But the challenge remains—since this person is hiding among the crowd, how could Sun Hang possibly drag her out?

Charging in recklessly could result in a stampede from panicked people, and given the higher-ups in the Federation are shameless and love to shift blame, there's a high chance Sun Hang would be held accountable...

This is an overt plot, and the Puppet Master knows very well that even if Sun Hang knows she is hiding within the crowd, he wouldn't dare to act—using ordinary citizens as human shields is shameless, but very effective.

The true Mysterious Creatures wouldn't care about casualties among ordinary people. Unfortunately, Sun Hang isn't truly a Mysterious Creature, but rather an unlucky fellow playing the role of "Mysterious Creature" in a trial.

And an unlucky fellow still bound by moral frameworks and trial rules at that.

Three mysterious carcasses struggled to get up from the ground, lunging towards Sun Hang once again, while at the alley entrance to the left, armed Sheriffs came charging in, holding up shields—

No, those people aren't Sheriffs at all; their shields bear the insignia of Dubhe Tower... these people clearly belong to the elite agents of Dubhe Tower's Clearance Department!

If I don't leave now, there might really be no chance to escape!

But if I don't deal with that Puppet Master first, leaving won't be so easy...

A bold idea suddenly popped into Sun Hang's mind.

He remembered accidentally peeking at that community committee cadre's memory in a supermarket in Celestial City before... could he perhaps use this method to find the Puppet Master hiding among the crowd?

It's just that...

Sun Hang glanced at the onlooking crowd in the shopping mall. Despite some timid individuals having already fled due to the appearance of the mysterious carcasses, there were still well over a hundred people remaining, standing far away, their faces filled with either astonishment, fear, or excitement. As for those filming with their phones or live streaming, they showed no intention of leaving at all.

Over a hundred... nearly two hundred people...

Attempting to read the memories of so many people simultaneously—wouldn't his brain crash?

Sun Hang had never tried to extend his abilities to such a vast range. He wasn't sure if doing so would instantly exhaust him.

Just then, he felt a warmth emanate from his pocket. He reached in and found it was the Shariputra the undead had traded him, slightly heating up as if fresh from the microwave.

Sun Hang grasped the Shariputra, immediately sensing a surge of pure spiritual power seep into his mind from it, lending him unparalleled clarity.

"So it's a charger, huh?"

With newfound confidence, Sun Hang immediately expanded his consciousness, enveloping the curious onlookers in the mall.

Countless images flashed before Sun Hang's eyes like slideshows. He saw a newlywed couple holding their one-month-old baby, a joyful family picture, yet the next image showed the wife secretly handing a red envelope to a doctor, requesting him to alter the paternity test result. Little did she know, her husband was standing outside the office door, peering through the crack, witnessing everything inside.

Another memory showed a potbellied boss berating his employee, who nodded obsequiously. After the boss stormed off to the restroom, the employee paced nervously around the boss's desk, eventually leaving, conflicted... Unnoticed, a small packet of potent rat poison wrapped in tissue was clenched in his palm.

The next scene was of a group of school-uniformed children encircling another child, shouting abuses and shoving him. Once the teacher arrived, the bullies scattered, leaving the bullied child to face the so-called "guidance" alone.

"Flies don't land on seamless eggs!"

"One hand can't clap!"

"Think carefully, why do they only bully you and not other classmates?"

Sun Hang saw seeds of hatred taking root in people's hearts, shadows of varying depths hovering behind each one. These embodied the darker sides of human emotions, invariably present in everyone, often buried deep enough for even their owners to be oblivious... Yet, to Sun Hang, these dark sides appeared like creatures possessing the human body, baring fangs and claws at him.

As Sun Hang scanned more memory snippets, he felt increasingly overwhelmed... Even with the Shariputra's support, a suffocating sense of exhaustion began closing in.

Everything around fell into momentary stasis. Be it the mysterious carcasses lunging forward or the elite agents charging in from the alleyway, everything seemed frozen, except for the shadows behind those whose memories Sun Hang was reading, still swaying.

The cost was Sun Hang's rapid depletion of spiritual power—if his "energy bar" could be visualized, one would see his "reserves" depleting swiftly, crossing the danger line in an instant.

"This one, not it... This one, neither... This guy, tsk, another cuckolded person, only this one doesn't even know it yet... Onto the next one..."

Finally, amidst a stack of ordinary people's images, Sun Hang saw something distinct.

A frail little girl clinging to the outside of a towering glass tube, gazing longingly inside. Inside the tube was a bed surrounded by medical equipment, a woman with severely ulcerated skin lay on it, her limbs monstrously deformed, with her facial tissue peeled away, exposing the stark white bone beneath... In fact, Sun Hang couldn't tell the woman was female at all, but the little girl's memory informed him that the person inside was her mother.

This large glass tube wasn't unfamiliar to Sun Hang; the Celestial City Mysterious Creature Research Institute had them, typically used to isolate dangerous infected individuals—it appeared fragile, easily breakable, yet its physical strength could withstand direct hits from an anti-materiel sniper at close range.

A group in white coats stood or sat around the tube, operating mechanical arms inside to excise tumor-like growths from the woman... However, the growths reappeared as quickly as they were removed. Within mere seconds, the woman's growths not only didn't decrease but increased significantly.

Conversations among the white coats became more frequent, voices fraught with urgency... although Sun Hang could discern their tone, the content eluded him.

These belonged to the little girl's memories; what she couldn't recall, Sun Hang couldn't glimpse.

All conversations blurred into meaningless murmurs, while the steady beeping of medical devices inside the tube remained distinctly clear.

"Director, we did our best." As the memory playback reached the ninth second, the first comprehensible words reached Sun Hang, "With our current capabilities, we simply can't save her. It's best to... proceed with neutralization."

The little girl seemed to tremble slightly; she raised a hand, and with it, the woman lying still on the bed also raised her corresponding hand.

"What's going on?"

"Director... Director, look at your daughter... she..."

"Quick! Bring the diagnostic equipment over!"

The memory scene turned chaotic and abruptly ended, but Sun Hang's gaze had already locked onto a young girl amidst the crowd.

"Got you."

[P.S. I'm struggling with writer's block, spent a lot of time revising the outline for future chapters, so today there might only be this one chapter. I'll update earlier tomorrow.]

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