mud falling painting beam empty

Chapter 1058 Identity Recognized

"This time I have recovered one soul and one spirit. You have to continue, but you have been recognized as an agent by the bureau."

"All right"

…………

Zhao Wuji blinked. The glaring fluorescent lights in the police station office made him feel uncomfortable. The noise around him came like a tide - the ringing of the phone, the conversation of colleagues, the typing of keyboards, and the hum of printers in the distance. He looked down at his dark blue uniform, and the police badge on his chest gleamed in the light.

"Zhao Zhen! What are you daydreaming about? Mr. Huang is looking for you!" A young police officer with acne all over his face patted him on the shoulder.

Zhao Wuji—now he should be called Zhao Zhen—suddenly came back to his senses. He subconsciously touched his waist, and the cold touch of the TK pistol made him feel a little relieved. The identity information given to him by the system quickly emerged in his mind: 19 years old, an outstanding graduate of the police academy, and had just been assigned to the serious crime team.

"Got it, thank you." He stood up, straightened his uniform, and walked towards the independent cubicle at the end of the office.

On the glass door of the compartment was a nameplate that read "Senior Inspector Huang Zhicheng." Zhao Zhen knocked on the door.

"Come in."

When he opened the door, he saw a man in his forties with slightly bald hair, looking through documents. He looked up at Zhao Zhen, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

"Sit down." Huang Zhicheng pointed to the chair opposite him. "You are the best among this group of newcomers, so I decided to teach you myself. I hope you won't let me down."

"Yes, sir." Zhao Zhen straightened his back.

Huang Zhicheng took out a file bag from the drawer and pushed it in front of him. "Take a look at this case first."

The word "confidential" was printed on the file bag. When Zhao Zhen opened it, the first page showed a familiar face - Chen Yongren. The man in the photo was about 27149 years old, with deep eyes and a faint smile on his lips. But the other information in the file made Zhao Zhen frown - most of the content was blacked out by black ink, leaving only some basic information: police number , undercover police officer, and the last place he appeared was Kowloon Walled City.

"Sir, this file..."

"He's been dealt with." Huang Zhicheng lit a cigarette and took a deep puff. "Chen Yongren was an undercover agent we sent to Sun Yee On. He has been out of contact for three months. The higher-ups suspected that he might have defected, or..." He blew out a smoke ring, "He has been killed."

Zhao Zhen felt a sense of disharmony. The system tasked him with finding Chen Yongren, but Huang Zhicheng said that Chen Yongren might have died. What was so strange about this?

"Your mission is to find out the truth." Huang Zhicheng put out his cigarette butt, "But remember, you and I are the only ones who know this. There may be a mole in the police station, so don't trust anyone, including your colleagues."

"Understood, sir."

"Okay, go get familiar with the environment. The formal investigation will begin tomorrow." Huang Zhicheng waved his hand, indicating the end of the conversation.

Walking out of the office, Zhao Zhen felt countless eyes on him. Some were curious, some were scrutinizing, and there were a few that were hard to explain. He pretended not to notice and walked straight to his workstation.

There was an old computer and several documents on the desk. He turned on the computer and entered his police ID and password - the system automatically implanted this information into his memory. After logging in, he tried to search for Chen Yongren's full profile, but found that he did not have sufficient permissions.

"New here?" A clear female voice came from behind.

Zhao Zhen turned around and saw a female police officer with a ponytail standing behind him, holding two cups of coffee. She was in her early twenties, with big, bright eyes and a small mole at the corner of her mouth.

"Lin Xiaoyu, from the archives." She handed over a cup of coffee. "You look confused, so I guess you need this."

"Thank you." Zhao Zhen took the coffee and took a sip carefully. It was bitter with a hint of sweetness, a taste from the real world. "I'm Zhao Zhen, and I just reported in today."

"I know. You ranked first in the police academy." Lin Xiaoyu leaned against the table and lowered her voice. "I heard that Huang Sir personally taught you? He is famous for being strict."

Zhao Zhen smiled and didn't respond. He noticed that Lin Xiaoyu's eyes occasionally glanced at his computer screen, where the search interface for Chen Yongren's file was displayed.

"Are you interested in Chen Yongren?" Lin Xiaoyu suddenly asked.

Zhao Zhen's heartbeat quickened slightly. "Just checking it out. I heard he's missing?"

