The black-haired woman swept her bangs aside, then let them fall back into place less than a second later.

Jin Xueli, however, was stunned.

"There, see?" she said. "I just happened to see the news. That’s how I knew the new chief has been in office for less than a month."

The entire building was filled with a fog-like darkness. Only the flashlights in their hands broke through it on the fifth-floor corridor, carving out a few hollow patches of white light.

The light was dim and their vision was hazy, making it impossible to see things clearly. The woman had only pushed her hair aside for a moment, but Jin Xueli still saw a normal-looking human eye beneath her bangs.

’...Was I overthinking it?’

Indeed, the change of leadership at the Central Police Station wasn’t a secret. It wouldn’t be strange for someone to have learned about it through other channels.

"Ah, and here I thought I’d uncovered the truth."

Jin Xueli sighed, a wry smile on her face. "I’m actually a little disappointed... As long as she didn’t leave early on, and there are no secret passages in this building, there’s really only one way Ashley could have evaded the search for this long. How could I have been wrong?"

The black-haired woman nodded, as if just to show she was listening.

"Let’s keep looking," she said. "It’s the only way."

Jin Xueli took a step or two forward, stopping in front of the black-haired woman.

"How about I tell you my theory? You can listen and tell me where I went wrong."

The black-haired woman hummed thoughtfully, her expression noncommittal.

"I think Chaisi’s speculation was correct. Chief Ashley was invaded by a resident after swapping the photo, which caused her eye to mutate... But unlike the others, she managed to keep her sanity."

As Jin Xueli spoke, she studied the black-haired woman’s expression. In the dim light, the woman just pursed her lips, her thoughts unreadable.

"And her eye’s ’mutation’—the degree of change probably isn’t severe. It’s definitely not like Fley, who I saw earlier, with countless tiny eyeballs squeezed together in a string, dangling from his socket. I’m guessing that Chief Ashley has at least one normal eye."

The black-haired woman lowered her face slightly, as if listening and thinking intently.

"Only by being invaded and mutated could she possibly have remained hidden until now."

"How so?" the black-haired woman asked.

Jin Xueli lightly touched the tip of her nose. "Because... when the police captured Chaisi, they also happened to capture another woman—me. It’s precisely because I was in the picture that Chief Ashley could successfully hide until this very moment."

"What does you being here have to do with it?" The black-haired woman seemed perfectly willing to continue the conversation, in no hurry to leave.

"Ashley’s evasion can be broken down into three stages, and she used more than one method."

Jin Xueli said in a low voice, "The first stage was before I left the cell. Back then, the entire building was sealed off with no way in or out. Mercury and all the Mercenaries rounded up every un-invaded person in the building and threw them in the cells. At that time, Ashley must have covered her normal eye and revealed her mutated one, so Mercury let her pass."

The black-haired woman nodded as if in deep agreement.

"The second stage began when I left the cell. Chaisi and Mercury personally brought me out, causing quite a stir. The Mercenaries in the building must have heard that they’d rescued a woman in addition to Chaisi. But at the time, they were all busy searching for the Chief. Even if they heard about me from Mercury, their comrades, or over the radio, none of them had seen my face."

"Ah," the black-haired woman murmured, as if she understood. "You think Ashley seized the opportunity..."

"Exactly. At that point, she was still presenting herself as someone who had been ’invaded and mutated.’ But of course, she wouldn’t just sit in a corner and leave it to fate... If I were her, I would have adopted the same strategy: constantly moving through the building, ensuring my own safety while gathering information."

Jin Xueli explained, "When Ashley learned of my existence, everyone still thought the chief was a fat, middle-aged man. No one paid any attention to Ashley, a woman who had supposedly been invaded. That’s why no matter how hard Chaisi and the Mercenaries searched the building, they couldn’t find the ’fat chief’."

"I see," the black-haired woman said, her tone full of admiration.

"When Chaisi realized the chief wasn’t the man in the photo, the most dangerous third stage began for Ashley. He didn’t just discover the chief was a woman; he also realized she had retained her mind after being invaded."

"I believe that at this point, Ashley cut her long hair and maybe even changed her clothes."

Jin Xueli paused here, giving the black-haired woman a chance to speak. But when the woman remained silent, she continued, "In the third stage, Ashley only had to avoid Mercury. That way, she could make the Mercenaries think she was ’Jin Xueli,’ while making Chaisi and me think she was a mercenary."

