Chapter 125
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Chapter 125: Three Craftsmen
Luke’s once chaotic thoughts grew clearer with ongoing contemplation.
He gradually developed a new investigative approach.
He had thoroughly examined all documents related to the [Followers], but he had yet to take action on this newly considered direction.
On this cool summer night, with his emotions in turmoil, Luke quickened his pace towards a certain destination — the inner city Public Security Bureau.
When the identification proving he was a superpowered individual and the document signed by Council member Nia were placed before the security personnel, the heavily guarded area posed no obstacles for Luke.
After obtaining Luke’s consent, the security guard pressed the communicator to notify the off-duty bureau staff of the entry.
After all, he didn’t have the keys to the archive room, and Luke didn’t want to break the rules too much.
Half an hour later, the sleepy archivist arrived at the archive room door.
After confirming his identity, he promptly opened the door and led Luke inside, moving smoothly like a tour guide.
“Please note, many documents in the bureau archive room are not backed up, so please be careful with open flames.”
The archivist skillfully recited the necessary warnings, then, seeing Luke was easy to talk to, asked,
“What type of documents are you here to review?”
“As long as it isn’t too far in the past, I can help you find it.”
Luke thought for a moment and replied,
“I want to review some cases that follow a specific pattern, specifically those that disappeared after the [incident at the research institute] or emerged afterward.”
The archivist bowed his head in thought, understanding Luke’s intent.
The request wasn’t for specific cases but rather for all cases that fit a particular criterion.
“What are the start and end dates?”
“Let’s make it from the beginning of the year until now.”
That was quite a workload…
The archivist, awakened in the middle of the night, faced a dilemma:
“Alright, I can assure you that there are no missing archives here, but the classification you mentioned is not so easy to find. I think I’ll need a bit of help…”
“Go and call others. I’ll join you.”
Luke appeared fully prepared and had already approached the archive cabinet from January of year 52 of the New Era to begin his search.
Seeing this, the archivist no longer delayed; he sighed quietly in his heart before following protocol to summon other members of the Public Security Team.
The inner city’s public security had always been relatively good.
Unlike the abstract actions in the outer city, cases in the inner city were not only infrequent but typically did not involve ordinary people.
Besides rare exceptions like Zhuang Mian, almost no one dared to interfere in such matters.
Therefore, the workload of the inner city Public Security Team was generally quite light, with the majority of incidents being traffic accidents.
Once word spread that a Council member had signed a document, the usually laid-back peace officers rushed over.
Soon, the archive room was filled with seven or eight team members, who began to meticulously review all the cases from the past six months.
If it weren’t for the cramped space of the archive room and the strict prohibition against removing files, more people would have undoubtedly joined this volunteer work, eager for a chance to shine.
By noon, after receiving some lunch that Luke had personally bought, the first archivist to arrive handed a summary to Luke.
“Here are the case records we’ve compiled that meet your requirements. The specific files are placed on the table over there.”
Luke took the folder and glanced inside; it listed four cases along with their aliases:
1. “Heart Snatcher” Serial Murder Case: An assassin active in the eastern outer city since the end of March, targeting black market doctors, casino owners, and gang members involved in organ trafficking. The primary method of operation is: …
2. “Master Hand” Serial Theft Case: A thief active in the western outer city and Southern District since September of year 51 of the New Era, who has repeatedly infiltrated banks and casinos, amassing a total theft of 5.66 million information coins. The crime scenes varied, suggesting possible imitation. The main method of operation is: …
3. Black Market Medical Supply Trade Case: Some products from the third production line began appearing on the black market through unknown channels two years ago, sometimes even including medications produced that day or the next. On the fourth day following the incident at the research institute, Duan Yi, the then manager of that production line, committed suicide by jumping from a building, leading to the case’s closure.
4. New gangs and significant changes in existing gangs in the outer city following the incident at the research institute: Ashes (destroyed during the Infected riot), Border Pirates, Insect Gang, Ghosts…
Luke raised his eyebrows; the number of cases was substantial, but it confirmed that his approach was on the right track.
“Is that all?”
“That’s all. Please rest assured, we’ve left nothing out.”
Luke nodded and approached the waist-high stack of case files, beginning to read through them carefully.
A few minutes later, he suddenly looked up at the peace officers awaiting his instructions:
“You’ve all worked hard. Go and take a break.”
Everyone quickly dispersed, and even the archivist carefully placed the key to the archive room on the desk in front of Luke before leaving.
Since the documents couldn’t be removed, Luke turned on the desk lamp and began to read intently, committing the information to memory.
—
In the narrow dormitory, the sound of intense discussion filled the air as a meeting was underway.
The only issue was that only one of the participants was human.
“Ms. Fulan thinks we should use titanium alloy~”
“Rare materials require additional applications, and the quantity must be specified. Even processing scraps will be collected by designated personnel.”
“Then let it hack the system, meow.”
“[Skydome] won’t do anything that violates public order.”
“Smack!”
A Kitten’s Paw slapped down on the screen displaying pixelated expressions, and the green blocks quickly raised a small flag to signal surrender.
“Alright, [Skydome] will consider it.”
Ji Yongxing, sitting in a chair, watched this scene with a dazed expression.
A cat was attempting to tame an artificial intelligence?
Regardless, a human, a cat, and a newly born artificial intelligence discussing how to reasonably embezzle materials from the research institute seemed utterly surreal.
At that moment, he somewhat regretted discussing matters with Fulan and his eccentric artificial intelligence.
Fulan was so enthusiastic because she was obsessed with tasting various materials and experimenting with changes.
And [Skydome]… it was less than a week old but already harbored thoughts of hacking into the main system of the research institute under Fulan’s threat.
Heaven help, the supercomputer’s firewall would obliterate this fool in seconds…
