299: A strange sense of familiarity 2

[Weekend · Morning]

Shen Mingyuan felt a rare sense of... having nothing to do.

The vacation provided by GUPA was very substantial—no emergency contacts, no sudden alarms.

In the dormitory, the creature he habitually called "Little Green Snake" had now grown into a "Great Green Python" that needed to occupy nearly half the room, lazily coiled on a specially made constant-temperature mat, dozing off.

Its diet and daily monitoring were professionally taken over by the base's logistics department; Shen Mingyuan didn't even have to spend money on feed anymore.

Playing mobile games felt dull, and lying around the dorm felt like a waste of time. So, he decided to wander around the commercial area on the outskirts of the headquarters, purely for the sake of the act of "wandering" itself.

The commercial street was getting busier in the morning. Shen Mingyuan walked with his hands in his trench coat pockets, aimlessly scanning the shop windows.

Until his gaze was caught by a pet store. A row of small clothes for cats and dogs hung in the window; one of them, an orange-yellow onesie with a bear-eared hood, looked charmingly naive.

A thought jumped into his mind without warning, carrying a bit of mischievous playfulness: 'What would happen if I got one of these for that guy?'

He could almost immediately imagine the scene: a slender, azure-colored body with smooth lines—the prototype of the mythical creature "Ming Snake"—being forced into a furry, round little bear onesie. He'd have to go through the trouble of cutting two holes for the wings to stick out... That image would likely strip away all sense of solemnity in an instant, replacing it with a most absurd kind of "cuteness."

"Pfft." Shen Mingyuan let out a soft chuckle, amused by the scene he'd conjured up. He quickly composed his expression, but a spark of interest remained in his eyes. He remembered seeing videos online of people putting hats and little vests on pet snakes, didn't he?

He pushed open the pet store door, and the wind chimes jingled.

"Welcome! Can I help you with something, sir? Are you looking for clothes for a cat or a dog?" the clerk greeted him warmly.

Shen Mingyuan paused and spoke calmly, though his words made the clerk's expression freeze for a moment: "Do you have anything... suitable for the size of a python? Something in a cute style."

"A-a python?" The clerk blinked, confirming she hadn't misheard. Her professional training allowed her to quickly regain her smile, though a hint of surprise lingered in her eyes.

"Uh... we really don't have many clothes for large climbing pets, but we have a few types of pet stretch-wear with excellent elasticity, or this vest style..."

She led Shen Mingyuan to a corner and took out several brightly colored pet clothes made of elastic fabric.

Shen Mingyuan picked up the bear onesie he had first set his eyes on, weighed it in his hand, and gestured to estimate its size. Obviously, this size would barely even serve as a "hood" for the current Little Green Snake.

"The size is way off," he evaluated objectively, but he didn't put the clothes down. Instead, he looked thoughtful. "However, if there's something similar in a larger size... or, custom-made?"

In his mind, he was already quickly calculating how much fabric would be needed for the green snake's neck circumference and body length, and how to handle the openings for those increasingly prominent fleshy wing protrusions on its back.

'It's growing faster and faster. The luster of the scales and the prototype of those wings... it's already halfway to matching the description of the "Ming Snake" in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: "shaped like a snake but with four wings,"' he thought aimlessly. 'But that's not important. What's important is...'

He could already envision the look of bewilderment, helplessness, or simply being too lazy to care that the green snake—which was increasingly taking on the aura of a mythical creature—would give him when he returned to the dorm with such a thing and tried to slip it on.

'Hmm... it will definitely be very interesting.'

Ultimately, Shen Mingyuan didn't find a suitable size off the shelf. But he left his contact information for a custom order along with approximate size requirements and walked out of the pet store in a quite good mood.

After leaving the shop, Shen Mingyuan felt good, that sense of mischievous anticipation diluting the boredom of the holiday.

However, just as he crossed the commercial street and was about to walk back onto the quiet path leading to the headquarters' living area, a boy of about seven or eight years old ran past him from the front-side, heading toward a mobile vendor selling colorful balloons.

The child's profile flickered for a moment in the afternoon light—a blue jacket, ordinary sweatpants—a sight all too common in a crowd.

But in that brief glimpse, Shen Mingyuan's heart tightened without warning.

An extremely strong, groundless sense of familiarity seized him. It wasn't a vague impression of "who does this child look like," but a more certain, almost instinctive recognition—I know him. I definitely knew this child before.

This feeling came abruptly and fiercely, creating a sharp conflict with his clear and stable memories.

His brain searched rapidly: childhood, relatives, neighbors' kids, even minors involved in cases he'd handled... nothing. Not a single image could correspond with the young face that had just flashed by.

