262: In trouble

"A regular person?"

Zhong Huai let out a sneer, feeling as if he had just heard the funniest joke of the year.

The team member beside him was taken aback by this reaction and subconsciously re-verified the data.

"Yes, Captain Zhong. Based on the energy signature, heart rate, and metabolic levels, he's just an ordinary Young Man who has undergone job advancement. His overall attributes fluctuate around 500. Considering his age, he is indeed quite ordinary."

Bullshit.

Zhong Huai cursed inwardly.

The fact that an old fox like Old Shi would keep him hidden alone in a reception room without even an escort was the biggest anomaly in itself!

Could a regular person even enter this place?

A disguise.

It was definitely top-tier energy concealment or disguise technology.

"Check his identification. Access our own database and dig up his entire ancestry for eighteen generations!" Zhong Huai's interest was thoroughly piqued.

He wanted to see just who this person was that could act so convincingly.

"Yes, sir!"

The team member in charge of operations immediately executed the command, his fingertips tapping rapidly on the virtual keyboard.

However, a few seconds later, his movements stopped.

"Captain Zhong... in the database... there's no matching information."

Zhong Huai was stunned.

"None? How is that possible? Is it unsearchable, or does this person simply not exist?"

"There's... absolutely no matching entry," the team member's voice carried a hint of confusion. "It's as if... this person doesn't exist."

Zhong Huai's brow furrowed into a knot.

A living, breathing person was actually a blank in the Alliance's database?

This was even more absurd than top-tier energy disguise!

Unless... "Check the operation logs!" Zhong Huai reacted immediately. "See if anyone has tampered with his files!"

"Yes, sir!"

The team member immediately switched the search direction, and rows of encrypted data streams scrolled rapidly before him.

Soon, he found that crucial log entry.

Then, his entire body froze.

"What is it?" Zhong Huai urged impatiently.

The team member slowly turned his head, looking at Zhong Huai with an extremely strange expression—a mix of blankness, confusion, and a hint of awe.

"Cap... Captain Zhong..."

"His file was indeed tampered with..."

"All public information was manually deleted, and the highest level of encryption protection was set..."

"Get to the point! Who did it!" Zhong Huai was getting a bit angry.

The team member swallowed hard and pointed at the crystal-clear operator ID on the screen.

"The operation log shows..."

"The person who performed the encryption... was you."

"..."

"..."

The air instantly went dead silent.

The impatience on Zhong Huai's face froze instantly.

The other team members beside him also turned their heads in unison, looking at their captain with the same strange expression.

Me?

I did it?

Zhong Huai's head buzzed, and his mind went blank.

When had he ever done such a thing? How did he not know himself?

"Holy shit!"

Zhong Huai suddenly snapped to his senses, shoved aside the team member in front of him, and sat down at the console himself.

"Permission takeover! Authorization code: Fangs-04!"

He took over personally, and a cold mechanical prompt sounded in his ear.

[Identity verified. Welcome, Captain Zhong Huai.]

[Decrypting S-level encrypted file for you...]

An electronic file locked behind layer upon layer of security slowly unfolded before him.

When he clearly saw the ID photo and the name on the front page of the file, Zhong Huai felt as if he had been struck hard in the back of the head with a blunt club.

Lin Yu!

It was actually him!

Holy shit!

Zhong Huai suddenly remembered.

That's right. Back when Qin Zhan transferred the information of this 'special examinee' Lin Yu, he had specifically warned that this person's identity was extremely sensitive and could not follow regular procedures.

It was he who had personally wiped Lin Yu's public file and then transferred it to an encrypted database that only core members of Fangs could access.

He had completely forgotten about it afterward. After all, Captain Qin Zhan had already said he would personally receive this 'well-connected' person who was just going through the motions.

But who the hell would have thought!

This 'well-connected' guy! The protagonist of the 'God Creation Project'!

He would actually appear here now!

Appearing on Old Shi's turf! Staying all alone in the reception room!

What the hell was going on?

Had the scripts crossed? Or was that old man Old Shi also part of the 'God Creation Project'?

Countless chaotic thoughts exploded in Zhong Huai's head, making his temples throb.

Just then.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A sharp alarm suddenly echoed throughout the reception room.

A bright red S-level emergency intelligence report was forcibly pushed to Zhong Huai's personal terminal.

[Emergency Intelligence: Two unregistered high-level Abyss Domain Professionals detected, carrying a massive amount of undeclared strategic materials, attempting to leave the territory via unconventional routes. Coordinates: ...]

[Order: Linzhou War Zone Fangs Fourth Squad, as the nearest armed force, immediately take command and execute the interception mission! Repeat, immediately execute the interception mission!]

Zhong Huai's body shook, and he instantly pulled himself out of the previous confusion.

As a soldier, the mission always came first.

"What's the situation?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Reporting, Captain Zhong!" a team member responsible for the outer perimeter immediately reported. "One of our patrol squads 'encountered' two suspicious individuals on the transport route outside the park!"

"They are carrying a storage ring, and the energy reaction intensity... is off the charts! According to regulations, the squad has temporarily detained them!"

Encountered?

Zhong Huai's eyelid twitched.

People from the Abyss Domain trying to run would just let you 'encounter' them?

He didn't have time to overthink it and immediately issued orders.

"Seal the scene! Control the targets! But do not escalate the conflict!"

"Yes, sir!"

Zhong Huai's mind raced.

Abyss Domain people? Carrying massive amounts of materials?

This intelligence came too coincidentally, as if... someone had timed it perfectly to hand it to him.

He stared fixedly at the red dot on the holographic map representing the interception site.

"That storage ring! It's a common model still in circulation on the market. Check it!"

"Trace its origin based on the manufacturing number! I want to know exactly who this thing belongs to!"

"Yes, sir!"

The order was quickly executed.

A few seconds later, the technical team member's voice became strange once again.

"Reporting, Captain Zhong... the source information for the ring... is also encrypted."

"Encrypted again?" Zhong Huai's anger flared up. "Was it my doing again?"

"No... no." The team member's voice carried a hint of trembling. "This time the encryption level is higher... it's SSS-level. I... I don't have the permissions."

"Useless!"

Zhong Huai cursed and snatched the controls back again.

"Authorization code: Fangs-04! Break it for me!"

[Permission confirmed... Decrypting SSS-level file...]

The data stream scrolled again.

A file even shorter than the previous one popped up.

There was only one line of text on it.

[Item Number: 7354-B-Omega]

[Previous Owner: Lin Yu]

[Encryption Reason: Lin Yu related, chain encryption.]

Zhong Huai stared fixedly at that name on the screen.

His entire brain completely stalled.

Slowly, frame by frame, he turned his stiff neck.

His gaze pierced through the wall, looking toward the direction of the reception room next door.

So... the two Abyss Domain 'smugglers' who had just left here and were blocked by his subordinates...

The ring in their hands containing 'massive strategic materials'...

Was it given to them by that Young Man resting with his eyes closed next door?

Zhong Huai hated trouble the most, especially this kind of trouble where it felt like some secret transaction was being 'weighed' by others.

"Holy... shit..."

If he had known, he wouldn't have come.