“Chapter 112”

"Chapter 112"

"What? What is she saying?"

"Fang Zhou halted, her heart sinking rapidly amidst a whirlwind of thoughts. She grabbed the communication device in her ear with one hand and hooked the woman's hat with the other, summoning Line Python to exert force covertly."

"The woman, yanked backward by Fang Zhou, widened her eyes in shock, seemingly unprepared for such a rash action."

"The communication device was always active. Even though the woman's voice was low, she was too close to Fang Zhou, and the side facing Fang Zhou was where her device was worn."

"Since Fang Zhou could hear her speak, Jiang Huai'an on the other end must have heard as well."

"The woman's words were too direct. Fang Zhou was prepared to abandon her 'Yinshui' identity, but it had to be her own decision, not exposed by someone else. The latter meant that her identity was known without her awareness, watched by unseen eyes, leaving Fang Zhou feeling deeply unsettled."

"How much does she know? Where did she get this information? Is she friend or foe?"

"Regardless of the woman's intent, whether genuinely wanting to 'help' her or not, Fang Zhou felt a surge of murderous intent at that moment."

"'What are you doing?' Duan Zhe, walking ahead, turned back in confusion."

"'Let go of me!' The woman struggled against Fang Zhou's grasp, cursing as she tried to retrieve her hat. 'Hey, hey, are you officials planning to bully a civilian?'"

"A shop assistant, overwhelmed by the sudden commotion, asked anxiously, 'Officer, is there a problem?'"

"'What’s going on?' Jiang Huai'an, hearing the noise, urged them, 'Don’t waste time.'"

"Fang Zhou couldn't detect any pretense in his voice. What's going on? Didn't Jiang Huai'an hear what she said to me?"

"Without knowing that Fang Zhou was actually Yinshui, Jiang Huai'an indeed found it difficult to draw any conclusions from the woman's ambiguous words in such a short time. However, he would normally have instructed Fang Zhou and Duan Zhe to detain her, not remain unresponsive like this."

"'I... I just cursed you as a lackey,' the woman said, her eyes darting left and right, appearing somewhat guilty before quickly regaining composure. 'Was I wrong? Your ears are too sharp, hearing even that?'"

"Fang Zhou immediately realized she was acting, displaying quick reflexes and convincing skills, preventing Duan Zhe from noticing anything odd, and swiftly provided a plausible excuse for Fang Zhou’s behavior, allowing her an out."

"Fang Zhou met her gaze for a second, then smiled and released her, patting her shoulder: 'Next time, don't speak so disrespectfully, or I might arrest you for insulting a public officer.'"

"'I’ve never heard of such a crime.' Regaining her freedom, she muttered, quickly slipping away from the shop."

"As the woman left, a nearly invisible Line Python slipped into her hat, intentionally left there by Fang Zhou."

"Logically, knowing about Jiang Huai'an's abilities, Fang Zhou shouldn't have separated an alien creature so openly. Yet, she did."

"Firstly, to test the extent of Jiang Huai'an's abilities and whether he could detect a small, inconspicuous alien like a single Line Python."

"If discovered, she could divert the blame onto this strange woman."

"Secondly, to monitor the woman’s movements with the Line Python, testing whether she had sufficient experience fighting aliens to notice the tiny creature on her."

"The presence of a single Line Python was too subtle, akin to an omnipresent bug, hardly noticeable by someone without sharp alien detection skills."

"'Can’t see the forest for the trees, wasting time on such a farce.' Duan Zhe’s voice brought Fang Zhou back to the present as he moved ahead."

"'Didn’t expect you to be so good-natured, taking a lackey insult so calmly.'"

"'Serving the 'Tower' is your honor.' He didn’t seem to take 'lackey' as an insult, but rather as a form of praise."

"This made Fang Zhou feel like she was talking past him and couldn't be bothered to reply."

"Fang Zhou was uncertain about how the woman managed to prevent her words from being transmitted through the communication device to Jiang Huai'an."

"This little incident didn't concern Duan Zhe or Jiang Huai'an; they were unaware of who 'Yinshui' really was, so they found nothing unusual about her actions."

