Hearing Shang Jianyao's answer, Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong were amused, and even Bai Chen couldn't help but purse her lips.
This guy is just as enthusiastic when he's making fun of himself!
"Zhang Qubing is very good," Jiang Baimian joked, then turned and said, "I'll call over there first to see what the surveillance actually saw."
As soon as she finished speaking, she picked up the telephone on the table and dialed a number.
After connecting, she briefly talked about Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong's experiences last night and raised her own questions.
Then, she listened to the narration from the other end of the phone, occasionally saying "uh-huh," with a very focused expression.
"It's just as I thought." Finally, she hung up the phone and said to Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, "There was no one running around naked in the surveillance footage. Shang Jianyao did stay in front of Room 23 for a while, seeming to be talking to someone, but no one lives there at all.
"The 'Order Supervisory Department' opened the target room this morning, and it lacked any signs of human activity."
Shang Jianyao nodded lightly, leaned back slightly, raised his arms, and responded with emotion:
"Everything is a dream; why take it seriously?"
"Do you think you were affected by hallucinations?" Jiang Baimian pondered, "Your mental issues lean in other directions; theoretically, you shouldn't experience visual or auditory hallucinations. Moreover, Long Yuehong was next to you at the time; he's a normal person and even less likely to suddenly get sick."
Long Yuehong was deeply gratified by the team leader's evaluation:
"Yes, yes.
"But the 'Naturalism Church's' beliefs don't sound like they worship 'Shattered Mirror.'"
"The data mentioned that there isn't necessarily a strong connection between which Ruling God one worships and which abilities one awakens," Bai Chen pointed out the problem with Long Yuehong's previous statement.
Jiang Baimian said, "Uh-huh":
"We can't say that; a more accurate description is that there isn't an absolute connection. The data also said that among the believers of the Ruling Gods, the awakened abilities are highly likely to belong to the corresponding domain."
But no matter which description was used, Long Yuehong's judgment could not be established.
Jiang Baimian left her seat, walked back and forth a few steps, and said thoughtfully:
"Two possibilities: one, you encountered a hallucination, and there was no one running around naked at all; two, the surveillance cameras were interfered with, recording a hallucination."
With the experience in Tarnan, they were absolutely certain that the 'Shattered Mirror' domain's abilities could affect electronic products; they just didn't know what level the Awakened had to reach to achieve this.
"Maybe both," Shang Jianyao said, suddenly excited. "I need to prepare the Bagua Mirror, Soul-Trapping Pouch, Qianyang Gold Lamp, and Pure Yang Talisman Water!"
Which, translated into human language, means vanity mirror, burlap sack, flashlight, and bottled water floating with ashes.
Obviously, Shang Jianyao was deeply impressed by Zhou Yue's and Zhou Guan's performance back then and had mastered a series of terms after cramming old-world entertainment materials.
Jiang Baimian secretly curled her lips and said:
"No need.
"We just need to report our guesses. The company is so big; I refuse to believe there aren't a few powerful Awakened. It's better and safer to leave any problems to them to solve. Anyway, there are tall people to hold up the sky."
Shang Jianyao looked disappointed.
Jiang Baimian had already written the mission report for this trip. At this time, she specifically extracted the Tarnan section, combined with Shang Jianyao and the others' experiences, made a simple feedback on last night's events, and put forward the 'Old Task Force's' speculation.
As for the mental assessment, she was still prepared to postpone it until after the review was over.
...
In the evening, Long Yuehong, who did not eat in the 'Security Department' small canteen, returned to his home, rolled up his sleeves, and showed his parents, younger brother, and younger sister how to make hot pot.
The bone broth base had already been simmering for a long time, and the rest was relatively simple. The family quickly gathered around the dining table, enjoying the new experience.
Long Dayong picked up a piece of tender pork, dipped it in sesame oil with salt, millet pepper, minced garlic, and chopped green onion, and stuffed it into his mouth.
This was all the dipping sauce ingredients that could be obtained from the 495th floor's 'Material Supply Market'.
"Not bad..." Long Dayong mumbled, praising, "I only remembered it after I really ate it. Your grandfather mentioned something similar, but we couldn't get it before. After he died, no one knew how to make it. Alas, it's just too wasteful of energy quotas..."
"Eat yours and swallow before you talk!" Gu Hong felt that Long Dayong's behavior was teaching the children bad habits.
Fortunately, Long Zhigu and Long Aihong were focused on picking up the cooked meat slices and had no time to pay attention to their dad.
Long Yuehong didn't compete with them, watching with a smile while casually asking:
"Mom, I heard that the 'Order Supervisory Department' sent people to inspect rooms 20 to 30?"
Gu Hong immediately nodded:
"Yes, they came in the morning. Some people weren't at work at the time, so they saw it."
"Are they going to allocate those empty rooms?" Long Yuehong asked knowingly.
Gu Hong gave him a 'are you stupid?' look:
"Why would people from the 'Order Supervisory Department' be the ones to reassign rooms?
