Chapter 2826: Suspected Dou Shengnan

The experts carefully examined Miss Zeng’s body, confirming that she had fully regained consciousness and did not have serious physical injuries. They were both amazed and curious about how Xu Huo had managed this, as those outside the ward saw him simply sitting there the entire time, not even moving when Miss Zeng fell from the bed!

Once their curiosity about Miss Zeng waned, the experts turned their focus to Xu Huo, surrounding him with questions about the treatment process, issues to watch out for during treatment, and his control over spiritual power. Of course, they were eager for him to write down his treatment insights, as these could offer new ideas for treating similar patients.

Xu Huo had no time to deal with them now, asking the people in the room, “Can Miss Zeng speak now?”

Although Miss Zeng was weak, she took a nutrient supplement promptly after waking up, so talking wasn’t an issue.

The door to the ward was closed again, isolating the experts outside, while Tang Xu remained inside.

Miss Zeng knew what Xu Huo wanted to ask and spoke proactively: “Actually, I’m not very clear on how the incident happened.”

“At that time, I had just returned from the instance, exhausted and slightly injured, and seemed to have accidentally bumped into someone; I lost consciousness the instant we met, and in my sleep, someone must have invaded my spiritual world.”

“In spirit evolution, I’m not very strong. Normally, even if I use psychic power, I’m cautious not to expose my core spiritual world, but the other party was too strong, and I couldn’t hold out for long before my consciousness descended into chaos.”

Xu Huo described Dou Shengnan’s appearance and the faces he saw in the spiritual world, “Have you seen them?”

“I’ve never seen them.” Miss Zeng acknowledged knowing Dou Shengnan, but confirmed she had no memory of her. As for those faces, during her chaotic moments, she felt multiple forces pulling at her, as if those faces were alive, continuously emitting sharp psychic power that constantly disrupted her self-repairing process. The longer it went on, the more her autonomous consciousness blurred into confusion.

In previous treatments, she didn’t actually feel much, even thinking that those treating her were chaotic psychic powers that suddenly appeared within her spiritual world, unable to distinguish real from false.

“You were brought to the hospital by a patrolling robot; the place where you fainted was your exit from the game. I’ve checked the surrounding surveillance repeatedly, and there’s no issue; you collapsed right after coming out and were sent to the hospital in less than ten minutes.” Tang Xu felt a bit odd after hearing this, even suspecting she had been affected in the instance, leading to her unclear state upon exit.

Miss Zeng gave him a look, “My consciousness was very clear when I exited the game, and I hadn’t engaged with any psychic evolvers beforehand.”

“Also, the time you mentioned is half a day off from when I truly returned from the instance. Someone must have done something.”

“This is even stranger.” Tang Xu was puzzled, “They weren’t aiming to kill, so why make such a detour to attack your spiritual world.”

Xu Huo pondered; if Miss Zeng’s memory was correct, it was highly likely someone was using her for practice.

Throwing something like an “Anchor” into her spiritual world without killing was more akin to training.

What’s curious, though, is that multiple psychic forces had blended into her spiritual world; could Zone 003 have so many psychic evolvers capable of leaving “Anchors” in others’ spiritual worlds?

Among the same type of evolvers he’s encountered, there are even few who know the concept of “Anchor,” not to mention seeing Dou Shengnan’s face in Miss Zeng’s spiritual world—this wasn’t the illusion he saw; Miss Zeng must have seen Dou Shengnan before, but her psychic power isn’t strong enough, hence her obliviousness.

But if it were Dou Shengnan, that also seems unlikely.

From his last encounter with Dou Shengnan, he has a rough idea that her strong psychic power is largely due to the prop in her eyes. In the end, although she attempted to leave an “Anchor” in his spiritual world, she did not succeed, and the psychic power she left behind was also removed by him.

The black world within Miss Zeng’s spiritual world is somewhat reminiscent of Dou Shengnan’s spiritual world, and this time it seems the “Anchor” was smoothly left, completely affecting Miss Zeng’s autonomous consciousness, simultaneously closer to the characteristic of the “Anchor” being “out of control after detachment.”

But that doesn’t mean it succeeded. If it were a true “Anchor,” Miss Zeng should live normally without any detection, or be aware but unaffected—similar to stealing psychic power from Dou Shengnan’s spiritual world during childhood.

Through Pu Yu, he’s learned that there are no psychic evolvers close to this standard in Zone 003, let alone three at once.

If what happened with Miss Zeng is truly connected to Dou Shengnan, then since their last encounter, Dou Shengnan might have evolved again, or found similar auxiliary props made from Divine Woman Vine Seeds.

Due to the damage to the prop, Xu Huo can’t determine whether Dou Shengnan is dead after that. Rationally, as a wanted criminal, she’d be thrown into high-risk random instances the moment she uses tickets; with yearly absences from instances, coupled with high-risk ones targeting Rank-A Players, the difficulty is imaginable. Surviving through that is quite impressive for her.

Of course, that’s not the most important part. The most important thing is, Dou Shengnan might be in Zone 003, and she has evolved again.

After leaving the hospital, Xu Huo contacted Pu Yu, asking her to help find Dou Shengnan’s whereabouts, while also providing his own scope for the search.

The first area is near where Miss Zeng exited the instance. It’s possible they met by chance, though it’s unlikely, but it’s relatively easy to investigate.

The second area involves agencies or organizations familiar with Miss Zeng’s situation, especially whether there are evolvers like her who suddenly disappeared or suddenly fell ill.

The last area is public and private institutions that provide treatment for psychic evolvers. Dou Shengnan repeatedly suffered heavy blows and may not be fully recovered, especially since the psychic power within Miss Zeng’s spiritual world isn’t stable, which somewhat indicates the interferer’s unstable state.

Pu Yu agreed readily; as a newly appointed boss, many people are eager to build a friendship with her.

Her inquiry had just spread, and within half a day, someone from the local government of Liu Jin City informed her that an attack occurred three months ago. At that time, a private treatment hospital renowned in the industry was attacked, resulting in the deaths of several doctors. Though the government didn’t uncover any results afterward, sharp-eared, keen-eyed individuals discovered that a Player convalescing had moved into the eastern wealthy district of Liu Jin City, occasionally sending out howling sounds from within.

Whether or not it’s Dou Shengnan, the local government isn’t sure and shows little interest in investigating, but they are convinced that it is a state where the psychic evolver is unstable.