Fishing

On the outskirts of Forging City, there was an unnamed small river, its waters stained a chaotic blend of colors by various types of trash and pollution.

The river surface reflected the distant city lights, and an occasional bird would skim across the water.

This place was far from the main roads; the only sound was the rustle of the wind.

Yue Shi sat on a small folding stool, a fishing rod in his hand.

The rod looked ordinary, but it had a prestigious origin.

Its full name was 【The Miraculous Fishing Rod That Prevents Any Angler in the Myriad Realms from Going Home Empty-Handed】.

The name was a bit of an exaggeration, but the rod lived up to it.

It was nearly an incarnation of the concept of "fishing," capable of angling powerful entities from across the myriad realms.

Back when the minister and the others were fished out of the world within the book, this was the rod that had been used.

The good things in this world always seemed to be destined for Yue Shi.

And so, the rod was now in his grip.

The rod dipped slightly, pointing toward a spot in the center of the river where ripples expanded in concentric circles. On the surface, he appeared to be fishing in the river, but in reality, the hook had long since traveled to another world.

Not far from his feet, the black cat was playing with the Magic Conch.

The ghost batted the shell with its paw and meowed into it.

Then, the conch replied to him, "Once, there was a demigod who, in order to ascend to godhood, did not hesitate to fool history. The history he fooled was that An Lingrong was the ancestor of Antigonus, and that the War of the Gods was fought to prevent An Lingrong's revival within the body of Antigonus's descendants."

The ghost: "..."

That was a hard one to evaluate.

He changed his angle and meowed again.

The Magic Conch: "The old yellow ox in the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was once a celestial maiden from heaven, and the Cowherd was her son."

The ghost flicked its tail, utterly uninterested in this gossip. He meowed a third time.

The Magic Conch: "The second half of the Book of Power does not exist."

The black cat finally lost interest. He swiped the conch aside with his paw and turned to look at Yue Shi.

“That kid, Yu Duanhong, should be shivering in an isolation room at the Anomaly Management Bureau right about now.”

“Your stepping stone has officially been delivered.”

Yue Shi didn't respond immediately, his gaze fixed on the ripples on the water.

After a long while, he gave a soft hum of acknowledgment, his wrist moving slightly to adjust the rod's position.

The death of Yu Duanhong's neighbor, the encounter with the walking in circles, being targeted by the Knocking Ghost—every event that followed was masterminded by Yue Shi.

The ghost continued, “Your luck is truly something else. The first time you used that rod, you fished up a unique ghost—immortal, indestructible, and governed only by its killing rules.”

“And it was just the right fit for Yu Duanhong to successfully control.”

“It was just a random selection. I originally intended it for Yu Duanhong's neighbor, but unfortunately, that neighbor was just a loser,” Yue Shi said, his voice lazy.

“A young man living at the bottom of society, filled with a longing for the supernatural yet battered by setbacks... A terrifying and bizarre encounter, a transformation born of a narrow escape from death, plus the inevitable intervention of the authorities—there is no better pawn than him.”

“A pawn?” the ghost asked. “Is your target the Anomaly Management Bureau itself?”

“Yes.” Yue Shi withdrew his gaze and looked at the ghost.

“We are newcomers; we know too little about this world. As the official agency handling supernatural incidents in Zhongzhou, the Anomaly Management Bureau must possess the most core intelligence.”

“What exactly are the so-called gods, immortals, and top-tier combatants of this world? What are their power levels? How does this magic-prohibited Zhongzhou maintain such a strict order? What is their ultimate force?”

“Yu Duanhong is a living sensor sent into their interior. Through his experiences and the information and people he encounters, we can indirectly obtain the Anomaly Management Bureau's reaction patterns, evaluation systems, and power ceilings.”

“More importantly, if his luck is good and he is actually recruited—even if only on the periphery—it would be equivalent to planting a nail inside the official agency.”

The ghost fell silent for a moment, seemingly processing the plan.

“The plan feels a bit crude.”

In truth, he wanted to say the plan was terrible, but he felt he should save some face for Yue Shi.

Yue Shi waved it off. “You don't understand. In matters like this, the simpler and more direct, the better. Subtle schemes aren't as effective as playing an open hand.”

“Even if Yu Duanhong fails, we can continue to roll out a second, a third, a fourth... even more pawns.”

“Besides, I've already prepared an escape route I can take at any time.”

The ghost fell silent again, only speaking after a moment. “You've changed.”

“You seem to have become... kinder. Not as malicious as before, and much more low-key and restrained.”