"I reckon someone did something bad using the empty rooms."
This was not too uncommon in 'Pangu Biology'.
For example, although the company prohibited gambling, the prize for playing cards was often that whoever lost would not have a seat and could only squat. The company certainly couldn't and didn't need to manage family entertainment during festivals, but that kind of real gambling still couldn't appear in the open and could only be done secretly in unallocated rooms or in someone's home.
"I see..." Long Yuehong didn't ask any more questions and threw himself into the great cause of eating hot pot.
...
Not long after the lights were turned off, Long Yuehong appeared outside Room 23 in Area C with a flashlight.
As expected, he waited for Shang Jianyao.
"You want to go in and do a search?" Long Yuehong was delighted that his judgment was correct and asked.
This was also his purpose.
Having such a room standing not too far from his home made him feel uneasy.
Although the company definitely had high-end forces to deal with this matter, and maybe they had already secretly solved everything, he had to personally confirm it before he could truly feel at ease.
Anyway, people from the 'Order Supervisory Department' had already gone in to search and there were no problems, nor did they warn the surrounding residents not to pry into the situation out of curiosity.
This made Long Yuehong feel that there wouldn't be any hidden dangers.
Of course, he didn't say this out loud, afraid that good things wouldn't come true but bad things would.
Shang Jianyao sized Long Yuehong up and down and showed a sunny smile:
"You really need to get a mental assessment."
"Ah?" Long Yuehong was first stunned and then realized:
If it were him in the past, he would definitely pretend that nothing had happened, take it one day at a time, and not worry about it since there were tall people to hold up the sky. He wouldn't be as active and proactive as he was now.
While his expression changed slightly, Shang Jianyao walked to Room 23, held the doorknob in one hand, took out his electronic card in the other, inserted it into the door seam, and deftly opened the lock.
His left palm gently twisted the handle, preparing to push the door inward.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao's movement stopped.
At the window next to the door, the curtains were still tightly closed, without a single gap.
Shang Jianyao seemed to have turned into a statue, stiffening there for several seconds.
"What's wrong?" Long Yuehong asked warily.
Finally, Shang Jianyao retracted his hand and electronic card, letting the door lock again.
In the flashlight's glow, his face was shaded and uncertain.
"What's wrong?" Long Yuehong took a step back and asked again.
Shang Jianyao turned his gaze to him:
"The moment I opened the door, I felt like my consciousness would leave my body.
"It's like there's a vortex inside."
Long Yuehong's pupils dilated slightly as he glanced at Room 23:
"How did you find out?"
Shang Jianyao pointed to his head and smiled:
"Thanks to Mr. Dimarco."
The keen sense brought by that blue-green night-luminescent pearl? A keen sense for similar things? Long Yuehong said with some understanding:
"Didn't those people from the 'Order Supervisory Department' have anything happen to them during the day?"
Shang Jianyao smiled:
"Maybe it's just targeting us."
Long Yuehong shivered, quite frightened.
"It might also be that there are anomalies only after the lights are turned off." Shang Jianyao raised the flashlight, shining it on his face. "It's also possible that those people already have problems, but they just haven't been discovered yet..."
His voice became ethereal and slow.
"Hiss..." Long Yuehong finally couldn't help but gasp, "Then what do we do now?"
Shang Jianyao answered matter-of-factly:
"Go back to sleep!"
With that, he headed towards Area B.
Long Yuehong thought about it and felt that this was the best option at the moment.
He completely gave up the idea of searching the room.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly heard Shang Jianyao say:
"Don't open the door yourself later, wake up your parents."
Afraid that I would encounter a similar problem? Long Yuehong quickly nodded:
"Okay."
Shang Jianyao returned to silence, holding the flashlight, slowly wandering back to Room 196 in Area B.
He took out the brass key, inserted it into the keyhole, and twisted it gently.
When pushing the door, Shang Jianyao's movements were so slow that it felt exaggerated, as if he was performing a mime alone there.
This slowness only lasted for two seconds before returning to normal. Shang Jianyao easily opened the door and entered his home.
Nothing happened.
...
The next morning, Room 14 on the 647th floor.
Jiang Baimian couldn't help but frown after hearing Shang Jianyao talk about his feelings yesterday:
"That room seems to really have problems..."
"Suggest bombardment," Shang Jianyao gave a solution.
Jiang Baimian knew that he was alluding to 'execution by cannon' and smiled:
"Let's not worry about this matter and let the higher-ups handle it.
"I will remind them. Uh, I'll say that when you passed by last night, you heard slight movements in that room again, and suggest closely monitoring all 'Order Supervisory Department' employees who have entered that room."
She didn't want to expose Dimarco's residual aura.
"Okay." Long Yuehong felt that this was the best solution—both reminding the company's higher-ups and not requiring him and the others to take risks.
Jiang Baimian then smiled:
"Let's not talk about this matter. Our review is over, and the rewards have been issued."
ps: Asking for monthly tickets during the double period~