46: Chapter 46 marks the beginning of the police's investigation.

Director Qin Weidong frowned slightly and asked, "Little Xu, what's wrong?"

In an instant, everyone's gaze fell upon Xu Xiangyang.

It was clear that this cybersecurity expert, who had been full of confidence just a moment ago, now had a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

He stared at the computer screen, his expression looking rather grim.

After a long silence,

he finally spoke, his voice dry.

"Director Qin... this isn't scientific."

He took a deep breath, as if trying to organize his thoughts.

"I just used low-level packet capture tools, memory analysis tools, system process scanners, and hardware monitoring modules."

"Under normal circumstances..."

"Any software that runs will definitely leave traces: background processes, cache files, data traffic, memory call logs..."

"These things cannot just vanish into thin air."

At this point, Xu Xiangyang paused, then pointed to Zhao Shoucheng's phone, "However, I found nothing."

As soon as those words were spoken, the meeting room went instantly quiet.

"What do you mean?" Director Qin Weidong frowned.

Xu Xiangyang's Adam's apple bobbed, his gaze heavy, "From the bottom level of the system, this phone is extremely clean."

"Aside from the system's built-in programs, there are no third-party software running records, nor is there any data interaction."

"Even the internet connectivity behavior... seems nonexistent."

"Yet, somehow... the lifespan treasure is still running."

"This clearly defies all logic!"

When he finished, the entire meeting room fell into a dead silence.

Several young officers exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes, and even Director Qin Weidong's frown deepened.

"Is there any other way?"

Hearing this, Xu Xiangyang paused for a moment.

Then, he sat up straight again, his eyes gradually regaining their composure.

"Yes!"

"If conventional methods don't work, then we skip the software layer."

"We'll attack it directly from the physical layer!"

When it came to his professional field, Xu Xiangyang clearly regained his confidence.

"I can force a read of the flash memory image, extract low-level data through hardware chip decryption, and then perform... brute-force decompilation!"

"As long as it exists on this phone!"

"No matter how deep it's hidden, it will definitely leave physical traces!"

"As long as I find a breakthrough, I can follow the vine to find its source code, or even find the backend server!"

Hearing this, surprise flashed in Director Qin Weidong's eyes.

He could even find the backend server?!

This kid was capable!

Director Qin Weidong immediately looked at Zhao Shoucheng.

After all, this was someone's private property; if they performed a brute-force attack, it might very well cause the phone's system to crash completely.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Zhao Shoucheng waved his hand dismissively.

"Go ahead and mess with it."

"If you can really find something, you can smash the phone afterwards for all I care."

"Alright, then I'm starting!"

Xu Xiangyang nodded, then sat back down in front of the computer and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his expression was unprecedentedly serious.

Soon, a series of complex codes began to scroll rapidly.

Various windows popped up on the screen continuously.

The fan began to spin wildly.

It emitted a shrill humming sound.

The meeting room fell quiet once more.

Only the sound of keyboard tapping echoed.

Da, da, da—

Time ticked away, second by second.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes.

Gradually, Xu Xiangyang's typing slowed down, sweat beads accumulated on his forehead, and his back was already soaked through.

Finally.

He stopped.

His hands hovered over the keyboard.

He seemed to have lost all his strength.

"How could this be..."

His voice carried an uncontrollable tremor.

Everyone realized something was wrong.

Director Qin Weidong asked in a deep voice, "What's the result?"

Xu Xiangyang slowly looked up, his face looking like he had just suffered a crushing defeat.

"I'm sorry... it failed..."

"I... I have no way to deal with it..."

The meeting room went silent instantly.

Xu Xiangyang gave a bitter smile.

"I tried every method I could think of."

"Brute-force hacking, hardware reading, flash memory image analysis, low-level data scanning, but the result... was all the same."

"The data I sent out was like a clay ox entering the sea; there was no response."

"This software is as if it doesn't exist at all."

