Chapter 3: A preliminary exploration of the fog

I. The starting point of the illegal evidence collection chain

The lights in the police station were dim, like the swaying afterglow of an old kerosene lamp, casting mottled shadows on the wall. The door of the chief's office was half-open, and Niu Aihua stood outside the door, her fingers tightly grasping Zhou Ming's autopsy report, her nails almost embedded in the paper. She held her breath, and heard the chief's low roar in her ears, hoarse and angry, piercing through the crack of the door into her eardrum: "Sun Umbrella has the support of a big shot, and seven dead are not enough to overturn the table. Don't investigate anymore! I don't want to answer the call from the top!"

The corners of her mouth twitched, she sneered, turned around and walked back to her desk, her boots stomping on the floor, like beating drums to declare war. The chief's words echoed in her mind, who is the big shot behind Sun Umbrella? She remembered that three years ago, at a fundraising event for the police station, the public relations manager of Sun Umbrella handed over a check for one million with a smile on his face, and the chief patted the other person on the shoulder and smiled like an old friend. She gritted her teeth and whispered to herself, "Support? That depends on how strong their backs are."

Jeffers was leaning back in his chair, holding the gold-stamped black card in the evidence bag in his hand. When he saw her come back, he looked up and asked, "Are you scolded again?" His tone was a little teasing, but there was a trace of worry in his eyes, and his fingers tapped the table unconsciously, as if to hide his uneasiness.

"He said this is a dead end." Niu Aihua grabbed her coat and threw it over her shoulders, her movements were neat and tidy, "But I smell blood. Tonight, go to the freight terminal." Her voice was cold and hard, like an undercurrent under the ice, revealing unquestionable determination.

Jeffers frowned, put down the black card, and leaned over: "How do we get there? The dock is heavily guarded at night, and we don't even have a search warrant."

"Start with logistics." She took out the express delivery slip she found in Zhou Ming's trash can from her pocket, pointed to the "SU-C Logistics" logo on it, and there were dried coffee stains on the edge of the paper, like an ominous mark, "These boxes won't run away on their own. The parasol car appeared on the bridge, and Zhou Ming received 100,000 yuan 42 days before his death. This is not a coincidence."

Jeffers took the express delivery slip, squinted at it, and whispered: "S.U.C Logistics? This company is not simple. I heard that it has a transportation contract with the city government and can even bypass the port security check." He paused and looked up at her, "Are you sure you want to do this? The director..."

"He has no control over it." Niu Aihua interrupted him, her eyes like knives, "Zhou Ming mentioned the 'seventh floor' before he died, and my brother also mentioned the 'seventh floor'. This is not a dead end, but a bloody road." She took a deep breath, the air was mixed with the musty smell of the police station and the bitterness of coffee residue, "Tonight, I want answers."

Jeffers sighed and grabbed his coat: "Okay, I can't stop your stubborn temper. But be careful, the guys at the dock are not vegetarians."

2. Tracking logistics vehicles

The night is deep, and the Brooklyn freight terminal is brightly lit, like an isolated island on the sea, blurred by the fog. Dozens of trucks lined up to load and unload goods, and the roar of the engines mixed with the shouts of dock workers echoed in the night sky. Niu Aihua and Jeffers squatted behind the container, the cold metal surface seeped into their palms, and the air was filled with the smell of diesel and pungent disinfectant, like the echo of a hospital operating room. Their target was a refrigerated truck marked "SU-C Logistics". A label disguised as a seafood transport box hung on the rear of the truck, which read "fresh sea crabs", but the smell of disinfectant was incompatible with the fishy smell of seafood, like a clumsy lie.

"This smell is wrong." Niu Aihua whispered, her voice almost swallowed by the wind. She took out her mobile phone and took a picture of the license plate number and the bill number. Her fingers trembled slightly because of the cold, and the light of the screen reflected a cold outline on her face. She stared at the truck, and the blurry picture of Zhou Ming before he fell into the water appeared in her mind: a bridge late at night, a car like this parked next to the guardrail, the door half open, and a figure swaying in the mist.