Who is he? Why do I feel like I know him? There's absolutely no record of him in my memory.

Doubt, like a cold needle, pierced the relaxed mood he'd had just moments ago.

When he snapped back to his senses and fixed his gaze in the direction The boy had disappeared, there were only a few adults standing there picking out balloons. That blue figure had long since vanished behind the intersecting flow of people and the street corner, leaving no trace.

Shen Mingyuan didn't hesitate for a second and immediately gave chase. He walked quickly through the crowd, his eyes sharply scanning every possible direction, even briefly increasing his search efficiency regardless of the slightly surprised looks from people around him.

But the child was like a drop of water merging into the ocean; no matter how he searched, he could no longer catch the slightest trace.

After searching for nearly twenty minutes and walking through almost the entire perimeter of the commercial area, Shen Mingyuan was forced to stop, his brow furrowed deeply.

It wasn't an illusion. That momentary feeling was too strong to ignore. But the trail was cold, cut off completely, leaving only a hollow question stuck in his heart.

In the end, he could only carry this lingering doubt back to GUPA Headquarters.

Just as he entered the corridor of the living area, he saw Lu Jianchuan standing in a small open rest area, talking to Golden Bone.

Golden Bone was wearing a loosely tailored dark jacket with a standing collar, but his silhouette beneath the coat still appeared harder and more solid than a normal person's; one could faintly see that the mechanical exoskeleton maintaining his life and strength had not been removed.

Clearly, he had just returned not long ago. Wei Ziqing was also there, listening with his arms crossed.

Shen Mingyuan adjusted his breathing, temporarily suppressing his surging doubts, and walked over.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, his tone sounding as normal as possible.

Golden Bone turned to look at him upon hearing his voice, his gaze lingering on his face for a moment, seemingly detecting the slight residual turbulence in him, but he didn't point it out. Lu Jianchuan also nodded to him.

"We're discussing the issue of 'Cognitive Thresholds,' or rather, the boundaries of 'secrecy,'" Golden Bone's voice was steady, cutting straight to the core.

"Lawyer Shen, as you know, for ordinary citizens who witness or become involved in supernatural events, we have always employed 'Memory Suspension' processing.

It's not a complete deletion, but rather a technical means to put memories into a deep sleep to avoid causing large-scale panic and social instability. Theoretically, these memories can be safely awakened when conditions are ripe."

His tone shifted slightly, carrying a calm assessment of the situation: "But now, the frequency and scale of events are growing exponentially, far exceeding any previous period. The manpower and resources required for processing, covering up, and subsequent pacification are rapidly approaching their limits. The recruitment and training cycles for newcomers cannot keep up with the speed at which events occur. And on the other hand..."

Golden Bone glanced at Lu Jianchuan:

"The airing of the 'silver skeleton' tokusatsu show has, objectively, created a relatively positive, even expectant, psychological foundation for 'heroes' and 'extraordinary powers' among the public, especially the younger generation.

The soil of public opinion is undergoing subtle changes. We are evaluating whether it is time to gradually and controllably allow the public to begin encountering and accepting 'the other side of reality.' This is a cognitive revolution that requires extreme caution."

Wei Ziqing chimed in from the side, his tone thoughtful: "In other words, those people whose memories were 'suspended' before might..."

"Will gradually and selectively have their relevant memories restored," Golden Bone affirmed.

"This involves a massive retrospective project and individual psychological assessments. But the first step,"

He suddenly took a very small, dark red pill sealed in a transparent bio-capsule from his pocket and handed it toward Shen Mingyuan, "is to resolve historical legacy issues."

Shen Mingyuan was slightly startled and didn't immediately take it: "What is this?"

"A neutralizer, or rather, a 'Memory Key,'" Golden Bone explained, his voice clear and level.

"The Memory Suspension technology we use has a core component derived from the purified pollen of a certain evolved plant.

After high dilution and stabilization treatment, it can form a long-term, stable memory-blocking effect in the human nervous System, which can last for ten or even decades.

And this pill can safely guide your body's metabolic System to completely decompose and discharge these 'blockers,' thereby lifting the seal."

Shen Mingyuan's gaze froze on the small pill. In his mind, the strange boy from the commercial street and that sharp sense of familiarity flashed by instantly.

He looked up at Golden Bone, his voice carrying a hint of tension he hadn't even noticed: "Why... are you giving this to me?"

Golden Bone met his gaze, his eyes showing no ripples, simply stating a fact:

"Because according to GUPA's core archive records, when you were around seven or eight years old, your memory was modified. This is the key to undoing it."