vncnus Chapter 19 This is called professionalism
Chapter 19 This is called professionalism
The smell of gunpowder that filled the meeting room dissipated slightly.
Despite claiming to be a research department, the Second Institute is currently the only department in the world that is associated with super-science, cutting-edge technology, and even supernatural phenomena. Therefore, the Second Institute naturally needs to take responsibility for such surreal events that have occurred in the world.
"We've already reached a conclusion on this matter, Wenbin, what's your take?" said Wang Dehai, director of the Theoretical Research Office.
All eyes turned to Li Wenbin, the deputy director in charge of theoretical and intelligence analysis.
Li Wenbin adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and spread out a thick document in front of him. "Director, everyone, I'd like to report our conclusions to you."
He glanced around, his tone becoming more relaxed, yet still conveying an undeniable certainty. "Regarding the recent series of unusual disappearances in Southeast Asian countries and even on a wider scale, our theoretical analysis team has conducted a preliminary assessment, combining existing intelligence, historical cases, and our understanding of the technologies behind ancient civilizations."
"First of all, we can make one thing clear: this is not a global, indiscriminate spiritual resurgence or some kind of mysterious descent. The speculations on the internet are completely illogical and are all conjecture."
He got straight to the point, directly denying the most popular speculation on the internet.
"There are three reasons. First, the targets were extremely selective. Judging from the identities and backgrounds of the missing persons that have been identified so far, there is a progressive relationship between them, from the core members of the fraud park at the beginning, to the masterminds and protectors who were later implicated, and finally to General Tyran who disappeared in the live broadcast. All the targets point precisely to a specific chain of interests, which involves a criminal network of fraud, human trafficking, organ trading, etc. Clearly, this was a targeted elimination with a clear purpose, rather than a random, unconscious natural phenomenon or supernatural outbreak."
He pulled up several charts and projected them onto a screen in the corner of the conference room.
"Secondly, in terms of behavioral patterns, it fits the characteristics of a crime of passion. The incident began with the purge of lower-level enforcers, gradually tracing upwards, and ultimately pointing to the protectors and beneficiaries at the highest level. The entire operation completely disregarded consequences and impacts, especially the final action broadcast live globally. This behavior was entirely an expression of some kind of emotion, which suggests that the perpetrators were probably not very old, had a considerable moral bottom line, and believed that everything they did was just. How to put it, there was a kind of adolescent sense of satisfaction."
At this point, he smiled and continued, "Third, and most importantly, the manifestations of all these events—whether it's the black fog enveloping the park, the interruption of the live stream's crying of the baby, or the disappearance of the target—while exceeding the scope of conventional scientific explanation, their effects are not entirely incomprehensible. In the archives of relics we have excavated and recorded, there are records of similar effects such as spatial isolation, energy field shielding, and even consciousness interference. Although extremely rare and difficult to control, they do exist."
He flipped through the documents and pointed to one of the pages.
"Here, I want to emphasize the Fourteenth Relic. Because when the first incident occurred, the fraud park was not far from the Fourteenth Relic, and after the incident, the main structure of the Fourteenth Relic disappeared. From this, we can boldly speculate that the two events are highly related."
"Therefore, our conclusion is that this series of events is most likely an act of revenge and collateral damage carried out by one or more actors who obtained the relics in the Fourteenth Relic through some means."
A silence fell over the meeting room. After a while, Zhang Yang nodded. "Okay, Dehai, report the conclusions immediately."
"Okay!" Wang Dehai nodded, got up and left the conference room.
"What do we know about Site No. 14, Old Zheng?!"
Zheng Guodong shook his head. "We don't know anything."
He spread his hands, looking helpless. "The fourteenth site belongs to the Third Civilization, which is more than 300 million years old. Before the discovery of the fourteenth site, there was only one other site of the Third Civilization in the world, located in Africa. It was emptied out by the West fifty years ago. Moreover, there is very little information about the city at the fourteenth site. Therefore, we know nothing about this civilization, and the same goes for this site."
Zhang Yang raised an eyebrow. "Zhou Min, do you have any leads regarding this fourteenth site?"
Zhou Min excels in artifact restoration and historical analysis of relics. She also has a strong background in the upper echelons of the Eastern Kingdom, communicates extensively with other departments, and is among the most well-informed.
"There are too few clues about the fourteenth site. After all, the technological level of the South China Sea countries is just so-so. With a site right there, they can't even get in. They can only scavenge on the outside. For decades, they haven't made any progress. On the other hand, some relics from the eighth site have been leaked out. As for the effect, everyone knows. However, a few days ago, news came from Europe that a relic of the Third Civilization hidden in Notre Dame set Notre Dame on fire. At that time, it seemed that there was something similar to black mist."
"That makes a lot of things clear." Zhang Yang nodded, a look of regret on his face. "It's a pity there are so few relics of the Third and Fourth Civilizations. If only there were more..."
"Director, it's no use. It's a civilization from 300 million years ago. Even though the relics that have survived are the most important places in the civilization, even so, the information we have is not enough to uncover their true face. The result of the blind men touching the elephant is often that we are completely wrong."
"Alright, that concludes the discussion on the Third Civilization. Next, we'll move on to the location determination of the ruins of the Mountain and Sea Civilization. Have you got any results regarding that location?"
"The location has been determined, but..." Sun Shouren said with a wry smile, "As you know, too much time has passed, tens of millions of years have gone by, and the ruins have long been buried deep. Even if the location is determined, it is not an easy task to dig it up. Moreover, there is no oil in that place."
"We'll still dig for oil even if there isn't any! The biological research institute is making rapid progress and urgently needs new samples. You guys have taken advantage of their resources and now you don't want to take responsibility?" Zhang Yang said, banging on the table.
"That's not what I meant," Sun Shouren quickly said. "It's just that this project is quite large, and if we make too much noise, it might attract attention. After all, matters concerning historical sites are always highly sensitive..."
"That's not your concern. Our job is simply to determine the location and provide guidance for the excavation. As for the issues you raised, the higher-ups will handle that," Zhang Yang said. "Just compile a report and submit it."
"Okay!" Sun Shouren nodded and said nothing more.
"We need to speed up the deciphering of the text and mapping of the Shan Hai civilization. Also, Lao Zheng, tell your guys to stop treating the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* like a treasure. Don't think it's some kind of wish-fulfillment novel. Don't just pick up a copy and claim it's from ancient times. What did the ancients know about the Shan Hai civilization? Besides, this thing has been revised countless times since it was written. We can't use it as a real map. The Shan Hai civilization dates back to a time when the whole world might have been on one continent. Get them to speed up the text deciphering work. We need the most original data!"
"Understood!" Zheng Guodong nodded with a wry smile.