Chapter 111: A Brick?

Agent Luo Yajun had just finished his routine inspection and was heading back to his office on the airship.

Since the phantom incident, the number of physical and psychological tests he had to take has increased. Besides the regular inspections on the aircraft, Professor Miyazaki kept calling him for various ability tests. Lately, Miyazaki had even created a new file for him with detailed test data and analysis.

Today wasn't an ability test, though. It was just a bunch of boring psychological questions. As soon as he walked into his room, Luo Yajun pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and settled into his recliner.

"Smoking on an airplane isn't the best idea," a gruff voice said.

Luo Yajun jumped and nearly fell out of his chair. He turned to see Batman standing behind him, as if he had appeared out of nowhere. Even though he knew Batman was good at sneaking up on people, seeing him on the airship was a shock.

"What are you doing here?" Luo Yajun asked, surprised.

He knew Batman was elusive, but this was one of the main airships owned by Secret Service Nine, and it was supposed to be the safest place in the world. The security system was supposed to be top-notch.

Batman had slipped in without triggering any alarms or making any noise. How did he get in?

Luo Yajun quickly composed himself. He sank back into the recliner and took another drag from his cigarette.

"Dr. Ji just said they upgraded the aircraft's security system," Luo Yajun said with a smirk. "He's confident no one could get in this time. I was curious to see how you'd manage it."

"By the way, how did you get in? Which vent did you use? Or…"

He waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it; I don't really want to know."

"Are you not worried that I'll call someone to arrest you?" Luo Yajun asked. "I'm still an agent of Secret Service Nine, and here you are, dressed as a bat, sneaking into our headquarters. Why wouldn't I have you arrested?"

Batman remained serious. "Secret Service Nine lost something last night. Evidence A086. Do you know anything about it?"

Luo Yajun joked, "Why don't you use your fancy bat computer to check our server? It's just one floor down, two turns left in the B3 area. Help yourself."

He took another drag from his cigarette and glanced at Batman's serious face.

Then he stopped smiling. "Wait, you haven't been there already, have you?"

"The server only records where Evidence A086 was first found and some test data," Batman said. "But there's no record of its specific use or why it was stolen."

Luo Yajun looked at his watch and then back at Batman in disbelief. "The airplane just took off thirty minutes ago. You mean to tell me you snuck onto the ship and hacked into our servers in that short amount of time?"

Luo Yajun's expression was one of astonishment. "So, you managed to sneak in and hack our servers in less than thirty minutes?"

Chu Cheng, who had just boarded, was equally surprised. "Wait, so the airplane just took off thirty minutes ago? Sorry, I just got here and didn't know."

As for hacking into the server, either Detective Luo overestimated their security or underestimated Batman's skills.

Half an hour? No way. It took just one minute for the expert to crack the firewall.

If you asked Chu Cheng how Batman did it, he wouldn't be able to explain. To him, it simply presses a few keys, plugs in the data cable, and suddenly, the server is hacked. Then, unplug it. Seemed simple enough.

"Exhibit a086," Batman repeated. "What's it for? Why would anyone want it?"

Luo Yajun snapped out of his confusion and went back to his usual "Well, he is Batman" look.

"You're asking the wrong guy if you want to know, Batman. I don't know," he said, taking a breath. "Actually, no one really knows.

The info you downloaded from the server? That's all there is.

Exhibit A086 looks like a plain old brick. Maybe it's made of something special, but it just looks like a square brick.

It wasn't a secret in the Secret Service. Lots of agents had seen it in the warehouse. It was tagged as possible evidence of infection right after being dug up and handed over to the Secret Service. Professor Miyazaki studied it for a while but found it wasn't a dangerous source of infection.

It falls under the third category of physical evidence."

"Category III," Batman repeated.

"Yeah. The Secret Service tagged it because it had some similarities to infection sources, but it doesn't actually have the ability to infect or pose any danger. It's like a lot of things throughout history that are just ordinary items with a hint of danger. They end up in storage and get forgotten."

"Clearly, someone cares about this evidence," Batman said.

"Yeah, but nobody knows why," Luo Yajun replied. "To me, it's just a weird-looking brick. I can't imagine it's anything special."

Luo Yajun thought for a moment and added, "It's something Leng Ji brought back during his last mission."

"Leng Ji?" Chu Cheng asked, unfamiliar with the name.

"Ah, so there's something you don't know," Luo Yajun said with a grin, blowing out a smoke ring. "Before the mass infection, back when the Secret Service Nine was still the Police Department, Leng Ji was the top agent—a real legend. Everyone looked up to him.

Until one day, he betrayed us. "

"Betrayed?"

"Yeah, no one knows why," Luo Yajun shrugged. "I heard it happened during an excavation mission. Leng Ji killed all his teammates, and they were never seen again.

After that, the Police Department became Secret Service Nine. Leng Ji's still missing, and he's the number one most wanted. This brick, labeled exhibit a086, was from another mission before he defected.

It's been sitting in storage for so long that nobody knows what it's for. But it's strange that some infected people want it."

Luo Yajun suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, by the way, we found out the invaders this time are part of a group called 'Dead Soldiers.' We don't know much yet, but we got some clues from the plane that brought the infected to the airship.

The plane was an old 'Water Snake' jet from about ten years ago, funded by a company called 'Sloan Technology.'

We sent agents to investigate Sloan Technology, but so far, they've found nothing."

Sloan Technology.

Chu Cheng made a mental note of the name.

"Sometimes, a detective has to trust his gut. And mine's telling me there's something off about this company."

As Luo Yajun spoke, he finished his cigarette and lit another one.

"Of course, I'm not giving you this info for free, Batman. My condition is, you have to take me with you."

He didn't get to finish his sentence.

By the time he lit his cigarette, Batman was already gone.

Luo Yajun was left standing there alone.