Chapter 197 Control Methods
With each of the anti-fraud officers sharing their experiences, Morofushi Kagemitsu finally pieced together the truth of the matter.
They were so rich in energy that they even built a simulated reed pile for this purpose!
[Anti-fraud expert #11: This all started with that troublemaking woman, Melo. If she hadn't been so eager to plant her own people in the Karasuma Group's high-level meetings, Goshima Shunsuke wouldn't have caught her eye. And if he hadn't gotten involved, Rum, who's now being relentlessly targeted by her, wouldn't have been desperately seeking help at that private hospital.]
As No. 11 continued his endless, rambling refrain, he gradually realized how these seemingly simple details could be misunderstood by those who were temporarily unaware of the situation.
Could Zero have mistaken Goto Shunsuke's previous whereabouts for mine? Besides, I don't think Rum could easily see through Gin and Mello's carefully laid "switcheroo."
[Anti-fraud expert #148: Rum indeed didn't know that you were the person behind Goshima Shunsuke, but you and Zero were always in contact, so he knew. We specifically checked your communication records from that period; you told him you were going to impersonate Goshima Shunsuke, but you didn't specify a time.]
...At that time, I had just returned from the future, and my mind was still processing the events of Goto Shunsuke's death and resurrection in the future timeline. In order not to give anything away, I did make some rather vague changes to the timeline...
[Anti-fraud expert #66: It's precisely because of this time difference that everything that followed was out of sync. I think you should remember the discussion about the feudal superstition of the electronic cult that you sparked in the forum not long ago, right?]
Zhu Fujingguang: ...
Zero knows about this! Anyone could misunderstand, but he would never think that I deliberately did this within the organization!
[Anti-fraud King #11: ...I didn't mean to question your unbreakable childhood friendship = =! I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind you of Mello's practice of using religion to brainwash other members of the organization. You've already told Zero about this, and he's been inspired by it, thinking the organization might use similar methods to control members like you who joined halfway through.]
He was about to say something like, "The organization didn't do anything to him," but then he felt something was off. Thinking about it carefully, his fake identity and background were ordinary, yet he had risen to a high position in just a few years. The organization's approach certainly shouldn't have been so lenient in its scrutiny and testing of him…
[Anti-fraud expert #214: It's definitely happening, but as your contributions become more "important," this surveillance has become more covert. Furthermore, the organization uses their most advanced electronic technology for covert observation, and personnel changes are very secretive and frequent. Given your frequent business trips, it's normal that you didn't notice.]
[Anti-fraud expert #26: But you know, with us here, these little tricks won't work on you at all~]
Morofushi Kagemitsu felt slightly relieved, but then worried about his childhood friend who was in a similar situation. Zero had infiltrated the intelligence unit, and the scrutiny of such a secret operation would likely be even more rigorous.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: Isn't that exactly what I was talking about? Zero is facing a different kind of "interrogation," a different kind of specially controlled drug—just think of Curaçao. Faced with this situation, he would naturally connect brainwashing with any suspicious details.]
...It's that kind of check and balance again. Such a despicable idea looks like something that shady old Deng would come up with.
[Anti-fraud expert #11: Just one more thing, you've seen Shunsuke Goto's case. You know he has some mental issues, so he needs to use some strange-looking and expensive equipment for treatment, and medication is also essential. Plus, his identity can't be made public, so it's all kept secret…]
In other words, because Shunsuke Goto had a regular schedule of going to the hospital for treatment, he was easily mistaken by Zero for someone acting on behalf of the organization...
He rubbed his head and figured out the logic behind it.
[Anti-fraud expert #66: So, you really can't blame Zero for overthinking this. Besides, given your tendency to silently shoulder everything, it's understandable that he'd think the worst; otherwise, you might end up dead if he wasn't watching you closely.]
Um... you don't need to call me out again, right? I've stopped thinking about "sacrifice" and stuff like that...
He listened to what No. 234 said.
Morofushi Kagemitsu silently pondered the matter of Number 234, tentatively observing the alpacas' reactions. However, his last sentence seemed to be blocked out; they offered no response whatsoever.
He sighed dejectedly.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: ...Why are you acting all wronged? You're partly to blame for this situation. The two times you were caught red-handed by Zero were such a good "foundation" that this time, as soon as he sensed something was wrong, he couldn't help but overthink it. It's hard to say whether it's because of the "psychological trauma" you caused him before.]
