wake
When Shi Youchen and Ying Yungui received the call from Yan Zhiyuan, they were sorting out the content of each of Lu Shen's tasks.
"Lin Zhouze has woken up. He... has something to say to you. Is it convenient for him to come over?" Yan Zhiyuan's breath trembled slightly, as if he was trying hard to suppress some extreme emotions.
"Okay." Shi Youchen hung up the phone and exchanged a glance with Ying Yungui. "Lin Zhouze is awake. I'll go over there."
Ying Yungui responded as a matter of course, "Okay, let's pack up and go together." Then he started to tidy up the papers scattered on the table, folded them up, knocked them neatly on the table, and then put them into the notebook.
Shi Youchen watched his movements and wondered if he had neglected psychological loneliness training recently. Otherwise, why would his first reaction when he heard Ying Yungui say they wanted to be together be anticipation and a little bit of...joy?
Ying Yungui changed his shoes at the entrance, turned around, glanced at Shi Youchen, who was still standing by the window in a daze, and said, "What's wrong? Aren't you leaving?"
A gust of cold wind slipped in through the window at the right time, and penetrated through the gap in the collar. The chill crawled across the neck, waking up Shi Youchen who was in self-doubt.
Inside the treatment room, Lin Zhouze leaned against a pillow, all his connections removed except for the IV line. When Shi Youchen and Ying Yungui arrived, he was biting into a piece of snow pear Yan Zhiyuan had chopped. Seeing them approach together, his eyes lit up for a moment, then he looked at Shi Youchen with a hint of inquiry, chewing, his thinner cheeks puffing slightly.
Yan Zhiyuan: "Here it comes." Lin Zhouze had been awake for almost an hour. As his joy gradually faded, his anger gradually rose. At this moment, the corners of his mouth were tightened into a straight line.
Shi Youchen said "hmm" and closed the door.
Lin Zhouze swallowed the abundant juice in his mouth without saying a word. He pointed to the two chairs prepared beside him and motioned them to sit down.
Yan Zhiyuan placed the plate on the table and turned on the projector on the opposite wall while saying, "His vocal cords are affected by the toxin, so it's best not to speak for the time being. Sit down. He insisted that I call you over right now."
After inserting a small card the size of a fingernail into the side of the bracelet and successfully connecting it to the projection, Yan Zhiyuan looked at Ying Yungui again: "Why are you here too?"
Ying Yungui took the fruit plate without hesitation and placed it before Shi Youchen like a treasure. However, a look from Shi Youchen forced him to put it back and said sarcastically, "I have to protect his safety."
Seeing that Shi Youchen remained silent, Yan Zhiyuan glanced at Lin Zhouze who was torturing the sheets with his hands and nodded.
"Lin Zhouze has a habit of recording the learning content of cross-district exchange meetings via video if the other party allows it. This time, he also recorded the exchange and study at the research institute in District 3. Although he himself can't remember the specific events of that day, if this thing hasn't been processed by the intruder, he might be able to capture something useful."
A video lasting more than thirty-five hours began to play on the gray-white wall. The video was slightly blurry due to the large magnification.
Calculating the date of the incident, Yan Zhiyuan pulled the progress bar until the picture tilted severely with a "clang" sound. Lin Zhouze on the bed excitedly used his body to indicate that it was this day.
In the video, several pairs of identical black boots passed by, interspersed with a few incomprehensible words, though the tone of voices all sounded male. Yan Zhiyuan connected the translator inside the bracelet, and subtitles appeared at the top of the screen.
"The innermost sample."
"That's not necessary."
"The culture tank on the far right of the top row."
......
These invaders were obviously well-trained. Their instructions were concise and their movements were efficient. Even their footsteps were calm and steady.
Five minutes later, there was no more sound in the institute and they left.
The video then shows Lin Zhouze being rescued and sent to the treatment room in Area 3. The camera was aimed at the cold ceiling of the treatment room until a pair of hands reached out and closed it.
Yan Zhiyuan: "The last seventeen hours of inactive time were exactly the time period when I received the message and passed through here. I was the one who turned off the camera."
Lin Zhouze spent the better part of an hour after waking up, texting with Yan Zhiyuan, telling him he had brought his recorder with him as usual. Yan Zhiyuan tried to calm him down, then pulled out a small card from the recorder and exchanged a tacit smile with him.
Only five minutes of valid content was recorded on the day of the incident. Even if the image was zoomed in and adjusted, no other parts of the invaders except their shoes could be seen. Even every piece of leather and texture on the uniform black boots were observed frame by frame, but there was still no useful information.
Just have to work on the audio.
Ying Yungui asked, "The research institute in Area 3 must also have video surveillance. There are only two possibilities for their lack of a statement. One, the video evidence has been destroyed; two, the video is intact, but they have a complete view of the institute and haven't found any useful information."
Shi Youchen: "Based on the behavior of these people, I tend to favor the latter."
Yan Zhiyuan: "Add to that the special nature of the stolen data, and we can't issue a public notice to the outside world." He looked at Lin Zhouze and said, "What do you remember about the things in that research institute?"
Lin Zhouze stared at the furnishings inside the research institute in the early scenes of the video, trying to recall his experiences of those days.
