AWB Chapter 404 After Tang Zijun's Disappearance
Chapter 404 After Tang Zijun's Disappearance
Chapter 404 After Tang Zijun's Disappearance
"What do you mean by saying my brother is no longer in this world!?"
Inside the meeting room of the Shanghai branch of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Supervision, Tang Cao and her group sat side by side, looking at Chang Lei and Feng Xinzi opposite them. The expressions on each of their faces changed considerably.
After leaving the Xiao siblings' safe house, Chang Lei immediately took Hyacinth to the Demon Surveillance Bureau branch. With his deception skills, he wasn't worried that the Demon Surveillance Bureau's agents would notice anything amiss.
Moreover, he was in no mood to care about those irrelevant things right now. The strange mechanical lifeforms, the eerie arms, and the power that opened the portal and took Tang Zijun and Xiao Xiao away—all of these things made this veteran senior executive of the Greedy One feel the pressure.
He hadn't expected that before they had even fully investigated the situation in the dream world, a new enemy had already infiltrated the real world, and that the power and combat strength they possessed were far greater than they had realized.
After Hyacinth recounted everything she knew about the whole story, the atmosphere in the conference room became extremely serious.
"The literal meaning," Chang Lei said in a deep voice, shadows falling on half of his face, casting a gloomy shadow over his kind appearance. "That robot seems to be able to create space. This power is not something we've seen before; it's some kind of futuristic technology."
"Technological products..." Tan Zhixin frowned. "Could they be the same guys who stole our intelligence before?"
"We can't rule out that possibility. There were two attacks in total. The first was at the previous comic convention, when Tang Zijun called me and told me about Agent Xiao Yue. But before she could finish speaking, they were attacked. The second attack happened after Tang Zijun went to the safe house with tide Lan."
Chang Lei interlaced his fingers and continued in a low voice, "Both attacks were carried out through mechanical entities, suggesting that the opponent possesses the ability to descend from the electronic virtual network into the real world."
Qin Nan's face tightened, and her gaze towards Chang Lei became somewhat strange. "So, their initial target was Tang Zijun, right?"
"I don't know." Chang Lei paused for a moment, then glanced meaningfully at Tang Cao and Su Siyao, who were still in a daze, and shook his head. "However, based on the known clues, Tang Zijun was indeed present during both of the attacks."
"Why are they targeting my brother?" Tang Cao clenched her small fists instinctively, and Su Siyao couldn't help but speak up as well. "That's right, Brother Tang hasn't offended them!"
Tan Zhixin sighed softly.
"The enemy's attack is unreasonable. They must have some ulterior motive for launching an attack, just like the invasion of our world by heretics. However, these heretics are after negative energy. As for these robots..."
If they really came for Tang Zijun, then Tang Zijun must have something they want.
"Does Tang Ge possess something they desire?"
Su Siyao thought about the sentence carefully, and then she and Tang Cao thought of a certain possibility at the same time, and the two girls spoke in unison.
"A dream world!?"
Yes.
If Tang Zijun possesses any special power, then the most likely explanation is that she can freely travel between dream worlds.
Tang Zijun is the only person in the world who can enter and exit the dream world without being affected by its mental pollution. There may have been other beings who could enter the dream world before, but without exception, they all went insane, and some even died tragically in that world.
At present, besides Tang Zijun, there is no one else who can help the Bureau of Magical Investigation and human civilization to further explore the dream world. Perhaps Katie is one, but she relies on the anchor point set by Tang Zijun to go to that world.
Thinking of this, Tan Zhixin quickly turned to look at Katie beside her.
"Katie, can you sense Tang Zijun's presence now? If it's you, with the connection between you and Tang Zijun, you can find him even if he's not in our world, right?"
Upon hearing this, Katie's already expressionless face lowered slightly. "I've been trying to contact my brother since just now, but... his world is too far away, and it seems like something is blocking the connection between us."
