Chapter 572 - Chapter 572: Chapter 572: Investigation Merge

Chapter 572: Chapter 572: Investigation Merge

Xia Tianhuo initially planned to invite Old Xia and Xiang Kun to dine with Zhao Feng and Wang De’an today, using the mealtime for some probing and having Old Xia secretly analyze things. The other two had also expressed their desire to interview Xiang Kun, Yang Lao San, and Tang Baona about their experiences on the flight the previous day. With the addition of Old Xia, they would undoubtedly not mind.

However, when he had already called and arranged with Old Xia to have lunch with Xiang Kun in town at noon, Zhao Feng called in the morning to say he had new assignment to cover at Jianzhou Airport, and thus could not make it for lunch.

This reason was quite acceptable. Naturally, the biggest news of the day was the previous airplane crisis—not only the safe emergency landing of the plane, but also the little girl who appeared on the airplane’s wing, all added to the heated discussion and coverage of this news.

So, whether it was interviewing passengers Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen’er or going to Jianzhou Airport for coverage, both choices are reasonable for a reporter.

But the issue was that Xia Tianhuo had some determination in his heart that Old Zhao and Old Wang were not simple journalists or media workers. Even if they used to be policemen, which was true, that does not mean their identities and goals now are truthful.

Last night, the pair plainly exhibited an interest in what he said as well as in Xiang Kun, Yang Lao San, and Nana. Today, however, they suddenly changed their plans and stood him up. There must be some kind of special circumstance.

After some thought, Xia Tianhuo called the hotel where Zhao and Wang were staying and learned that they were no longer in their rooms, so he decided to drive to Jianzhou Airport too.

He wasn’t certain whether the two would really go to Jianzhou Airport, and even if they did, he wasn’t sure whether he could find them. But he wanted to try his luck and do a little reconnaissance.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Jianzhou Airport and looked around, he found Zhao Feng and Wang De’an in the office area of the airport.

Not only did he catch sight of them, but he also spotted two other familiar faces.

…

When Zhao Feng and Wang De’an received their assignment last night, they learned they would meet an investigative squad coming from Wushu Mountain today. The specific assignment would be arranged by the leader of the investigative squad, and they were responsible for cooperating. They knew nothing about the investigative squad.

Today, following the instructions, they took a Toyota Hiace outside the hotel. When they clearly saw the people inside, they were shocked to discover that Mijoe and Zhou Rui’s squad was the investigative squad they were supposed to cooperate with.

Back when they were searching for “clues given by the dreamland eight-armed monster” at Zi Huan Mountain, they had encountered Mijoe, Zhou Rui, Ye Chong, and Gao Shu, even checking their IDs. After descending the mountain, they contacted the sub-bureau to have them stopped and brought in for questioning.

Of course, it was because of that incident that the people from “Divine Technology” and the behind-the-scenes “Abnormal Biology Research Center” noticed Zhao Feng and Wang De’an. Eventually, under the mysterious invitation from Old He, they joined his department to fully investigate the existence of the “eight-armed, eight-eyed illusion.”

“Miss Chen, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Ye, Brother Gao, long time no see.” Zhao Feng and Wang De’an shook hands and greeted the people in the car with a smile.

Seeing the two of them, Mijoe and the others were not surprised, because last night they had seen the basic information of the two men they were supposed to work with today. They knew that these two gentlemen had already joined “Divine Technology.” Although they were unclear why the company recruited the two, why they joined, or why they were assigned to their investigative squad this time, they had no choice since it was arranged by their superiors.

After brief pleasantries, Zhou Rui quickly introduced Fang Pingfang and Li Shibao, two members who were not present at Zi Huan Mountain, to them.

“Dr. Fang, we look forward to learning from you in the upcoming mission. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to assist you. Though we’re new and not very experienced in field assignments, we have a good deal of investigative experience due to our past professions. We should be able to help out.” Zhao Feng said to Fang Pingfang, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

When he discovered that their team leader was Fang Pingfang, a somewhat dark-skinned woman with a neutral demeanor, Zhao Feng felt a bit relieved. Though their past investigations in Burma and other places, in cooperation with the researchers and investigators of “Divine Technology,” had been pleasant—focusing on tasks, discussing things on their merits, and attending to no troublesome or complicated matters—he couldn’t be sure whether this approach was universal among “Divine Technology” personnel, or if they had just been lucky so far.

