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Chapter 149 - 48: Decoding the Footage

Inside the Dimensional Limit Mechanism office, a report meeting concerning the television station case is underway.

Photos of all associated individuals are affixed to the activity whiteboard, with the red mark for "deaths" on the left column standing out strikingly. This is the first time such a serious case of ability-related casualties has occurred since the establishment of the Jiang City Mechanism branch.

Nine people ultimately died, and aside from Lu Lixin, no one else managed to survive the night. The forensic pathologist reported the cause of death as multiple organ infections and failure, likely due to bacteria invading the body through exposed internal organs.

"We’ve obtained the identity information of the main suspect." The report presenter is the aide to the new team leader, Wang Qianduan. At forty years old, he appears quite reliable, with a somewhat fierce look in his eyes yet an unexpectedly stable temperament. In some sense, he seems more like a team leader than Xiao Canong. "Simply put, it’s another family tragedy."

Honglian, looking at the report in her hand, finds that according to police investigation, Lu Lixin’s original name was Lu Sisi, age 26, with her parents having divorced early and remarried to form their own families. Due to being unwelcome by her family, she had lived alone long-term since high school, with the only connection being the monthly living expenses sent by her biological parents.

Lacking family discipline, she expressed significant rebellious behavior in high school, often mingling with a group of street punks, and eventually failing to get into college. After her living expenses were cut off, she had to rely on odd jobs to get by, having been jailed multiple times for theft and fraud years ago, with her most recent release being one year prior.

"So, she was a serial offender," Wang Baihu sneered. "Then she got lucky and gained abilities, inflating her evil deeds by dozens of times."

"But looking at her history... she’s just a nobody." Little Pigeon curiously remarked, "I saw the video’s released at the scene; she was so passionate, as if she saw herself as a fighter against the mechanism. Such a thing seems unlikely for a common thug to do."

The colleagues from the Execution Team nodded in agreement.

However, those from the Intelligence Group remained indifferent.

Sure enough, Xiao Canong chimed in, smiling knowingly, "Miss Pigeon asked well, our Intelligence Group just uncovered something: someone was secretly guiding Lu Lixin, leading her down this irreversible path of societal revenge."

"Can’t you include that in the report too?" Honglian sighed.

"This is fresh news; I only learned of it right before the meeting." Xiao Canong said, feigning innocence. "In the six months following her release, there were consecutive money transfers to her account, totaling over three million five hundred thousand. The eight accomplices also each had criminal records, and she used this money to bring them together."

"Who made the transfers?"

"An overseas organization, called the Evangelical Association."

Everyone murmured among themselves.

Evangelical Association—it wasn’t an unfamiliar term, rumors of the Evangelical Association had circulated within the Dimensional Limit Mechanism for quite some time. The organization was formed by uncontrolled Ability Users, with the purpose of opposing the mechanism’s control.

"So the rumors were true, eh?" Zhang Yingzi shrugged. "I thought it was just nonsense."

"Regrettably, it appears to indeed exist." Xiao Canong spoke with a smile on his face, showing no signs of worry. "Now that the secrets of Ability Users are exposed to the world, who would’ve thought they’d dare to emerge? I think the Evangelical Association won’t be the first group to oppose the Dimensional Limit Mechanism nor the last. This kind of thing will happen often in the future."

Thinking of an increasing number of criminals obtaining abilities in the future made everyone feel somewhat troubled.

Honglian dissatisfiedly stared at her boss, "Why do you seem rather pleased?"

"Of course!" To everyone’s surprise, Xiao Canong readily admitted, "Haven’t you heard, Miss Honglian? Chaos is a ladder; the more severe the security issues, the bigger our stage! Do you know my biggest regret about the television station incident? It’s that the person who resolved the criminal wasn’t our Execution Team but a highly dangerous Wanderer!"

Facing everyone, he spread his hands wide, "Think about it, had you resolved this, what would today’s news be like? Every television station, every website... would feature your deeds on the front page! You all would become heroes of Jiang City!"

The office burst into an uproar.

But the points of contention weren’t the same for everyone.

Some regretted being just a bit late, others were surprised that the team leader dared to openly say chaos benefits the mechanism. Honglian certainly couldn’t stand his frivolous words either, but what shocked her even more was his last statement.

"A Wanderer? Was his identity found out too?"

"Naturally, not so quickly." Xiao Canong responded to her query first and foremost, "But the headquarters decrypted a document for me, allowing confirmation that he is definitely a Wanderer."

The whispers among everyone gradually subsided.

What is a decrypted document?

"Do we have access to it?" Little Pigeon asked curiously.

"We do; it originally belonged to a classified file, but considering the invasion point is already public, its classification level has been downgraded by one. Actually, I intended to show it to you at the morning meeting, because without understanding this, it’s difficult to comprehend the danger they pose."

At this point, he pressed the remote control button, causing the curtains of the office to slowly drop, dimming the interior lighting.

Then the team leader handed a box of videotapes to Wang Qianduan.

"A videotape!" Wang Baihu exclaimed in a low voice, "I wondered why the office still kept a magnetic tape player, turns out it’s for this."

"A USB drive wouldn’t have the same atmosphere..." Little Pigeon said excitedly. "Even before seeing the content, I already find it mysterious!"

Hardly any of her teammates acted normally, Honglian remained silent.

Soon, the television screen showed some footage.

First came the Dimensional Limit Mechanism’s logo, followed by a warning made of black and red text. The gist was that if one inadvertently obtained this tape, it should be destroyed immediately, and if leaked or copied externally, severe legal penalties may follow.

Several seconds of darkness passed on the screen before the theme finally emerged.

The footage was rather vintage-looking, seemingly shot in a city. Judging by the architectural style, it doesn’t resemble any city on Earth, with dark gray steel exterior walls as its prevailing color scheme.

Is this... the world on the other side of the invasion point?

Honglian keenly realized that the cameraman had already crossed the boundary.

But where were the people on the streets? In such a large-scale city, the streets were surprisingly devoid of figures. Many cars were parked along the roadside, their designs quite classical.

The footage shifted.

The cameraman seemed to have walked along the street for a while, with the surrounding buildings becoming increasingly strange. Below were numerous sticky, bubble-like objects, resembling giant insect eggs at first glance. The camera occasionally pointed at the ground, revealing clusters of writhing muscle tissue on the road, as if tumors had grown on the surface.

Seeing this scene instantly reminded everyone of the dead bodies in the television station hall!

Meanwhile, Honglian finally saw the residents of this world—they were tall and thin, with withered limbs, kneeling along the roadside, endlessly bowing to the sky. The further they went, the more they encountered of such people.

To what person or object were they paying homage?

The footage switched again.

When the screen lit up once more, the camera had fallen to the ground, yet it still faithfully executed its function. From this ground-level perspective, they could only see a small part of the scene. Those kneeling were countless in number, at least in the thousands, and among them was one distinct figure—a person dressed in a more modern outfit, wearing a windbreaker and jeans, carrying a rifle on his back. Yet his actions were no different from the dazed bystanders, lying prostrate on the ground, repeating the act of kowtowing.

The street was no longer asphalt but consisting of slabs of well-defined meat!

The surrounding buildings had even grown numerous tentacles!

At this point, the videotape emitted a click sound, the time returned to zero, signaling the end of filming.