"How could this be..." Qin Nan couldn't help but sigh softly. She knew that even the dream world and the real world couldn't stop Katie and Tang Zijun from connecting. She couldn't imagine what kind of state that unknown world was in.
The others also looked rather grim, and Su Siyao's eyes even reddened.
Chang Lei's expression was also rather complicated, but seeing everyone's reaction, he quickly spoke up. "Actually, this is normal. For the real world, the connection between the dream world and the dream world is quite close. Although there hasn't been much interaction over the past thousand years, the two sides did fight each other in ancient times..."
"But the world that robot lives in is a first for us, and we are completely unfamiliar with it. I don't know if you have observed it, but there is no special energy left on those robots."
"I see it," Tang Cao said. "Those robots are completely different from the Outer Demons and the Shadow Clan. They don't have extraordinary power, nor do they have any residual negative energy on them."
"Yes." Chang Lei nodded. "That means the other side isn't after negative energy. They are very likely weapons made by some advanced civilization, just like the biological weapons made by the heretical demons."
Tan Zhixin and Qin Nan exchanged a glance, both of them with somewhat solemn expressions.
As seasoned magical girls, they always believed that they would spend their lives fighting against evil forces, but they never expected that their enemy would one day become a civilization from another world.
After a moment of silence, Tang Cao asked again.
"But why are they targeting my brother and the dream world? Do they also want to take advantage of the dream world?"
"Perhaps their schemes for the dream world have already begun." Chang Lei glanced around with a glimmer of light in his eyes, then spoke softly.
Last week, Tang Zijun secretly found me and told me something very important...
The meeting room fell silent immediately upon hearing this, with everyone listening intently and serious expressions, awaiting Chang Lei's next words.
Chang Lei didn't hide anything and continued talking.
"When he proactively contacted the civilization of the dream world according to the bureau's plan, he encountered a very strange woman's head in a place called the River Frontline."
"The woman's head was made of very precise materials. Not only did it resemble a human in appearance, but even some details were exactly the same. If it weren't for the lines protruding from the broken neck, anyone would have mistaken it for a lifelike human."
"The moment Tang Zijun saw that head, she knew it was definitely not a product of the dream world. Given the civilization of that world and the influence of the gods on the mortal realm, it would have taken them at least several thousand years to create such an exquisite instrument, and that would have been without the interference of the gods."
"You mean that the woman's head was intentionally sent to the dream world by those robots, and that Tang Zijun was targeted by those robots after he came into contact with the head?" Su Siyao couldn't help but ask.
"Let me finish speaking first." Chang Lei glanced at Su Siyao. It was undeniable that the girl's words had given him some inspiration, but now he decided to explain the situation clearly first.
"At that time, we were still unable to determine the origin of the head. We only knew that in addition to the dream world, there was an unknown force that had left traces in that world. However, later, when Tang Zijun returned to the real world, he was suddenly sent to a wasteland."
Wasteland?
The people at the conference table had different expressions, clearly not expecting that Tang Zijun had actually kept this experience from them.
Fearing they might misunderstand, Chang Lei emphasized, "The word 'send' might not be the most appropriate. According to our later investigation, Tang Zijun's body and mind did not leave the real world at that time. She must have received some kind of information, a deceptive, virtual illusion."
"In the images shown in that information, he witnessed firsthand how the cyborg woman's head was severed, as well as scenes of robots hunting humans. It was at that time that we began our investigation into that unknown world."
"Although I don't know why that head appeared in the dream world, or how that arm appeared in the real world, if we can reactivate it, we might be able to find Tang Zijun's current location."
Upon hearing Chang Lei's words, Tang Cao immediately stood up.
Her delicate, pretty face was filled with seriousness as she spoke, word by word, "Tell me, Uncle Chang, what do you need me to do?"
Although the others did not speak, their eyes conveyed a clear meaning.
Seeing this, Chang Lei didn't say anything more, but instead took out a very strange box from behind him.
"I need you to provide her with energy."
...