blogombal Chapter 73 Investigation!
Chapter 73 Investigation!
at the same time.
Inside a black building on Tianshu Avenue in Chengdu, bearing the sign of the Federal Environmental Monitoring Center.
In a secure conference room buried 30 meters underground, cold blue holographic light screens are silently intertwining.
"Please take a look, everyone. This is a report on the smuggling of illegal deep-sea creatures intercepted in Chengdu and the surrounding areas over the past three months."
The middle-aged manager standing at the front of the long table had a serious expression. He lightly drew his finger in the air, and a huge holographic 3D image instantly unfolded in the center of the conference room.
That was a dissected specimen of a split-boned dog.
Its claws and teeth appear translucent in holographic light, and the intricate neural network inside is marked in a dangerous bright red.
"The Bone-Splitter Hound is an Abyss Soldier-level monster whose claw bones possess an extremely high compatibility with active metals. Once this active substance is forcibly integrated into a mecha using distortion technology, it can allow an ordinary mecha to unleash an instantaneous tearing force exceeding its limit by more than 30% without upgrading the transmission system."
The supervisor cut off a slide, and the image changed to the wreckage of a torn black mecha.
"But this is a heretical technology that drains the pond to catch all the fish. After the active tissue of the Abyss Monster merges with the mecha, it will continuously release trace amounts of Abyss Toxin, which will then pollute the pilot's brain nerves through neural connections, eventually leading to mental breakdown and genetic collapse. Half a month ago, we found an illegal martial artist in an abandoned garage in the south of the city whose body had merged with the mecha cockpit due to the backlash of the mutation. The scene was horrific. And this prohibited technology seems to be quietly spreading among students in Chengdu recently."
Beside the long table.
Wang Yangming sat upright, twirling a specially made tactical stylus in his hand.
Today, instead of wearing his Shanghai University of Mechanical Engineering uniform, he changed into a neat black Tian Shu mecha hunter trainee uniform, with a mithril badge symbolizing his hunter identity fastened on his collar.
As an elite student at Shanghai University of Technology, he is also a trainee member of "Tian Shu," an official organization that is cracking down on abyssal criminal organizations.
At this moment, his only identity is that of a member of the Sky Pivot Mech Hunters.
"Yangming".
The supervisor's gaze fell on him. "You've been in Chengdu for a while now. How's the case progressing?"
Wang Yangming put down his pen, sighed, and stood up somewhat helplessly: "Supervisor, the waters in Rongcheng are much deeper than I imagined. I originally just wanted to use this 'Tracing and Elimination of Illegal Distorted and Modified Networks' as my graduation project topic, get an excellent rating, and go back to Magic University. But now it seems that the fruit growing on this vine is a bit frighteningly big."
He tapped a few times on the holographic screen and brought up a confidential file.
"Based on my investigation over the past few days, I've identified a student from the neighboring Rongcheng Electromechanical Vocational Technical School named Chen Mo. This guy has been extremely active in the virtual Beidou Yuan Universe lately, using a mutated mecha that has been fused with the claws and teeth of the Riftbone Dog. His health and mecha rating have inexplicably soared to level 12 or higher."
Wang Yangming frowned, his expression turning serious: "An ordinary vocational school student simply doesn't have the financial resources or connections to access such advanced mutation technology. There must be a deeply hidden black market modification master behind him, or even the shadow of the Abyss Cult. I plan to use Chen Mo as a breakthrough point; I'll go to his school in the next couple of days to stake out and investigate thoroughly."
"Very good, be careful, and remember not to alert them." The supervisor nodded approvingly.
The meeting adjourned.
Wang Yangming rubbed his slightly sore neck and walked out of the black building.
Looking at the crisscrossing maglev tracks and the giant CyberGG sign above Chengdu, he muttered to himself with a headache:
"Sigh... these junior students these days are all such a handful. I thought it would be an easy internship, but if I mess it up, Old Man Chen will skin me alive when we get back..."
…………
The following morning.
Rongcheng Electromechanical Vocational Technical School.
Unlike key high schools like No. 2 High School, which are filled with the tense atmosphere of exam preparation, the campus of the Mechanical and Electrical Vocational School is more like a huge heavy industrial base.
The air was filled with the faint smell of cutting fluid and machine oil, and the huge training building was filled with the roar of heavy pneumatic wrenches and the blinding flashes of welding.
Most of the students here are wearing durable blue-gray work clothes, discussing the hydraulic parameters of a certain excavator in small groups.
However, today, this steel jungle has been stirred up by the arrival of one person.
"Holy crap... isn't that Wang Xing from the Second High School?!"
"Really? The grand champion of the 100-school competition? What's he doing here?"
"He's even more handsome in person than on TV! His presence is amazing!"
All the students at the vocational school of electromechanical engineering turned their attention to Wang Xing, and whispers of discussion could be heard from time to time.
Wang Xing was simply wearing a casual sweatshirt, his hands in his pockets, looking somewhat helplessly at the vocational school students pointing and whispering around him.
Obviously.
Wang Xing underestimated his current popularity among students in Chengdu... even at the Mecha Vocational Technical School.
The excitement of winning the Hundred Schools Competition hadn't even died down when he was immediately recognized as soon as he stepped into the gates of the Mechanical and Electrical Vocational School... Just now, a girl dressed in Lolita fashion ran up to him and asked for his contact information. If Wang Xing hadn't found it so hard to accept this kind of landmine-type girl, he would have actually agreed.
However, being famous also has its advantages.
"Um... Senior Wang Xing! Could you give me your autograph? Just on my toolbox!"
A vocational school boy, holding a wrench—which turned out to be some kind of engineering mecha—blushed and excitedly stopped Wang Xing.
"no problem."
