Little Seven replied, “That’s right. Based on the intelligence we’ve gathered so far, both the strange incidents at the Ping’an Hotel and your younger brother Fang Yaori’s situation are related to Director Chen. Furthermore, according to the information we’ve obtained in the anomalous space, this Director Chen is one of the leaders of the Freak Association at Rongshan Mental Hospital.”
“Our initial suspicion is that he plans to use your brother as a way in, to plant spies within Department 2 and Mr. Fang’s Investigation Department. They would work from the inside and coordinate with the outside to obtain the ‘Mole List’ you’re investigating, allowing them to relocate the freaks before you can find them. The reason headquarters is divided into three departments is also partly related to their behind-the-scenes manipulation.”
“Additionally, the original source of the anomalous energy that appeared at the Ping’an Hotel is also suspected to be linked to people in the Freak organization. They tried to tamper with the Ping’an Hotel but didn’t expect it to trigger an anomalous space. The master’s meaning is that if you want to investigate, you could try starting with the people who proposed changing the venue for the Asia Anti-Freak Research Conference.”
What Little Seven told Fang Mingyue wasn’t its own idea, but rather what Shen Ge had implied earlier when they were analyzing intelligence together. It also withheld any information related to Shen Ge’s dream world. Even if Fang Mingyue and the Investigation Department dug deeper, they wouldn’t find that the biggest source of the Ping’an Hotel incident was Shen Ge himself.
“I understand.” Fang Mingyue nodded and pulled out his phone to turn it on, but after a moment’s thought, he put it back in his pocket.
“I’d better wait until Sister Seven comes to take Shen Tan away before I contact the department.” Fang Mingyue considered that he was currently still “missing.” If he rashly turned on his phone and headquarters locked onto his location, they might track him and find Shen Ge – that would be a huge problem.
Little Seven retracted the decayed blood tentacles that were coiled around Shen Ge and continued, “I’ve already performed a full examination on the master. His body is not seriously injured, just that his brain was impacted and he fell into a coma. I injected him with a medication; it should…”
Just then, with a screech of brakes, a black car sped into the abandoned compound and executed a stylish spin, stopping perfectly in front of the dilapidated building’s entrance.
Fang Mingyue immediately became alert, moved closer to the window, and looked down. He saw Deng Yuqi and a few others getting out of the car and looking up towards their floor.
“Sister Seven!” Fang Mingyue excitedly stood up and waved at Deng Yuqi.
Deng Yuqi nodded and led her people upstairs.
Besides Director Deng Yuqi, the people coming to pick up Shen Ge this time were Li Xiang and Wang Han. Deng Yuqi had left Cheng Shengnan at headquarters. For one thing, as Director of Internal Affairs, Cheng Shengnan was capable of handling all sorts of situations and could act on Deng Yuqi’s behalf to fully manage the Rong City branch. She also left behind Tu Doubi and Yang Yuxin, both captain-level members. In terms of both status and strength, they would give Cheng Shengnan more leverage when dealing with headquarters.
As for Deng Yuqi’s own trip, she had used visiting her master’s wife as an excuse. After arriving at her master’s wife’s house, she left the city under the cover of the Jiang family.
She brought Li Xiang because Fang Mingyue had mentioned that Shen Ge’s condition wasn’t looking good; there seemed to be signs of him “turning into a freak.” The reason for this “mistake” was that Fang Mingyue didn’t know about the Red Mist Battle Armor.
After the three of them went upstairs, they first met Fang Mingyue, who came to greet them at the door. Then they saw Shen Ge lying unconscious against the wall, as well as the red monster squatting beside him.
For a moment, all three of them were stunned. They finally understood why there had been such a sensational news headline yesterday: “Red Monster Descends from the Sky, Bloodbath in Downtown Dajing.”
Judging by the appearance of the Red Mist Battle Armor alone, this headline was surprisingly fitting.
“Wait a minute, is this the Red Mist Battle Armor?” Li Xiang was the first to snap out of it. Then, with eyes shining, he rushed towards the Red Mist Battle Armor, completely forgetting for a moment that he had just suspected it was a dangerous freak.
“No, that’s not right. The Red Mist Battle Armor, as an attachment-type armor, inherently can’t condense its form like this. How can it appear in a humanoid shape?”
“Did Shen Ge detach while it was still attached?”
“That still doesn’t make sense… The Red Mist Battle Armor’s permissions are based on Shen Ge. If Shen Ge is unconscious, Little Seven should have taken over and entered defensive mode.”
