Chapter 835 - 698: Mystery (2)

Chapter 835: Chapter 698: Mystery (2)

However, before he could speak, the busy tone of "beep beep beep..." came through the receiver.

He frowned at the phone and couldn’t help but curse,

"Damn, so mysterious, is it necessary?"

Feeling helpless, he begrudgingly stuffed the phone back into his pocket, standing as directed, leaning against the car hood and waiting anxiously.

The air in the parking lot was stale, filled with a suffocating atmosphere.

While waiting, he subconsciously pulled out the pure white business card given to him by Special Commissioner Zheng from the inner pocket of his clothing.

The card flipped through his fingers, its texture smooth and slightly resilient.

There was no title, position, name, or company logo on it, just clean and blank, with the only marker being a string of phone numbers.

If this card hadn’t been given to him by Special Commissioner Zheng, or if he didn’t know where Zheng got this card, he would never have obediently stayed here waiting foolishly. He would have left furiously long ago.

Frankly, the card’s background was the dirty work handlers. Even if it was a Parliament Member’s Black Glove, it was still a role unfit for the stage.

Although he couldn’t compare to a finger of a Parliament Member, he was nonetheless an official on duty in the Executive Government.

The man from the Mechanical Department grew increasingly displeased as he waited, feeling highly offended.

Time ticked by slowly.

Five minutes...

Ten minutes...

Still no sign of anyone coming to meet him.

The man’s brow furrowed into a knot, and his face was almost spilling over with impatience. He lifted his head, scanning his surroundings back and forth.

Upon closer examination, he suddenly realized that this underground parking lot had a significant difference from most parking lots in Zone 9 he was familiar with.

Too many cameras...

It was known that due to budget constraints, privacy disputes, and various powers tussling, the "Skynet" surveillance system proposal had been shelved since it’s been proposed in Zone 9.

Thus, in all of Zone 9, apart from certain specifically important or sensitive buildings that installed relatively complete surveillance security systems, most public places lacked cameras.

But this old-looking parking lot, each supporting pillar, every corner of the wall, the corners of the ceiling...

One, two, three, four... fifteen, sixteen...

The man from the Mechanical Department hadn’t paid special attention before; now, realizing it, he silently counted in his heart, alarmed by the result—there were densely packed various models of surveillance cameras everywhere within sight.

At this moment, as he looked around, he noticed all the cameras silently adjusted their angles, aligning collectively at his location.

It was as if countless hidden eyes were piercing through the lenses, repeatedly scrutinizing and analyzing his every move, even clearly capturing the changes in his facial expressions.

Mysteriously, a chill crept up along the spine of the man from the Mechanical Department, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand slightly.

His scalp tingled, almost instinctively, his right hand reached for the car keys, intending to open the car door immediately.

But his rationality eventually overcame his impulse to flee, remembering Special Commissioner Zheng’s instructions, considering the possible merits and promotions this event could bring.

He forcibly made himself stand still, though fury in his heart seemed to blaze like a dry firewood soaked in oil, almost breaking through his skull.

A voice suddenly came from behind him:

"This way!"

The flame of anger over his head was instantly doused like a bucket of cold water, he turned abruptly to look behind.

"When?! When did he appear behind me?!!"

The man’s pupils shrank sharply like pinpoints, to see a middle-aged man in a black suit before him.

The man’s face was so plain it was almost devoid of memorable features, except for a distinctive crossing scar across his lips, like an ugly centipede, giving him an outlaw’s dangerous aura.

The man’s face turned grim, almost dripping water; he forcefully suppressed his shock and fury, questioning in a hostile tone:

"Have you... been watching me from behind the surveillance?"

The man in the suit ignored his question, neither denying nor affirming, his scarred lips once again clearly repeating:

"This way."

The man’s brow furrowed into a knot, before he could speak, the other side handed over an eye mask.

The man’s ominous gaze swiped over the eye mask, already guessing its intended purpose, feeling offended again.

He feigned ignorance, his tone filled with suppressed anger, "What does this mean?"

The man in the suit said sparingly, uttering four cold words:

"Cover up, follow."

The man almost laughed with rage:

"Are you kidding me? I..."

He had just uttered a few words when the man in the suit made a motion to turn away.

The man immediately held his tongue, scrambled to grab the eye mask from the other’s hand, inwardly sneering:

"Well well, the Parliament Member’s Black Glove is indeed formidable, with an authority as grand as a Parliament Member."

As he held the eye mask, an unusual cool sensation was transmitted, lacking the softness of normal fabric.

The surface of the eye mask wasn’t completely smooth, covered with layers of uneven textures like eerie patterns sewn with special threads at the surface, or maybe... the outlines of intricate circuits printed by microchips beneath the fabric.

Upon wearing the eye mask, he immediately felt his vision plunged into darkness, his mind turning hazy, losing his sense of direction, unable even to discern which side his hands were on.

That hand did not speak because in that state, even if told to go forward, backward, left, or right, his senses couldn’t make accurate judgments.

Thankfully, that hand seemed to accurately perceive his body’s shift in balance.

A moderate yet just right power transmitted from the palm, skillfully nudging the center of his body slightly off-center.

He couldn’t tell now, whether controlling his body’s movement was still his own consciousness, or the guiding signal passed by this palm.

In total, his footsteps obediently shifted following the change in his body’s center of mass.

He couldn’t discern how far he walked, whether in a straight line, a curve, ascending, or descending.

His sense of time blurred, maybe only a short one or two minutes passed, or it might have been ten minutes or more.

Once he felt the hand on his shoulder move away, and heard a simple "That’s enough" prompt, he couldn’t wait to pull the mask off his face.

Light flooded again into his vision, causing momentary stinging and dizziness.

Before long, adjusting to the light, he finally saw clearly around him, realizing he stood in an unfamiliar corridor.

The corridor had no windows on either side and was unusually narrow, barely accommodating 1.5 individuals across; a fat person might find it difficult to squeeze through.

Just like the underground parking lot, both ends of the narrow corridor were similarly covered with silently rotating cameras, thoroughly covering every inch of space, recording every minor action of invaders.

Led by the man in the suit, he passed through the narrow passage for about twenty or thirty meters.

Finally, at the corridor’s end appeared a gray-white metal door.

He looked up at the small sign hanging on the door, his pace paused slightly, his face revealing a trace of shock.

The sign read four words—Worries Relief Studio.

The man’s mouth twitched unconsciously, an utterly absurd feeling rising within:

"What the hell? Even the naming by Black Gloves is so... artistic now?"

The man in the suit didn’t knock, pressing his hand on the fingerprint scanner beside the door, with a beep sound the lock released.

He pushed open the door, stepped aside, signaling the man to enter, yet remained like a guardian statue outside.

The man took a deep breath, stepped inside the door.

As soon as he entered, extremely cold air came rushing, making him shiver involuntarily.

The temperature inside dropped at least seven to eight degrees compared to the corridor, as if stepping instantly from the temperate zone into a cold storage block, his skin immediately prickled into goosebumps.