Honglian was shocked.

Because what the other party said actually matched her experiences over the past month!

At first, after they entered the Erosion World, they found the technology there was advanced, making exploration difficult to conduct, so they had to disguise themselves as homeless beggars or thugs, slowly gathering intelligence. It took them about a month to gradually establish themselves as a "Street Gang."

But not long after returning to Jiang City, she heard from the Intelligence Team that the Mechanism had made significant progress in its relationship with local political and business circles, and the General Captain had become a frequent guest of theirs. Later, the Dimensional Limit Mechanism transported a lot of goods from the Erosion Space and received some returns from there.

As for what specific items were obtained, she had inquired around, but unfortunately, whether the Intelligence Team or the Logistics Team, they knew very little about the trading details. The only thing clear was that all these returns were transported to the headquarters and none were left in Jiang City.

At the time, everyone was privately commenting on how the General Captain was indeed skilled and a social talent.

Honglian also had a somewhat changed view of Xiao Canong.

However, now it seems the achievements Captain Xiao gained at that time were actually traded by selling Elorie to the Demons?

Even those high-level officials trying to form further cooperation with the Dimensional Limit Mechanism were all sinister Demons who feared the world not being chaotic?

The sheer amount of information made Honglian’s breathing somewhat stifled.

"No... this is impossible..." she instinctively muttered.

It wasn’t that Xiao Canong couldn’t be so despicable.

What she didn’t believe was that this cooperative relationship would be endorsed by the upper echelons of the Mechanism.

Could it be that the General Captain had hidden crucial information from the Mechanism?

But this possibility wasn’t high...

The headquarters would only allow Xiao Canong to allocate materials to another world if they knew the situation well, obviously after reviewing the report they also felt that the cooperation could be further developed.

Even if a member of that group had just massacred hundreds at the Five Rings Machinery Factory.

Sitting next to her, Lin Qing was carefully observing this future leader’s every move.

"No wonder when I first met you, you seemed so familiar... I had confused you with her." Chen Xuan’s chatter came through the earphones, "Speaking of which, back when I went to rescue Joan, Mad Judy appearing in the royal palace dungeon was also played by this guy. But at the time she wore a hood, and the dungeon light was dim, so I didn’t realize it."

As the Dream Maker himself, Chen Xuan naturally couldn’t be absent. To ensure Elorie and Liuli performed their roles well, he stayed in an upstairs room, observing the situation inside with pre-set miniature cameras.

"So do you have any blood relation with her? Could it be your ancestor was a future resistance leader?"

"How would I know, I’m just as in the dark as you are." Lin Qing spoke non-verbally, "But one thing I am sure of, I have no family, since birth I’ve been in the resistance camp."

"How about... taking the chance to collect some of her hair?"

"Let’s focus on the main issue for now, don’t do anything suspicious."

"I actually think this might be a good chance for you two to bond." Chen Xuan held a different view, "Don’t be fooled by her calm appearance, her mind must be as confused as yours. Right now, even if you told her she was your long-lost sister, she might not dare to deny it outright."

"Is this also your intuition?"

"More or less, I can sense she’s wavering."

Lin Qing had to admit, the manager’s intuition was indeed on point, if following her initial strategy of directly recruiting Honglian, perhaps things would have already fallen apart.

Chen Xuan, merely through chatting with Jiang Siqi, had roughly assessed all members of the Execution Team, subsequently decided on the strategy to use Wang Baihu to affect Honglian, which seemed more effective. Honglian shifted from a passive receiver to an active seeker, with her suspicion and resistance greatly reduced. Coupled with Elorie’s ordeal naturally arousing the leader’s sympathy and anger, these emotions would further prompt her to investigate.

Nevertheless, Honglian hadn’t joined them.

At least at this point, she still had full confidence in the Dimensional Limit Mechanism and would instinctively defend the organization. Even after hearing Elorie’s account, though she felt some wavering, it was just that.

The pillar supporting her faith in the Mechanism hadn’t yet crumbled.

"You think it’s impossible... because you don’t know enough about them." Lin Qing thought for a moment and said, "The Dimensional Limit Mechanism indeed, as its name suggests, maintains world stability and restricts the spread of abilities, but the process is far from righteous and fair. They imprison, kill Wanderers, extract their abilities as weapons, and collaborate with large corporations for excessive profits, eventually becoming a massive interest entity."

"You can imagine how terrifying an organization monopolizing advanced technology and powerful abilities can be. No one can limit them, if the Mechanism wishes it, they could easily take thousands of lives at a fingertip, all under the guise of Dimensional Limitation for the greater good."

By this point, Lin Qing could accept it. If sacrificing a small portion could exchange for the survival of the majority, the cost wasn’t incomprehensible.

But the Dimensional Limit Mechanism failed in protecting the world despite such heinous deeds.

"I wanted to ask before, who exactly are you?" Honglian eyed Lin Qing warily, "Knowing so much about the Mechanism, are you an Ability User who defected?"

In a sense, yes.

But Lin Qing could never admit such. At least in this century, the Mechanism wasn’t so divided, there have been detailed reports for the internal betrayal incidents. If she admitted it following the other party’s accusation, it’d be stepping into a trap.

"Are you testing me? There were only three betrayal incidents within the Dimensional Limit Mechanism, all participants were caught, none matched me, right?" Lin Qing answered with a question, "The Mechanism is indeed mysterious, but for higher-dimensional existences, grasping this information isn’t difficult."

Honglian was once again surprised.

Such internal information could only be accessible to agency members, and required certain permissions, for example, Wang Baihu and Little Pigeon were unaware.

"You mean... the World Ability Center?"

"Correct, Shixin observes the whole world through abilities, naturally focusing on the Dimensional Limit Mechanism gathering many Ability Users." Lin Qing nodded.

This was Chen Xuan’s idea, not approaching Honglian from an ally’s angle, but guiding from an external perspective——doing so could skip the mutual trust-building phase, directly using transcendental powers and solid facts to break down her defenses.

Honglian had heard from Wang Baihu, that this self-proclaimed "Shixin" seemingly could arbitrarily strip and grant abilities, but there was clearly a big problem here. Wang Baihu might not perceive it, but she wouldn’t be fooled: if this consciousness were truly powerful, it could achieve any goal without needing Mechanical Officers. For example, it could have directly stripped Xiao Canong’s abilities or granted Elorie immunity from gunfire, helping her escape danger.

"It sounds all-knowing, all-powerful..." Honglian contemplated for a while, "What you’re saying... I can’t verify at the moment, but I’m intrigued by the idea of it being an ability consciousness collective, Miss Lin Qing... Can I personally test it?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Qing slightly frowned. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"It’s simple, allow me to experience abilities being stripped and endowed like your colleagues. If it’s true, I am willing to believe everything you say." Honglian said word by word.