“If this were the old you, you would have definitely chosen a more violent method—releasing large-scale mental contamination, creating chaos, and forcing the official forces to reveal themselves so you could clash with them head-on to test their strength. Just like you did in Greystone Town.”

At the mention of Greystone Town, Yue Shi's lips curled slightly.

“That was a remote town with a small population. I only used a little induction to amplify some pre-existing negative emotions and trigger a few vicious murders. And the result?”

“From the moment the incident occurred to the intervention of the Anomaly Management Bureau's local squad, the securing of the scene, the initial stabilization of the situation, and the prioritization of the minister and the others as tracking targets—the entire process was astonishingly fast.”

“Their efficiency is too high for a bloated bureaucracy. You should understand what that means.”

The ghost looked solemn. “It means they either possess extremely high mobilization and response capabilities at the grassroots level, or they have some means of rapid detection and localization of anomalies that we don't yet understand. Or perhaps both.”

“The Zhongzhou authorities have an extremely low tolerance for supernatural incidents and react very aggressively.”

“Exactly.” Yue Shi nodded.

“If a remote town was like that, the reaction speed of official forces in a metropolis like Forging City will only be stronger.”

“Rashly releasing large-scale contamination might create temporary chaos, but it would also certainly draw a thunderous strike immediately.”

“Before we have cleared up the opponent's trump cards—especially what their highest-tier combat force actually is—this kind of head-on probing carries too much risk for uncertain gains.”

When the situation was unclear, Yue Shi would choose to keep a low profile and play the good guy. He had done the same thing back in Amber City.

With a face as handsome as his, countless people were willing to believe he was a good person if he wanted them to.

“Being low-key isn't about restraint; it's for more efficient observation and infiltration.” A flash of malice filled Yue Shi's eyes.

“I'm very much looking forward to seeing how the Anomaly Management Bureau treats Yu Duanhong and that Knocking Ghost.”

The ghost understood. “So, what's next? We just fish here and wait for news from Yu Duanhong?”

Yue Shi cast his gaze back to the dark river surface. The invisible fishing line seemed to tremble slightly.

“Yu Duanhong's side needs time to ferment. We can use this time to make other preparations. This world is large and interesting; there are many places worth exploring. For instance, go look into a place called the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop.”

...

Early morning, in the isolation room of the Anomaly Management Bureau.

The heavy alloy door was opened.

Standing at the door was the cold, short-haired female captain from the previous day.

“Yu Duanhong, you may leave.”

Yu Duanhong was sitting on the bed, trying to use a blank stare to calm the restlessness of the ghost within him.

Hearing this, he looked up, his face full of bewilderment.

“Leave? I can go?”

The short-haired captain stepped aside to clear the path.

“The preliminary inspection is complete, and your situation has been recorded. The subsequent handling plan requires time for research and reporting.”

“During this period, you are to return to your original residence. Keep your communication lines open. You are not permitted to leave Forging City without permission and must cooperate with any further inquiries or inspections at any time.”

“Your ability is strictly prohibited from being used except in cases of emergency self-defense. If any anomaly is detected, we will take immediate action. Do you understand?”

“I understand.” Yu Duanhong nodded frantically, scrambling off the bed.

He had thought he would be locked up for at least two weeks or even longer; he hadn't expected to be released so soon. Moreover, they hadn't recruited him into the system, nor had they placed any severe penalties or restrictions on him.

The female captain led him to the branch entrance, handed him a key, and pointed to a sedan parked on the roadside.

“A driver will take you back to the Hive Apartments. The door to your home has been replaced; the key is right here.”

The entire process was so clean and efficient that it felt surreal to Yu Duanhong.

He sat in the car, looking at the street scenes outside the window, his mind a mess.

That was it?

The Anomaly Management Bureau was just going to let him, a brand-new ghost controller, go back just like that?

No, this had to be part of some handling plan!

With a heart full of doubt, Yu Duanhong maintained his appearance as an honest man and returned to the Hive Apartments.

A few neighbors were gathered downstairs, peeking around. When they saw him get out of the car, their gazes were evasive yet curious, and the sound of hushed whispering was faintly audible.

Yu Duanhong knew they were discussing the gossip surrounding him; a few words were enough to manufacture several rumors.

Being a suggestive streamer always came with these kinds of troubles.

He kept his head down, walked quickly through the crowd, and swiped his card to go upstairs.

The lock on room 306 had been replaced with a new one that looked much sturdier.

Opening the door with the new key, he found that the room had been roughly organized. It was no longer the mess it had been the night before.

Broken items had been cleared away, and the floor had been swept.

