Chapter 66

Chapter 66 – Sea Without Light Part 66

Upon arriving at the Investigation Bureau, Kui Xin glanced at the clock and saw that it was still some time before eight o’clock. She intended to take a detour to visit her teammate Jiang Ming.

She took the elevator to the floor where medical facilities were located. On the elevator, she asked, “Augus, has Jiang Ming woken up?”

“Security Officer Jiang Ming is in good condition; he has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward,” Augus listed the ward’s number. “Visiting hours are from seven in the morning to eight in the evening, you can go and see him.”

The elevator stopped, and Augus kindly flickered the indicator lights down the corridor for Kui Xin to follow.

Approaching Jiang Ming’s room, Kui Xin first knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open.

Jiang Ming was having breakfast. Apart from his pale complexion, he seemed fine otherwise.

“Good morning, Kui Xin.” He chugged down a cup of soy milk.

“Good morning. How’s your injury?” Kui Xin peered under the blanket covering his leg. “Is it still painful?”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore. The nurse gave me a painkiller injection, and the wound has healed significantly. It just needs more time to fully heal,” Jiang Ming said with openness as he rolled back the blanket to show his amputated leg. His left knee was entirely missing—his hospital pants flopped vacantly over the stump.

Kui Xin curiously asked, “Have you decided on which model of mechanical prosthetic to get?”

Jiang Ming smacked his lips, “Mostly, they’re designed for enhancement rather than offense. If my leg was designed offensively, what good would it do besides looking like I could turn my leg into a knife or gun every time someone else raises an arm? You need acrobatics for that.”

“Enhancement seems more practical,” Kui Xin said. “How do you manage movement until then?”

“I use assistive machinery.” Jiang Ming patted the bed beside him. A mechanical hand split from the mattress, extended, and offered to help. “It’s awkward though—I struggle even to wash my face in the bathroom. Doctor Huang suggested I first fit myself with a generic mechanical leg to cover daily activities until a custom one is ready.”

“It makes sense to start with a generic one,” Kui Xin said. “The experience must be vastly different from using your natural leg.”

“I heard there’s a new mechanical nerve connection technology developed last year. Compared to old point-based connections, it has many more advantages. Doctor Huang mentioned that the new technology lets you control the mechanical limb nearly as if it were a real human limb,” Jiang Ming said. “Technology changes so quickly; I’m even looking forward to seeing myself with the new prosthetic.”

Kui Xin had no clue about the “mechanical nerve connection technology” and “point-based nerve connections,” despite vaguely hearing these terms.

The Second World is a dark and dangerous yet vibrant place filled with life. It is constantly evolving, holding infinite possibilities much like a tree that sprouts endless new branches, each symbolizing a potential.

While Kui Xin and Jiang Ming spoke, the door to the ward rattled.

Xueyao Shu came in and smiled, “Kui Xin is here too.”

“Yes, I came early to check on Jiang Ming.” Kui Xin glanced at the clock and noted that it was still eight minutes shy of eight.

“How are you doing, Jiang Ming?” Xueyao Shu pulled up a chair next to the bed.

“I’m alright, slept all day yesterday, woke up again at four this morning,” Jiang Ming explained, “Really hungry when I woke up; the cafeteria was closed so Augus heated a can of food for me.”

“We can’t avoid these things,” Xueyao Shu sighed.

Kui Xin turned to Xueyao Shu, “I’m not sure what work we’ll have today; finished searching the Harbor Zone?”

“All key areas have been checked,” Xueyao Shu said, “Unfortunately, we didn’t find the gang responsible for bomb placements. However, we uncovered numerous drug operations. One guy even set up a small production line to manufacture homemade firearms.”

Jiang Ming clicked his tongue, “In my opinion, one reason our crime rate stays high could be attributed to us lacking the death penalty. Shoot them if we catch them—they’d probably think twice before acting up again.”

Xueyao Shu calmly responded, “Changing laws alone won’t suffice. The core problem isn’t just the law itself, Old Jiang?”

