Chapter 217 Dark Boundless Realm 72
When Kui Xin woke up, it was already evening.
Her brain was muddled from sleep, and she crawled out of bed, doing two sets of stretches on the floor to restore clarity to her mind and body.
“Is the person here?” Kui Xin asked.
“Yes,” Augus replied. “The person is at the Investigation Bureau, negotiating with the leaders there. I’ve compiled all the relevant information of the Special Affairs Department agents who arrived in White Whale City and sent it to you. Since the Special Affairs Department and the Investigation Bureau don’t belong to the same system, I could only gather as much information as possible.”
“Let me take a look…” Kui Xin opened the information, scanning through it quickly.
Augus didn’t know what kinds of Extraordinary Abilities the personnel from the Special Affairs Department possessed, so he could only make rough judgments based on their positions within the department.
The agents of the Special Affairs Department were divided into different types; some were administrative personnel, while others were combat personnel. Among the combat personnel, there were various ranks and classifications. Some regularly traveled across the country for fieldwork, while others were stationed in fixed locations, waiting for orders from a select few leaders.
The internal confidentiality measures of the Special Affairs Department were stricter than those of the Investigation Bureau. Some highly classified Awakened individuals were completely unknown even to internal staff regarding their true identities and specific abilities.
The last time Wang Feichi went to Hei Hai City was a special case; he was an open S Rank, serving as a medium-level deterrent. Apart from him, there were a few other S Ranks whose identities were kept secret.
In total, there were ten agents from the Special Affairs Department visiting White Whale City. Augus had recorded their facial features and all obtainable civic information.
Kui Xin frowned, flipping through the information repeatedly: “A total of ten people.”
To her surprise, one of them turned out to be an old acquaintance—Li Wanran.
She carefully read through Li Wanran’s information: “In the Special Affairs Department… no position? Just a companion member?”
Kui Xin fell into deep thought.
She had already confirmed that the player who had contacted her on the player forum was Song Tingshuan, and Song Tingshuan and Li Wanran were teammates who had partnered during the Dark Realm event. Based on previous hints from Song Tingshuan, Kui Xin had inferred that they worked in the Special Affairs Department, but now Li Wanran was appearing alongside them as well.
Were Song Tingshuan and Li Wanran both affiliated with the Special Affairs Department in the Second World? Perhaps only Li Wanran was tied to the Special Affairs Department, and Song Tingshuan acquired information from Li Wanran, serving merely as a liaison and information disseminator.
Since Li Wanran dared to act alongside the Special Affairs Department agents, it indicated she was relatively trusted within that department, and her player identity had not been exposed.
Li Wanran’s ability was “Scene Retrospection.” If the Special Affairs Department knew what her Extraordinary Ability was, then bringing her to White Whale City must have been to leverage her ability.
Fortunately, Li Wanran was similar to Kui Xin; if she were truly an indigenous person of the Second World, Kui Xin would have to consider eliminating her… The ability of Scene Retrospection could be very terrifying if utilized well, as intelligence could easily leak.
I wonder if Li Wanran’s ability has upgraded? When I saw her in the First World, her ability was only E rank.
“There are a few individuals who require special attention,” Augus said while Kui Xin was reviewing the information. “Jiang Junshan is the highest-ranked among this group of Special Affairs Department agents. Geng Gaoming is the most physically imposing among the companions. Pang Ling appears low-profile, but she was formerly the personal bodyguard of a high-ranking federal official before joining the Special Affairs Department…”
Augus mentioned several people but did not mention Li Wanran.
“Why does this person’s information show no position?” Kui Xin switched to the page with Li Wanran’s data.
“External personnel of the Special Affairs Department are listed as having no position,” Augus explained. “The Special Affairs Department has many technical consultants. When significant cases arise, these experts step in to assist. Most of the experts serve as technical consultants on a part-time basis because talent is a scarce resource anywhere. Their main work might include research or teaching at key universities, leaving them little time to manage the Special Affairs Department unless there’s an emergency.”
“Now I see…” Kui Xin nodded.
She noticed Li Wanran’s title on her personal profile: Criminal Investigation Professor at Fu Gang University.
This profession seemed quite aligned with her expertise in the real world. No wonder she was able to blend in so well and had even become a technical consultant for the Special Affairs Department.
“Now that everyone has arrived, we need to determine the action strategy for the coming period,” Augus said.
“The action strategy is to avoid situations as they arise,” Kui Xin reflected. “We’re no longer in a situation where we’re forced into a corner by a reset. The Special Affairs Department has a formidable array; we must avoid direct confrontation with them. The Shadowless has stirred up considerable commotion, and while we can be high-profile and take down financial conglomerates, it’s best to refrain from cutting into the federal government directly. After all, we are not Mechanized Dawn, and we have not established a large power network. The online buzz around the Shadowless is already quite high, and players have likely started to notice us. Our primary goal has been achieved, we are slowly making money, and the operating funds are sufficient.”
“I think the same,” Augus agreed. “We’ll take it as it comes; for now, let’s focus on steady development. If the Special Affairs Department remains in White Whale City for an extended period and poses too much of a threat, we can take the initiative to seek a solution.”