If a team leader is difficult to communicate with, then their work, as new members, would undoubtedly be uncomfortable.

However, after a few words with Fang Pingfang, Zhao Feng swiftly concluded that she, like the secret department members of “Divine Technology” he’d encountered before, put work first and was easy to deal with.

“Did you specifically come to investigate the matter of yesterday’s flight, or did you have other tasks that brought you here?” After a few polite exchanges, Fang Pingfang asked straight away.

Generally speaking, temporary partners in secret departments do not inquire about each other’s previous assignments or personal privacy. But Mr. Liang’s requirement was for them to investigate the incident of the girl on the airplane wing together, combining their ongoing assignments. So Fang Pingfang naturally had to ask about their prior assignment.

“You must have heard about the eight-armed giant illusion in Myitkyina? That’s what we’re investigating.” Wang De’an was the one to respond this time.

Mijoe startled, saying, “You are actually investigating that? Does your presence in the country mean that the origin of the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant is domestic?”

Wang De’an nodded, “Actually, we knew about the existence of such an illusion even before the incident in Myitkyina.”

“I knew it! I always knew that the group illusion was not a random occurrence, and it appeared just to help our tourists.” Zhou Rui exclaimed excitedly.

Even though the Myitkyina incident was not within their investigative scope, and they hadn’t received any related information from “Divine Technology,” they had discussed it quite a bit privately due to the high profile of the incident. Zhou Rui is a firm believer in the “Eight-Armed Giant is a Superhero” theory.

Zhao Feng took out the somewhat thick, rugged tablet that “Divine Technology” had issued him from his bag and handed it to Fang Pingfang. “The relevant information we have investigated and collected is all here. You can take a look, and if you have any questions, just ask either of us directly.”

After Fang Pingfang took the tablet, Zhao Feng also asked, “Dr. Fang, Miss Chen, are you regularly stationed at Wushu Mountain? Does our company have a research base there? Or are you also temporarily assigned here for a mission?”

Zhou Rui replied, “We’ve been here for almost half a year. Officer Zhao, you were previously an officer in Citong City. You must have heard of the news in January when a tourist on Wushu Mountain was hit by a bird of prey and fell off a cliff? We initially came to investigate that incident.”

Zhao Feng laughed, “Just call me Old Zhao. Wang and I are no longer in uniform, so it’s not appropriate to call us officers anymore. About the incident you mentioned, I did hear about it and saw the related news reports. From the look of it, higher-ups supposed that the flock of birds that almost caused an airplane crash this time around is related to the bird of prey that caused the tourist to fall. Is that why you were asked to investigate?”

Zhou Rui nodded, “You could say that, but we’re investigating more than just that bird. For the specifics… you can look at the content we’ve recorded. But just a heads up, prepare yourself mentally so you’re not frightened,” he said, handing the tablet that Ye Chong handed over to Zhao Feng.

Zhao Feng laughed, “We’ve seen quite a few strange phenomena during this period, it won’t be that easy to scare us.”

Wang De’an contemplated, “It seems, we were assigned to investigate this incident because of what some of the passengers said, about a little girl appearing outside the plane protecting them. Higher-ups must think that the little girl and the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant of Myitkyina are the same kind of thing, that the passengers had a collective hallucination?”

“Whether it’s the little girl appearing on the wing of the plane flying high in the sky, if she’s not an illusion, then she falls under ‘species’ that we’re investigating, it’s all the same,” Zhou Rui laughed, “But it seems like, whether it’s the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant of Myitkyina, or the little girl on the plane’s wing, they’re more like the ‘Lawful Good’ faction. If they’re not helping our tourists, they’re helping the passenger plane. On the contrary, those… that we’re investigating are basically ‘Chaotic Evil’, and more dangerous.”

Mijoe couldn’t help but retort, “You’re talking about ‘Lawful Good’ and ‘Chaotic Evil,’ I think you’re ‘Chaotically Confused’!”

After arriving at Jianzhou Airport, they didn’t enter the terminal with other passengers. Instead, they headed towards the office area from the parking lot. Ye Chong, through Old He’s connections, had already contacted the people involved in this incident. They would directly participate in the investigation of this airplane incident and had access to all relevant information and data.

