In a crossover anime, do you believe that a machine spirit can defeat a fake human?

"Furthermore, I don't recommend watching it. While there haven't been any cases of cognitive pollution transmitted through video so far, there's no guarantee it doesn't exist. After all, cognitive pollution transmitted through sound at specific frequencies has already occurred at the University of Tokyo."

Chen Yi explained.

'Is that so? Then I'll throw it away right away.'

Yui Yuigahama accepted Chen Yi's explanation.

"Ding-dong-"

Someone is ringing the doorbell.

"Have you bought anything?"

Chen Yi thought for a moment. He hadn't bought anything, and the factory hadn't said what they were going to send over, so he casually asked and walked to the entrance to open the front door.

"..."

"what happened?"

Seeing Chen Yi suddenly fall silent, the others asked him with some confusion.

"I wonder if ghost stories and supernatural tales might actually be true?"

When he turned around again, he was holding a videotape.

"Speak of the devil and he appears."

......

"The monkey is fine..."

Laboratory tests and gene sequencing, no matter how you verify it, can only lead to the same conclusion as the goat from a few days ago.

The sense of incongruity grew stronger, so Miaomu decided to go into the zoo herself to see what the primate section was really like.

After learning that the source of pollution was related to rabbits, the SWAT team, who had been wandering around like headless flies, finally had something to do: continuously hunting down randomly appearing rabbits in an attempt to reduce cognitive pollution.

As for the effect... there probably is, but we might not see the results until most of the rabbits have been killed.

Following the experienced combat team members, Miao Mu went deep into the zoo and arrived at the entrance of the primate area.

"A troop of monkeys..."

Miao Mu stared at them for a while, and the monkeys, just like in the surveillance footage, sat huddled in their respective little spots, eyes closed, motionless.

"Do they move when they eat?" Miao Mu suddenly thought of this question for no reason.

"Sir, from the entire monitoring process, they hardly eat anything."

"That's what the stationed police officer said."

"However, the number of feeding troughs has been decreasing, and I don't know why."

"...?"

A signal, like a biological intuition, flashed through Miao Mu's mind, and he turned his gaze to the macaques in the viewing area with their eyes closed.

Miao Mu gently turned on the air recirculation device on her face a little to let in some outside air.

He smelled a familiar, foul odor, the kind that made him physically uncomfortable.

"A certain organism is highly decomposed..."

His gaze was fixed on the monkeys with their eyes closed.

They're dead, but why didn't anyone suspect that before? Neither the observers and dispatchers sitting on the monitors nor the ATSS personnel stationed on-site?

A strong sense of unease crept up the sapling's spine.

Revisiting Izu: Chapter 247 The Mystery of the Videotape

Chapter 247

'Did Xiao Chen also receive this kind of videotape?'

'Hmm, it looks something like this.'

Chen Yi casually took a picture and sent it over.

Exactly the same!

The videotape's plastic casing was covered in stains, indicating it was at least fifty years old. There were no markings or numbers on the casing either. Clearly, few people use this old-fashioned video recorder nowadays, and even those interested in its contents wouldn't be able to access it.

Chen Yi pulled out a hidden razor blade from under the table, pried open the videotape by following the seam of the casing.

"A roulette wheel, with a magnetic coating..."

Structurally speaking, it's just an ordinary media medium, nothing special.

After closing the plastic case of the videotape again, Chen Yi took out luminol reagent and sprayed it on the videotape, which showed a little fluorescence.

Does the stain contain blood?

Chen Yi casually grabbed the phone from the table and quickly dialed the security guard's number.

"What's wrong?" A steady voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Uncle Miyamura, could you help me find out which security guard delivered the package to the sixteenth floor today?"

"Mr. Chen... please wait a moment."

The security guard on the other end of the phone didn't ask why, but instead quickly got to work.

"...No security guards delivered any packages to the sixteenth floor today...so what's wrong?"

"Check the security footage. There's a strange package at my door. I suspect it's a prank."

Chen Yi explained.

"Push forward... Chen Jun, is it a small box?"

"Yes, I took it back."

"This little box appeared out of thin air."