“Right. Plus, we have tasks to complete; we need to interview our members,” Kui Xin yawned. “I’ll leave the movements of the Special Affairs Department to you!”
“Understood,” Augus replied.
Kui Xin pondered for a moment, “Does the Special Affairs Department have an independent AI?”
“Yes, the reason their AI is independent is that, unlike Eve and me, which has hosts around the world, the Special Affairs Department’s host is only at the Federal Administrative Center,” Augus explained. “When the Special Affairs Department goes to other cities for field tasks, they rely on me. At the Federal Administrative Center, they depend on their own AI.”
“That isn’t very flexible,” Kui Xin remarked.
“Indeed. Originally, the Special Affairs Department’s AI host could be expanded to other cities, but cost is a big issue. If another AI exclusively for the Special Affairs Department were built, there would be an overlap in functions with mine, which would be a waste of resources. The assembly did not approve that plan,” Augus said.
Kui Xin asked, “Why not let you directly serve as the auxiliary AI for the Special Affairs Department?”
“In that case, the databases of the Investigation Bureau and the Special Affairs Department would be shared. The Investigation Bureau manages a lot of things, dealing with public and crime management, but the Special Affairs Department… they only deal with major matters that threaten federal security, and they also handle dirty work for the big shots,” Augus clarified. “The big figures still know how to provide themselves with a bit of cover, just like a thief hiding stolen gold in a separate safe rather than depositing it in a public bank, which is much safer.”
“In the data age, nothing is absolutely secure,” Kui Xin retorted. “What’s stored in the host is often the easiest to leak. Just look at Eve, and then look at you.”
The tools most trusted by humans can also betray them; what’s scarier is that very few realize their tools have betrayed them.
“You make a good point. Therefore, critical core data is usually paper-backed and sealed; paper archiving is the most reliable method in this unreliable data age,” Augus stated. “It’s primitive, but reliable.”
“Has the second round of interview candidates been filtered out?” Kui Xin switched gears to serious business.
“It’s already been filtered,” Augus confirmed. “The Shadowless officially accepts members starting from next week?”
“Yes, we must return to the First World one more time to filter out more reliable members,” Kui Xin said softly. “Let’s schedule the second round of interviews for tomorrow; tonight, I need to secure a few temporary bases…”
She had already set the stage, with actors performing one after another; she needed to choose the most suitable performers from among them.
…
Li Wanran followed the Special Affairs Department agent and the security officer from the Investigation Bureau to Diamond Heart. Due to time constraints, she reviewed the materials provided by the Investigation Bureau while seated in the hovering police car during the flight.
“Is Abrak Popov really kidnapped?” Li Wanran looked down at the documents.
“Yes, we’re currently stabilizing public opinion,” Pang Ling, who was familiar with Li Wanran, said. “Polina is really…” She chuckled unexpectedly, leaving the thought unspoken.
“Have too many people been in and out of the scene?” Li Wanran asked the accompanying security officer.
The security officer replied, “The Investigation Bureau sealed the scene at the first opportunity and conducted a data analysis of the area.”
Li Wanran furrowed her brow.
Pang Ling asked with curiosity, “What’s wrong?”
“There are too many people going in and out of the site, affecting the effectiveness of my ability, leading to many useless images being extracted. I may not find anything useful,” Li Wanran explained.
Pang Ling responded distantly, “Just do your best to find something.”
The hovering police car gradually landed on the helipad on the top floor of Diamond Heart. The accompanying personnel opened the door for Li Wanran and Pang Ling and guided them through.
As Li Wanran stepped into the elevator, she turned to glance at White Whale City. The evening sunset was exceptionally magnificent, with the orange-red sun slowly lowering, and the distant dark sea was also stained with gold and red hues. The sky darkened, and at that moment, the neon lights began to gradually illuminate, wrapping the city like long ribbons in the light.
The lights lit up this city shrouded in dusk.
Standing at the peak of Diamond Heart, everything seemed exceedingly small.
“The view is nice; I haven’t seen the sea in a long time,” Pang Ling remarked, following Li Wanran’s gaze.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Li Wanran replied, stepping into the elevator.
Upon arriving at the room where Abrak had the incident, Li Wanran entered alone.
There were bloodstains on the sheets and scattered teeth, many of which were cracked but not fully lost… How much force would it take to forcibly knock out the human body’s strongest teeth?
There was also a device containing hypnotic drugs under the bed.
Li Wanran stood beside the bed and activated “Scene Retrospection.”
Time reversed; one shadow after another passed by her side as time moved forward… She saw two figures!
One shadow pushed the closet door open, walked to the bed, and looked at the unconscious Abrak Popov, scanning over him with a strange instrument, then grasped his collar and hit his face viciously two times.
Next, the figure looked at the person beside them; it appeared they exchanged some words.
Then… the figure hoisted Abrak Popov and jumped into a suddenly opening blue spatial vortex.
Li Wanran was stunned by this scene and held her breath, but she quickly adjusted her facial expression and heartbeat, turning back without a hint of any flaw, just as usual.
“I only saw a few servants rushing into the bedroom in panic; nothing useful was observed,” she reported nonchalantly. “This location has been trampled by too many people, and the scene has been covered.”
Pang Ling sighed, “What a shame… the clue is broken.”
