Chapter 294: The Strange Novel

Xiao Yu was completely dumbfounded like a clueless bystander.

Are you planning to film a sci-fi movie with me?

What? You’re saying this isn’t science fiction?

Then please explain to me how a novelist can write something that not only has a plot but somehow projects itself into reality?

Even a sci-fi film wouldn’t dare to attempt such a premise.

If this novelist creates a world in their book, does that mean the world could truly come into existence?

That’s not a person—that’s a god!

“You’re joking, right?”

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yu stared seriously at Wang Dong and Shen Zhengyang.

The two leaders simply looked back at Xiao Yu without saying a word.

‘Why aren’t they saying anything? Are they just stonewalling me? Are you messing with me?’ Xiao Yu’s heart pounded.

Their somber expressions spoke volumes.

‘Damn it! I knew that getting involved with State Security would only bring trouble.’

Internally grumbling furiously, Xiao Yu’s face darkened. “The case files.”

As always, solving a case starts with reviewing the files.

Before bringing Xiao Yu in, Wang Dong and the others must have thoroughly investigated the details of the incident. Xiao Yu needed to understand what had actually happened. But when he grabbed the file compiled by State Security and skimmed through it at high speed—

Xiao Yu sucked in a sharp breath, his scalp tingling as if it might explode. “This is impossible!”

What was impossible?

A month ago, in a certain city, a mysterious thief appeared.

This person infiltrated a scientific research facility and stole a set of documents—very critical research documents.

The local State Security branch began an investigation, suspecting espionage or a covert operative.

Why? Because that research file was utterly useless to ordinary people.

What was it about?

Photolithography machines.

Does such research mean anything to the average person? One probably wouldn’t even understand it.

Less than a week later, a triple homicide occurred.

At a bar, three thugs harassed a woman while drinking. Then, all three thugs were found dead.

Another week passed and a drug lord wanted by the police was found dead in an undisclosed location.

At first, these three incidents seemed completely unrelated. But they were all connected by a novel.

How was this discovered?

A State Security operative working on the suspected espionage case went home after his shift. You need to understand that State Security operatives were just regular people when they were off duty. They had families and children.

That day, this operative came home to find his son engrossed in an online novel.

His wife mentioned that their son had been hooked on the book recently.

He planned to lecture his son about overindulgence in entertainment.

But his son argued back, insisting the novel was amazing.

Feeling exasperated, the operative wondered what kind of book could captivate a child so completely. He glanced at it briefly.

Then, he was stunned.

The novel described every detail of the espionage case he was investigating.

He dug deeper.

The novel, which had only been serialized for a short time, also depicted the three other incidents.

First, the retired spy protagonist killed three thugs. Then, the same spy protagonist eliminated a drug lord, acting as a vigilante.

The storyline of this novel was so cliché and over-the-top it could practically blind a reasonable person. But after an investigation by State Security, all three incidents described in the novel had actually happened.

Can you believe it?

That’s why Wang Dong had said to Xiao Yu, “You probably won’t believe this.”

Most people might think: How hard can it be to solve a case like this?

First, the novelist must be the problem. What if they were the one behind it?

Second, if not, maybe someone was imitating the novel to commit crimes, right?

That was exactly what the initial State Security investigators thought. They immediately arrested the novelist, interrogating and investigating him thoroughly.

Soon, the novelist was cleared of all suspicion.

So, could it be someone imitating the book?

They investigated every possible lead. The result? No such imitator existed.

Unwilling to give up, State Security had the novelist continue writing.

They insisted, “Go ahead, write another story about your protagonist committing a crime. Let’s see if it happens.”

The novelist wrote. This time, the story wasn’t even published online. The manuscript stayed entirely in State Security’s hands.

The plot went something like this:

The spy encounters a privileged and wealthy beauty being harassed by a second-generation rich kid. The spy heroically saves her, beats up the rich kid, and takes down the kid’s lackeys. The rich kid leaves with a parting threat, “Just you wait. I’ll kill your whole family!”

The spy responds: “No need to wait. You’ll die tonight.”

That night, the rich kid was killed.

When Xiao Yu read this part of the case file, his figurative titanium dog eyes almost went blind.

It was like reading a poorly written, third-rate web novel.

The author’s attempts at creating cool moments were so awkward and clunky that it felt like an insult to the reader’s intelligence.

If Xiao Yu were writing it, at the very least, it would have gone something like this:

The protagonist encounters a brain-dead side character who provokes and bullies them, while bystanders scoff at the protagonist. After effortlessly beating the side character to a pulp, the protagonist looks down at them sprawled on the ground and quips, “Power level only 5? You know nothing about true strength.”

Now that would be satisfying.

Or maybe:

The protagonist’s ex-girlfriend leaves them for a rich second-generation kid. She shows up in a luxury car to mock the protagonist, and the rich kid sneers, “Loser, you’ll never have a girlfriend in your life.”

The next moment, a stunningly beautiful and wealthy CEO pulls up in a supercar, kneels, and clings to the protagonist’s leg, crying, “Honey, please don’t leave me! I’ll wear a schoolgirl uniform for you tonight.”