Jeffers flipped through the tablet in his hand and called up the logistics records. The blue light of the screen illuminated his frowning brows: "This batch of goods was sent from the Sun Umbrella headquarters to the port, marked as 'experimental equipment', and the delivery time is ten o'clock tonight." He paused and whispered, "Experimental equipment? This thing smells like chemicals, not a good thing."

"Experimental equipment?" Niu Aihua sneered, with a slight smile on her lips, "It's a good pretender, but it's a pity that the smell is exposed." She glanced at her watch. It was nine forty-five, and there was only a quarter of an hour left before the delivery time. She whispered: "Let's go in and take a look while the security guards are changing shifts."

In the fog, the figures of the dock workers were blurred, and the security guards were napping in the booth. The gap between shifts was their only chance. The two of them crouched down and approached the refrigerated truck in the shadow of the container, their footsteps as light as stepping on cotton. Jeffers used a lockpick to pry open the rear door of the carriage. The sound of metal friction was piercing in the night. The two held their breath until the door was opened. Cold air hit them, mixed with a stronger smell of disinfectant.

In the carriage, there were more than a dozen transparent cabins neatly stacked, similar in shape to medical cabins, but covered with electrodes and catheters inside, like a spider web. There was a label next to each cabin: "C Zone-777", and a vague "SU" mark was printed in the corner, like some kind of secret brand. Niu Aihua squatted down and opened a cabin. There was a light blue liquid left inside, emitting a bitter almond smell, so pungent that she frowned. She whispered, "This is not a device, it's a killing tool." Lao Chen's words flashed through her mind: "Putting a tube in the head is like squeezing juice."

Jeffers took a photo of the cabin with his mobile phone. The flash flashed in the narrow compartment. He cursed in a low voice: "This thing looks like something from a science fiction movie. It's too weird." Suddenly, the biometric system on the bulkhead lit up red, and a piercing alarm tore through the silence: "Unauthorized access, please evacuate!" The voice was mechanical and cold, like the whisper of the god of death.

3. Surveillance system confrontation

The moment the alarm sounded, the surveillance camera in the warehouse squeaked and turned, and the infrared lens accurately locked onto their location, scanning the prey like a pair of indifferent eyes. Niu Aihua roared: "Quick!" Jeffers quickly took out a portable signal jammer, aimed at the camera and pressed the button. The screen instantly went black and the alarm was briefly interrupted. He panted and said, "In five minutes at most, they will restart the system. This broken thing can only delay, it can't be completely shut down."

Niu Aihua hurried to check the cabin. Under the light, she found a memory card slot hidden at the bottom of the cabin. The edges were worn, as if it was frequently used. She pried it open with her fingernails and pulled out a micro memory card with the words "S.U.C" engraved on the card. She stuffed it into her pocket and whispered, "Enough, let's go!" Her mind flashed with her brother's warning before he disappeared: "Don't touch their things, it's too dangerous." But she had no way out.

As soon as the two got out of the car, footsteps came from deep in the warehouse, hurried and messy. Several security guards rushed in, holding electric batons and riot shields, and the "S.U.C" logo on their uniforms flashed coldly under the light. The leading security guard was a sturdy man with a face full of flesh. He shouted, "Stop! Are you trespassing on private property? Are you looking for death?" His voice was threatening, as if he was going to eat them alive.

Niu Aihua dodged the electric baton with a sideways movement, and moved as fast as a shadow. She hit the opponent's wrist with the electric baton with her backhand. There was a flash of lightning, and the security guard groaned and the weapon fell to the ground. She growled: "Trespassing? What you are hiding is shameful!" Jeffers grabbed the iron box next to him and smashed it hard at another security guard. The sound of iron sheet hitting echoed in the car. He growled: "Run!"

