Chapter 30: Riddled with Doubts

Xu Chen was finally released and invited into the conference room. A number of people were busy discussing, each holding a copy of a file; some looked up as Xu Chen entered.

Everything seemed just as it had been yesterday.

Captain Chu stepped forward with long strides, pulled up a chair for Xu Chen, and patted him on the shoulder. "Xu Chen, I apologize for the mistreatment, but the information Elder Ge shared with you is vital. I guarantee you will be satisfied with the compensation that follows. For now, just answer whatever you are asked, all right?"

Xu Chen felt a bit aggrieved. He had been interrogated until the middle of the night yesterday, unable to sleep, while those two interrogators kept repeating the same questions like broken records, nearly driving him to a nervous breakdown. Now they wanted his cooperation with just a few words? Did they think he had no temper at all?

But at the thought of Elder Ge, a heavy weight settled in his chest.

Compared to these grievances, he cared more about Elder Ge’s words.

It was information of the utmost urgency.

It was a warning.

These things had to be communicated. So, Xu Chen agreed.

At the far end of the conference table sat a middle-aged man exuding a calm and composed authority. He wore a military uniform; although he lacked shoulder boards to signify his rank, the way those around him deferred to him suggested he was the highest-ranking officer present and the leader of this meeting.

He scrutinized Xu Chen carefully and nodded at Captain Chu.

Captain Chu immediately placed a file in front of Xu Chen.

"Let me explain. You were held for interrogation earlier, right?"

"Yes," Xu Chen replied.

"You heard the interrogators' tactics, and I suspect you might have guessed: the recording pen you brought inside did not function as intended."

At the memory of the torture in the interrogation room, Xu Chen’s expression turned pained. Once he realized the implication, he found it bizarre.

The recording equipment was damaged, the drug pump malfunctioned, and more importantly, he had been the only one in the room. Thinking about it now, even he felt like he looked like a spy.

"Words are useless. I’ll play the audio for you, and you’ll understand."

Someone activated the conference room’s audio equipment and started the playback.

There was a sound of footsteps, very clear—it seemed the recording device was quite sophisticated. Then, there was a rustling sound of something being placed on a soft surface. Xu Chen was surprised; it even recorded that?

Afterward, an instrument beeped. Xu Chen recognized it as the timer on the vital signs monitor.

Then, there was silence. Xu Chen frowned.

After a long time, the monitor beeped again. Then, a series of off-key, rapid beeps followed—the alarm sound the monitor makes when detecting abnormal data.

Then it returned to normal beeping.

Soon, the off-key alarms began again, accompanied by the sound of sheets rustling. Then came a different kind of beeping—the sound of the drug pump.

The audio returned to normal.

After a long period of normal beeping, the off-key alarms and the drug pump sounds returned, growing increasingly frequent. Then there were sounds of the bed shifting, objects rattling, and someone standing up. Finally, there was the long, flat tone of the vital signs monitor indicating a heart had stopped.

Listening to it, Xu Chen felt as uncomfortable as if he were watching a pantomime. It was as if he had heard nothing at all. Although he still had memories of what he had done, he was completely bewildered; he had no idea what was wrong with the recording.

"That’s not right, is it? I remember those two comrades who interrogated me saying the pen had recorded some of the conversation."

"That was a bluff. Just a tactical measure."

He looked at the speakers, noting that this eerie audio was missing something: "But that’s still not right. How come this thing didn't record my conversation with Elder Ge?!"

Captain Chu rubbed his forehead, feeling that Xu Chen was somewhat unreliable. Shouldn't he have realized that after hearing even a small part of it?

Xu Chen looked at Captain Chu and requested to hear it again. However, the content remained unchanged; there was no voice. Xu Chen began to doubt reality. Had he really said nothing when he went in? Had he been hallucinating the whole time?

"The technical department has checked. The audio is normal and hasn't been tampered with. The recording pen is also fine. In other words..." Captain Chu looked at Xu Chen.

Xu Chen understood instantly: the pen was fine, the problem was with him.

"However, we have a think tank, and they believe that based on your behavior and speech, you are credible. That is why you are sitting here."

Several people at the table nodded at Xu Chen. It seemed they were the members of the think tank; his life had been saved thanks to their efforts.

