Ye Ping's tone grew heavier, enunciating each word: "Are you saying—inside the pregnant women?!"

The battle-hardened Ye Ping immediately caught onto the idea.

Xu Ran's eyes shone brightly: "Isn't there such a possibility?"

"Hiding inside pregnant women provides a perfect cover. It even has special biological means to mask the ghostly aura — that's the second layer of protection. As long as it disguises itself as a normal fetus, even if scanned by instruments, there would be no flaws discovered, right?"

"On the other hand, hiding within a pregnant woman has another huge advantage..."

Ye Shu's face was full of surprise: "It can move freely?"

Xu Ran nodded: "Yes, it can move freely. Ye Shu, your repeated searches of the city, even conducting surprise inspections now and then, may indeed be intimidating. But what if, after creating a nightmare over the entire city, it left Jing City not long afterward?"

"Everyone's attention remains fixated on Jing City; everyone is searching there, while it escapes to another city, happily receiving sacrificial energy from all over the country, growing bit by bit..."

Xu Ran speculated very boldly.

His conjecture had no factual basis, nor was it logical, mainly referencing the concepts of [Body Enveloping Mist] and [Parasitic Pocket].

The whole process of speculation highlighted its wildness.

Never mind whether it's right or wrong, isn't it a wild thought?

But even without factual basis, Ye Ping was already feeling alarmed: "So, we've all been deceived?"

Xu Ran shook his head: "I can't guarantee it; I'm just speculating, offering a possibility."

Listening to Xu Ran, Ye Ping frowned deeply, even closing his eyes to rub his brow.

"No, your speculation has considerable reference value."

"Perhaps we really have been misled. The monster appearing in the dreams of children during the city-wide nightmare was meant to deceive us, making us think the Nightmare Vengeful Mother is a ghostly creature larger than a building!"

"Leading us to believe it must have an extraordinary hideout, whereas it's actually only the size of a fetus!"

"It hides in the belly of a pregnant woman, using the woman and a special ghostly creature to conceal its aura. Then it roams without restraint!"

At this, Ye Ping's breathing became heavy.

"Damn it! Was the intelligence we received from the start misleading?"

Ye Ping's heart raced.

Faulty intelligence had led them astray for a whole year of wasted effort.

"Three hundred and thirty days have passed since the city-wide nightmare occurred! The Nightmare Vengeful Mother has likely already amassed enough power; it might have returned to Jing City, ready to initiate a strike!"

At this moment.

Ye Ping's expression was more severe than ever: "To be honest with you, I've been growing increasingly anxious lately. Perhaps this is my Spiritual Root Bone signaling a warning to me—the Nightmare Vengeful Mother has likely amassed enough power, ready to evolve, and make its move!"

Xu Ran was taken aback: "Huh? There should be a little more time, right?"

Ye Ping exhaled deeply: "I'm afraid there isn't much time. At most ten days, as little as one or two days."

Xu Ran: "If we get it out a day or two in advance, would that count as stopping its evolution?"

Ye Ping: "Definitely! But the key is...we can't find it!"

Ye Ping rubbed his brow.

"Wait a moment, I'm having the Investigation Corps filter information; they're identifying all suspicious pregnant women in Jing City. Give it half an hour."

Xu Ran nodded: "Then let's go directly to the Investigation Corps to await the result."

Ye Ping: "Let's go."

More than twenty minutes later, two shadows arrived at the General Affairs Bureau.

In the office of the Investigation Corps, after waiting for over ten minutes, the filtering results were finally released!

He Sifang, the corps leader, solemnly reported with the document in hand: "In the past five years, there have been 500,000 instances of pregnancies. Among them, there are a full ten thousand women who have been pregnant more than twice and have left Jing City during pregnancy."

Xu Ran and Ye Ping both fell silent.

Searching for the Nightmare Vengeful Mother among ten thousand people was undoubtedly like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Continue the filtering! How many are currently still pregnant?"

Three minutes later, He Sifang walked over: "Officer, a total of one thousand six hundred women are currently pregnant still.

However, there is something here that might be worth noting: two hundred and thirty-three of these pregnant women have had three miscarriages."

Ye Ping seemed to recall something: "I have a faint memory of this…these pregnant women once complained to the hospital; the Investigation Corps' final conclusion was—pollution from the Ghost Planet increased the miscarriage probability for some women with sensitive constitutions."

Xu Ran: "Are they currently pregnant?"

He Sifang: "All are pregnant."

Xu Ran's eyes sharpened: "Three miscarriages in five years, pregnant four times, it's absolutely impossible for there to be nothing fishy. Also, three miscarriages correspond exactly to the number of Ghost Star incidents."

Ye Ping suddenly spoke up: "Check the timings of their miscarriages, to see if there is a correlation with the Ghost Star incidents."

He Sifang's subordinate filtered through the computer: "Officer, they were three to four months pregnant just before and after the Ghost Star incidents broke out."

Upon hearing this.

A glimmer of light flashed in Ye Ping's eyes.

"That must be it. The Nightmare Vengeful Mother's true form must be hiding in the bellies of these pregnant women!"

Ye Ping took a deep breath.

Standing up, he twisted his body, his bones cracking and popping.

After being stifled for three hundred and thirty days, can we finally slay the Nightmare Vengeful Mother?

Heh heh!

"Get their addresses pulled up, and I'll check them out one by one! Also, prepare a sufficient number of pinhole cameras for me."

Though it was just a guess, Ye Ping decided to give it a try since there were only two hundred and thirty-three people. Worth checking one by one.

If nothing seems amiss the first time, then monitor them with cameras for a day or two.

He Sifang: "Understood, Officer. Among them, five of the pregnant women were outside Jing City just one day ago. They returned to Jing City yesterday afternoon."

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