Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1358: The Power of High Technology

Lin Sanjiu’s case clearly received significant attention. Among the many posthuman cases handled by the Resource Management Bureau, she alone consumed most of the bureau’s manpower and resources. This conclusion became even more apparent to He Huan as he followed Director Li through most of the bureau.

The underground level resembled a vast parking lot, painted silver-white walls with rows of fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. In the solemn, cold, and inorganic lighting, the most conspicuous feature was the huge wall at the end of the hall—a giant screen occupied the entire wall, displaying a panoramic map; scattered dots flickered on the screen, no more than twenty.

Long tables stretched out, one after another, forming numerous rows that extended straight to the end of the wall, filling the entire hall. The staff in white shirts all faced their computers with their backs to the aisle, seemingly oblivious to the people passing behind them. The clacking of keyboards, ringing of telephones, and murmurs of conversation blended together, making the underground hall buzz.

Posthumans were assigned to different supervision groups, and the particular group responsible for supervising Lin Sanjiu’s case occupied a third of the tables.

“If you want to become a core member in the future, you need to understand all of this,” Director Li patiently explained to He Huan, leaving his bodyguards a few steps away and strolling between the long tables, smiling as he spoke. “We supervise the frontline staff responsible for risk control here, and of course, we also communicate and cooperate with other bureaus. No matter what happens, it will be within our control.”

He Huan listened attentively and asked, “What’s that beeping sound?” It didn’t sound like an alarm, not urgent, but persistent, constantly emanating from various parts of the hall, like a group of frantic birds.

“If someone’s behavior triggers a Level 1 alert in the area, it will be recorded in our watch list,” Director Li explained vaguely, dismissively waving his hand. “Level 1 alerts are quite common, mostly unintentional or accidental. After all, most of the people are still good.”

He Huan didn’t inquire further; it would have been pointless even if he had. As he walked past a woman, he heard her giving a verbal report over the phone, “Yes, the movements of No. 34 still conform to the usual pattern… We haven’t found contact with others beyond that, so there’s no need for now.”

Based on He Huan’s limited ‘work’ experience, if a posthuman acted alone, even if they robbed a bank, they would still be under remote surveillance and wouldn’t trigger any special measures. However, if a posthuman attempted to assemble a group, even just to sit down to read the newspaper, their importance and attention would skyrocket.

“You know.” Director Li suddenly turned his head and praised him, “I’ve seen many people like you before. Occasionally, there are a few who are willing to cooperate, but there are not many like you who are willing to fully reintegrate into normal society and serve diligently.”

In fact, He Huan was well aware of this even without him saying it. People might refrain from doing something out of fear or temptation or do it perfunctorily. Still, they would never devote their total effort to achieving the maximum effect—only inner drive could provide such power. Finding inner drive in this world was very difficult for posthumans.

Therefore, he, who was good at disguising himself, became one of the few useful individuals.

“Thank you,” He Huan said softly. “I… also appreciate this opportunity.”

Director Li was very satisfied, and the group reached the end of the hall. After verifying He Huan’s iris and voice, he led Him into the elevator, continuing deeper underground.

“When you participate in the training later, you’ll see. Compared internationally, our talents, resources, and technological level are second to none.” He sighed, “It hasn’t been easy for us to reach this point… Soon, you will see the fruits of our cutting-edge research.”

The elevator sank deeper underground, finally coming to a stop. As soon as they stepped out, a series of checks followed: identity, biological, item check… After passing through one steel door after another, He Huan was finally led to a room door by the group. A staff member in a white coat opened the door for him.

He thought he would see some high-tech weapons or something similar, and scenes from many sci-fi movies flashed through his mind; however, as soon as the door opened, the first thing that caught his eye was a teenage girl. The girl’s eyes were clear and bright, black and white, and with just one glance, one could keenly feel the apprehension and fear emanating from her.

Beside her was a large instrument cabin resembling the ones used for full-body hospital X-rays. He Huan was hesitant to believe this was the cutting-edge result because it looked like it was made of mismatched pieces of plasticine; many parts clearly came from different sources, stitched together like Frankenstein’s creation.

“I won’t go in,” Director Li said, smiling as he stood at the door, pointing to the one-way glass on the room’s wall. “I’ll be watching from behind there. You two should cooperate actively.”

