Chapter 60

Chapter 60: The Sea Without Light Part 60

“Are you free tonight? We have a collective meeting,” Red said.

Kui Xin typed back: “Yes.”

“Midnight zero-point at the Ruby Red Bar,” Red replied briefly.

“Is Night Cicada participating in the task?” Kui Xin thought for a moment and asked.

“Yes, I just consulted the boss, and he wants us all to gather on the Kraken. Everyone must go,” Red said. “The boss is particularly focused on this task, much more than any previous ones.”

Kui Xin stared at Red’s words, deep in thought.

A little later, Red added, “I also asked if we should include you, but the boss said you should go.”

Kui Xin’s eyelid twitched slightly.

As an undercover agent who needed to remain incognito, the less often they acted in public, the better, according to Red. He had specifically asked if Kui Xin should be included, and surprisingly, Kui Haidong gave a positive answer.

If “maintaining the hidden identity” and “sinking the Kraken” were placed on a scale in Kui Haidong’s mind, then clearly the latter was more important. If his daughter versus the future of the organization were to be weighed, the future of the organization would outweigh.

“Go ahead and go,” Kui Xin said ambiguously.

Red said: “That’s right; with Night Cicada around, safety will be ensured.”

Kui Xin took off the armband, pushed open the bathroom stall door to wash his hands, and splashed some water on his face too.

Red was right; having Night Cicada join meant their lives would be secured at the very least. Kui Xin had some resentment about the system-issued investigative missions… the investigation progress reached ninety-five percent, just a little more and she could complete it.

Following the rules from the last mission, if she successfully completed the current task, the system would still grant her rewards. What reward would she get for a personal task in the Second World? She was a little curious, yet the mission’s high danger level deterred her, worrying that her efforts might not yield adequate returns.

Just as Kui Xin left the restroom, the warning lights in the corridor outside the Investigation Building suddenly all lit up.

The beeping sounds were extremely jarring, with red warning lights illuminating the corridor.

“There’s a sudden emergency, sudden emergency,” Adam’s mechanical voice echoed through the corridor, the pitch higher than normal and the speech faster, “A major explosion accident occurred at Docking Port of the Harbor Zone, urgent assistance needed. Please have all squads still at the Investigation Building quickly gather to equip themselves and proceed to the docking port for security inspection and search. Additionally, prepare the medical care center for the injured! Repeat this message…”

“Kui Xin!” Liu Kangyun and Lan Lan ran towards Kui Xin.

“Do we need to go?” Kui Xin started moving with them.

“We need to go, red lights indicate Level 1 alert, yellow lights indicate Level 2 alert,” Liu Kangyun explained while running, “When red lights are on, all healthy security officers have to respond to the alert immediately.”

“This comes from the Eighth-Third page of the Task Execution Manual,” Lan Lan added, “Every year-end assessment requires memorizing these passages. Anyone failing needs to retake the test.”

Kui Xin sighed inwardly—”Then I’ll review it during my free time.”

Security guards were already waiting at the equipment room. They remained composed, scanning each other individually as they entered, then took their equipment silently before stepping out within three minutes.

Kui Xin hadn’t changed out of her combat suit, she topped up her ammunition, confirmed everything was alright, and then joined her teammates to ride the elevator down to the landing pad. On the landing pad, first responders, hover police cars, and armed helicopters waited. Shu Xueyao was there as well.

“I didn’t expect such an accident, we need to act quickly,” he murmured.

“What happened?” Kui Xin asked as she followed him, “Adam mentioned an explosion at the Docking Port of the Harbor Zone.”

“Yes, my information is more detailed. Criminals planted explosives at the Docking Port; the deactivation team tried to remove the devices, but they detonated, injuring many of our members, including many colleagues who didn’t survive,” Shu Xueyao said, “Now our main priority is to conduct a thorough search around the area—every shop, every household… every spot that can possibly hide these criminals.”

“The operation scale is huge…” Liu Kangyun muttered.

About two to three hundred security guards stood prepared on the spacious landing pad; those not from the field team were involved in the operation now as well.

Given the size of Harbor Zone, one group of security guards wouldn’t suffice to quickly complete the searches. So the后勤支援组和刑侦组也派了不少人参与。

“我们死了多少人？”蓝兰问。

“死亡十九人，受伤十二人，轻伤者没有统计进去。”舒旭尧说。

兰兰： “嘶……谁丧心病狂到这种地步？这得有多少爆炸物？”

“我怀疑与今天遇到的精神体超能者有些关联。”舒旭尧说。

亚当的声音在他们的通信耳麦里响起：“请搭乘第七辆空中警察车，根据导航指引抵达目的地，与后勤支援组第六队合作进行排查工作，搜查范围已在地图上标注。”

“收到。”舒旭尧看着队友们说道，“出发吧，大家记得注意安全。”

这次多部门联合作战的原因有三个方面：一是调查部牺牲过于惨重；二是机械黎明的行动引起了调查部前所未有的警惕；三是克拉肯号即将登陆，领导层想要剔除全部不利因素巩固局面。