Jiang Ming remained quiet for a moment before clicking his tongue agitatedly.

This world was distorted, sickening—a rotting sore oozing pus.

To cure such a sore, one had to cut away the rot, applying potent medicine. But sores grew on the body, their source within. Removing one sore would reveal more oozing growths, impossible to rid.

Listening to them, Kui Xin yawned uncontrollably.

Xueyao Shu turned to look concernedfully, “Your dark circles seem darker today?”

“I slept only three hours last night…my mind couldn’t unwind…” Kui Xin murmured quietly.

“Has it been stressful recently?” Xueyao Shu asked. “You both were injured…”

“A后勤岗位还能熬几年，隗辛。”江明同情道，“你要不要去心理治疗室找杨主任谈谈？”

“有空就去。”隗辛叹了口气。

“今天我们可能会轻松些，江明受伤，我们的小组出不了勤，港湾区的大搜查也接近尾声，接下来只要不时进行一次突击检查就行。”舒旭尧说道，“我们并不是每天都那么忙碌，生死一线。”

“我想过的是能待在办公室里喝茶的生活。”隗辛说道，“跑前跑后的累死人，我都快散架子了。”

“待在办公室里喝茶的理想生活不可能实现。”江明说，“退休了勉强可以，我们四十五岁时退休，再熬吧。”

“还没到四十五岁就英年早逝怎么办？”隗辛吐槽道，“就算我死了，缉查部给的伤亡补助金也不会落到我家人头上。”

“那就享受当下。”舒旭尧说，“至少今天我们的工作是空闲的，现在你可以去办公室喝茶了，或者给你另一个选择，去心理治疗室找杨主任聊聊。”

离八点还有两分钟，隗辛从椅子上站起来活动脖子：“我选喝茶……该工作了。”

“你没事就行，我和隗辛先走。”舒旭尧对着江明点点头。

“好。”江明挥挥手。

隗辛和舒旭尧并肩走进电梯间，这时亚当发来了今天的日程安排。

“上午，办公室值班。下午，训练。”看着“训练”二字，隗辛眉心微不可见地动了动，“唉，训练虽累，总比执行任务好了。”

“坚持训练前三个月就好。”舒旭尧说。

“三个月后不用训练了吗？”

“不是……我的意思是你会适应训练的强度，痛苦程度会减轻。”

“哦……”

“一年后训练次数会减少，从每天一次降到每周三次。”

隗辛敲了敲脑袋：“要死啦。”

电梯突然停下，门向两边滑开，蒋玫玫眉头紧蹙走了进来，脸上没有平时般的轻松，整个人散发出一股压迫感。

看到电梯内有人，她依旧保持着一贯的礼仪，对着隗辛点头微笑，然后特别对舒旭尧打了声招呼：“舒队长。”

“蒋组长。”舒旭尧礼貌回应。

蒋玫玫似乎没闲谈的心思，等电梯到达她想去的楼层便急匆匆离开，脚步发出沉闷的哒哒声。

“发生什么事了吗？蒋组长看起来很忙碌。”隗辛和舒旭尧所在的楼层也到了。

舒旭尧若有所思地说道：“我没有接到任何紧急消息。”

这不符合常理。

昨晚克拉肯号沉没，缉查部的军用直升机也坠海了，领导层怎么可能毫无反应？除非他们在压着某些消息不出。

隗辛走出电梯说道：“队长，您要晋升了吗？”

突如其来的提问让舒旭尧怔住了，“为什么要这么问？”

“蒋组长特意和您打招呼了。”隗辛说，“可能是我想多了，我觉得她对待您十分平等，并不像那种上级对下级的态度。”

“职位升迁需服从安排。”舒旭尧笑了笑，“感觉不是关键因素。”

他们穿过长廊。

“缉查部的核心人物都是觉醒者吗？”隗辛说。

“并非全都是，觉醒者不一定具有领导力。”舒旭尧通过虹膜扫描打开了办公室门，接着说，“四个组组长中，只有蔚芝组长和蒋玫玫组长是觉醒者。”