The two rushed to the exit. Gunshots were heard behind them. Bullets scraped the wall, sparks flew, and hit the container with a crisp metal collision sound. Niu Aihua looked back and saw the burly security guard took out a pistol and sneered: "Run? Can you run away?" Jeffers pushed open the garage door, and a forklift drove towards them. The driver jumped out of the car in panic. Niu Aihua grabbed the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator. The forklift roared and knocked over several cargo boxes. Wood chips and metal fragments flew, temporarily blocking the pursuers' sight.

IV. Escape

The forklift rushed out of the warehouse, as fast as a wild horse, smashed through the iron fence, made a harsh metal twisting sound, and rushed to the edge of the dock. Niu Aihua jumped out of the car and pulled Jeffers over the guardrail. Her knees were numb when her feet landed on the ground. The two fell on the deck of an abandoned fishing boat. The wooden boards creaked due to disrepair. In the distance, sirens sounded one after another, and searchlights swept across the water. The red and blue lights were reflected in the waves, like a weird game of chase.

"That photo of Lao Chen is real." Jeffers panted and pointed at the camera in his hand. The blurry image of the cabin was displayed on the screen. "It's more terrifying than the real thing. What are these guys doing?" His voice was trembling, and his fingers clenched unconsciously, as if he was suppressing his fear.

Niu Aihua took out the memory card, her eyes burning, and whispered: "They use people as consumables." Lao Chen's description emerged in her mind: volunteers tied to the cabin, their heads full of tubes, screaming and losing consciousness. She gritted her teeth and whispered, "Seventh floor, Area C, Zhou Ming, brother... all connected."

The two rowed away from the dock, the oars cutting through the water, splashing cold water, and the fog was thick like a net covering them. She paddled hard and whispered, "We can't let them destroy the evidence." The boat slid into a pile of abandoned pontoons, surrounded by rusty iron frames, like a cemetery on the sea. She didn't stop until the sound of the police car engine faded away, and she leaned against the side of the boat, panting. The blood on her palms mixed with sweat, sticking to her skin, she whispered, "Next time, I want evidence."

Jeffers rubbed his shoulder and whispered, "You're crazy, but I won't stop you. It's just... this thing is deeper than we thought."

V. Evidence and determination

Back to the hiding place-an abandoned warehouse, the corners are full of dilapidated wooden boxes, and the air is filled with dampness and mold. Niu Aihua opened the memory card and inserted it into Jeffers' tablet. Zhou Ming's experimental record popped up on the screen: seven days of continuous sleep, brain waves were collected in real time, and the screen showed the waveform of heart rate, brain waves and dream fragments. The reward was settled according to the "dream quality". On the last day, the heart stopped beating and the waveform returned to zero. At the end of the file, it was written: "S.U.C experimental group, the sacrifice rate was 77%, in line with expectations." The data was cold, like a death sentence.

Jeffers stared at the screen and whispered, "Seven people, seven days, seven floors. They are squeezing dreams, Zhou Ming is one of them." His voice was filled with shock, and his fingers trembled unconsciously, "This is not an experiment, it's a slaughterhouse."

"My brother is in there too." Niu Aihua clenched her fists, her knuckles turned white, and her nails dug into her palms, oozing blood. "Ten years ago, he said that 'the seventh floor will destroy people'. He said they were studying 'dreams', but I thought it was nonsense." She paused, her voice so low that it seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of her throat, "I will destroy them." Her brother's appearance emerged in her mind: he was sitting on the sofa in the apartment, the red dot on his wrist was as bright as blood, and he whispered, "Aihua, don't worry about me, just live." But she didn't listen, and it was too late to regret it now.

Outside the window, the lights of the dock seeped in through the fog, and the red lights of the drone group could be vaguely seen flashing, like a circle of tightening nets. She closed the curtains, her hand unconsciously pressed the electric baton, and whispered, "Next time, I want evidence." She took a deep breath, the musty smell in the air was pungent, and she whispered, "Sun umbrella, seventh floor, here I come."

Jeffers looked at her and sighed, "You look like you want to kill me. But this time, I will follow you to the end."