Mystery Intuition

Since remote sensing is inferior to direct sensing, why not just touch it with my skin? Could there be any way more direct than that?

But Lynch felt nothing.

He could feel the floor was dirty, cold, and rough.

But he could not detect the subtle differences in the mystery filth.

Lynch tried to emulate the method of reading memories from an artifact, clearing his mind to feel for the minute differences.

At the same time, he repeatedly adjusted his mindset, trying to focus his entire consciousness on his index finger, letting it occupy his entire perception.

But all he could sense remained only the temperature and texture.

Why, why can I not distinguish it despite having such high inspiration?

The neighbor never lied to me. If she said it would work, then it must. It is just that I haven't found the right method.

What on earth must I do to distinguish the mystery differences?

I... hmm?

Lynch suddenly raised his head, staring straight at Officer Natalie, staring so intensely she began to worry something had gone wrong, before he muttered to himself: "What part of us do we use to sense mystery? It certainly isn't the skin."

"Hmm?" The officer was also a bit stunned. After a moment of thought, she replied, "I don't know about yours, but most people use their soul, or at the very least their consciousness. It is certainly not the skin."

That's right. I come from a purely material world and lack that awareness. In reality, both intuition and direct contact are not limited to physical touch.

Using the body to make direct contact and then sensing with the soul is also a form of intuition.

Boom! His consciousness world shook. The crimson phantom of the full moon emerged from behind him. His soul manifestation appeared, and his soul entered its most sensitive state.

The bewildered officer, seeing him manifest his soul manifestation, became increasingly worried and placed a hand on his shoulder. Lynch just patted the hand on his shoulder and turned back with a smile.

"Don't be nervous. I think I've found the way."

"Hmm?"

He pressed his index finger against the floor again, sinking his consciousness into the soul manifestation, merging spirit and flesh, using his soul to experience the mystery filth perceived by his body.

Breathe, breathe.

The next moment, a strange sensation came from his fingertip, and the oppressive feeling of the filth was transmitted through his fingertip into the depths of his consciousness.

Whew, it really works.

This time, beyond the tactile sensation from his fingertip, there was the unique oppressive feeling of mystery filth. It was strong and very distinct, constantly striking Lynch's soul like a flash flood, forcing him to keep his emotions in check lest he panic or lose control of his behavior.

But precisely because it was so distinct, he could feel the subtle changes in the pressure. As his finger moved, the concentration of the filth became clear at a glance.

That's it, hehe.

Lynch smiled and looked back at Officer Natalie, only to find her staring at his soul manifestation floating in midair, dumbfounded and shocked to the point of distraction.

"What happened?"

The officer stared blankly at Lynch, expressionlessly pointing at the soul manifestation above his head.

Did something go wrong? Lynch sank his consciousness down, focusing on the soul manifestation. Isn't this quite normal... hmm? Why have the light points in the authority become three?

Authority, Concealment, ability, mystery intuition: directly sensing mystery filth through physical contact, making one more sensitive to changes in the filth, but also subjecting one to more intense impact.

The automatically understood information startled Lynch so much that his soul manifestation dissipated instantly. He stammered, "What's the situation? How is there one more?"

The officer's face was full of existential doubt, and she spoke in a stiff, dull tone: "Beyond the two methods mentioned yesterday, there is actually a third way to master an ability: occasionally, one can develop a unique ability of one's own. That is the most suitable and useful ability for one's own characteristics."

So that's how it is. But what does this have to do with Concealment?

No, it is indeed related.

"I understand. Concealment is not just about hiding oneself; seeing through concealment is also a part of it. Sensing the changes in mystery to discover a concealed target also falls within the scope of my authority. It seems my understanding of authority was too shallow. This is truly an unexpected gain. However, looking at it this way, mastering an ability is quite easy, not as arduous as I imagined. I... what is wrong with me? Why are you looking at me like that? I remind you, murder is against the law."

"Easy? I really want to hit you, you bastard. Do you know why I didn't say anything yesterday? Because the difficulty of developing an ability is too high; it is simply not within the realm of normal consideration. Not only does it require an extremely high compatibility with the soul manifestation, but one must also truly and thoroughly understand the authority to make the most reasonable hypothesis. Finally, one must find the right method to potentially succeed in developing a new ability."