Xu Chen played the recording again. It was still eerily devoid of human speech. He racked his brain, looking for anything he had learned that could explain this phenomenon.

Soon, Xu Chen recalled a sentence Captain Chu had said earlier: "Elder Ge said he wouldn't allow you to listen in! Did he know something?"

Captain Chu looked at Xu Chen with surprise, then shook his head helplessly.

"No, he didn't let you listen in, which means he likely didn't want our conversation to be leaked. It's very possible he did something himself."

Captain Chu still shook his head. "The think tank has the support of Elder Ge's students and colleagues. I can say this: Elder Ge might have had such thoughts, but he certainly lacked the technical means. To make a recording that specifically filters out speech like this is nothing short of miraculous."

Xu Chen fell silent again. He realized that if it wasn't Elder Ge who did it, then... was this a supernatural phenomenon unrelated to him?

He suddenly thought of the entity Elder Ge had mentioned.

If that were a possibility, could They be the mastermind behind all this?

The more Xu Chen thought about it, the more he felt it was true. As he analyzed the details, even Elder Ge's death seemed to reek of something sinister.

"Captain Chu, I remember when I was brought here, you said Elder Ge was already suffering from total organ failure? But the last time I saw him, he seemed perfectly healthy."

Captain Chu was silent for a moment. An elderly man in a white coat beside him took over: "It was free radicals. For some reason, Elder Ge’s body contained a massive amount of free radicals. They were indiscriminately attacking everything in his body. You could understand it as Elder Ge undergoing accelerated, abnormal aging. If not for the drug pump accident, he would likely have died of old age anyway."

"Is that normal?"

"It is not. The level of free radicals was far beyond what a human body could produce on its own."

Captain Chu added, "As for these free radicals, we have already checked Elder Ge’s experimental schedule and ruled out chemical poisoning."

Xu Chen understood. It seemed this organization, which surely possessed the highest efficiency in the world, hadn't left a single stone unturned. He had only been suspicious of poisoning, and they had already ruled it out.

After all, while free radicals were somewhat unfamiliar, Xu Chen knew there were many ways to cause an excess in the human body. The most well-known were Paraquat poisoning and Parkinson's disease—one is a toxin, the other a pathology.

He silently replayed the events and suddenly realized something: "By the way, when I last met Elder Ge, he said he had a hypothesis about the special corrosion of the artifacts, suspecting that an organization was behind their destruction."

Captain Chu frowned. "As for that, the relevant departments are still investigating. But it shouldn't be related to Elder Ge’s death. After all, if they really were the ones who did it..."

He gestured to everyone in the room. "Then there would be no need for us to hold this meeting. That organization wouldn't need to exert any effort to topple this entire country, or even the world."

Xu Chen was shocked, but immediately pressed on: "At the time, Elder Ge said he had a hypothesis about the special corrosion? Was there any progress?"

"Which one of you is Elder Ge's student?"

"I am!" A reserved young man in a white coat stood up. "Regarding the special corrosion, Elder Ge did indeed make progress."

The young man looked troubled after saying this. Captain Chu looked at him: "If there’s progress, just say it."

"It’s not that." The young man hesitated. "Elder Ge handled all the projects regarding special corrosion himself. He did leave records, but... we can't understand them."

Someone nearby looked shocked. "That’s not right. I remember you have a double master's degree in physics and chemistry and were one of Elder Ge's most valued students. You can't understand your teacher's records?"

"No, that's not it," the young man scratched his head. "It's just that we can't understand what Elder Ge wrote. The handwriting is... a bit unclear."

"So, that means no one currently knows the progress on the special corrosion?" Xu Chen pressed.

The young man thought for a moment and nodded. "I can only roughly confirm that the special corrosion the teacher was studying seems to have yielded discoveries in high-energy physics, and the data still exists. Since the teacher has passed, we can still take over his research and continue."

"And what have you discovered?"

The young man replied awkwardly, "Nothing."

At this moment, the sense of crisis in Xu Chen's heart reached its peak. He felt as if he were walking on a glass walkway atop a high mountain—unnatural and terrifying.

Especially since the first few panes of glass were already shattered.