Dude, something's really wrong with your abilities.

Chapter 23 Remnants

Chen Shi had a very long dream, in which everything was so real that he could see the subtle expressions on everyone's face.

He sat at a window, and a line of people came up to talk to him. The first one said earnestly, "Dude, come work for us, the benefits are amazing." The second one immediately retorted, "Don't listen to him, they never pay overtime."

The third person's voice was even more enthusiastic: "Young man, have you considered changing jobs? We offer room and board here." Someone behind him cursed, "Hey, don't cut in line!" Then a group of people started arguing at the same time, just like at a rural market.

Some people could still be heard shouting, "Let him choose for himself, let him choose for himself!" and someone else replied, "Let him choose what? He didn't even open his mouth."

Chen Shi really wanted to say they had the wrong person, but in his dream, he couldn't open his mouth. Then he saw a chubby, round face occupy all the space in front of him: "You little brat, want to go running again?"

Then Chen Shi woke up with a start. At that moment, the phone next to his pillow rang. It was Fatty calling.

The fat man said on the phone that the first thing Biaozi did when he woke up in the morning was to ask him if Xiaoshi's foot was still swollen. He said it was still swollen, and Biaozi said it needed to be iced and told him to go to the nurses' station to borrow an ice pack. He asked Biaozi, "You broke three ribs yourself, why are you worrying about someone else's ankle?" Biaozi said that Xiaoshi sprained his ankle on his first day on the field, so he was probably too embarrassed to ask the nurses for an ice pack.

Chen Shi was brushing his teeth, leaning on his cane, his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder. "Fatty, do you even have anything important to do?"

"Yes." The fat man's voice suddenly lowered, no longer the casual tone from before. "The people from Group Nine just called me."

"what?"

"They asked how badly you were hurt, which ward you were in, and if you wanted a fruit basket. I said Chen Shi wasn't hospitalized; he just sprained his ankle. Xiao Liu from their group said, 'That's perfect. The group leader said even a sprained ankle needs rehabilitation therapy, and Group Nine has the equipment. Let Chen Shi stop by on his way back.'" The fat man paused. "I can tell; they'll try to ambush you when you get back to the station."

Chen Shi dropped his toothbrush into the basin of water: "What does this mean?"

"He didn't say anything, he just hung up, but I felt something was off," the fat man continued. "Be careful when you go back to the station today."

Chen Shi: "............."

Sun Tiemei was sitting in Lao Zheng's office, about to speak, when there was a knock on the door and Sun Du pushed the door open and came in.

Old Zheng beckoned him to sit down.

"You've come at the right time, Sun Du, you should listen too. There are quite a few leads in this case right now. The batch of acoustic instruments we seized is one lead, and Zhuang Wen's team is still disassembling and studying them. The ones who were arrested are still quite seriously injured. Once we can interrogate them, we'll have to go through them all one by one. And that Li Mo, Sun Du, you know Li Mo, right? He used to work in the bureau. Where is he now? We need to find him as soon as possible. Also, we need to keep an eye on the F-level officers who went to the lottery shop before, so we don't end up like Zhao Zhiqiang."

Old Zheng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued, "The bureau has people following up on the sonic device and those criminals. As for Li Mo and those F-level civilians, here's what I'm thinking: apart from Tie Mei, the other members of Group Five are all injured to some extent, so I called Sun Du over. You guys divide up the work."

Sun Du nodded in agreement, then straightened his clothes and turned to Sun Tiemei: "Team Leader Tiemei, as the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and act according to your capabilities. Your team currently has quite a few wounded, and continuing to undertake the main reconnaissance tasks in this state is indeed somewhat of a stretch, judging from the actual situation."

He paused, his tone becoming even more earnest: "Of course, I still admire the work ability of Group Five. What I mean is, our intelligence section is fully staffed right now, while Group Five needs rest. So, the intelligence section can take over the work from now on. How about we hand over the work once the members of Group Five have recovered? After all, it's all for the sake of work."

Sun Tiemei didn't look at him: "Are you finished?"

"Hmm... I've conveyed the core message."

"Each person investigates their own case."

Sun Du didn't give up and continued from a different angle: "Team Leader Tie Mei, I completely understand your insistence. But looking at it from another perspective, if the intelligence department were to coordinate the investigation, it would be more efficient. After all, Team Five is basically in the hospital right now, so let them rest for a while longer."

Sun Tiemei turned to Lao Zheng. "Director, I suggest that Group Five and the Intelligence Section report their progress weekly."

Old Zheng placed his teacup on the table: "Then it's settled. Each of us will investigate our own cases, and we'll meet once a week. Sun Du, do you have anything else to say?"

