Chapter 201: Suspicions

Chapter 201: Suspicions

In the surveillance room, after assigning additional personnel to review all the footage, Captain Yu Zhan Yu reported to Instructor Liu, "Instructor, we've examined the surveillance footage from three hours before and after the incident, and there were no suspicious individuals in the vicinity of the Academy of Sciences."

Lu Heng stared at the surveillance screen, furrowing his brows in deep thought.

In fact, the current surveillance equipment was very advanced. When there was a moving target on the screen, the progress bar would display different colors to indicate their presence.

In other words, one only needed to check the colored parts to ensure nothing was missed.

Of course, to be absolutely certain, Instructor Liu assigned more people to review every frame of the surveillance footage.

The result was the same; no suspicious individuals were captured on the footage.

Jian Qing pondered the issue, "Could it be someone with invisibility abilities?"

Captain Yu Zhan Yu explained, "The possibility of that is very low. Invisibility is usually optical, which doesn't block infrared. The Academy's surveillance equipment includes infrared detection, so even invisible people can be captured on camera."

"Even if this Ability User's invisibility ability could block infrared detection, it's useless.

"One-third of the guards on duty tonight are Seers, constantly monitoring the situation inside and outside the Academy.

"Without invisibility, walking down the street wouldn't raise suspicions, but daring to appear in an invisible state would lead to immediate capture."

In fact, Lu Heng had just been considering the possibility of invisibility but quickly dismissed it.

Invisibility is extremely useful when there are no Seers around.

In a wilderness encounter, it's a perfect ambush skill.

However, facing a tightly guarded building, using invisibility to enter is impossible.

With multiple Seers cross-checking, being invisible is no different from exposing oneself.

After a moment of thought, Lu Heng said, "Can you retrieve all the surveillance footage of Liu Gong from the moment he entered the Academy to when he left?"

It had been nearly an hour since they arrived at the scene and started reviewing the footage, but they still had no leads.

Lu Heng wanted to continue the investigation, which annoyed some people.

If not for Instructor Liu's orders, someone would have already voiced their doubts.

Moreover, the longer they delayed, the lower the chances of capturing the thief in the city-wide manhunt.

Zhuo Hongjun spoke up, questioning, "I believe continuing to watch the surveillance footage is a waste of time, especially with an outsider present."

The "outsider" he referred to was Lu Heng.

Lu Heng was not part of the military chain of command, and his presence here was mainly due to bringing back Sikes technology data, a special circumstance.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be allowed inside the Academy at this time.

Instructor Liu was in a dilemma; the situation was urgent, and if they didn't recover the missing hard drive before dawn, it would become even more difficult.

Captain Yu Zhan Yu continued, "Instructor, Inspector Li Zhaofeng from the Iron Blood Investigation Bureau is in charge of investigating this case. Our duty is to capture the spy who stole the technology. We should leave professional matters to the professionals, Inspector Li, what do you think?"

Inspector Li Zhaofeng, who had been deep in thought with his elbow on his knee and chin in his hand, raised an eyebrow at the mention of his name and said, "As long as we can retrieve the hard drive, it doesn't matter who investigates."

Zhuo Hongjun grew impatient, "Instructor, the golden eight hours before dawn is the best time to search. I believe we should start the manhunt now. Even if we clarify the case, it'll be difficult to recover the hard drive if we miss this window."

Lin Zeyu glanced at Zhuo Hongjun and questioned, "Then why aren't you out searching? What are you doing here? Are we hindering your search?"

His tone was a bit rude, causing Zhuo Hongjun's face to darken.

He glared at Lin Zeyu, his voice cold, "Who do you think you are? How dare you speak to me like that?"

In the coastal region, Lin Zeyu's family was quite wealthy.

Wealth is a powerful force among ordinary people, but it's not as influential as power.

Zhuo Hongjun had the backing of power.

In his eyes, Lin Zeyu was just an ant that could be crushed at any moment, slightly fatter than most.

Zhuo Hongjun had wanted to lead the search for Alex Austin for a while, and he naturally didn't want to lose the competition for the skill crystal core.

He stayed behind because he was worried someone would "throw dirt" on him.

The theft of the technology and his decision to pursue Alex Austin without authorization were somewhat related.

As the highest-ranking officer on duty that night, he led the guards in the pursuit, and the Academy lost its data.

He didn't believe this was connected to his actions, but if someone insisted it was, he would be in trouble.

The reason he stayed behind was to keep an eye on this place, ensuring no one would try to implicate him in any wrongdoing.

This was also the intention of his family, asking him to closely monitor the investigation team.

Initially, he didn't pay much attention to it, but then Lu Heng appeared.

He sensed a crisis.

Because both he and Lu Heng were competing for the same [Damage Reversion] Crystal Core.

