The Eldritch Files

”Pale Giant?”

Upon hearing this name, Han Su’s expression turned grave.

It was no wonder the Investigator codenamed Bai Yang had been so tense at the sight of him.

It was no wonder Miss Ai had reminded him to get involved in this mission, even under these circumstances.

Everything was starting to make sense.

He hadn’t been very interested in reopening the kidnapping case before. But the moment he became an Investigator, Miss Ai had specifically reminded him of the authority he now possessed.

She considered it important, and Zhang Chiguo considered it even more so. For so many years, all Zhang Chiguo had wanted was to get this kidnapping case officially filed. Even if Han Su didn’t understand the significance of filing the case, he had long since committed the matter to heart.

’For something so important, who would have thought the evidence would surface just like that?’

Seeing the look on Han Su’s face, Li Jiting immediately retrieved a file from a hidden compartment under the coffee table. He pushed it in front of Han Su and said in a low voice, ”The first thing that Investigator Bai Yang did when he found me was demand that I block all information.”

”But thankfully, I kept these photos.”

”...”

Han Su hurriedly opened the file. The very first photo left him stunned.

The photo showed a statue—a Giant sitting on a throne.

Surrounding it were rice-grain-sized people kowtowing, highlighting its immense scale.

In that photo, Han Su recognized the image he saw in his visions whenever he used the power of the Giant’s Eye. It was tall, majestic, and bizarre. He could even faintly hear the cries of Priests and the beat of drums just by looking at the picture.

For a moment, his head spun.

Suppressing the feeling, he flipped through page by page. The number of photos was limited, but they were taken efficiently. Besides the statue, there were also utensils and murals clearly not from this era. Each one seemed to describe this Giant.

Further in, the style changed. The photos were no longer of statues or utensils, but of research reports.

One showed a person whose body had become enormous, locked in an iron cage, roaring and howling.

Another showed someone lying on an iron bed, their body pierced with all sorts of tubes, their skin deathly pale, their flesh melting away.

He reached the final photo, which looked like a hastily taken picture of a paper document.

Due to its age and the hurried nature of the shot, the text was blurry and hard to read, but a large heading leaped into view.

[Codename—Pale Giant Project!]

[...]

When Han Su saw this codename, he felt the blood rush to his head.

This was it. This was a record of the monster from the fourth floor, the monster that had chosen Li Manman.

More importantly, why was the codename in this document the same as the one reported by the media?

Back when he had escaped the Ancient Castle, he hadn’t known what these monsters were. He had only been able to describe their appearance to the media and the Public Security Bureau agents. The names of these monsters had all been coined by the media, who treated the whole thing like a sensational story.

But now, seeing the name in this document, Han Su felt a wave of shock and disbelief wash over him.

These old documents were from an unknown time, but they were clearly far, far older than the kidnapping case from ten years ago.

And yet, these documents already contained the corresponding codename for that monster!

’Could it be a coincidence?’

Han Su was more inclined to believe another possibility. ’Could it be that the media back then was also under some mysterious influence, causing them to subconsciously choose those codenames?’

’Or... were those reports written by people who knew the inside story from the very beginning?’

Looking at these photos, Han Su felt for a moment as if he had returned to the Ancient Castle, facing those monsters once again.

He struggled to contain himself. After a long moment, he slowly raised his head.

’They’d really found it.’

’Traces of these monsters...’

Li Yiting had done the right thing. This information was indeed crucial for the kidnapping case.

No matter how stubborn the higher-ups were, as long as the Disaster Management Bureau wasn’t a complete dictatorship, as long as there was still some foundation of adherence to the rules, then no one could possibly refuse to classify the kidnapping case with this new report and this evidence.

With this report, no one could ever again say that the kidnapping case never happened!

It took a great deal of self-control for him to rein in his excitement. He looked up at Li Jiting and said in a heavy voice,

”Mr. Li, thank you. The information you’ve brought is extremely important.”

”...”

”I should say we were very lucky.”

Hearing Han Su personally confirm the importance of this material, Li Yiting also felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He even looked like he was finally relaxing after a long period of exhaustion. He gently pinched the bridge of his nose and said softly,

”At the reception at Dingxiang Mansion, if we hadn’t met, I might have actually trusted that Mr. Drunkard.”

”Of course, the man is a smooth talker. He only revealed a few words to me, but it was enough to make me feel a certain fear back then. I was tempted to place all my hope in him. It was your words that reminded me to be more careful at Dingxiang Mansion.”

As he spoke, he smiled with a hint of pride.

”I don’t really understand the things you people are dealing with now, but at the very least, I know how to read people.”

”Xiaohan, compared to them, I trust you more.”

”...”

Listening to him, Han Su couldn’t help but nod, feeling quite emotional inside.

