Chapter 28: The Logic Chain and Core Key

Soon, the Support Team lingering at the periphery also sent people in.

They arrived at this wild lake, all clad in thick protective suits and glass visors.

They brought over two long containers reinforced with triple-pane glass. Qin Ran, along with Cui Wang’s corpse, were each placed into one of the boxes. Black cloth was draped over them, making them look like two crystal coffins.

During this time, almost no one spoke.

Because no one, whoever they were, could explain the bizarre scene before their eyes at that moment.

After containing the two bodies, they also dispatched personnel to the lakebed, equipped with the same kind of detection instruments previously used by the Investigation Team. They probed inch by inch, meticulously and with abnormal care, seemingly searching for any lingering psychic residue in the area.

Cheng Hui and the two other members of his Investigation Team also donned glass helmets. After a preliminary conversation and assessment by several individuals in white lab coats from the Support Team, they were instructed to temporarily remain where they were, resting without contact with others.

Reportedly, they would undergo a series of medical examinations and psychological evaluations to ensure they hadn’t been genuinely contaminated.

Throughout this process, Lu Xin sat by the edge of the lake like a victim, wrapped in a thick blanket, watching obediently.

……

The sound of helicopter rotor blades filled the air. Two beams of light swept down from above.

Chen Jing, dressed in a military uniform, emerged from the helicopter cabin. She wore dark sunglasses and high military boots, stepping through the mud to stand before Lu Xin. “By any measure,” she said, “this cleanup mission is complete.”

She paused briefly, then deliberately added, “I’ll apply for your special bonus.”

A warm feeling spread through Lu Xin’s heart.

Yet, lingering doubts remained, and he asked, “But this matter…”

“A specialized team will conduct the analysis and investigation.”

Chen Jing glanced towards where the “crystal coffins” were being loaded into a vehicle by staff. “In our work handling cases of spiritual contamination,” she continued, “we often encounter things that appear almost inexplicable. However, as long as we seize even the faintest clues and conduct a detailed investigation and study, most of the time we uncover the logic behind them… I believe this case will be no exception.”

Hearing her words, Lu Xin inexplicably felt a sense of ease; the gloom in his heart dissipated somewhat.

“In fact, even now, we aren’t completely without leads,” Chen Jing suddenly stated. “I’ve just received a report from the Investigation Team detailing the entire course of events. You heard fish speaking?”

Lu Xin stiffened slightly, recalling the insane scene of all the fish shrieking “Qin Ran harmed me, pay with your life.”

His throat constricted slightly, and he nodded.

“Fish don’t speak,” Chen Jing said flatly. “I didn’t hear anything like that on the channel. So it was likely a hallucination you experienced under the influence of the contamination source. But this fact remains a significant entry point. For instance, the fish were shouting, ‘Qin Ran pay with your life’…”

“So, which Qin Ran should pay with his life?”

“…”

“This…”

Chen Jing’s words sent a chilling sensation crawling over Lu Xin’s scalp.

He felt like he understood something, but couldn’t quite grasp it clearly.

“Let’s move.”

Chen Jing stepped aside. “There’s still work to be done,” she said to Lu Xin.

“Okay!”

Lu Xin obediently stood up and walked alongside her as they headed forward.

……

Chen Jing did not lead Lu Xin towards the helicopter, which disappointed him a little; he had been looking forward to riding in it.

They reached the perimeter near the cordon. Chen Jing had someone drive a car over. Then, just the two of them drove straight towards the city center. Soon, they pulled up in front of an old, yet solid, multi-story building. Lu Xin looked up and saw people dressed in cyan uniforms coming and going. He realized they were at the main building of the Satellite City Guard Bureau.

Chen Jing strode in with familiarity, took the elevator to the seventh floor, first led Lu Xin to an empty conference room, and said to him, “Please rest here for a little while. I have some small matters to attend to, then I’ll come back to talk with you.”

Lu Xin sat down obediently, watching as Chen Jing walked out with a click-clack from her leather boots.

The conference room seemed to have been prepared in advance. It was extremely quiet inside and out, with no one passing by. The table held a cup of coffee, several pieces of chocolate, and a small dish of multi-colored candies.

Seeing no one was around, Lu Xin secretly picked up the coffee and took a sip. Finding it too bitter, not as good as the plain instant coffee he usually drank at the `office`, he dropped a few of the square sugar cubes surrounding the cup into it, then squeezed in the little packets of creamer as well. Tasting it again, it was much more palatable now, almost managing to match what he usually had in the office.

He had heard the Office Director say before that coffee, tea, and sugar were all luxury goods nowadays, things outsiders could only dream of.

As for the chocolate and candies, he wasn’t particularly interested himself, but his Little Sister sampled one curiously.

“I love it!”

She exclaimed with delight, gathering all the chocolate and candies into her arms against her chest.

“Then you can have them all!”

Lu Xin smiled affectionately at his sister, deeply grateful for her performance that day.

“Okay, I’ll eat them all!” Little Sister was certainly not the type to stand on ceremony.

……

While Lu Xin waited in the office, Chen Jing had arranged the other tasks.

These included:

– A vehicle escorted by a fully armed squad and a Mental Aberrant, transporting the two reinforced glass coffins to the Special Research Institute.

– A different fully armed squad detaining everyone associated with Sifang Company for intensive processing and separate, rapid interrogation.

– Gathering as much manpower as possible to collect all information regarding the activities and whereabouts of Qin Ran and Cui Wang.

The first result that came back was a report.

It was the analysis on the remaining tissue fragments previously collected by the Investigation Team at the location where Cui Wang’s body was dumped.

The test results displayed only one line:

The tissue is confirmed to match Qin Ran (Pollution Source 041 located at lake bottom).

……

When Chen Jing entered the conference room carrying documents, the plate was empty. Lu Xin was tidying the wrappers and crumbs on the table. Seeing Chen Jing come in, he somewhat awkwardly stood there, fists clenched full of candy wrappers, uncertain where to discard them.

Chen Jing took the wrappers from his hand and tossed them into a bin outside.

She silently made a mental note: “Fond of sweets… or craving sweets after using abilities?”

“The thorough investigation has concluded.”

After sitting down, Chen Jing pulled out a freshly printed document and addressed Lu Xin. “No residual Psychic Energy was detected in that lake. This means that Psychic Contamination Incident code-named 041 can be officially declared successfully cleaned up.”

“While certain other questions remain unanswered,” she continued, “at the very least, there will likely be no further victims for the time being.”

“…”

Lu Xin nodded hurriedly. “That’s great.”

Chen Jing could tell Lu Xin was genuinely pleased, giving her a strange feeling.

Especially when comparing this calm Lu Xin now to the Lu Xin who had dealt with that Level One Spiritual Monster.

It made her feel like she was having the identity crisis…

……

“Research and further investigation into Pollution Source 041 will be handled by others,” she thought.

She interlocked her fingers, rested her chin on them, and fixed her eyes – deeper and slightly narrower than average – intently on Lu Xin. “What we need to do now,” she stated, “is discuss and evaluate this cleanup operation. For instance, standard procedure when dealing with a Source of Contamination involves identifying its Logic Chain and Core Key. Only by pinpointing these two elements can the contamination be eradicated with minimal cost. This time, however, we did not truly find either…”

She paused slightly. “And yet… we resolved it.”

“So…”

“Do you possess some hidden capability?”

“Otherwise, how could you single-handedly eliminate a contamination source with a Psychic Magnitude approaching two hundred units?”