If he were to be reprimanded by his superiors for making a mistake at this time, he would undoubtedly lose his eligibility to compete for the Crystal Core.

Just then, Lu Heng refused to participate in the manhunt for the White Eagle spy and instead insisted on staying to investigate the case.

Zhuo Hongjun immediately made a judgment, believing that Lu Heng was using the investigation as an excuse to find evidence to implicate him.

That was why he insisted on staying and keeping an eye on Lu Heng.

...

At this moment, everyone present seemed to be investigating the case, but each had their own thoughts.

Lu Heng ignored their arguments and asked directly, "Inspector Li, have you reviewed the surveillance footage? Before Engineer Liu was silenced, were all his actions captured by the cameras? Did he ever leave the surveillance range?"

"Basically, no," Li Zhaofeng replied.

"By 'basically no,' you mean there was, right?" Lu Heng emphasized.

"Well, it's not really considered as such. There's no surveillance in the bathroom, but from the time Engineer Liu left the surveillance range until he entered the next one, there was only half a second in between. In other words, he only passed by the bathroom door and didn't go inside. Moreover, in that half-second, it's impossible for him to have done anything out of the ordinary," Li Zhaofeng explained, instructing his subordinate to pull up the surveillance footage and play that particular segment.

Lu Heng focused on the screen, and from the footage, the victim could be seen leaving the previous surveillance camera's view, passing by the bathroom door, and entering the next camera's view, with only a brief moment in between, possibly less than half a second.

In such a short time, the victim, being an ordinary person without any special abilities, couldn't have done much.

Based on the footage, this brief moment of being out of sight didn't seem to raise any concerns.

Subsequently, Lu Heng watched the entire surveillance footage of the victim, piecing together the entire route.

The researcher, Engineer Liu, who was under mental control, entered the main gate of the Academy of Sciences, then entered Building No. 3, passed through three security checks, and arrived at the computer room where the hard drive was stolen. He removed the hard drive, hid it in his clothes, and then left.

After that, he crossed the corridor and exited through the back door.

He crossed the street and entered an alley, and then he didn't come out.

The body was found in that alley.

The alley was short, only about ten meters long, and both streets at its ends had surveillance cameras.

After the victim entered the alley, no suspicious targets appeared nearby.

Therefore, according to normal reasoning, the victim was mentally controlled, entered the Academy of Sciences, and stole the hard drive.

After leaving the Academy of Sciences, the victim met with the mastermind in the alley and handed over the hard drive before being silenced.

The entire incident seemed very clear and straightforward.

However, Lu Heng still insisted that the mental controller and the victim couldn't have been more than 200 meters apart.

It was for the same reason as before.

The skill used by the mental controller should be a C-Rank [Mind Control] rather than a B-Rank [Will Domination].

If it were a B-Rank [Will Domination], the spy could have easily controlled a Source Essence Level 10 Research Director, gaining higher permissions and accessing more technological data.

Given the temptation of obtaining more technological data, the spy's choice of a researcher with a lower permission level already speaks volumes.

Therefore, Lu Heng still believed that the distance between the mental controller and the victim couldn't have exceeded 200 meters.

But 200 meters was indeed very close.

There were so many guards in the Academy of Sciences, one-third of whom were Seers, not to mention the surveillance system.

Not a single suspicious target was detected.

This didn't make sense.

Unless...

Lu Heng thought of a possibility and made a request, "Instructor Liu, I need the list of all guards, researchers, and everyone who was in the Academy of Sciences at the time of the incident tonight."

Instructor Liu frowned upon hearing this request, feeling a bit troubled.

This request was equivalent to disclosing the information of all the guards.

Zhuo Hongjun was the first to object, "Are you trying to buy more time? If it were anyone else, I'd suspect you of intentionally giving the spy time to escape."

Lu Heng glanced at him indifferently and said, "Unfortunately, I'm the one who brought back this technological data. Anyone in this world could have stolen it, but I couldn't."

Guard Captain Yu Zhan Yu spoke up, "I believe Comrade Lu Heng is definitely not a suspect, but right now, retrieving the hard drive is the top priority. Investigating the case is secondary."

"Moreover, the guard information in the Academy of Sciences is confidential. If we reveal it all, these guards will have to be replaced, or they'll become easy targets for spies to infiltrate."

His statement made sense; keeping guard identities confidential was necessary to prevent spies from infiltrating them.

But now, Lu Heng wanted the information of all the guards.

Instructor Liu hesitated, even though Lu Heng wasn't a suspect, it didn't mean this method of investigation was correct.

Time was running out, and Lu Heng had to make a decisive statement, "I suspect that the mental controller is within the Academy of Sciences!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned for a moment.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end