’Li Manman’s father is a truly formidable man.’

In Qinggang today, or rather, in the entire world, the barriers were clear and the class hierarchy was rigid.

Countless behemoths hid themselves, wearing disguises.

It was just like in the recorded conversation Black Rose had played for him: they were Ancient Nobles, pretending to be ordinary people.

Excluding people like himself who had come into contact with the Mysterious Circle, for an ordinary person to leap across social classes was practically a joke.

The rich kid, Zhang He, who had died under the wheels of the Ghost Truck, had been terrified by this very pressure.

Right now, he didn’t really understand the upper echelons of society and the commercial landscape, but he could feel that Li Yiting was the kind of person who had built his fortune in the business world, using his own intellect and methods to nearly shatter the class ceiling and achieve a meteoric rise in the city.

Or rather, if not for what happened to Li Manman ten years ago, the Magic Box Group would have already completed that rise.

Just this time alone, this man had sensed a problem at Dingxiang Mansion, used his influence in Seawall City to obtain development rights, realized the importance of this information, and then made the decisive, unhesitating decision to transport it back to Qinggang City.

The fact that he had managed to photograph this information and hide it away, even after Investigator Bai Yang showed up and ordered him to keep everything secret, spoke volumes about his boldness.

Han Su didn’t want to delay either. He stood up abruptly and said, ”Let’s go. Take me to see these things!”

...

...

”Things have gotten troublesome. The rookie is involved now!”

While the Doctor pulled a screen for privacy and Black Tiger stood guard outside with his gun drawn, Han Su and Li Yiting’s conversation became unstoppable. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Investigator Bai Yang didn’t try to intervene forcefully. Instead, he stepped aside and made a phone call.

On the other end of the line, the Drunkard Investigator’s voice sounded weary, even tinged with a bitter laugh.

”I’m starting to wonder if I pissed off a Banshee at some point and got hit with a bad luck curse.”

”Why has nothing been going my way lately?”

”Last time at Dingxiang Mansion, I was this close to persuading the Magic Box Group to hand over that piece of land. But then the old man, for whatever reason, suddenly decided to halt all funding and plans, which delayed the whole thing.”

”And that director from the Magic Box Group, he’s got guts too. He actually dared to open up those ruins behind our backs...”

”...”

The more Investigator Bai Yang listened, the uglier his expression became. He cut him off, his voice cold. ”Is this really the time for that?”

”I risked a downgrade in my evaluation to help you delay this mission, not to listen to you complain.”

”If you can’t handle all this, then maybe we should have chosen to side with Zhang Chiguo earlier.”

”...”

Hearing this, the Drunkard sighed. ”I just feel it’s a pity to lose such an outstanding young man,” he said softly.

”But I’ve already made the necessary arrangements. As long as he dares to leave the city, he’s destined to never come back!”

Investigator Bai Yang’s heart tightened upon hearing his words. ”Are you really going to make a move? Aren’t you afraid of Zhang Chiguo...?”

The Drunkard gave a lazy laugh. ”Zhang Chiguo is a crafty old fox, but does he have the guts to turn the Disaster Management Bureau upside down?”

”As for this rookie Investigator, it’s about time he learned what it feels like to offend the entire Investigator class...”

”...”

”...”

”The location is outside the city?”

As Han Su got up, his gaze swept over the listed location for the containment of the infected individuals and excavated items, and his brow furrowed slightly.

For the same mission, the difficulty automatically increases by one level just by being outside the city.

In other words, this mission, theoretically B+ Level, could basically be considered an A Level mission once it was outside the city.

’Most importantly,’ he thought, ’outside the city is a lawless land, a place even Miss Ai can’t oversee...’

Li Yiting nodded. ”Yes. The ’red-eye’ outbreak happened during transport. I don’t understand these things, but I know this stuff has an incomprehensible, mysterious influence. When we discovered the symptoms breaking out, I halted the transport. The items, and the people, were left outside.”

”Later, after this Investigator Bai Yang arrived, a temporary containment base was established at his request. He was also the one who forced me to come back this time to retrieve the materials.”

”...”

’So, this is why Miss Ai advised me to be cautious about taking on this mission?’

Han Su now understood the words Miss Ai had said to him before sending this assignment.

Outside the city. The lawless world outside the city. Stepping out of the cradle of reality to face the opponents stirring restlessly in the shadows...

He showed no particular reaction to the mission’s location. He didn’t even immediately start plotting or strategizing. Instead, he felt a sense of finality, as if something long-awaited had finally arrived. He took out his phone and sent a message to Wei Lan.

[Interested in coming out of the city to play?]

Wei Lan replied with a grinning emoji: [My friends and I have been waiting for a long time. We’ll be there, right on time...]