Before He Huan could say anything, several fully armed men rushed into the room, startling the girl, who took a few steps back into the corner. The next person to enter was a middle-aged man wearing rimless glasses. The man didn’t even look at He Huan when speaking to him. “I’ll familiarize you with Guardian 2 first, and then you’ll operate as instructed after she enters.”

‘She’ undoubtedly referred to the little girl. He Huan still didn’t understand why the girl was here, and now he was unsure of his purpose. Although he expressed his willingness to cooperate, it was still his decision.

The middle-aged man led him closer to Guardian 2 and explained, “After years of research on Special Items, we’ve finally made a crucial breakthrough… This is our Guardian 2. It’s just a platform capable of carrying and operating the core mechanisms of Special Items that we’ve replicated.”

He Huan took half a second to react, feeling a chill. “Are you saying you’ve replicated Special Items? They can be used through this machine?”

Wouldn’t that bypass the limitations of regression?

“No, it’s just the core mechanisms of Special Item activation, and currently, we can’t replicate all of them. Being able to partially replicate is already a remarkable achievement,” the middle-aged man said regretfully. “Moreover, the number of core mechanisms that can be cracked is still too few, not even one in ten thousand. The vast majority of items have become useless, turning into waste.”

Ultimately, they were still ordinary people, not the Munitions Factory, so He Huan relaxed slightly.

He approached Guardian 2 and asked, “But how did you replicate Special Items? Through electronic chips? Biotechnology? Or quantum applications?”

“That involves too much,” the middle-aged man didn’t give a detailed answer, gesturing towards the girl in the corner. “Huang Que? Come here, get in.”

Huang Que sauntered over, silently looking at Guardian 2. It was obvious where she was supposed to climb in, right inside the arched body of Guardian 2. When He Huan looked at her, for some reason, he was reminded of a perhaps inappropriate analogy—this expression on her face resembled the near-blank look seen on child brides in some backward regions, standing next to men several decades older than themselves.

If Wan Qingge had seen this, he would probably have been angry for this child.

Just as He Huan had this thought, he suddenly guessed why she was here.

After the middle-aged man’s instructions, he didn’t spare another glance at the girl. He pointed to a screen outside Guardian 2 and said to He Huan, “I’ve already inputted the time and location. We can see the target from her memories.”

This seemed similar to Wan Qingge’s Mirror function. He walked silently to the screen and asked, “Why do you need me to operate?”

“Observing memories doesn’t require you, but activating another mechanism in the next step is when we need you. This mechanism has a function we can’t bypass, so it has to be done by people like you,” the middle-aged man explained impatiently.

‘People like you,’ He Huan repeated those words. Would he still be considered a ‘people of those kinds’ after completely regressing, climbing, and gaining respect?

“Ah, yes.” With a delighted exclamation from the middle-aged man, his gaze focused on the screen.

The corridor that appeared seemed to belong to a hospital. The lower half of the walls were painted green, and people in nurse uniforms hurried back and forth; Huang Que’s voice suddenly emanated from the speakers under the screen, intermittent and misty like a fog: “Homework… So many patients… There’s a new cake shop near my house.”

“This is activated along with memories, the thought process at the time of the scene,” the middle-aged man praised this function rather than explaining it to He Huan. “Each time we access a memory, we may change it, moving it further away from reality. So human memory is the most unreliable.”

Then why bother looking at her memories?

Just as He Huan was about to ask, the perspective in the corridor suddenly shifted, focusing on a figure in a white coat. After following that figure a few steps, the perspective sped up and suddenly called, “Teacher Wan!”

The tall young man in front turned around. Though his face was still covered with a mask, He Huan recognized those eyes that belonged to Wan Qingge.

As soon as he saw the person, Wan Qingge’s eyes immediately softened, and he walked a few steps towards Huang Que—just at that moment, the middle-aged man suddenly pressed pause, freezing Huang Que the moment she approached Wan Qingge.

Inside Guardian 2, Huang Que lay silently, motionless, as if unconscious.

“We humans still have some animal instincts.” The middle-aged man gestured for He Huan to start operating the device while explaining, “Humans can recognize pheromones emitted by others from their smell… especially for those who are more important to us, we can distinguish them more clearly. This biological recognition is not affected by fluctuating memories.”

He Huan understood a bit now.

“You want to track him through his pheromones?”

“After roughly determining the range, tracking by pheromones is like following a firelight in the dark. Speaking of which, people like you also inspire these technological means.” The middle-aged man smiled, urging, “Hurry, press here.”