Chapter 35: Causality

The surveillance footage was swiftly magnified and focused under Gao Jinzhong’s practiced operation.

The man on the screen was clearly visible, appearing to be in his early twenties. His features were so delicate they bordered on feminine, particularly the light purple eyeshadow that lent him an alluring, almost bewitching quality. Yet, the distinct prominence of his Adam’s apple left no ambiguity about his gender.

Bai Yujing issued an immediate order: "Access the database and identify this individual."

"Understood!" Gao Jinzhong replied, his fingers flying across the encrypted mobile device.

During the highest-level meetings presided over by the Sage, the Imperial Study administrator account held temporarily elevated top-tier privileges, sufficient to access all the Empire's database resources.

The facial recognition program ran at high speed. Within seconds, a detailed file overlaid the surveillance footage, projected onto the massive screen.

The man was named Xini Schultz, a native of Maro City in the Fifteenth Administrative District. Born on November 3, 4872 (Imperial Calendar), he was a legendary esper of the psionic-sensory type. He held a registered account on the Imperial Esper Platform, ranked at the highest level: King.

His mission record showed 178 completed contracts with a 100% satisfaction rate. He had been accused three times—twice involving disappearance cases and once involving allegations of human experimentation—yet he had been acquitted and released in all three instances.

Gao Jinzhong thoughtfully pulled up the electronic case files for these three incidents for Bai Yujing to review. Bai Yujing’s eyes swept over the documents, his brow furrowing slightly.

On the surface of the files, the judge’s rulings were logically sound and the chain of evidence complete, showing no obvious procedural errors. However, the fact that all three lawsuits were presided over by the same judge, coupled with the blue-and-white cloud cloak Xini wore—identical to that of the "Prophet"—made the accusation of "human experimentation" seem chillingly credible to Bai Yujing.

He never considered the Great Han Empire he had forged to be flawless. As long as human desire existed, evils such as wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice, and corruption would never be entirely eradicated. Still, he enforced a "zero-tolerance" policy upon his officials, striving to minimize the potential for rot.

"Arrange for a thorough investigation into this judge to see if he accepted bribes or committed dereliction of duty. At the same time, conduct secret interviews with the plaintiffs of these three cases to collect more detailed leads and testimony. If the accusations are true, compensate the victims according to the law and severely punish everyone involved, regardless of their status or position!"

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

Gao Jinzhong bowed to accept the order and then pulled up more surveillance footage. These records showed Xini active in various cities across the Fifteenth Administrative District, though he was never seen wearing the signature cloak. According to consumption records, his last traceable expenditure was on February 18 of this year, when he paid 7,000 credits at a high-end custom tailor shop in Maro City for two blue-and-white cloud cloaks.

Xini's last phone call was also logged that same day, lasting less than a minute. The recipient was Mana Koval, a member of the squad he had formed on the esper platform, and the woman his younger brother, Zorn Schultz, was pursuing.

Xini’s parents had died early, and he had severed ties with his relatives; his only kin was his brother, Zorn. The second-to-last call record was to Zorn, equally brief, likely just an arrangement for an in-person meeting.

These two individuals might be the perfect breakthrough. Bai Yujing quickly accessed the files for Mana and Zorn.

Mana was a woman addicted to gambling. The police department’s raids on underground casinos almost always "encountered" her. Her personal debt had accumulated to a staggering 1.3 billion, and consumption records showed she had made small expenditures that very day.

Zorn was a "perennial" resident of the prison, having served a cumulative total of nearly thirty years behind bars. His crimes were always for peeping at women in showers, and his refusal to mend his ways meant his sentences grew increasingly severe with each offense. His excuse for the crimes was absurd: he claimed that voyeurism provided "inspiration" for his writing.

"Order Commander Hank of the Seventh Legion to step in and immediately bring Mana and Zorn to the Seventh Legion headquarters for questioning." Bai Yujing chose the Seventh Legion precisely because its headquarters were located on the outskirts of Maro City, allowing for the fastest possible containment of the targets.

"At the same time, order the Seventh Legion’s intelligence department to secretly search all potential hideouts of Xini within the Fifteenth Administrative District and track his movements!"

"As you command, Your Majesty!" Gao Jinzhong replied solemnly.

Bai Yujing turned his gaze to Nangong Lin. "Let us return to the Imperial Study."

"Very well." Nangong Lin’s fingertips trembled imperceptibly.

Light and shadow swirled; the two vanished from the solemn main hall in an instant, and the next moment, they stood within the bright and spacious Imperial Study.

The sun outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was perfect, bathing the room in warmth. Bai Yujing walked toward the iconic crescent-shaped desk. The computer screen on the desk was lit, displaying a notification: Gao Jinzhong had revoked his temporary top-level access.

Bai Yujing opened the internal affairs system, and the screen was immediately flooded with interrogation reports submitted by the legion commanders and the Chief of the National Police Agency.

The conversion process for all the captured Demonic Humans was identical to that of Caesar. They had all "witnessed divine miracles" in their dreams, where an Outer-Realm Celestial Demon promised to satisfy their most intense inner desires in exchange for their transformation. Crucially, they were instructed to act upon their own thoughts, unlike Haydon, who had received explicit orders to expand the number of Demonic Humans.

After quickly browsing through all the reports, Bai Yujing turned his head toward Nangong Lin, who was standing by the window. "What do you think?"

Nangong Lin pondered for a moment, her voice flowing like a clear spring: "I think it might have to do with these people's dreams. Replacing you, developing a longevity drug, becoming the fastest in the world... these dreams themselves demonstrate that they were never people content with mediocrity. Had the Outer-Realm Celestial Demons not intervened and transformed them, many of them, even if they could not fully achieve their ambitions, would very likely have left a significant mark in their respective fields."

She looked up, voicing her suspicion: "Now, their lives have been upended by the intervention of the Outer-Realm Celestial Demons. This upheaval itself is like throwing a massive boulder into the river of destiny; the ripples and chaos stirred up might be the key to the Outer-Realm Celestial Demons' invasion of Blue Star."

Bai Yujing said thoughtfully, "By that logic, are we also stirring destiny by arresting them?"

"It is possible," Nangong Lin admitted candidly, then added, "But the path of cause and effect and destiny is profound and mysterious; it is not a magical art in which I am proficient. My primary study is in arrays. Everything I just said is mere personal speculation and may not be accurate."

Bai Yujing smiled slightly. "In my eyes, you are an expert in the path of cause and effect."

His gaze fell back to the dense reports on the screen. How should these converted Demonic Humans be handled?