The officer grabbed Lynch by the collar, her face flushed as she roared in a low voice:

"Being able to develop a new ability within five years of mastering an authority is considered a genius. And you? You learned your first ability just yesterday. One day, damn it! How many people go their whole lives without developing a single new ability, and you tell me it's easy? Don't you dare say 'easy' again!"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare." Lynch shook his head desperately, thinking that jealous women are truly terrifying.

However, he had guessed why he could develop a new ability. Although he had just come into contact with the divine authority of Concealment, his neighbor, Lady Luna, had been in control of it for who knows how many years. It was impossible for any mortal to grasp it more thoroughly than her. With the reasonable suggestions she gave, combined with his own unconventional ideas from another world, it was no wonder he developed a new ability.

"Hmph, you are simply born to be a Soul Severer. I am not angry; I should have been used to this long ago. I am not angry at all." The officer waved her fist indignantly and finally calmed down, remembering the mission. She whispered, "Let's look together. You find those photos, and I'll see if there are other clues. We don't have much time left; I expect they will be here soon. I don't believe they will honestly follow the rules and wait outside."

"Good." Lynch nodded and cautioned, "But don't make too much noise, and don't leave any obvious signs of having searched through things."

"Hmm?" The officer was startled, but after looking at the blue uniforms and Rangers outside the window, she revealed a strange smile. "I understand. It is wrong to wake someone else's dream."

Exchanging a knowing look, Lynch activated his new ability for the first time and reached his finger toward the room.

The perception was completely different. Before, he could only receive information from visual, tactile, and olfactory feedback, but now he sensed it directly with his soul. The oppressive force of the mystery was mapped directly into his consciousness through the contact of his fingertip, very clearly.

Good, now I can distinguish the changes in intensity.

No matter where the source of the filth is now, even if it is no longer here, one can calculate its trajectory in the room based on the concentration of filth it left behind.

That is how it will be. I am coming for you, mystery.

He returned to the doorway and carefully touched every object with his finger.

There was no obvious residue on the shoe cabinet. This was a good sign, meaning he did not put the items on the shoe cabinet when changing his boots before leaving, which likely meant he didn't carry them out with him.

There was obvious residue on the desk. Hmm, perhaps he was looking at the photos there, but there was no residue in the drawers, meaning he didn't put them inside.

Why is the residue on the bed so strong, and why is the range so large? It covered almost the entire bed. Hmm, it is very likely he spread the photos out on the bed to look at them carefully. If so, the number of photos is not just three or five.

Hiss, the concentration of filth on this wall is a bit terrifying. Did he use this as a memo board? Pinning things up is more convenient for observation than putting them on the bed. But why is the concentration several times higher than on the bed? Is it because they were left for a longer time, or did something else happen?

The bookcase... Officer Natalie, move aside, I'll be done soon. It's nothing, the concentration here is very faint; the items never reached this place. It's truly strange; the bookcase should have been the most suitable place to store the photos, with the strongest concealment.

As he moved slowly, the trajectory of the photos in the room gradually took shape in Lynch's mind. Although he could find reasonable inferences for every part of the trajectory, after searching the entire room, he still hadn't deduced the possible location of the photos.

No, I can't find any leads like this. I need to find a characteristic marker to determine its location.

But its most obvious marker is the high concentration of filth. Besides that, there are no other markers.

No, I understand. The high concentration of filth is the biggest marker itself.

The entire room was stained with such a high concentration of mystery filth; it could only have been stained remotely by it.

Then, could it be like the diffusion of ordinary odors, where the closer it is to the source, the higher the concentration of filth?

Donnie has been dead for several days. If the items are in the room, they have been here for several days. If this diffusion phenomenon holds, several days should be enough to produce a distinguishable difference.

Yes, that's right, this line of reasoning should...

"Hurry up, they are coming back around."

Officer Natalie's reminder came from the window. She was holding a small bag containing a few items and was currently withdrawing her gaze from the outside.

"Give me a few more minutes. Will it be in time?" Lynch suppressed the excitement in his heart. "I feel like I am about to grab its tail."