Wang Xing smiled gently, took the electromagnetic marker pen handed to him, and signed his name on the metal toolbox in a flamboyant manner.
"Senior, are you here to visit our school today? Or are you here to see our principal?" The boy, carrying a toolbox, asked with a beaming smile.
"No, I'm here to ask about someone."
Wang Xing subtly closed the distance between them, smiling as he asked, "Isn't there a second-year student at your school who underwent a mutation modification? You mean, the mecha has the claws and fangs of the Bone-Splitter Hound? Do you know him?"
"Chen Mo?"
The boy's expression changed slightly, and he scratched his head somewhat strangely: "Senior, are you looking for that reclusive weirdo?"
"Oh? Chen Mo?" Wang Xing raised an eyebrow, silently memorizing the name. "You've tried him; he's usually quite withdrawn?"
"He's more than just withdrawn, he's downright freakish."
The boy lowered his voice and leaned closer mysteriously: "That guy used to be in the maintenance class next to ours. He was so inconspicuous that you wouldn't even remember his name if you bumped into him in the hallway. But in the last month or two, he's completely changed."
"How should we change it?" Wang Xing's heart stirred.
"I don't know where he got his windfall from, but he suddenly bought a 'Lone Wolf' mech worth hundreds of thousands of yuan. And he's always acting strangely and has a terrible temper. Once, a troublemaker from the next class jokingly bumped into him, and without saying a word, Chen Mo single-handedly dislocated the arm of that guy's light mech in the training field!"
The boy shrank back, looking somewhat frightened, and said, "Everyone says he might have borrowed money from loan sharks or hung out with some thugs. Anyway, he often skips class now, and runs to the back street of the school as soon as school is over."
"Backstreet? What's he doing there?" Wang Xing pressed.
"He often went to a privately owned modification shop at the end of the back street called 'Fengrui Mecha Modification Workshop.' The owner of that shop had a strange temper and often kept the fire burning late at night."
Sharp Mech Modification Workshop...
Meng Rui!
Upon hearing this name, Wang Xing's eyelids twitched violently.
He instantly remembered himself...
More than three months ago, the abyssal core qi and blood chest cannon on his chest was made by Meng Rui.
At the same time, he thought of Sun Donglai.
Sun Donglai recommended Meng Rui's Abyss Core Qi Blood Chest Cannon back then, so it's conceivable that Sun Donglai will likely have done a lot of modifications at Meng Rui's modification shop in the future.
As for the distortion modification...
"At the time, I really didn't suspect Meng Rui... Could it really be him?"
"Meng Rui is a top mecha student who graduated from Jinling Mecha University. Would he really take on a job involving distortion modifications?"
"They say the human heart is hard to fathom, but the heart of a beast is easy to guard against. What truly makes you unable to guard against them is never the monsters that crawl out of the abyss, but the faces of your own kind who wear human skin, hide in the crowd, and smile as they offer you poison..."
In this era where danger and mechs coexist, monsters will emerge from the cracks and also grow from the hearts of people.
"Both Sun Donglai and Chen Mo had their modifications done at Meng Rui's shop and embarked on the path of mechanical modification. It's hard not to connect them..."
"Fortunately, this disaster didn't befall me. My mecha underwent modifications at the Abyss Defense Bureau, and no abnormalities were detected. Star Abyss Investment has never given me any warnings about modifications or dangers... My mecha is definitely fine in this respect."
Wang Xing squinted his eyes.
All the clues were completely connected at this moment.
Meng Rui.
There are big problems.
"Thanks a lot, brother, that was a huge help."
Wang Xing smiled, patted the boy on the shoulder, and turned to walk towards the back street of the school.
…………
At this moment, across the street from the entrance of the Mechanical and Electrical Vocational School.
On the second floor of a dilapidated teahouse with a sign that reads "Holographic Traumatology Clinic".
Wang Yangming was chewing strawberry-flavored gum, his legs crossed, holding a tactical high-powered binoculars in his hand, closely monitoring the flow of people entering and leaving the vocational school through the mottled glass window.
"That's strange, Chen Mo didn't ask for leave today, is he still at school...?"
Wang Yangming muttered to himself as he adjusted the focus of the telescope.
Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the telescope's field of view.
In the video, a tall, slender young man in a gray hoodie is chatting and laughing with several vocational school students. Even if Wang Yangming were to turn to ashes, he would still recognize that handsome face that had dominated the headlines of Chengdu's major media outlets all day.
"puff--!"
Wang Yangming almost spat out the chewing gum in his mouth.
He rubbed his eyes hard, brought the binoculars closer to his eyes again, and even activated the facial recognition function of the tactical eyepieces.
[Identity: Wang Xing, a senior high school student at Rongcheng No. 2 High School, Qi and Blood Rating: 7.7]
"Wang Xing?!"
Wang Yangming was puzzled.
"Why isn't this kid preparing for the provincial unified exam at No. 2 High School? What's he doing at the neighboring vocational school for electromechanical engineering? And... what is he doing?"
"It seems like they're asking about something... and those students they were asking about earlier, they seem to be from Chen Mo's class?"
Watching Wang Xing walk skillfully along the school wall towards the back street, Wang Yangming's expression became incredibly interesting.
"This kid...could he also be after that case involving the aberration modification?"
Wang Yangming gasped, a sense of unease creeping into his heart: "That's strange, how would a high school student know about the mutation modification and Chen Mo?"
Watching Wang Xing's figure gradually disappear into the distance, Wang Yangming gritted his teeth, grabbed the coat on the table, and put it on.
"No way! This kid is the apple of Rongcheng's eye now. If he gets caught up in the infighting of those lunatics from the Black Armor Alliance, Old Man Chen will grind me to dust!"
He cursed under his breath, his figure blurred, and he vanished into the shadows of the teahouse in an instant, silently following behind.