"The store was large, occupying two floors, with showcases everywhere. To prevent theft, cameras were installed in every corner, even inside the display cases, leaving no blind spots. Yet, Jacob still failed to detect the alien creature."

"Fang Zhou and Duan Zhe finished checking the first floor and moved to the second, still without any sign of the alien creature."

"'Deputy Commander Jiang, are you sure it's here?' Fang Zhou asked."

"'Yes, there's no mistake. You must have missed something. Check again, focusing on inconspicuous areas.'"

"With Jiang Huai'an's affirmative response, Fang Zhou had a rough idea in mind."

"The alien creature must be very small, small enough to hide in spots the cameras couldn't detect, provided it hid before the headquarters blocked electronic control."

"For instance — inside the body of certain small household robots. Hijacking their electronic signals before sending intrusion commands would be easy for the creature."

"With this in mind, Fang Zhou looked around, pausing her gaze on the information displays beneath each showcase, and said to Duan Zhe, 'I'll check upstairs again, and you go back to the first floor. It’ll be more efficient this way.'"

"Mentioning efficiency, Duan Zhe, uncharacteristically, didn’t retort sarcastically but nodded: 'Okay.'"

"After Duan Zhe left, Fang Zhou walked towards the front mechanical showcases and asked a nearby assistant, 'Could you help open these showcases?'"

"'Of course, please follow me,' the assistant promptly nodded."

"The Tower’s authority was absolute, and ordinary citizens could only look up to it. Officials working for the Tower, like those in the United Defense Bureau, were naturally respected and trusted. Once her and Duan Zhe’s identities were verified, the store manager granted permission, swiftly complying with their requests to open the showcases."

"Using the storage information beneath the showcases, Fang Zhou knew those on the second floor were recently added, much newer than those on the first floor, which is why she sent Duan Zhe downstairs."

"'How often do you change the display items?' Fang Zhou inquired."

"'Normally, we change the displays once a day, but more frequently on weekends. Today, due to the crowd, we even replaced some items just half an hour ago.'"

"Fang Zhou joked, 'I didn’t realize business was so booming. I remember the housing systems and furniture robots aren’t cheap.'"

"The assistant replied, 'After all, this is Mingang City. These items aren’t considered expensive here. With your salary as an officer, affording a few of the highest-grade models would just be a matter of working for two days.'"

"Fang Zhou, currently assuming the persona of Yin·Danggang·Owe YuBai·Poverty·Shui: '…'"

"She steered the conversation back: 'Which items were recently replaced? Let’s start with those.'"

"'The rows near the entrance were just changed. Please, follow me.'"

"As each showcase door opened, the hidden little creature remained calm, showing no signs of abnormality, until the glass door in front of it opened—"

"It was a cleaning-type furniture robot, fitted with cleaning tools. When the showcase opened, a small part unexpectedly fell off."

"Fang Zhou slightly raised an eyebrow: 'Your quality control seems lacking.'"

"The assistant, somewhat embarrassed: 'Such incidents rarely happen. I'll request a prompt review from the higher-ups.'"

"Fang Zhou’s suspicion was confirmed; it indeed hid among these machines."

"This alien creature was the smartest one Fang Zhou had encountered."

"It had initially hidden inside a robot yet to be placed in the showcase, evading ubiquitous surveillance. It was then securely locked inside a high-security display cabinet, waiting for a customer to 'buy' it, thus allowing it to leave the store legitimately and move to a home without surveillance."

"If not for Jiang Huai'an's unreasonable ability to detect aliens, it could have silently left, waiting for General Agatha to lift the 'firewall' even with the information network's restraining capabilities."

"Fang Zhou was quite impressed with it. Now, the question was how to capture it."

"She didn't act immediately but pretended to instruct Duan Zhe through the communicator: 'Check inside the showcases.'"

"Duan Zhe, sounding impatient: 'I know.'"

"Hearing her instructions, the assistant proactively offered, 'Currently, I'm the only one authorized to open the showcases here. Do you need me to go down and assist the other officer?'"

"'That would be great, thank you,' Fang Zhou replied."

"Once the assistant left the second floor, Fang Zhou patted her uniform. She was somewhat reluctant to part with the convenience of her 'Yinshui' identity."