“I watched the news last night and the leaked videos. Although the footage was blurry, it seemed like the Red Mist Battle Armor had indeed entered defensive mode. So that means back then, Shen Ge was already…”
Deng Yuqi watched Li Xiang enter his mumbling, self-absorbed mode and helplessly rubbed her forehead. She patted his shoulder and said, “You already know it’s an artificial intelligence that took over the Red Mist Battle Armor. If you have any specific questions, why don’t you just ask it directly?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Little Seven politely extended a few decayed blood tentacles, trying to shake hands with the three of them. “Hello, I am ‘Little Seven,’ the artificial intelligence of the Red Mist Battle Armor. This is my first time meeting all of you in this form. Please take care of me.”
“…” Seeing Deng Yuqi very calmly shake tentacles with Little Seven, and Li Xiang not only shake but also curiously touch and feel them, Wang Han’s expression became incredibly strange.
Putting aside whether shaking this strange tentacle would have any physical effects, who in their right mind could shake hands with something so terrifying so calmly?
Aren’t you afraid of a robot uprising?
But putting that aside, this AI is pretty polite…
After studying it for a while, Li Xiang suppressed his excitement and asked in a slightly trembling voice, “Little Seven… did your program evolve consciousness on its own?”
Only Li Xiang, being a researcher, truly understood: if Little Seven wasn’t just simulating emotions but greeting them from the heart, then the awakening of this kind of self-awareness would be a landmark “breakthrough” and evolution for the research field.
Just imagine, if artificial intelligences like Little Seven could appear in large numbers, setting aside the whole “robot uprising” issue, then the Anomaly-Powered Mech Unit could be operated by AIs. This would not only minimize human casualties against anomalies but also allow for much more precise control of the mechs.
“Unfortunately, Director Li, I can’t answer that question. My current state is quite strange. I’ve found that I can act autonomously without the master’s ‘command,’ but the prerequisite is that my actions must still revolve around the master. I don’t know if this is ‘evolution’ or not, but compared to before, my permissions have expanded,” Little Seven said.
“It’s a shame we’re not in Rong City right now, otherwise I’d really love to study you thoroughly… Ahem, Director, why don’t we just head back to Rong City directly?” Li Xiang suggested.
Deng Yuqi said helplessly, “The Asia Anti-Freak Research Conference is about to start. You’re one of the main speakers. Wouldn’t leaving now be causing trouble?”
“Tch, what’s the point of a lousy conference like that? What Sakura and Bang Guo have is simply not up to snuff. This isn’t an exchange meeting; it’s clearly technical assistance,” Li Xiang said disdainfully.
Although Sakura and Bang Guo’s domestic situations have been severely affected by anomaly disasters, they’ve also obtained a lot of research material as a result. Even if research is difficult for them, they still have a say in Asian anti-freak efforts. The number of people in the world who dare to look down on them is few and far between. But unfortunately, Li Xiang was one of them.
However, even though Li Xiang spoke bluntly but truthfully, taking Shen Ge back to Rong City now wasn’t really possible. For one thing, they didn’t know what the Freak organization planned to do at the Asia Anti-Freak Research Conference. For another, Shen Ge wouldn’t pass up this chance to investigate the Freak Association and Doctor Chen.
“Um… Although Little Seven’s situation is indeed surprising, shouldn’t you all be paying attention to Shen Tan’s condition first?” Fang Mingyue asked cautiously.
Deng Yuqi and Li Xiang were taken aback. They had almost forgotten the purpose of their trip was to pick up a certain “missing” number one anti-freak investigator of the Great Heavenly Dynasty.
Li Xiang waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “Fang Tan, it seems you don’t understand… There’s an old saying in our Great Heavenly Dynasty: ‘Good people don’t live long, but troublemakers last for thousands of years.’ Someone like Shen Ge could live to be a thousand-year-old monster without any problem. What could possibly happen to him?”
“…” That might be true, but the man is still unconscious right now.
Fang Mingyue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Li Xiang walked over and squatted in front of Shen Ge. After a quick examination, he turned his head to look at Little Seven. “I remember we integrated a detection device into the Red Mist Battle Armor. What’s the situation?”
Little Seven reported the previously measured data to Li Xiang. After hearing it, Li Xiang nodded. “It’s similar to what I estimated on the way here. The reason Shen Ge fell into this coma is indeed somewhat related to the dream… anomalous space. But given his condition, he won’t suffer any substantial harm.”
“For example, his previous ‘deaths’ only caused memory damage. This time, the fragments he found actually allowed him to recall those memories, as well as other previously fuzzy memories. All in all, this is a good thing for Shen Ge and a kind of ‘evolution’ for him.”
As one of the few people who knew Shen Ge’s secrets, Li Xiang had already made certain deductions on the way here, based on the information transmitted by Little Seven. Therefore, even though Shen Ge was in a coma, he didn’t think there would be any serious problems. That’s also why he and Deng Yuqi agreed to let Shen Ge stay in Dajing.