"It will be in time, but do it as quickly as possible. If you don't want to be discovered and put them on guard, we must leave time to evacuate."

"Good."

Lynch crouched back on the floor, pressing his hands against the ground, carefully experiencing the sensations returned from two different directions. At the same time, he moved slowly. A moment later, he opened his eyes wide and said excitedly, "It's just as I thought. Light on the left, heavy on the right. It should be on the left."

He turned immediately, targeting the left side, using the same method to feel the concentration differences in all directions, outlining the coming and going direction of the filth erosion based on the differences. Once several erosion propagation lines were determined, the situation immediately became clear. All propagation directions pointed to one single point.

The windowsill.

As soon as his finger touched the windowsill, a strong mental shock rushed toward him, making Lynch press his forehead and take two steps back. Cold sweat was already streaming down.

But his heart was full of joy, because unless the other party wanted to throw the items out the window, they shouldn't have brought the photos over and placed them on the windowsill.

What I need now is this kind of obviously abnormal performance.

"It's right here."

Lynch pointed to the windowsill. There wasn't much there, just a few potted plants, with some wooden blocks underneath them.

Could it be buried in the soil? Yes, many movies play out like that.

The flower pot is the best place to hide things.

Lynch quickly grabbed a pen and poked the shaft deeply into the soft soil.

But the tactile feedback was completely normal; it was just ordinary soil, with nothing unusual.

Damn it, is it not there? That's right, the size isn't appropriate. It's not a two-inch headshot; such a small flower pot can't bury them.

The blue uniforms outside the window had already returned to the adjacent building, and some were pointing this way. Lynch felt the blood vessels all over his body tightening, and his urgent muscles were trembling slightly.

I know you are anxious, but don't be anxious yet.

Think again. What did I overlook?

The pollution difference on the windowsill is no longer obvious, so I can't judge it as before, but there are only a few items here in total. There shouldn't be any place to hide anything.

Lynch and Natalie worked together, lifting the flower pots one by one and checking the bottoms.

It is true that some flower pots have a recess underneath, which could just happen to hide things, but these few flower pots were the most ordinary ones, and there was nothing underneath them.

That's right, they are all padded with wooden blocks. If there were a recess, it would have long since... hmm?

"Wooden blocks?"

Their movements paused simultaneously. They looked at each other and saw the joy on each other's faces.

Natalie immediately lifted a flower pot, and Lynch picked up the wooden block underneath and shook it.

The thick wooden block was solid. It felt heavy in his hand, just like Lynch's mood at this moment.

He put it back in its original place and picked up the second padding block under the second flower pot. The second one, the third one; they were all solid wood.

However, when the fourth and last flower pot was lifted, Lynch touched the wooden block, and his eyes changed immediately.

It felt obviously light; it was hollow.

With a strong oppressive feeling of mystery filth, Lynch shook the brick-sized and shaped wooden block. He gripped both ends and used force. The wooden block was actually pulled into two halves. The two ends were connected by a mortise and tenon structure, and the middle was hollow. A stack of photos was inserted inside.

"This is it."

Lynch raised his fist and gently bumped fists with the officer to celebrate. Afterward, he put the photos into the officer's evidence bag and put the wooden block back.

I hope you won't be too happy when you discover this thing.

The two of them cleaned up the room as quickly as possible, trying their best to wipe away the traces they had left behind. Only then did they smile at each other and slip out of Number 32 on tiptoe.

The blue uniforms outside were still noisily conducting their search, going in and out of the nearby buildings. Taking advantage of the gap, the two of them circled to the side of the building. Just as they hid themselves, a cheer came from behind.

"Found it, 32D."

Then came a series of noisy footsteps, as well as Walker's detestable voice.

"Well done. This time we have taken the lead again. Those losers from the Watchers can only eat horse manure behind our carriage. You go and seal off the nearby area. Do not let any 'idlers' from irrelevant departments in."

"Yes, sir."

"The rest of you, come in with me. This time we will move out even the furniture. I don't believe those losers who only know how to follow behind our butts can find anything again. Hahaha, unless they can still be one step ahead of us even now, this time we people from the city hall have won for sure. Those idiots sent by the royal family only deserve to be trampled under our feet."

"Oh~~"