Lin Xiaoyu's expression became complicated. "Yeah, three months." She looked around and lowered her voice, "Some people say he betrayed, but I don't believe it. Chen Sir is not that kind of person."

"You know him?"

"He helped me before." Lin Xiaoyu's eyes flickered. "If you really want to know more about him, you can find me in the archives. Some information is not in the system."

After saying that, she hurried away, leaving Zhao Zhen alone to ponder this sudden clue.

In the afternoon training session, Zhao Zhen tested his physical fitness. With 19 points of physical fitness and agility, he easily completed all the items and even broke several records in the police academy. The instructor's surprised eyes and the whispers of his colleagues made him realize that he should perhaps restrain himself.

In the evening, the police station gradually became quiet. Zhao Zhen walked around the office building alone, using the excuse of getting familiar with the environment. When he passed the restroom, he heard a muffled voice coming from inside.

".A newcomer is investigating Chen Yongren today."

".Huang Zhicheng's people."

“.Pay attention.”

Zhao Zhen stepped back quietly. It seemed that Huang Zhicheng was right. There were indeed traitors in the police station. But who were these people? From the Sun Yee On? Or other forces?

Back at his workstation, he decided to try out the skills granted by the system. Closing his eyes, he silently chanted "Nine Yin Qi" and immediately felt a warm current rising from his dantian and flowing through his body. When he opened his eyes, he found that his senses had become unusually sharp - he could hear the breathing of the two people at the end of the corridor, see every beat of the second hand of the clock on the wall, and even feel the weak current flowing in the air. "Is this a special ability?" he whispered to himself.

Suddenly, a sharp pain came from his temple. Zhao Zhen covered his head, and some broken pictures flashed before his eyes - a dark alley, gunshots, a man falling down, and a pair of eyes, eyes full of despair.

The image disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Zhao Zhen gasped for air, sweat dripping from his forehead. Was this a memory? A premonition? Or was it a system disturbance?

He remembered Li Jingling's warning: the life expansion system has a powerful correction strategy. Maybe the system is trying to assimilate him, or... give him a hint?

Outside the window, the night of Hong Kong has fallen. The light of neon lights shines through the glass windows, casting mottled shadows on the police station floor. Zhao Zhen looks at this familiar yet strange city and suddenly realizes a terrible fact: in this digital world, he can't tell who is an NPC and who might be a "special existence" like him.

Maybe Chen Yongren is one of them? Maybe his "disappearance" means that he has realized the truth of this world?

Zhao Zhen opened the drawer and took out an old-fashioned mobile phone, which Huang Zhicheng gave him and said was specially used for this case. He hesitated for a moment and dialed the number left by Lin Xiaoyu.

"Archives room. Now?" Lin Xiaoyu's voice was a little surprised on the other end of the phone. "Okay, I'll wait for you. Go through the back door and don't let anyone see you."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Zhen took a deep breath. He checked the ammunition of the TK pistol and put the police dagger in his boots. His intuition told him that he might be in danger tonight.

As he walked out of the police station, he looked up at the night sky. For some reason, the arrangement of the stars made him feel a little uncomfortable - they were different from the real world. This detail was like a thorn, piercing deep into his consciousness.

"This is just a scripted world," he said to himself, "but Chen Yongren's disappearance is real. If we find him, we can upgrade."

The night wind blew across his face, carrying the unique humidity and noise of Hong Kong. Zhao Zhen—a special existence made up of numbers and memories—stepped into the shadows under the neon lights.

At a window on the top floor of the police station, a figure was silently watching him leave. The man was holding a mobile phone, and a text message just sent was displayed on the screen: "The fish has been hooked."

The archives room was located on the second floor of the police station, at the end of a dim corridor. Following Lin Xiaoyu's instructions, Zhao Zhen bypassed the duty booth through the fire escape. The humid air was filled with the smell of moldy paper, mixed with the metallic smell of some overheated electronic equipment.

Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door, the iron door slid open silently. Lin Xiaoyu's pale face flashed through the crack of the door: "Come in quickly."

The archive room was more spacious than expected, but it was filled to the brim with rows of metal shelves. In the corner, an old CRT monitor emitted a faint blue light, reflecting Lin Xiaoyu's solemn expression.