"That's all. The division of labor is clear, and everything is done step by step. I think the leader's arrangement is very reasonable." He walked to the door, then turned back. "Team Leader Tie Mei, please let me know if you need anything. As the ancients said, 'Three people walking together can surely break metal.'"

Seeing that neither Lao Zheng nor Sun Tiemei reacted, Sun Du could only leave respectfully.

"Let Sun Du and his team investigate Li Mo's case; they have plenty of manpower now. As for the F-level case, let Chen Shi handle it; he's more suitable." Old Zheng considered for a moment.

Sun Tiemei nodded.

When Chen Shi returned to the bureau on crutches, the gatekeeper was very welcoming and kept recommending folk remedies for sprained ankles to him.

After finally shaking off the enthusiastic old man, Chen Shi entered the office and saw Sun Tiemei looking at documents.

Hearing the sound of her cane hitting the ground, she looked up and asked, "Is Chang Biao feeling any better?"

"Much better, team leader. Brother Biao will be discharged the day after tomorrow. He just needs to rest and recuperate. As long as he doesn't fight, there won't be any major problems."

Sun Tiemei closed the file: "And you?"

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore, it still affects my walking, but it's not a big problem." Chen Shi was taken aback. "Team leader, is there a mission?"

"It's not part of the mission. Old Zheng has Group Five keep an eye on those guys who went to the lottery shop. You've talked to them before, so they're easier to approach. I'll go with you then."

"Okay. When do we leave?"

"Anytime is fine."

"Team leader, I've been having strange dreams these past few days. I don't know if it's related to those sound wave devices or if there's something wrong with my mind. So I'm thinking of consulting with Teacher Zhuang, or maybe Team Nine..."

"Find Zhuang Wen."

Okay.

Chen Shi, leaning on his cane, went out and slowly made his way towards the technical department. The corridor was long, and so was his.

Chen Shi, leaning on his crutches, emerged from Sun Tiemei's office and slowly made his way down the corridor toward the technical department. He wasn't seriously injured; he was conserving his strength to speed up his passage past Group Nine.

However, before he could speed up, he smelled a perfume scent wafting over.

"Oh dear, what happened to our little Chen Shi!"

Lu Xueren hadn't even reached him yet, but her voice already enveloped him. She walked around to face him, bent down to look at his swollen ankle, and covered her mouth as if she had witnessed some human tragedy. Then, in an almost choked voice, she said, "It's only been a few days, how did you get so lame? Does anyone in your Group Five care about you? Group Leader Tie Mei is so heartless."

"Team Leader Lu, I just twisted my ankle, I'm not lame."

"You little rascal, your foot's swollen like that and you're still being stubborn." She tapped Chen Shi's forehead with her finger, then took his arm, taking away his crutch. She wrapped one arm around his waist, pressing herself very close. "Come, come, sit here with Sister Xue for a while. Group Nine has a physiotherapy bed. Xiao Liu used to be the school doctor; let him take a look at you. Your Group Leader Tie Mei is busy with a big case and doesn't have time for you, but Sister Xue will."

"Team Leader Lu........."

"How many times have I told you to call her Sister Xue? What, am I going to eat you?"

"No, I have something urgent to discuss with Teacher Zhuang."

"Finding Zhuang Wen won't take much time. I'll have Xiao Liu take you there later," she said, already helping him into the door of Group Nine, continuing, "It's just that I'm soft-hearted and can't bear to see my colleagues suffer. Xiao Liu! Make the physiotherapy bed, our distinguished guest has arrived."

She gently pressed Chen Shi onto the physiotherapy bed, just enough to make him sit up comfortably, then stepped back half a step, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked him over from head to toe.

"You've lost weight. You must not have been eating properly. What has Team Leader Tie Mei been feeding you every day?" She turned to the air and sighed. "Team Leader Sun is capable, no doubt about it, but she's too stubborn. She's made of iron herself, so she thinks everyone else is too. Look at Chang Biao, and then look at you. My heart still aches."

Chen Shi felt that saying anything now would be a waste of time. Since the crutch was gone, there was nothing left for him to struggle with.

To be fair, Xiao Liu from Group Nine was indeed very skilled. The ointment made my ankle feel warm after being applied, and most importantly, it didn't hurt at all. There was even a tingling and numb feeling.

"How is it?" Lu Xue tilted her head to look at him, "Isn't it more comfortable than your Group 5?"

"They're pretty much the same."

"Come on." Lu Xue's expression turned serious. "What you're thinking right now is 'Let's get out of here,' but you're saying 'more or less.' You guys in Group Five, you're all so good at giving the same excuses."