He stood at the door, dazed for a good while, before slowly walking in and closing the door behind him.

He rested until the afternoon. Truly unable to stay cooped up in the room, Yu Duanhong decided to go out, walk around aimlessly, and buy some food.

Perhaps because he had controlled a ghost, he now felt a strong urge to dive into a crowd and go on a mindless, unstoppable killing spree.

Following the familiar streets, he walked toward a supermarket a few blocks away.

There were many pedestrians on the road, and the weather was still smoggy; everything seemed no different from yesterday.

Just as he passed a crossroad and was waiting for the light, a deep blue luxury car pulled over to the curb.

The door swung upward, and a well-dressed young man stepped out composedly.

The man was around the same age as Yu Duanhong, his hair perfectly groomed, with a faint, lingering arrogance on his face that came from long-term social superiority.

He seemed to be giving instructions into a communicator in a low voice, his gaze casually sweeping over the pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Yu Duanhong’s body stiffened.

He recognized that man—the person who had stolen his admission spot years ago, causing him to lose his chance to study at the academy.

Having not seen him for several years, the man had clearly pulled completely away from an ordinary person struggling at the bottom like Yu Duanhong.

The outfit, the car, and the aura he naturally projected all proclaimed that he had already joined another social class.

He was an existence that Yu Duanhong had to look up to.

The red light turned green. The man walked toward a restaurant across the street that looked quite expensive.

From beginning to end, his gaze didn't linger in Yu Duanhong's direction for a single second. Perhaps he had long since forgotten who Yu Duanhong was.

Yu Duanhong lowered his eyelids and followed the crowd across the zebra crossing.

Deep in his heart, he was exceptionally calm, without many ripples. Those feelings of resentment and unwilling had tortured him for too long; he couldn't let himself sink into that kind of internal emotional drain.

The first lesson reality had taught him was to recognize the gap. Useless emotions would only consume him and make his life worse.

...

Back home, he closed the door and tossed the instant food he had bought onto the table. Yu Duanhong took a deep breath, looking for other things to distract himself.

He sat at the computer and opened the back-end of his streaming account.

Follower count, private messages, unanswered collaboration invites, yesterday's stream earnings...

Seeing these figures, his mood improved slightly.

Furthermore, the account status was normal. There were no violation warnings or ban notices.

Overnight, he had gone from an eighteenth-tier small-time streamer struggling on the edge of survival to a genuine internet celebrity.

It was quite absurd.

When he had lived his life honestly and dutifully, his days had only gotten worse.

Once he threw caution to the wind and stopped being an honest man, he suddenly escaped poverty.

It was the ultimate irony.

Yu Duanhong clicked on several of the most popular screen-recorded clips; the comment sections below were already in an uproar.

His private messages were also stuffed with all sorts of information.

In the short term, at least, he didn't have to worry about food or rent.

This allowed his tensed nerves to relax a little.

He began to browse through the collaboration offers in his messages, filtering for those that looked reliable and promised quick money, preparing for a live sales stream.

He had to monetize this wave of traffic as quickly as possible.

...

At night, Yu Duanhong took a hot shower to wash away his exhaustion.

He stood before the bathroom sink, drying his hair with a towel.

The mirror reflected a young face that looked like a corpse; he could feel that his body was dying.

Just as he was about to look away, two lines of text suddenly appeared on the surface of his eyeballs, projected directly onto his retinas.

“You are being monitored from all angles.”

“Don't make any rash moves.”

The words flashed and vanished, like an illusion.

Yu Duanhong's movements as he dried his hair didn't pause, and his expression didn't change in the slightest. As if he had merely glanced casually at the mirror, he turned and left the bathroom, curling up at the head of the bed to scroll through his phone as usual.

Only he knew that his heart had just skipped a beat.

As expected.

How could the Anomaly Management Bureau possibly let him back so easily?

Yu Duanhong had long since had a faint suspicion about this.

The fact that his streaming account wasn't banned and his chance encounter with the person who had stolen his school spot that afternoon—none of it was likely a coincidence. It was a test, a way to observe his subsequent reactions.

He had no doubt that this apartment was already filled with monitoring equipment that was difficult for the naked eye to detect.

His communications and his online activities were all under the control of the Anomaly Management Bureau.

The warning just now must have come from that mysterious long-haired man.

For the time that followed, Yu Duanhong behaved with extreme normalcy.

He continued his career as an internet celebrity, strictly obeying the Bureau's warnings and never using the ghost's power.

He was waiting for the Anomaly Management Bureau's follow-up notice, and he was also waiting for the mysterious man who had pushed him into this game.