The three hours of communication and discussion every day lasted less than a week. The rest of the time, he was either organizing materials in the room, or observing the daily lives of the psychics in Zone 3 at the base over there, and occasionally making cross-zone calls with Yan Zhiyuan.
The topic of this exchange was the sensitivity of the monitoring instrument to energy, so in the institute his focus was basically on the instrument, and he didn't really observe other samples and culture dishes carefully.
Lin Zhouze shook his head and typed on the screen: "I only vaguely remember that there weren't many things in that research institute, and even fewer biological ones. Most of them were instruments and the like. We had limited time to use them each day, so there was no time to do anything else."
After all, it was the body of an ordinary person that had been corroded by toxins. Several people did not expect that Lin Zhouze, who had just recovered, would remember everything clearly. But in this way, the direct clues on his side would be cut off.
Ying Yungui was pulling back to listen to those five minutes.
Because the picture had no reference value, he simply closed his eyes to avoid interference from external factors.
He carefully distinguished each short sentence, and suddenly found that between two sentences of the man who issued the order, a clearly different voice quickly passed by.
He checked several times to make sure he hadn't misheard and that the voice was real, so he said, "Three minutes and fifty-four seconds here."
Upon hearing this, Yan Zhiyuan pulled back and turned up the volume to the maximum.
——“XSWHU9.”
A very cold voice flashed by. Yan Zhiyuan's eyes widened slightly, and he looked at the others in surprise. The video volume was already at full volume, but the words were still as faint as a silver needle sinking to the bottom of the sea.
If it is not discovered now, we don’t know how long it will take before we can take this document back and analyze it bit by bit using more sophisticated instruments.
Yan Zhiyuan used his authority to intercept and analyze the audio transmission, which lasted less than a second. The progress bar quickly filled up, displaying the analysis results. Translations in all languages were listed. Several people simultaneously looked at the line for Area 8.
"Notify District 9."
The air in the room seemed to freeze in an instant.
Shi Youchen: "Could it be..."
Ying Yungui reacted and made a quick decision: "Old Yan, submit the application to the 9th District Branch immediately and attach these five minutes of information. It will definitely be approved."
As soon as he opened his mouth, Yan Zhiyuan was already in action, operating his hands quickly while saying, "It will take time to get the task approved. I'd like to trouble you to borrow your private jet."
Shi Youchen couldn't help much at the moment, and could only mutter, "Again, District 9."
Lu Shen's mission notes, the S-rank mission from that year, and the current attack on the Area 3 research institute all point to Area 9. Is this just a coincidence or...
Lin Zhouze tugged at Shi Youchen's clothes in panic. He understood what Yan Zhiyuan meant - he was going to District 9.
He didn't need anyone to explain anything, he knew that Yan Zhiyuan's plan must have something to do with him.
Although he was also annoyed by the intruders, he selfishly did not want Yan Zhiyuan to be put in danger. Last time, those people did not kill him and only stole the items, but what if they changed their tactics and launched a direct confrontation this time?
So he asked Shi Youchen for help, wanting him to stop Yan Zhiyuan's impulsive behavior.
Unexpectedly, Shi Youchen understood what he meant as soon as he met his gaze, and said softly, "Don't worry, he's not an impulsive person. Even if he really wants to go there, we won't let him go alone."
The documents on the handling of the mental invasion incident in District 10 have not been released yet, and the clue about Lu Shen has not been told to these two people yet.
Yan Zhiyuan was easy to deal with, but once Lin Zhouze found out, he would definitely get to the bottom of it, and might even ask for help in the investigation. Given his current physical condition, Shi Youchen decided to keep it a secret for now, and it wouldn't be too late to talk about it after he fully recovered.
On the other side, Ying Yungui and Yan Zhiyuan completed the communication smoothly.
Ying Yungui: "We'll be at the front yard of the association in twenty minutes."
Yan Zhiyuan: "I've already sent the relevant information to the District 9 Information Center. They say there hasn't been any intrusion yet, so we're immediately stepping up our security." He walked over to Lin Zhouze's bed, half-crouched, and said gently, "I have to go there myself. You should take good care of yourself. I promise you'll come back safely. If you're worried, you can always contact me via video."
Lin Zhouze originally wanted to stop him no matter what, but looking at Yan Zhiyuan's firm eyes that did not allow any objection, he suddenly couldn't say anything.
Ying Yungui gave Shi Youchen a look and said to Yan Zhiyuan, "We'll wait for you in the front yard."
After the two of them left, Yan Zhiyuan sighed softly, placed his palm on the cold back of Lin Zhouze's hand, where the IV drip was, and said gently, "You know my temper. If you try to stop me now, I won't leave this door. But every day from now on, I will hate myself just like I did before."
He tried hard to suppress the emotions that surged up in his mind, his gaze falling on Lin Zhouze's pale lips, then looking up into those almond-shaped eyes: "Aze, you pulled me out of that quagmire, but I can't find another you."
Lin Zhouze's eyes reddened. The person squatting in front of him had no expression on his face, but inexplicably, it was the same lifeless, cold and gray face he had many years ago.
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