Chen Shi lay on the physiotherapy bed and glanced at her, but Lu Xue didn't look at her; instead, she looked out the window.

When she turned around and spoke again, her tone had changed.

"Do you think I'm just bored and spend all my time waiting for male colleagues in the hallway, grabbing them one by one?" she suddenly said.

No, no.

"You must have thought about it."

Chen Shi didn't respond; he had indeed thought about it. This was the overall assessment of Lu Xue from across the entire organization.

"When I joined the bureau, I was two years younger than you are now." Lu Xue turned her gaze from the window and looked calmly at Chen Shi. "The interviewer said that my mental manipulation ability wasn't suitable for fieldwork, and that I could only be an office clerk. I said, 'Fine, office clerk it is. I just don't believe that office clerks can't achieve results.'"

"Later, I applied to transfer to Group Nine. At that time, Group Nine was the most peripheral department in the bureau, and nobody wanted to stay there, but I went. I've managed to keep it up to where it is now in three years." She spread her fingers, looking at her nails. "The people in Group Nine, Xiao Liu, Lao Xu, and A Jing, were all the ones who were left over from other groups. The reasons for leaving them out were varied: low rating, weak practicality of their special abilities, introverted personalities, and not good at reporting to superiors. Sigh, never mind, never mind, anyway, you don't want to switch places."

She stood up and patted her skirt. "Go back now that your feet are done. Zhuang Wen is still waiting for you. I didn't mention switching groups today, so don't tell Tie Mei when you get back."

Chen Shi smiled at her.

Lu Xue pushed open the door and continued, "Group Five isn't your only option. If one day you feel it's not right for you, Group Nine has a place for you. It's not about poaching you, it's just giving you another choice."

Chen sat on the physiotherapy bed for a few more seconds, then took back his crutches and headed out towards the technical department. Xiao Liu from Group Nine offered to see him off, but he politely declined.

He had been walking down this corridor in the bureau for almost half the morning and still hadn't reached the technical section. However, his ankle did feel much better now, but he wasn't thinking about that. Instead, he was thinking about Lu Xue. She was alluring on the outside and spoke in a manipulative way, but she was just so unfathomable.

It was almost noon when I met Zhuang Wen. I knocked on the door of the technical department, and Zhuang Wen was hunched over his desk soldering a circuit board, not even looking up. "I'm busy right now."

"Teacher Zhuang, I have something to ask you."

Upon seeing that it was Chen Shi, he suddenly became enthusiastic: "Your leg is like this, yet you still ran over here."

"Teacher Zhuang, I've been having a lot of dreams these past few days. I rarely dream," Chen Shi said, sitting down to explain to Zhuang Wen. "These dreams are really strange. In one dream, people lined up and talked to me, like they were handing out flyers. I remember them very clearly when I wake up, just like they were real."

Zhuang Wen thought for a while, then walked to the iron shelf in the corner that was piled with books. The books on the shelf were in a mess, but it was very much in line with Zhuang Wen's daily behavior. For example, next to "An Appreciation of Human Anatomy" were books like "The Step Between Genius and Madness" and "The Art of Speaking with High Emotional Intelligence". It was hard to understand the logic behind it.

He crouched down and rummaged through the pages for a while, finally pulling out a thick book from the very bottom. The gold foil on the cover was almost worn away, leaving only the word "Dream" still recognizable. He placed the book on the table, quickly glanced through it, and then pushed up his glasses.

"You've been having dreams lately," Zhuang Wen said with certainty. "Freud told us that dreams are the vicarious fulfillment of repressed desires..."

"Teacher Zhuang," Chen Shi interrupted him.

"Um?"

"These dreams only started after I came into contact with that sonic device at the lottery station. I'd never had them before."

Zhuang Wen paused with his mouth agape, closed the book, pushed it aside, and glanced at the cover, his expression suggesting that the book was indeed unreliable.

"Then I think this isn't a dream."

He picked up the reverse coupling device from the pile of instrument wreckage, flipped it over, pointed to the circuit interface on it, and said to Chen Shi.

"In the basement of the lottery station, you were once subjected to close-range stimulation by that device. Your empathy is essentially a receiver; it can passively receive the emotional fluctuations of others. That forced stimulation 'opened' the receiver in your brain. But it wasn't just you who was opened. Those fragments of sound weren't dreams; they were a signal source that was still functioning, continuously sending information to your receiver."

"The instrument's transmission and reception are on the same frequency. The information flow is bidirectional." He looked up at Chen Shi's increasingly bewildered expression and could only explain in simpler terms, "When it poured in before, it created a path for you. Now that path is still there, and I think you can follow it back, and maybe you can find the source."