"...?"

......

The box appeared out of thin air on the ground about two minutes before Chen Yi opened the door, without making a sound, and there were no obvious signs such as footsteps in the video.

"Have you seen the thermal imaging video?" Chen Yi pressed.

Surely we can't even see it with thermal imaging? That would be truly bizarre.

"Thermal imaging...is also unavailable."

The voiceprint file did not change significantly before and after the videotape appeared, and the corridor remained quiet until Chen Yi opened the door, which was the first time it vibrated.

Humidity and temperature showed no abnormal changes, but since these two parameters were measured every twenty minutes, the interval was a bit too large to be a reliable indicator.

......

"What is Chen studying?"

Kawasaki finished building another drone and, during a short break, passed by Chen Yi and saw him studying something strange. He casually asked him about it.

"Oh, the cursed videotape."

"!"

Chen Yi felt Kawasaki Saki visibly tremble behind him and turned around in confusion.

"what happened?"

"A cursed videotape...?"

"Hmm, it looks like it. A friend of mine received this too... By the way, why are you so scared?"

Chen Yi was somewhat puzzled.

"Kawasaki-kun is afraid of ghosts."

Kroos walked over from the side, casually took the bowl of grapes that was on Chen Yi's desk, and gave him a reminder.

"Is this cursed videotape... a prank or real?"

"It cannot be ruled out that it is true."

However, Chen Yi's viewpoint is not some kind of supernatural speculation, but rather another kind of pseudo-human.

"However, if the temperature remains constant, thermal imaging is insensitive, and none of the indicators change...?"

This is a bit tricky. As we all know, physics is very rigorous. As long as you move, you will generate heat. So there is no reason why the culprit could swagger around and put the videotape at his door without causing any changes in the data of the observation tools.

If things are like this, then there's no difference between these pseudo-people and those on the supernatural side. Phobia also has the chilling effect of being afraid of ghosts.

Chen Yi pieced the videotape back together, intending to take it to the garbage station in the parking lot downstairs to throw it away.

......

"No obvious external injuries were found on these monkeys, and the preliminary judgment is that they did not die from violence."

"No toxic substances were extracted from the digestive system, so it was not poisoning."

Previously unnoticed test reports were unearthed from the scattered clues.

Even with assistance from external organizations to resolve the issue of the fake human figures at the zoo, those on-site were still unable to make further progress due to cognitive interference.

Even so, the experienced ATSS operators still tried different methods despite the mostly unfavorable conditions.

After learning of the unusual behavior of the monkey troop, they became suspicious of the ever-increasing amount of feed. Unfortunately, the team members entered the observation area with thermal imaging and other multi-dimensional detection equipment but found nothing amiss.

"..."

The sapling leaned against the railing, holding a stone shard in its hand.

This stone slab is a bit darker in color than the other stone slabs in the viewing area, and it was held by a monkey even after it died.

With the sharp side of the stone facing down, gently scratch the stainless steel railing, leaving a noticeable mark.

Hard and sharp.

"The meaning on the stone slab..."

A fork, a book, and some whirlpools?

Miao Mu began to recall the knowledge she had learned in high school: Are monkeys animals that can communicate using symbols?

"Miaomu, it's time to leave."

The deputy commander-in-chief came over to inform him.

"Go? Where are you going?"

Miao Mu asked instinctively.

"Let's call it a day and then go visit the SWAT team members who were disabled at the zoo."

"Why...?" Miao Mu put the stone fragment into his pocket.

The situation is under control, but the threat has not been eliminated.

“A higher-level unit has taken over, even higher than Superintendent Shiratori.”

The deputy commander sighed and said.

"What's happening here isn't cognitive pollution at all; it's already the beginning of reality distortion."

"..."

silence.

Miao Mu knew what it was, but he had only heard of it in some materials from the police academy and had never encountered it once in his more than 30 years of police service.

Now we've met.

"understood."

......

'Xiao Chen probably hasn't read the contents, right?'

Yui placed the videotape on the table, standing far away, and after a long while, as if waking from a dream, she asked Chen Yi about it.

However, Chen Yi did not reply.