At this point, Xu Xiangyang looked down at the phone screen, his voice bitter.

"This has already exceeded the scope of existing internet technology. Perhaps it's because my skills are lacking, or at least... it's beyond my comprehension."

Dead silence!

Once these words were spoken, the entire meeting room fell into a heavy silence.

Director Qin Weidong's expression also became unprecedentedly grave.

Who was Xu Xiangyang?

Presumably, everyone present had heard of him to some extent.

A provincial-level cybersecurity expert!

A winner of national competitions!

Specially responsible for major cybersecurity incidents!

Yet now, he couldn't even grasp the basics of a single piece of software?

Director Qin Weidong rubbed his throbbing temples and spoke slowly.

"It seems that this matter has clearly exceeded the scope of what our public security system can handle. I will report this to the higher-ups immediately."

"I'll request intervention at a higher level!"

Zhao Shoucheng nodded with a serious expression, "Understood!"

Just then, Officer Xiao Jiang waved the report in his hand from outside the glass window.

Seeing this, Zhao Shoucheng gave him a signal.

Soon, the door to the meeting room was pushed open.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

Officer Xiao Jiang walked in quickly.

He was holding a report that had just been printed.

His face was full of excitement.

"Director Qin!"

"Captain Zhao!"

"We have a major lead!"

Whoosh!

All eyes instantly converged on him.

"Speak." Zhao Shoucheng's eyes lit up, and he spoke immediately.

Xiao Jiang took a deep breath and reported quickly:

"Our investigation team just re-examined the transmission chain and found that although the vast majority of users obtained the lifespan treasure suddenly..."

"But two days ago, there was a clear transmission node!"

As he spoke, he handed over the report.

"The First People's Hospital!"

"Wang Jianguo, a family member of a patient in the Infectious Disease Department, is the first confirmed person to download the lifespan treasure using an invitation code!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the meeting room was energized!

The term invitation code had been heard to death over the past two days.

And now they had found the source?

Xiao Jiang continued, "The person who gave the invitation code to Wang Jianguo..."

"Is named Chen Fan, twenty-four years old, graduated two years ago. He previously worked at a normal company, was later diagnosed with lung wither disease, and subsequently resigned."

"According to the information we have investigated so far..."

"Chen Fan is very likely the earliest user of the lifespan treasure, and he is currently the only confirmed person who has given out an invitation code!"

Following this, the room was in an uproar.

"So there really are people giving out invitation codes?"

"I was wondering why everyone online was begging for an invitation code!"

Zhao Shoucheng reacted suddenly.

An invitation code?!

Right, it seems there was something like that!

He immediately took out his phone, opened the [lifespan treasure] app, and quickly found the [invitation code center] at the bottom of the homepage.

Without hesitation, he clicked on it!

However, the next second, he was greatly disappointed.

It was completely empty inside, with only a line of text.

[Currently available invitation codes: 0]

Seeing everyone looking at him, Zhao Shoucheng gave a bitter smile.

"I don't have any invitation codes here."

Director Qin Weidong narrowed his eyes, his fingers tapping gently on the table.

"Chen Fan..."

"Wang Jianguo..."

"And Zhou Wanshan..."

A moment later, he stood up abruptly.

"Since the source has been found, then it's easier to handle."

"Take action immediately!"

"Group One, contact Chen Fan!"

"Group Two, visit Zhou Wanshan!"

"Group Three, continue to dig deeper into Wang Jianguo's side!"

"Especially this person named Chen Fan, pay close attention to him!"

"Everyone must grasp the full situation in the shortest possible time!"

"Yes!"

Everyone in the meeting room stood up simultaneously.

The response was neat and loud.

Director Qin Weidong then looked at the propaganda officer.

"Also."

"Issue an emergency notice in the name of the Municipal Bureau."

"Remind the general public that the lifespan treasure incident is still under investigation. Do not believe online rumors lightly, and even more so, do not engage in any transactions easily!"

"Yes!"