Of course, this was like walking a tightrope. She would have had to watch her every step, trembling to maintain her balance.

However, the strange state caused by the "Nest Communication Network" couldn’t last forever. Even someone who knew nothing about illusions could feel it. If Ashley could just hold out until Mercury, Chaisi, and their group had to leave, she would win.

"Assuming she never left the building and there are no secret passages, this is the only way Ashley could have hidden until now without being discovered. What do you think?"

"It sounds very plausible. So, have you found her?" the black-haired woman asked.

Jin Xueli stared at the black-haired woman. They were closer now, and her features were clearer. A long, thin face, a dark complexion, and one slender, sharp eye. She looked capable and serious.

"Can you let me get a closer look at your other eye?" she asked in a low voice. "Or... would you be willing to come with me to find Mercury?"

The black-haired woman slowly raised her hand and swept her bangs aside again.

"Here, take another look." Her tone was light, as if she already had a plan. "I knew this eye wouldn’t stand up to close scrutiny."

Jin Xueli’s entire body tensed.

Ashley was right. If you didn’t get close and look carefully, probably no one would notice anything strange about this eye. The mutation was that slight.

Humans have eyelids that can retract, which is what allows us to blink and close our eyes.

But this eye was like a hole cut into the shape of an eye in her skin. There was no eyelid, no eyelashes. Just an eyeball stuffed directly into the opening—a completely white eyeball.

"Your iris... it’s gone? It’s just a white eyeball?" She had been on guard for a sudden attack from Ashley, so the moment she saw the eye’s abnormality, she immediately took a step back. "That ’pupil’... did you draw it on with black ink?"

Ashley let her bangs fall. "Yes. My hand was shaking when I drew it, and the ink didn’t take well to the eyeball’s surface. The pupil wasn’t the right size, it wasn’t round enough, and the edges were jagged."

At first glance, it wasn’t as terrifying as Fley’s eyes. But being "watched" by that eye gave Jin Xueli a different, indescribable sense of unease. She remembered it was called the uncanny valley effect.

"Can I ever go back to normal?" Ashley suddenly asked. "I don’t just mean this eye. I heard you talking about ’resident invasion’... In my mind, it’s like a thick, black tornado is constantly raging. I have to grit my teeth just to keep my sanity from being swallowed up."

"...I don’t know." Jin Xueli was telling the truth.

’Figuring out Ashley’s plan and confirming the answer to the mystery face-to-face was quite satisfying. Next, I should probably go downstairs and get the others, right?’

She probably couldn’t overpower Ashley on her own, but on the other hand, Ashley couldn’t overpower her either.

’In fact, if I just shout now, the Mercenaries on the fourth floor should be able to hear me...’

"I know you just happened to run into Chaisi by chance, that you have no connection to him." As if guessing her thoughts, Ashley suddenly said in a low voice, "So I have a proposal. I’d like you to hear it."

Jin Xueli looked up at her. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"I can erase all the records you’ve left behind after this is over. The fingerprints submitted for comparison—I can withdraw the request."

She spoke slowly, earnestly. "You’ve seen it yourself. After today, the Kai Family and the police system will be at war. Why must you get involved and pick a side? There’s no benefit in it for you. This isn’t your fight. If you pretend you never found me, then for all intents and purposes, you were never here today."

’...Everything Ashley said was correct. Unfortunately for her, she doesn’t know about Candle Tears.’

"I’m sorry, no. I just want to leave," Jin Xueli said. "If I don’t hand you over, my departure probably won’t be so smooth."

The promises Ashley made held little temptation for her. Even without Ashley, she could achieve the same results with Candle Tears.

Ashley frowned slightly, as if surprised that Xueli would flatly reject such a tempting offer without even considering the future.

But she didn’t press the issue. After a moment of thought, she immediately made a new suggestion.

"Then, let me change the terms."

Ashley said in a low voice, "Your fingerprints have already been submitted to the database for comparison against all latent prints from crime scenes. I can choose not to withdraw the request... and wait for the results."

For a moment, Jin Xueli thought the chief was threatening her. But a second later, she realized Ashley wasn’t that foolish.

"I promise you, no matter what case your fingerprints match, I can have that entire case file, along with your prints, permanently deleted from the police database."

As if afraid Jin Xueli didn’t understand, she emphasized again, "In other words, whatever you’ve done in the past, with my help, it will all vanish without a trace. It’ll be as if you never did it. What do you say? Are you willing?"