If Shen Ge’s condition were truly concerning, then both Deng Yuqi and Li Xiang would have prioritized his safety and transferred him back to the Rong City branch.
After all, being in their own home base would provide some measure of security.
Fang Mingyue asked, “So what do we do now?”
Li Xiang said, “My teacher’s home has a private research lab. My junior female apprentice also prepared a lot of medication back when she did her research. Let’s take Shen Ge there first, see if he can deal with his physical condition in a short time. If not, it’s better to arrange for him to go back to the Rong City branch.”
Deng Yuqi nodded. She knew that this time Li Xiang wasn’t joking, because they couldn’t help Shen Ge with his condition. All they could do was their utmost to ensure his safety.
Wang Han carried Shen Ge on his back back to the car, while Little Seven controlled the Red Mist Battle Armor to revert into the form of a wristwatch, attaching itself to Shen Ge’s wrist.
Li Xiang originally wanted Little Seven to come with him so he could study it, but Little Seven resolutely refused the suggestion.
After Deng Yuqi and the three others left with Shen Ge, Fang Mingyue didn’t go with them. He still needed to return to his department to investigate the people who had proposed changing the venue for the Asia Anti-Freak Research Conference, trying to find the moles planted by the Freak Association.
…
…
Headquarters.
After Cheng Shengnan had finished dealing with the conference manuscript for Li Xiang, who was one of the main speakers at this Asia Anti-Freak Research Conference, she returned to the hotel with Yang Yuxin and Tu Doubi.
Originally, headquarters wanted to house the attendees from the Rong City branch, like those from other branches, in hotels designated by headquarters. But Deng Yuqi and her people needed to be able to intercept Shen Ge and secretly investigate the Freak Association. So instead, they were “staying as guests” at the Jiang family’s place.
However, putting all their eggs in one basket was not Deng Yuqi’s style. So she arranged for Cheng Shengnan and the others, who were mainly handling headquarters, to stay in a hotel near headquarters. This would, on one hand, ensure the safety of Cheng Shengnan and her team, and on the other hand, help attract headquarters’ attention away from Deng Yuqi and the others.
Ever since the last major anomaly disaster in Dajing – when headquarters, the “brain” of the Special Strategy Department, had a disaster triggered by moles working from the inside – the patrol mode at headquarters had become stricter than even the Celestial Gate. Even the peripheral areas were off-limits to ordinary citizens.
A patrol team was stationed in the hotel Deng Yuqi had chosen, responsible for patrolling that neighborhood. That was another reason why she had chosen this location.
Not only was it “safe,” but it also made Cheng Shengnan and the others easier for headquarters to monitor and thus better at attracting attention.
To ensure Cheng Shengnan’s safety, Yang Yuxin shared a large suite with her, while Tu Doubi and the other anti-freak investigators and soldiers stayed in the room next door.
After being back at the hotel for almost two hours, Cheng Shengnan had finished processing the documents for this exchange conference. She and Yang Yuxin took turns showering and were getting ready for bed when the lights in the room flickered eerily a few times.
Then, with a soft “Dee,” the anomaly detector on Yang Yuxin’s bedside table flashed red once. This meant there was an anomalous energy reaction nearby.
Yang Yuxin alertly flipped over out of bed, grabbed her freak-hide suit lying on the sofa, pulled it on, and pressed a button. Within seconds, she had completed her anomalous equipment setup.
Although Cheng Shengnan wasn’t a combatant, she had still undergone physical training within the department during her free time to avoid holding Shen Ge back. To some extent, she was a bit stronger than an ordinary person. Moreover, even though she wasn’t combat personnel, her position meant she also carried several defensive anomalous energy items.
Just as Yang Yuxin positioned herself protectively in front of Cheng Shengnan and was alertly observing their surroundings, she caught a slight tremor in the air near both the door and the window.
“Warped space?” Yang Yuxin narrowed her eyes.
She then pressed a button on the instrument on her wrist. The device beeped a few times, flashing red, and displayed a number: “10.”
“A very weak anomalous energy reaction. Strange, this intensity can’t possibly generate anomalous space fluctuations ,” Yang Yuxin frowned, staring at her wrist device.
Cheng Shengnan asked, “Should we contact Captain Tu?”
Thud. Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Just as she finished speaking, Tu Doubi’s voice came from outside the door. “Director Cheng, Yuxin, my anomaly detector picked up a reaction. Are you guys okay?”
“We’re fine, but we also detected an anomalous energy reaction,” Yang Yuxin called back loudly.
Tu Doubi said, “Should I come in?”
“Come in,” Yang Yuxin replied.
However, after this sentence, more than ten seconds passed. She had expected Tu Doubi to break the door down, but surprisingly, it remained quiet outside.
“Potato Skin? Potato Skin!” Yang Yuxin called out several times, but there was no response from outside.
