Soul Patch

Chapter 42 The Video Disappears

Wenjie, in a C-level system mission, looked around the room, which seemed strangely peculiar.

There are no doors, no windows.

Exit System

Wenjie looked at the room illuminated by the blood-red fluorescent lights, everything shrouded in a dark red glow.

He looked down at the ground beneath his feet; it was a dark reddish-black color and looked rather eerie.

Wenjie waited a while longer, and the room was completely silent except for his own breathing.

What the hell...

Is the system frozen? Why haven't I logged out yet?

【quit】

【quit】

I want to log out of the system.

it's over...

The system didn't respond; he was trapped here.

He panicked instantly!

Where am I? Where am I trapped?

There were people talking outside just now, yes! There were people outside!

He lay on the ground, pressing his ear to the ground, looking for any clues.

Sure enough, a faint sound did come through.

The voice wasn't as clear as the old man's, probably because of the distance.

Wenjie got up and pressed his ear against each of the walls to try it out.

Finally, he found a wall closest to the sound source, pressed himself against it, and listened intently.

"...Let's take some photos."

"What's this……"

"How would I know...maybe...it happened when I was moving things!"

Wenjie was so startled that he almost fell to the ground!

That last sentence sounded so much like my own voice.

What do you mean by "similar"?

That's exactly what he said himself!

Wenjie remembered—this was the conversation he had with Officer Cao and the others at home the day his computer was stolen!

This... is so weird!

Wenjie suddenly remembered the Barbie doll on the porch. Was it taken by this camera?

That's not right! There's no way that camera could transmit sound so clearly!

Wenjie was no longer calm!

It's a bugging device!

Cameras again... and listening devices again! Who's watching me?

It's like something out of a spy movie.

Wenjie picked up the ladder, intending to prop it against the wall and climb up to see what he might find.

While raising the ladder, he accidentally smashed the red light bulb in the center of the room!

A flash of red light appeared before their eyes, and the room was plunged into darkness as fragments of the light bulb shattered and fell.

As the light bulb fragments fell, Wenjie hurriedly closed his eyes and raised an arm to protect his head.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself sitting on the floor of my bedroom.

came back?

Ahhh... They're really back!

Wenjie was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. He looked around his bedroom and had never felt so comfortable in this small room of less than 10 square meters.

He quickly remembered the conversation he had just overheard.

He suddenly stood up and began searching everywhere—the kitchen, the porch, the balcony, and the bedroom.

The sounds of banging and clattering, and rummaging through drawers and cabinets, filled the room.

"Where is it hidden? It's not here... but over there?"

The conversation with Officer Cao took place on the evening of June 20th, so the bugging device must have been placed in the room before that.

Suddenly, an image flashed in Wenjie's mind: an uncle wearing night vision goggles, holding a remote control device for operating a drone.

Correct!

On the evening of June 19th, he was lying in his bedroom when he heard a "bang".

It was this weirdo who let the shuttle in to plant the bugging device.

Listening devices are much easier to place than Barbie dolls.

Then that weirdo took the laptop.

Just as Wenjie was searching around outside, the laptop screen in the bedroom suddenly lit up and entered the boot screen.

The bedroom door was open, and the webcam on the laptop could see Wenjie sitting on the balcony.

Wenjie was sitting on the balcony floor tiles, staring down at a spot on the ground, deep in thought.

In the bedroom, the mouse cursor on the laptop moved to the video on the desktop and clicked to shred the file.

I moved the mouse to the start button again and shut down the computer.

Wenjie thought of the strange guy taking the notebook, and a video of a black and white compass suddenly flashed into his mind.

He realized something and ran back to his bedroom. He turned on his laptop, stared at the spot on the desktop where the video used to be stored, and froze.

The video is gone!

You still had it when you opened the laptop last time, right?

He scratched his head, realizing he couldn't quite remember. To be honest, he hadn't paid much attention to that video.

Today, he was trapped in a ghostly room by a C-level system mission.

Only then did I realize how serious the problem was.

Wenjie felt a little flustered. He went to the living room, took a water glass to the kitchen to get some water.

He paused for a moment, staring at the light on the water dispenser. Then he ran to each room and turned off the lights with a series of snaps.

As his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, he slowly paced around the room.

Living room, bedroom, kitchen...

They walked slowly, examining the surroundings carefully...

As he walked into the kitchen, a flash of dark light in the corner caught his eye.

Wenjie turned on the kitchen light and found that it was a plastic switch, and the light was probably coming from the socket.

He found some tools and removed the switch.

Sure enough, a miniature listening device was found inside, connected to a section of wire branching off from the power supply.

This thing couldn't have been put up by the shuttle; he dismissed his earlier guess.

This was installed when the computer was stolen.

Wenjie stared at the square bug, about the size of a fingernail, and was momentarily stunned.

What does the other party want?

……

In a low-ceilinged warehouse, an old man wearing a tank top took off his headphones and gently placed them on the table.

The warehouse was filled with various machines and equipment, and the disassembled parts were scattered in a large metal box on the table. Next to the metal box was an old-fashioned portable radio.

In a corner of the warehouse, there are several damaged drones, most of them missing parts and beyond repair.

He closed a media player on his laptop, hesitated for a moment, and then opened the message board of an online store:

"You're right, it's working! I'll pay the balance later."

"Never made a mistake! The final payment of 50! Still the same account."

After replying to the message, Jia Nan put her phone in her pocket and whistled.

He walked through the villa's somewhat empty living room and climbed the steps to the upstairs terrace. Holding onto the terrace railing, he looked out:

A gentle breeze rippled across the clear surface of the swimming pool downstairs.

He touched a uniquely designed bracelet on his wrist, lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)