After drawing cards, the evil god became my source of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of humorous commentary/criti

Chapter 61 Catfish Boss Hot Pot Restaurant (9)

An Jing's voice was quite loud, almost echoing in the oppressive restaurant space.

Her words were devoid of warmth, yet more penetrating than raging fire.

It accurately and ruthlessly struck the nerve endings of everyone who was still clinging to life and maintaining their sanity.

She raised her head slightly, scanning the restaurant. "Each of you who is still aware of fear, still struggling to keep from going insane... that means you haven't lost."

“You guys are great. It’s not your fault that you were forced to do things you didn’t want to do.”

“You are not cowards, but are using the last vestiges of human will to fight against this mystery.”

She didn't say you would definitely survive, because in this hellish space, that was a vain promise.

But what she wanted to say was...

"You haven't fallen into depravity, and neither have we."

“I’ll say it again, you were forced to do things you didn’t want to do… that’s not your fault.”

The moment she finished speaking, someone looked up.

It was a middle-aged woman at another table in the corner. Her face was deathly pale, and the pot in front of her was boiling. Her hands, which had been trembling as she brought meat to her mouth, stopped. Her eyes were red and wet, and she was sobbing softly.

There was also a young man sitting in the corner, his chopsticks clenched tightly. He had just been fighting with his tablemate for food, but now he froze, as if he had suddenly been awakened.

A strange light flashed in their eyes, a "self" that was not yet completely dead.

An Jing knew that the catfish boss had seen all of this.

The monster sat on the high seat, its mouth not moving, but its eyes crinkled with laughter, as if it were watching its prey's comical death throes.

Meanwhile, in the underground mainframe room of the Information Department, within the 404 Special Service Division.

"Message received!" A young man in a dark blue uniform looked up abruptly, his voice filled with barely suppressed anxiety. "It's a distress signal from the highest level of authority, from Chu Yuan!"

His first instinct was to activate the internal secure transmission system to send the message to 002.
But just as his finger touched the ground...
Click.

A muffled thud came from behind him.

For a split second, before he could react, he felt a chill on his neck.

Then, a sharp blade sliced ​​across his throat.

Kill with one blow.

He didn't even have time to struggle before he fell.

The alarm light on the control panel was still flashing, but no one responded.

The murderer began reviewing all the information compiled by the information department. Two hours later, footsteps slowly sounded and faded into the distance.

In the lounge.

Another young girl was huddled in a cabinet in the corner, covering her mouth, her eyes filled with terror.

She heard some noise outside.

Just as she was about to leave after resting, she saw the tall man wearing black gloves walk into the server room and slit her colleague's throat without making a sound.

She dared not move, and even controlled her breathing to the limit.

Only after the other person left did she dare to take out her phone and send a message to He Lin.

002 He Lin is handling an anomaly report from the northern branch in the top-floor conference room of headquarters.

Her phone vibrated slightly, and the screen lit up with a highly authoritative text message: "SOS signal received from the highest-authority locator. An Jing is trapped in a mysterious magnetic field. Report delayed by two hours."

She stood up instantly, her fingers paused, and her eyes turned chillingly cold.

The delay was two hours.

He Lin immediately guessed the reason: someone had targeted the Information Department.

"Something's happened at the Information Department. I need to take some people there." Her voice was as cold as a knife cutting through the quiet room.

Director Cheng hesitated and said, "He Lin... is she still in a meeting? What's the matter that's so urgent?"

boom!
He Lin slammed her hand on the conference table and whispered, "My men received An Jing's distress message, but I didn't receive it until two hours later. There's no way they didn't notify me immediately."

"There's only one explanation: they never had a chance to release it." "Take some men, check the surveillance footage immediately, use your privileges, and come with me to the information department."

The meeting was forcibly interrupted by He Lin.

Walking down the street, He Lin stared at the text message again and quickly dialed the number.

She knew that something must have happened to Xiaoya, and that's why she immediately sent her the information privately.

But no one answered the phone.

Her brows were furrowed deeply.

next moment.

"002!" 005 rushed in from outside, his expression changing drastically. "We found her! She's the information department member who sent you the message. Her body was found in rest area number ten. Her throat was cut open, and the temperature indicated that she had been dead for about ten minutes."

He Lin took a deep breath, her knuckles turning slightly white.

"The most urgent task is to determine An Jing's location."

“She has a high-level tracking device on her. Even if the mysterious magnetic field interferes with the signal, it will definitely leave a trace.”

She suppressed her surging anger, her voice cold and firm, "Immediately mobilize all the information department's linked beacons to accurately analyze and locate the residual signal. I need to know her last spatial coordinates."

"Yes!" An assistant immediately acknowledged the order and left.

“Also,” He Lin’s eyes darkened, “review all data transmission records from the Information Department three hours ago, and print out a complete list of all personnel who entered the data server room, including any that may have been falsified.”

"understand!"

After giving all the instructions, she turned and hurried down to the floor below where the information department was located.

Information Department, Tenth Region.

The door was kicked open.

A crimson aura wafted over, the air thick with the stench of blood, and a hint of the still-sweet, metallic scent of rust.

He Lin paused, her gaze sweeping across the entire room, her expression suddenly turning gloomy.

Two bodies were found, one lying across the center of the office area and the other in the break room.

They were all members of the Information Department, their necks neatly severed, their blood already congealed on the floor.

Xiaoya was in the corner. Her eyes were wide open, as if she had seen something extremely terrifying and unbelievable before she died.

She was still clutching her phone tightly in one hand; the screen was shattered.

He Lin clenched her fist, veins throbbing on her forehead, but she forcibly suppressed her emotions.

She took a deep breath and whispered, "Don't touch her yet."

"The scene was sealed off, and everyone immediately began information screening."

"Yes!"

The remaining surviving technicians had tears in their eyes, but none of them delayed their work.

Someone nodded vigorously, their voice low and hoarse: "Understood, we will definitely get to the bottom of this."

A deputy team leader rushed into the control room: "Minister, the system log has been confirmed to have been forcibly overwritten and an information concealment command executed. About two hours ago, someone overstepped their authority to access the system and accurately located the files related to the source."

He Lin's eyes suddenly turned cold: "They're here for An Jing."

The existence of the Origin within An Jing's body is the most closely guarded secret within the entire 404 system.

Although An Jing normally enjoys absolute freedom of action, the origin of this freedom is known only to the highest-level members and a small number of executives.

She whispered, "This means that person is one of our own."

She said no more and turned to give the order.

"005, send men out now. It will take time to restore the information. We can't just sit here and wait to die."

"Conduct a thorough search within a three-kilometer radius of Anjing School, leaving no room for any spatial misalignment, energy distortion, or blind spot!"

"Mission objective: Locate the entrance to the mysterious magnetic field!"

(End of this chapter)