隗辛跟着舒旭尧进入办公室，半开玩笑地说道：“队长您机会还挺多的，要是您职务晋升了能不能把我也调至轻松些的岗位？”

舒旭尧哭笑不得：“这种事还是别想太多。”

“对了，部长和副部长是超凡能力者吗？”隗辛假装感兴趣地问道，“他们具备什么样的超凡能力？”

“是的。部长的能力我不清楚，缉查部的部长并不需要亲自动手作战。”舒旭尧说，“副部长的能力其实是个公开的秘密，稍微有些资历的老安保员就知道。”

隗辛追问道：“是什么？”

“探测之眼。”舒旭尧答道，“这不是直接增强战力的能力，作用是看透一个特定对象的超凡能力，就像是行走的超凡能力探测器。”

听到这话，隗辛背后霎时冒出一层冷汗，感觉血脉倒流，心跳失衡，眼瞳放大。然而她低头，舒旭尧也低头坐在办公桌后，没留意到她异常。

“探测一个人的超凡能力？”隗辛尽量冷静地问道，“连超凡能力的弱点和缺陷都能看透吗？”

“这个我就不知道了。”舒旭尧说，“尽管这是一个公开的秘密，但没有人会随便宣传，我们内部人心里明白就好。你也是觉醒者，这些内容你将来会逐渐了解。”

前所未有的恐惧感弥漫全身，哪怕是克拉肯号事件中都没有这般恐慌过。

她后悔了，后悔的心情从未如此强烈。

副部长林新霁已经出差回到缉查部了，假设隗辛在缉查大楼内步行并与他擦肩而过，他会一下子看清她体内的超凡能力远超她的想象。

她的卧底身份，玩家身份，以及她所有竭尽全力隐藏的一切都将暴露在他眼前，一切努力都将白费，等待她的结果可能比死亡还要可怕。

她是下一个雷尼尔，将被囚禁，被刑讯，被拷问。他们会限制她的行动，连死亡也逃脱不了。

不，绝不。

隗辛坐在自己的办公位上，盯着漆黑的桌面仅仅几秒钟后便下了决定。

——她要杀死副部长林新霁。

她的杀人动机不同于以往。

她杀柴剑是因为无奈，杀球蟒是因为报复，而杀方治则是因为他玷污了她的生活。

如今决定杀林新霁，则是为了先下手为强。

如果不除掉林新霁，他会在缉查部中成为随时威胁到她的“达摩克利斯之剑”。每天都要见面，或许只是在电梯里擦肩而过，她都会曝光身份。在“达摩克利斯之剑”落下之前，隗辛要把它彻底折断。

“迟到！扣除一天工资。”

兰兰沮丧地走进办公室。

刘康云也跟在后面，垂头丧气地说道：“有我陪着你一起扣钱。”

“发生什么事了？”舒旭尧抬起头询问。

刘康云解释道：“买早餐排队等太久……我已经付了账，却没能拿到早餐，导致……顾此失彼。”

“坐错了车。”兰兰捂住脸，“别说这个，太丢脸了！我脑子没反应过来就坐上了前往港湾区的电轨车。”

“——真倒楣。”隗辛说道，“兰兰你在等车的时候没打瞌睡吧？”

她神色如常地加入话题，让自己显得格外和群。情绪转换之快速、表情转换之熟练，连她自己都愣了一下。

隗辛已成为了与黄医生同等水平的高级内奸。

继续这样下去，她迟早会变成双重人格。

…

轻松的一天很快过去。

临下班时，隗辛在训练场无意间听见同事议论，说副部长林新霁又出差了，这次是到邻近的城市出差。

这使她暂时舒了一口气，至少在林新霁外出期间她是安全的。

训练结束后，隗辛前往休息室换了便服，然后乘坐悬浮电轨车回家。

在路上，隗辛按照习惯检查了手环留言。

夜蝉：“你不是对手头关押的‘玩家’有些关心嘛，今晚不妨去看看？可以亲自审问他们。”