"Do you know why Mr. Chen's files were encrypted?" She got straight to the point, tapping her fingers on the keyboard. A progress bar popped up on the monitor: [Data recovery in progress. 47%]

Zhao Zhen noticed that she was not typing on an ordinary keyboard - the keycaps were engraved with Hebrew and binary code. "You are not an ordinary archivist."

Lin Xiaoyu raised her lips slightly: "You are not an ordinary newcomer either."

Zhao Zhen pulled his hand away suddenly, and the TK pistol was half out of the holster. Lin Xiaoyu smiled: "Relax, I am your 'safety agreement'." She opened her collar, revealing a glowing barcode under her collarbone, "Life Development Bureau Basic AI"

The monitor suddenly emitted a harsh beep. They both turned their heads at the same time, and the progress bar had reached the end:

[Data recovery completed | Completeness 63%]

[WARNING: DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED]

The photo of Chen Yongren on the screen began to distort, and the pixels peeled off like rotting skin, revealing the dense green code underneath. Zhao Zhen felt a sharp pain in his temple, and the Nine Yin Qi automatically circulated, allowing him to see the flashing characters clearly -

**#404 Entity does not exist#**

"This is impossible." Lin Xiaoyu's voice trembled, "The system is denying the existence of Chen Yongren."

At this moment, the lights in the archives suddenly went out. In the darkness, countless blue data fragments like fireflies floated up from the file rack and gathered into a human figure in the air. The analysis data automatically appeared on Zhao Zhen's retina:

[Abnormal data aggregate]

[Similarity match: Chen Yongren 87%]

[Danger Level: B]

"Zhao Zhen." The data figure called out like electronic noise, "Find me."

A piercing chill hit him. Zhao Zhen instinctively pulled out his TK pistol, but the bullet passed through the data body, leaving only a few smoking bullet holes on the wall. The data figure suddenly jumped up, turning into a sky full of light spots and rushing towards him -

"Close your eyes!" Lin Xiaoyu shouted as she smashed the fire cabinet on the wall, took out the fire extinguisher and sprayed it fiercely. In the dry powder mist, the data stream emitted a high-frequency whistle and escaped from the vents like a receding tide.

When the lights came back on, the archives room was in a mess. Lin Xiaoyu slumped to the ground, the fire extinguisher falling from her hands. "This is not ordinary data residue. Chen Yongren's consciousness fragments are actively looking for a carrier."

When Zhao Zhen helped her up, a strange memory suddenly popped into his mind: he was standing on the rooftop, holding a blood-stained police badge with the number 27149. The strong sense of déjà vu made him blurt out: "Chen Yongren is not missing - he was forcibly deleted after being marked as an error code by the system!"

Lin Xiaoyu's pupils suddenly shrank into two thin lines: "How do you know? The confidentiality level of this information is AAA." Her expression suddenly froze, and she turned to look at the door, "Someone is coming."

The doorknob began to turn. Lin Xiaoyu pushed open the spare filing cabinet, revealing the ventilation duct behind it: "Let's go! Go to Kowloon Walled City to find the 'Data Stitcher', he can help you reorganize Chen Yongren's code!"

Zhao Zhen looked back one last time before entering the pipe and saw Lin Xiaoyu standing in front of the monitor, typing something quickly. Under the blue light of the screen, data flow was faintly flowing under her skin.

The ventilation duct was narrow and cramped, so Zhao Zhen could only crawl forward on his elbows. As he crawled, he kept hearing the same electronic voice repeating in his ears: "Error correcting. Error correcting."

After climbing for an unknown amount of time, he saw light ahead. When he emerged from the vent, he was shocked to find himself back at the door of the archive room. Time seemed to have gone backwards, and he heard Lin Xiaoyu's voice again: "Do you know why Mr. Chen's files were encrypted?"

[SYSTEM WARNING: TIME LOOP DETECTED]

[Suggestion: Use memory reset skills to break through the logic dead loop]

Zhao Zhen gritted his teeth and activated his skill. The world shattered like glass. When he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in the intricate alleys of Kowloon Walled City.

[System connection is unstable]

[Abnormal vital signs]

[Do you want to force quit? Y/N]

"Y"

Zhao Wuji lay in the hibernation capsule for a while before he saw Li Jingling coming towards him.

"Were you in danger just now?"

"Yes"

“No wonder it touched our basic agreement”