"She sighed, just as she was about to activate 'Sitting in Prison', Jacob's voice came through the communicator."

"'An unknown force is attacking the firewall, please quickly re, re, re, re...' Jacob's voice became fragmented and then abruptly cut off into silence."

"'What's happening? Jacob? Jacob!' Fang Zhou heard Duan Zhe's voice."

"With Jacob disconnected from their information network, Fang Zhou saw another possibility. She quickly withdrew her prepared power and spoke into the device, 'Deputy Commander Jiang? Can you hear me? What's happening? Is the alien creature altering the electronic routes?'"

"Jiang Huai'an, also caught off guard by this development, responded, 'It’s not it... You two don’t worry about that. Even without Jacob's assistance, find it. Watch every exit; it can't escape.'"

"Meanwhile, the Line Python Fang Zhou had released relayed back that the woman, after leaving 'HOME', was now holding a communicator, eyes closed, leaning on a bench by the roadside."

"Was it her doing? Or had the central authority misjudged this alien creature?"

"Regardless of the actual situation, Fang Zhou knew this was an opportune moment. She quickly targeted the mechanical object showing signs of activity, using a subtle sonic attack that wouldn’t damage its parts."

"As Jiang Huai'an had said, without its electronic control, the alien creature had virtually no offensive capability. With just a light attack from Fang Zhou, it scrambled out of the robot's maintenance hatch and fell out of the showcase onto the floor."

"It was an alien creature about the size of Fang Zhou's palm, bipedal, with long white fur covering its body except for its hairless palms and soles, and a long tail, resembling a flowering mouse."

"Before Fang Zhou could react, it spread its limbs and knelt down flat on the ground in front of her, motionless."

"Then, a notification sound rang in Fang Zhou's ear."

"[Alien creature 'Wall Mouse' willingly submits to you.]"

"[New entry 'Wall Mouse' added to the compendium.]"

"[ID No. 30: Wall Mouse]"

[Level: A-level (based on combined danger and intelligence level)]

[Main Ability (Data Manipulation): Can control electronic data and alter electronic communication trajectories through relevant media.]

Ark: "......"

Intelligent aliens make correct judgments based on the situation, but this one seemed too easily coerced.

Suppressing her desire to comment, Ark quickly absorbed it into her body, leaving the second floor to find Duan Zhe on the first, avoiding being out of the crowd’s sight for too long: “How about you? Did you find anything?”

Duan Zhe appeared slightly agitated, shaking his head, as Pei Liangji and Geng Yi also hurried over.

"What exactly is happening at headquarters? Why can't we contact Jacob anymore?" Geng Yi was puzzled.

After subduing the alien creature, Ark knew that it wasn't responsible for isolating Jacob's surveillance data. From its description, the new firewall at headquarters was Agatha’s transcendent power, a force far beyond its level that it couldn't breach, but the opponent couldn’t maintain it for long.

The woman followed by the python line opened her eyes, stood up from the bench, put the communicator in her pocket, scratched her head, and yawned at the sky.

Jacob's mechanical voice again transmitted through their communication devices: "Data attack has ceased, reconnecting to the data network, reconnecting."

Combining the information from the python line and Jiang Huai'an’s unheard statement, Ark had a vague answer in her mind.

The person indeed helped her as she had said.

Ark couldn't help but think of an entity that had always been there, capable of confronting the Central's information network, yet had never truly revealed itself.

—The hidden maintainer of "The Fourth Dimension."

The existence of the Fourth Dimension was taken for granted, so much so that Ark had almost forgotten it was an independent network maintained by a non-official organization.

If it were maintained by a high-level transcender capable of manipulating data networks, then its independence from the Central Tower's data network would make sense.

Such a supernatural force couldn't be fully countered by mere "technological advances." For someone who could freely navigate the digital world, accessing her information wouldn't be difficult.

So why would they choose to help her?

There was another puzzle that made this answer more elusive, preventing Ark from concluding it definitively.

"How did she know that 'Fang Zhou' was 'Yinshui'?"

"There was no record of this in any data. While other pieces of information could be connected, this particular detail remained elusive, with no clues for Fang Zhou to follow."