然而损失既成事实，调查部高层也只能亡羊补牢，搜查周遭区域，期望发现一丝有用线索，抓住几个嫌疑人。

此次的港口大爆炸事件是前所未有的。

就如同一只煽动翅膀的蝴蝶，郑辛的一举一动都会带来不同的变化。

因为临时更改巡逻路线，她碰见了银面和刺蔷薇，两个超能力者在港口的消息报告到了调查部。调查部因此展开了港口的排查，并偶然发现了机械黎明隐藏的爆炸装置。

随后，Red引爆了装置，负责解除的队伍遭受沉重打击，促使了这次大规模联合搜查。

事情的产生往往带来连锁反应。她开启新端倪，未来便会在未知的路上加速奔跑。

时间在扭转，所有未发生过的都有改变的机会。

……

机械黎明干劲十足。

郑辛和同事们仔细搜查了港口周边各个区域，无论是酒吧、赌场、夜总会，还是普通的餐馆、住户区，他们进行了细致入微的搜查。

机械黎明留下的痕迹一样都找不到，但是在此次搜查过程中发现了不少非法份子的藏身之处。

调查部认真地搜查了港口的集装箱和货物仓库，本以为郑辛可能会发现机械黎明设在港口的秘密军火库，但什么也没发现，那里空无一物。Red早已经让人将军火库转移。

从早晨忙碌到傍晚，高强度的搜查以及紧张的精神状态几乎要将所有人榨干。到了下班时间，调查部又调拨了一组人员接替他们的工作，继续搜查。

港口虽有损伤，但由于海上浮港并未受到重大伤害加上炸药基本被拆卸了下去，不久便能恢复。

“看起来是准备把整个港湾大翻个面了。”郑辛感叹道。

“啧，这种行为真是打脸自己的。”兰兰摘下头盔，拭去脸上的汗滴，他的头发软绵绵地被汗水浸湿了。

刘康云累得不轻，他靠着墙休息，说：“我们调查局是城市最大的暴力机构，有人竟敢挑衅，这是耻辱……”

调查部高层关心的不是牺牲了多少人，他们关注的是自身利益和面子。

遭挑衅自然需要报复，可惜机械黎明并不会乖乖认打，他们深知如何隐藏自己的行踪。

“下班了，我们走吧。”舒旭尧拍拍郑辛的肩膀，说，“最近好像一直没有休息的机会，辛苦你们了。”

“高薪自然不辛苦。”郑辛活动了一下筋骨，说，“但以现在的状态来看，不知道能不能熬到拿第一笔工资。”

“最近的事频繁多了。”刘康云愁眉不展，“没办法，大家得多小心，麻烦事实在太多。”

“问题是，我们也不想惹麻烦，都是麻烦主动找上门来的。”蓝兰说。

……

郑辛拖着疲惫的身体回家。

她一进门便瘫倒在沙发上，伸手摸出一瓶矿泉水咕嘟咕嘟喝完了。

“今天没受伤吧？刺蔷薇打中了你。”银面凑上来。

“只是被子弹刮伤了一块，不算严重。”郑辛踢了银面一脚，说，“你们俩总是给我带来麻烦！今天一直都在忙。”

“不怪我……”银面低声说，“都是刺蔷薇的错，她脾气太暴躁了。”

银面对他曾经一同共事过的几名队友和上司做出了评价，觉得还是跟Lady Fortune在一起最自在，对方让她吃饭、睡觉，不似Red那么爱骂人，也没有刺蔷薇那般急躁。

果然是坏和好都是比较出来的，没有比较也就不会感受到痛苦……银面心里默默想。

“我没露馅吧？”郑辛说道，“我的身份必须保密，刺蔷薇在组里的级别不够，还没有资格知道我的事。”

“没有……她没怀疑。”银面苦恼地说，“因为我坚持不下防护罩，她骂我怂瓜，便不愿意跟我多说。”

“很好，我对你的演技不太信任。”郑辛委婉地说道，“她不愿与你说话是最好的，这样你不用应对她，免得演技不成熟又让看出破绽。”

银面： “……虽然知道你说的可能是事实，但我仍然很难过。”

郑辛稍事休息后给Red打了通通讯电话。

Red立即接通。

“喂，Red。”郑辛有气无力地说，“今天的会议地点改一改吧，调查部的搜查范围越来越大，最终肯定会查到Ruby Red Bar，他们可能会把整个港湾全都搜一遍。”

Red咒骂了几句，说：“我就知道！东西已经搬走了，下水道的密道也被临时封堵了，即便搜查过来也没什么可害怕的，Ruby Red Bar没有做违法生意，最多落灰而已。”

那边隐约传来调酒师愤怒的声音。

“调酒师比我还要生气。”郑辛说。

Red：“调查部要求港湾的娱乐场所暂停营业半个月，他当然会生气。”

郑辛说：“新的会议地点是……”

“除了总部门外哪都不安全，直接让Night Cicada开传送门来带人过去。”Red说，“老板可能也会参加，会议时间仍然是午夜零点。”

“好。”郑辛结束了通话。

时间飞逝，很快到了午夜时刻。

时钟指针转到零的瞬间，郑辛家客厅悄无声息地出现了一团蓝色光团，光团逐渐扩大成螺旋状漩涡，夜蝉伸出手从漩涡中钻出来，向郑辛做了个“快来”的手势。

郑辛拽着昏昏欲睡的银面一同踏入了漩涡。

灯光明亮的房间内，银白色的长会议桌反射着光芒。

身着红色闪亮西装的Red举起手向郑辛挥了挥：“来了啊，Lady Fortune！”

调酒师阴郁的脸色稍稍缓和，对她点了点头。

夜蝉坐在长会议桌右边首位上，他打了一个响指并启动了一个传送门，随后刺蔷薇从中走了出来。

刺蔷薇显然心情不太好，淡淡对周围人点头示意后找到了自己的位置坐下。

紧接着是从传送门中走出的Ambereye和Black Obsidian这对双胞胎，他们一如既往沉默寡言，坐下时甚至连招呼都没打，静静地坐下。

“人员到齐，会议开始。”Red话不多说。

夜蝉拍了拍手，一道幽蓝色光束从天花板的裂隙中投射而出。

全息影像构建完成，隗海栋的虚拟投影出现在会议首座上。

“想必诸位已知晓此次会议的目的。”隗海栋声音沉稳，表情严肃，眼神深邃，“我们的目标只有一个，摧毀克拉肯号。”