After finishing all this, Wang Liang returned upstairs and rested for a while. Then he turned on his computer, pulled up the files, and once again studied the “Changxing Road Intersection Paper-Burning Incident.”
On the surface, Da’an City currently had two paranormal incidents remaining: the Changxing Road incident and the Metro Line 16 incident.
Before he left Da’an City for Wangshan Village in Dahuai City, it would be best to resolve one more paranormal incident.
That way, within just a few days of taking office, he would have resolved two paranormal incidents and confronted three malevolent ghosts. That would be enough to preserve his standing with headquarters, and would justify the privileges he currently possessed—privileges that were basically equivalent to “carving out a city and declaring himself king.”
The “Metro Line 16 Stoppage Incident” was where Sun Su had died. Wang Liang planned to leave it for last.
Although there was no clear evidence, Wang Liang had always felt that Sun Su’s death was not simple.
Sun Su had served for several months and had built a safe house.
It had been completed long ago, yet nothing had been placed inside. No matter how he thought about it, that seemed unlikely.
That made Wang Liang keep Sun Su’s death in mind. Moreover, Captain Wen had just called as well, telling him to handle the matter cautiously.
There was also very little known about the Metro Line 16 incident in the files—or rather, there was basically no useful information at all.
At present, all that was known was that a train on Line 16 had suddenly stopped while in motion. Contact had been cut off, and no one had left or sent out any message.
After being out of contact for so long inside a tunnel, the people on the train could basically be confirmed dead.
Counting the people inside that subway train and the later rescue personnel, the confirmed death toll had already exceeded one hundred. Among them was even a city handler. The hazard rating had, by exception, been raised straight from C-rank to B-rank.
As for the Changxing Road Paper-Burning Incident, according to the files, after midnight, passersby had seen an old woman burning paper in the middle of the intersection on Changxing Road every night.
She would keep burning until two-thirty in the morning before stopping. The firelight would vanish, and the person would abruptly disappear as well.
Seeing this, Wang Liang wanted to complain: burning paper for two and a half hours—where did all that paper come from? Pay some attention to environmental protection, hey!
Of course, that was only a complaint. Once the paranormal was involved, anything was possible. Perhaps what that eerie old woman was burning was not paper at all.
If it were merely paper-burning, with the person suddenly disappearing at two-thirty in the morning, the matter still could not have been confirmed as a paranormal incident and placed before the city handler. At most, it would only count as a suspected paranormal incident pending confirmation.
But according to the records in the files, anyone who went forward to ask questions during the period when the old woman was burning paper, or any vehicle that passed by, would gradually blur as they approached her, then disappear and never be seen again.
So far, the number of people confirmed to have disappeared because of the Changxing Road incident had already reached several dozen. An even greater number of unrecorded missing persons might also have been caused by this incident.
That road had now been sealed off, and all people and vehicles were forbidden from entering.
It was precisely this record that let Wang Liang know this matter likely would not be as easy to handle as Lan Village had been.
A malevolent ghost’s activity being limited to a specific area, with no ability to wander for the time being, was the hallmark of a C-rank paranormal incident.
For paranormal incidents of this sort, once that area was sealed off, there generally would not be much trouble—at least in the short term.
That was also how Captain Wen and the others had handled this paranormal incident after Sun Su’s death was confirmed.
But sealing off roads was not the best method. It would bring a certain amount of trouble to a city’s traffic. Seal off this place, seal off that place—once enough areas were sealed, minor trouble would become major trouble, seriously affecting the operation of an entire city.
So unless there was truly no other option, if it could be resolved, it was best to resolve it directly.
Previously, Da’an City had no handler and could only choose to seal the road. But now that Wang Liang was here, he naturally had to try to resolve it.
Metro Line 16 was filled with unknowns, so that could be set aside for now.
Although the Changxing Road incident had a C-rank hazard rating, the hazard rating was not the same as its level of terror.
In Wang Liang’s view, that ability to make both people and vehicles eerily vanish once they drew near was suspected to be a ghost domain.
And the terror level of any malevolent ghost possessing a ghost domain would not be low. He could not be careless just because it showed no signs of wandering and had a C-rank hazard level.
After all, he was going to handle it, not seal it off.
Facing a ghost suspected of possessing a ghost domain, Wang Liang decided to be prudent and wait one day, allowing his chances to restart himself to recover to three and making sure the malevolent ghosts inside him had completely settled down before he went to attempt contact with the malevolent ghost on Changxing Road.
As for whether he could successfully handle it in the end, that would have to be decided after he went there, judged whether that malevolent ghost’s ability was truly a ghost domain, and determined whether he could make contact with it and restrict it after entering the ghost domain.
After all, he currently did not have a ghost domain. If he did not even have the slightest chance to touch the other party, then at most he could only try to clash with it once, then use an alternative restart to retreat and come back after he had controlled a movie ghost with a ghost domain.
Beep~
Just as he was thinking about his next course of action, the satellite phone in Wang Liang’s pocket suddenly vibrated. Someone was calling. Wang Liang snapped out of his thoughts, took out the satellite phone, and answered.
“What is it?” His train of thought had been interrupted, and Wang Liang sounded somewhat impatient.
“Mr. Wang?”
“Just call me Wang Liang. Also, it’s not like this is the first time we’ve interacted. You heard my voice and still used a questioning tone—do you think someone is impersonating me, or do you think you’d be able to tell even if someone really was impersonating me?
“Be more direct next time. Give me some effective communication. This really doesn’t resemble the professionalism you showed when you first contacted me. Have you been replaced by a malevolent ghost?”
On the other end of the call, Su Xinxi had only just said one sentence before Wang Liang launched into a barrage. Yet everything he said was logical and well-founded, leaving her with her mouth slightly open and no words coming out.
Her ears quietly flushed red. She coughed once, reorganized her words, and said,
“Oh, okay. I’m very sorry, that was my problem. Wang Liang, I heard from Gao Yan’s report that you resolved a paranormal incident today, and that you even encountered two malevolent ghosts inside.
“Um, if it’s convenient, the next time you handle a paranormal incident, could you tell me in advance? I can make preparations on my end, and if an accident happens, I can help contact rescue at any time. This can also be considered a safety precaution.”
“Fine. A reasonable request. I’ll tell you before my next operation—if I remember. Anything else?” Wang Liang said.
“Uh, okay, thank you. Also, would it be convenient for you to tell me the details of today’s paranormal incident?” After Su Xinxi said this, she hurriedly added,
“Please don’t misunderstand. As you requested, headquarters will not forcibly issue orders to you. But the relevant data on paranormal incidents is very important to headquarters. We need detailed information on paranormal incidents from different regions in order to compile statistics and analyze and interpret malevolent ghosts. The more existing cases we have, the better.
“And in this way, I can also record your achievements in handling paranormal incidents so nothing gets missed. In a situation like today’s, where two malevolent ghosts appeared in a single paranormal incident, your merit and subsidy will also be increased accordingly.
“Accumulating merit will be very helpful in the future, and the relevant subsidies will also be transferred to your card later.”
Wang Liang thought about it. The information on these two malevolent ghosts did not have much value in being kept secret from his perspective, so there was no harm in telling headquarters.
“Fine. Prepare to establish a file.”