...Fine, fine, I can't argue with you guys.
In short, this is all a misunderstanding. I'll explain it to Zero, and it won't be difficult. Maybe I'll even be able to meet Shuichi Akai in time.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: Hmm, well...]
Stop this, are you saying this isn't over yet?
[Anti-Fraud King #26: Things are indeed a little complicated, and Zero-kun's version of the script has even been expanded on top of the brainwashing...]
For example...?
[Anti-fraud expert #148: For example, the drug center project you've been looking forward to for the past few months. It's no longer just a simple "freebie" project; in Zero's eyes, it has taken on a new meaning.]
...Are you sure this is how Zero sees it? It sounds more like you're making excuses.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: ...Huh?]
This time, No. 26 didn't fly around randomly. Instead, it sat obediently on the pile of reeds, as if everything they said was absolutely sincere.
Seeing that Number 26 was so normal, Morofushi Hiromitsu became even more convinced that these electronic beings were hiding something.
While attempting to uncover the secrets of anti-fraud agents using his recently discovered "reverse mind reading" technique, he offered his own explanation as a cover:
I admit that I have some so-called "filter" for Zero, but all of this is based on my understanding of him over the past ten years. I know that I will not make any major judgments about him.
Zero is indeed quick-witted, but in the absence of evidence, he won't make too many assumptions or associations in order not to affect his judgment of the whole picture of the event.
His thinking wasn't off track, but he developed such a mistaken perception, which means someone must have led him astray from the right path.
So, who are those people who know so many secrets and can communicate with him to some extent?
That's really hard to guess.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: Um, um... Jing, let us explain!]
I'm listening.
Zhu Fujingguang raised an eyebrow, calmly awaiting their revelation of the truth. However, his heart began to race.
When he knew he needed to know the truth, the anti-fraud expert chose to conceal it.
He concealed his emotions and looked at number 26.
The already guilty alpaca confessed immediately.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: I swear on our core chip, we really didn't do it on purpose. It was just a little accident that happened while we were browsing the forum that day...]
Forums... those awful things, once you get involved, nothing good ever comes of them.
[Anti-fraud King No. 19: You know I work in the organization's AI department, right? That day, I was just routinely writing another fanfic. Coincidentally, there was a surge of "mind control" fanfiction on the forum because of the Cyber God Cult, so I chose a similar theme and wrote a little bit about it.]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #66: After she finished writing it, I took a look and then casually posted it on the forum to share with fellow enthusiasts. Here is the URL of that article.]
After mentally preparing himself, Morofushi Kagemitsu clicked on the link, and the title immediately began with a glaring "[DOM/SUB]".
He bravely continued reading, only to be struck again by the title: "Scotland Doesn't Want Entangled Wires, But That Person Said It Could Be Deeply Exciting."
...
Zhu Fujingguang gasped.
Well... he felt there was no need to continue reading!
The title has completely spoiled the content; he has no desire to know how he—no, the "Scottish" character in the article—was provoked!
...Brain! Stop thinking about it! Stop thinking about it! Just forget about it!
[Anti-fraud expert #214: ...Actually, this article is quite good, don't you really want to take a look?]
I won't watch it.
Morofushi Kagemitsu firmly refused.
Okay, he knows pretty much everything about the forum and the articles. So what? Could someone have taken it seriously?
[Anti-Fraud Guru #11: Hmm, logically speaking, no. However, when it's submitted to the organization's database as internal intelligence, everything changes...]
...!!
What did you just say?!
How could something like this be passed up as intelligence?
[Anti-Fraud Guy #26: Yes, it's a program built into the anti-fraud app. We use it to handle your transactions. But you happened to be away for a few days, so we rewrote the code to save energy. Coincidentally, someone attacked Black Guest's database that day, and we used this program to temporarily block it. As a result, after we moved the program back, a tiny bit of an accident happened...]
Zhu Fujingguang took a deep breath.
It seems to be a technical error.
...But that doesn't make sense either. This thing looks like a fanfiction, doesn't it? Submitting it as information, didn't anyone notice anything wrong with it?!
[Anti-fraud King No. 66: Due to the recent leak of information from the Tottori Experiment Base, all classified documents are being garbled and regenerated, so there's no trace of fan fiction left... Moreover, because the descriptions involve experimental content, it was categorized as a classified document by the system, meaning very few people have access to it.]
[Anti-fraud expert #148: Unfortunately, Zero is one of them.]
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