AWB Chapter 386 Severed Arm
Chapter 386 Severed Arm
Chapter 386 Severed Arm
"Not Deputy Director Chang!?"
Xiao Yue's good mental fortitude and self-control allowed him to keep his expression in check, but his tone still betrayed his shock.
"That's impossible. I was given Deputy Director Chang's contact information by the General Administration. Director Shangguan personally inquired about this matter not long ago. How could it not be Deputy Director Chang?"
Tang Zijun looked at the records on her phone screen with uncertain expression. From the green bubble's number and profile picture, it was clear that this was indeed Chang Lei's account. At the same time, the software they were using, which was a special software of the Magic Supervision Bureau, also indicated that there was nothing wrong with these accounts.
This is not a problem, but for Tang Zijun, it is the biggest problem.
"Deputy Director Chang has never mentioned any of these things to me. The account you are using to communicate does belong to Deputy Director Chang, but it is obvious that the person you are communicating with is not Chang Lei."
"You mean, someone hacked Deputy Director Chang's account?" Xiao Yue muttered in disbelief.
He knew how absurd his guess was. The technology used by the Bureau of Demonic Censors should be the most advanced in the world. It was absolutely impossible for them to hack into and steal a deputy director's account and privileges without anyone noticing.
But apart from that, he couldn't think of any other possibility.
"It's not that simple." Tang Zijun shook her head slightly, then took out her phone and made a call to Chang Lei.
Seeing Tang Zijun's actions, Xiao Yue knew what she wanted to do, so he stood quietly to the side, not intending to disturb her.
The call was connected quickly. In the instant it connected, Chang Lei's face flashed across the screen in the phone's reflection, without Xiao Yue noticing.
Immediately afterwards, Chang Lei's voice was played out publicly.
[Hey, what's up, Xiao Tang?]
"Deputy Director Chang, do you know Xiao Yue? He's from the Shanghai branch."
[Xiao Yue?]
Chang Lei was taken aback for a moment. Although he didn't know why Tang Zijun suddenly asked that question, he quickly answered truthfully.
[I don't know him. In the Shanghai branch, I only know Lao Xue; he's the branch manager, with roughly the same authority as me. I'm not very familiar with the colleagues below him. What happened? Did something go wrong again?]
Before Tang Zijun could react to Chang Lei's words, she saw Xiao Yue next to her lose his balance. Fortunately, he grabbed the wall to avoid falling.
He had been an operations agent for quite some time, and he had seen the most terrifying heretical demons and shadow races. He had even once fought against the surface world with his sister.
Having gone through so much, Xiao Yue had long since forged a resilient heart, but at this moment, he felt a chill creep up his back.
The unknown is always the most frightening thing; he couldn't even imagine who the person he was communicating with was.
Tang Zijun pursed her lips and said in a deep voice, "Xiao Yue is right here with me. He just told me that when the Shadow Disaster occurred, there were reports of attacks on the Dream World in Shanghai, and he has been communicating with you about this matter during this time."
After he finished speaking, Chang Lei fell silent.
When Chang Lei heard that the Dream World had been attacked in Shanghai, he didn't react much. After all, although the probability of this happening was relatively low, it wasn't unheard of.
However, when Tang Zijun mentioned that the agent named Xiao Yue had been in contact with him, Chang Lei's heart jumped into his throat.
This was aimed at him. Without Tang Zijun's reminder, Chang Lei immediately checked his phone and noticed that there were many new records in the background. They were all communication between this work machine and an account named "Xiao Yue".
However, these records are usually stored in the background and are not noticeable unless you click to view them.
Chang Lei noticed the date of their first exchange. If he remembered correctly, it was the day after the Shadow Calamity occurred, and at that time, he should have been searching the world for Dark Crystals.
It is highly likely that the other party took advantage of this moment to misuse his electronic information and intercept the contact of the agent named Xiao Yue.
After a long silence, Chang Lei's voice slowly came out.
The records match up; it seems those guys have struck again.
"Those guys?" Xiao Yue's gaze fell on Tang Zijun.
"You know about the data breach that happened at the General Administration before?" Tang Zijun didn't hide anything. Seeing Xiao Yue nod, he continued, "We've always suspected that something is active through the virtual network. I've encountered something similar before."