Just as they arrived under the administrative building, waiting for the airport staff to pick them up, Zhao Feng suddenly paused. He saw a man over 1.9 meters tall walking from the parking lot. It was none other than Xia Tianhuo, whom they had agreed to have lunch with today.

This guy followed them here?

“Mr. Xia, how come you’re here? You didn’t follow us, did you?” Seeing Xia Tianhuo, who had come close, Zhao Feng was quite surprised inwardly, but on his face, he joked with a radiant smile.

Xia Tianhuo shook his phone and said, “I’m here to pick up some airport documents and checked-in luggage for my cousin. By the way, aren’t you… Mr. Zhou? And Old Li, you’re here too.”

“Ah, you’re the one who was with Professor Li in Chongyun Village…” Zhou Rui was greatly surprised. He greeted Xia Tianhuo while looking at Zhao Feng bemusedly.

“Oh, the reason we came to Haixi Province this time was to interview Mr. Xia. We had agreed to have lunch with Mr. Xia today, but we had a sudden assignment. Unexpectedly, we still managed to encounter Mr. Xia here,” Zhao Feng said with a chuckle. Since Xia Tianhuo recognized Zhou Rui, he didn’t bring up his relationship with Zhou Rui, Mijoe, Fang Pingfang, and the others to avoid the possibility of misspeaking and giving away their cover. After all, the identity agreed this time might not match the identity when they met Xia Tianhuo last time.

On the way to the airport, Zhou Rui and others had already reviewed the investigation information of Zhao Feng and his partner. Knowing that Xia Tianhuo was the person involved in the previous abduction case in Burma and the sea monster incident, they nodded, said hello, and made small talk.

Very soon, Zhao Feng, Fang Pingfang, and others followed the airport staff into the administration building. Xia Tianhuo originally wanted to pretend to be part of their group and casually go with them to take a look, but he was stopped by the staff.

He wasn’t embarrassed, just took out his phone and laughed, saying he thought the staff person had come to see him.

After Zhao Feng and the others went upstairs, from the sixth floor corridor, they saw Xia Tianhuo below, holding his phone making a call, as if he was genuinely contacting the staff. He whispered to Wang De’an, “Check the passenger information we got yesterday, see if Mr. Xiang, Miss Yang, Miss Tang, and the three of them have checked-in luggage.”

Next to them, Fang Pingfang and Mijoe were also listening to Zhou Rui quietly recount his previous encounter with Xia Tianhuo in Chongyun Village.

“Chongyun Village… Chongyun Village… What are the odds?” Fang Pingfang pondered.

Zhou Rui looked up at the airport staff but saw that he was a considerable distance away and couldn’t hear their conversation. He then said in a soft voice, “Dr. Fang, speaking of Chongyun Village, I suddenly recall that a few months ago… just a few days after I met Professor Li and Mr. Xia, didn’t Chongyun Village experience a ‘supernatural event’? Two thieves attempted to steal construction materials from a worksite in the village at night, only to encounter a ‘supernatural event’ and called the police for help. Didn’t we go and collect a pile of bird droppings the next day to analyze, and concluded that they just mistook birds for people? But now that I think about it, their claims… seem to fit seeing a little girl in a white dress?”

“The incident of lightning striking the fugitive happened on Chongyun Mountain. Those two fugitives entered the mountain from Chongyun Village, and it was the villagers of Chongyun Village who discovered their tracks…” Mijoe also pondered.

Fang Pingfang nodded to indicate she understood, but did not entertain the topic of “Chongyun Village” any further for the time being because they had arrived inside a conference room and met the investigation officers from the Civil Aviation Administration.

The black box of the incident airplane had been sealed according to procedure, waiting for the investigators to retrieve and analyze the data.

Since the airplane did not crash this time, even though the fuselage was somewhat damaged by the bird strike, the location of the black box was fine, so there were no difficulties in data retrieval.

The black box mainly consists of a Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and a Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). The former records the flight data of the aircraft, while the latter records the sounds in the cockpit.

The analysis of the FDR takes some time, and the result wouldn’t come out quickly. However, the voice recording could be listened to first.