use the phone to equip some abilities, but there were restrictions, like the basketball throwing ability, I could only keep it for an hour, but the alternate dimension stomach I can use for twenty years.

“What I said before about the mission being to catch a big boss wasn’t a lie. The app told me that if I found the big boss hidden in this world, I could win my freedom forever, endless money, beautiful women, and super powers. And I could have a wish granted. 

“There’s something I didn’t say before. The app told me that I’m not the only one carrying out this mission. There are lots of people who want to kill the hidden big boss. Everyone is vying to complete the mission. Some people have formed a league.” 

This time the Protectors believed what Zhen Li was saying. Having analyzed it, they determined that the Destroyers had divided into two forces. 

One side was the big boss Zhen Li talked about having to kill. Director Xiao suspected that this big boss was that immense power from fifteen years ago. It turned out that he hadn’t left but had been hiding in their world from the beginning. 

The other side, meanwhile, was the Destroyer behind Zhen Li. Maybe it was one person, or maybe it was a group. They were hunting the powerful Destroyer who had been in hiding for fifteen years. 

“This is intolerable!” After reaching a conclusion, Director Xiao was mad enough to pound the desk. “The Destroyers are having a civil war and using our world as their battlefield! What do they think our world is?” 

You Zhengping clenched his fist and said, “Neither side is good people. We can’t let either force go! We must chase all of them out of our world!” 

“Right!” Director Xiao said solemnly. “I’ve determined to let Zhen Li go temporarily, let him act openly and do something eye-catching. This way, if there are other Destroyers in our world, we can use Zhen Li to lure them in. Xiao You, Zhen Li lives in the Xuyang District. It’s within the scope of your jurisdiction. You have to secretly observe him. Keep in mind, you absolutely can’t let him know your identity.” 

You Zhengping had always used the handsome uncle’s face in contacting Zhen Li. He and his underlings hadn’t revealed their true features. Zhen Li had no idea of their identities. 

“Yes, sir!” You Zhengping said, saluting. “I guarantee that I will accomplish this mission!” 

Director Xiao said sincerely, “Also, I’m not worried about the other Protectors, but you, Xiao You… You’re a married person, and you live in the Xuyang District and have a very close relationship with your partner.

“You have two choices now. First, you can tell him the truth, and we’ll carefully protect Yu Hua once he understands the situation. When this is over, he’ll be able to return to normal life.

“Second, you can keep concealing it, not letting a trace slip out.

“Previously, once Protectors’ family members found out the truth, they would follow their family members during battle out of concern. Then they would be taken by the Destroyers as hostages. This led to heavy losses.

“Since then, we’ve stipulated that if a Protector wants to marry, their spouse must undergo rigorous training by the organization before marriage. Of course this rule led to marriage rates among Protectors dropping greatly.

“You lived in a peaceful age. The rule had been relaxed by the time you were married. We didn’t conduct ideological and political training for Yu Hua, so we can only adopt extreme protective measures.” 

You Zhengping stared blankly. He asked, “So…how long will it take for our mission to end?” 

“Unclear. This may be a battle lasting ten years, twenty years, even a few generations,” said Director Xiao. “If you don’t want Yu Hua to be cut off from the outside world, to be strictly guarded, then prepare to hide this from him your whole life.” 

You Zhengping covered his heart. Yu Hua longed so much for a peaceful life. How could he put him into such a dangerous position? 

“I’ll conceal it to the end,” You Zhengping said painfully but firmly. 

“Fine.” Director Xiao nodded. “I’ll arrange for you to transfer to the public security bureau as auxiliary police. That way you’ll be able to go out in the field any time.” 

“Oh, all right.” You Zhengping held back his tears. His and Yu Hua’s peaceful life was gone, but this was for the sake of better protecting their future, and the futures of many other people. 

If You Zhengping wanted everyone in the world to live peacefully, he had to undertake all of this. 

As You Zhengping thought longingly of Yu Hua, Yu Hua himself was standing quietly in the bathroom, sending You Zhengping a message: It’s already one in the morning, when will you be home?

You Zhengping received the message, asked his superior for leave, and responded to the message: I figure it’ll be tomorrow afternoon. I’ve gone out of town for work. 

Receiving this message, Yu Hua sighed in relief. That was fine, he could find someone to mount a new mirror before You Zhengping came home. 

The mirror he had used to send messages had been unable to withstand his strength. It had shattered. 

With difficulty, Yu Hua cleaned the shards of mirror. Looking at the wreckage of the mirror, he quietly decided that for the sake of his and You Zhengping’s peaceful life, he had to completely eradicate the System this time. 

---

Author's Note

The Protectors: Zhen Li is either a Destroyer or a victim. First, we’ll eliminate one proper answer. 

Yu Hua: I have foreseen you foreseeing my foresight.