"Have you encountered this before? Was it also someone impersonating another person to communicate?" Xiao Yue looked intently at Tang Zijun.
"Yes, and it was also a phone conversation. The other person's tone, voice, and demeanor were exactly the same as the person I know," Tang Zijun explained casually.
Xiao Yue shuddered. "How can we be sure that the person we're talking to right now is Deputy Director Chang and not some imposter?"
[Because it's pointless. Once you've made contact with Xiao Tang, the lie has already been exposed. No matter what those guys' motives are, they can't change the fact.]
Chang Lei's voice came again, and then he asked another question.
[By the way, Detective Xiao Yue, you mentioned the attack on the Dream World in Shanghai. Could you elaborate on what happened?]
"Of course." Xiao Yue quickly suppressed his shock and said, "That happened after the Shadow Calamity. During our investigation of the victims, we received reports from the public that their friends had disappeared after the Shadow Calamity ended and could not be contacted by any means."
"I set off immediately after receiving the message. However, I mobilized all my resources, whether it was surveillance or anything else, but I found nothing. The victim's phone and ID card were all at home, and there was no sign of him leaving the house. It was as if he had disappeared from his home for no reason."
Tang Zijun frowned. Judging from these words alone, they did resemble the behavior of a greedy person. After all, the person in the mirror usually pulls the victim into the mirror to harm them.
However, Tang Zijun knew that no more greedy beings had been born into this world, so she didn't interrupt and continued to listen.
"At first, I suspected that the victim was affected by the Shadow Calamity. After all, many people were swallowed by the Shadow at that time, so it's not impossible that the victim got lost in the Shadow."
"But I soon discovered that after the Shadow Calamity ended, all those affected were released, and apart from this missing person, there were no other cases of human harm."
[This does sound a bit complicated, but how did you determine that this was a dream world attack? According to the department's records of dream worlds, victims are usually mentally drawn into the dream world; there has never been a case of a person simply disappearing without a trace.]
In response to Chang Lei's question, Xiao Yue replied seriously, "Actually, I'm not entirely sure either. What truly connected this matter with the dream world was what I discovered at the victim's home."
"I personally led that investigation. We searched the victim's room inside and out, and then a mechanical arm on the victim's bed caught my attention."
"The victim was very young and had a strong interest in Gundam, Iron Man, and the like. Her home was filled with all sorts of figurines and mechanical models. At first, we thought the arm was also a model, but I noticed that the material of that arm was very special..."
"What's so special about it?" Tang Zijun asked, frowning.
"It's so realistic," Xiao Yue said earnestly. "The skin texture, the feel, everything is so real, just like a real human body. If it weren't for the metal and wires inside the severed arm, I would probably really think it was a human severed arm."
"Moreover, that arm seems to be able to interfere with the signal. My phone often malfunctions when it gets close to the arm, and after we contained it, the branch also experienced a large-scale power outage, the cause of which we still can't find."
"I had some material extracted from the arm and sent it for testing. The results showed that it was a synthetic material, and with our technology, we simply couldn't reverse engineer the raw material."
"Professor Liang said that the thing might not be a product of our world, because some unknown radiation sources and frequency values completely different from our world were found on it. That's why I suspect it might be something from the dream world."
"Which arm was the missing arm?" Tang Zijun suddenly asked.
"Right arm," Xiao Yue answered quickly, then added with a hint of doubt. "What, do you know where this thing came from?"
"I guess so, you know?"
Tang Zijun bit his nails. If he was just guessing at first, he was now 100% certain that the severed right arm was most likely together with the head.
When she entered the image with Grilando earlier, the mechanical humanoid had its arm severed and its head cut off. The arm that fell off at the beginning was her right hand.
Thinking of this, Tang Zijun quickly looked up and asked, "Where is that arm now? Can I go take a look?"
"Of course, it's stored in our branch. I was originally planning to send it to headquarters, but the previous Deputy Director Chang vetoed my request."
As he spoke, Xiao Yue subconsciously glanced at Tang Zijun's phone.
But the next moment, his eyes widened instantly.
"Hey, what's going on here!?"
Hearing the noise, Tang Zijun also looked at the phone in her hand.
Then he saw a mechanical head appear on his phone screen, looking like it was making a video call.
The cold, mechanical gaze on the other side seemed to be scrutinizing the two people in reality through a screen.
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