Several hours later, Chen Chen switched into another set of clothes after going through an X-ray. All metal objects were removed from him and he was taken to an empty room by the two men in black.
The design of the room was peculiar. It was approximately twenty square meters in size and was brightly illuminated by the dozens of lamps lined along the ceiling. In the middle of the room, there was a table and two chairs while floor mirrors that stood at waist length decorated the four walls.
Cameras were installed in each corner and recorded everything happening inside the room.
As Chen Chen entered, one of the security asked him to sit on one of the chairs.
Unlike the chairs on the opposite end of the table, the one Chen Chen sat on did not have a backrest.
It also did not have a horizontal bar that served as a footrest like regular chairs. Instead of calling it a chair, it would be more appropriate to describe it as a stool.
At one point, Chen Chen was deeply interested in studying criminal psychology. He immediately recognized at first glance that the room was intentionally designed to make his conversation with the FBI agents as uncomfortable as possible.
The chair without a backrest was designed this way to strip away his sense of security. Without a proper footrest, his sense of balance was taken away as well. The irritating brightness coupled with the cold color temperature in the room made it so that it was easy to become disassociated after staying in the room for a prolonged period.
When Chen Chen saw the mirrors, he immediately determined that there were probably at least ten psychologists hiding behind them, observing and dissecting every move he made…
This room was far better equipped than regular interrogation rooms seen in police stations.
After Chen Chen sat down on his uncomfortable chair, the two men in black stood on guard behind him with their arms behind their backs. Although Chen Chen was not strapped with handcuffs, this was essentially the same thing as being cuffed.
Within another ten seconds, the door opened again. A young lady in office attire that wore a stone-cold expression stepped into the room. She wore a pair of gold-framed glasses and as she strode across the room, her heels would click against the marble floor and produce striking noises.
Chen Chen only spared a curious glance before averting his sight away from her.
“Clack!”
When the lady came to the opposite end of the table, she suddenly pulled out a leather whip and slammed it on the table with all her might. Chen Chen was shocked by this. She immediately started. “Chen Chen, male, 19 years old, 20th-grade student in the Department of Biological Sciences of Shangdu Jiaotong University, a native of Handu. Third grade of elementary school, broke a window in the school and was punished by the class teacher and parents. Second grade of junior high school, got in trouble with the school for fighting. Second grade of high school…”
The lady began narrating the events that occurred to Chen Chen throughout his childhood, some of them Chen Chen had even almost completely forgotten about. After she finished her sequence, she asked icily, “Chen Chen, do you understand the situation you are in right now?”
Chen Chen could not help but scratch his head when he heard this and said in a slightly troubled voice, “Sorry, I have no clue. Anyway, why are you dressed so much like the actors in the adult movies I’ve saved on my computer? Are you going to seduce me now?”
“What did you say?” The lady’s eyebrows flared up and her voice grew harsher at this mention.
“I have to admit that you agents have done your homework well. You even know what kind of movies I’ve saved on my computer.”
Chen Chen shook his head and looked slightly disappointed as he said this, “But I think you guys have this mixed up because these adult movies line up better with my dorm leader Wang Wei’s taste. A few days ago, he had to borrow his girlfriend’s computer so he transferred his videos to my computer to hide them. I’m more of an innocent schoolgirl type if I’m being honest…”
“The audacity!”
Before Chen Chen could finish, the lady slammed the table. The sudden loud burst echoed across Chen Chen’s eardrums.
Chen Chen subconsciously craned his neck to the side and covered his ears. His expression grew several degrees colder as he did this. “Enough! Let’s not discuss these unsavory topics for now. Haven’t the FBI had enough of these cases of disappearing students? Let’s talk about how we’re going to solve this problem.”
“You…”
The lady flicked her eyebrows and grew even more agitated. Before she could go on another rampage, the voice of another man came from somewhere in the interrogation room. “Shen Qi, that’s enough.”
The sound traveled from all sides of the room in a three-dimensional stereo pattern. As Chen Chen started to scan his surroundings, the entrance to the interrogation room opened again. This time, a man with ashen gray hair and a stern expression walked in.
“Director, he…”
The lady quickly approached the man and tried to explain herself. The man quickly waved her away and she had no choice but to step to the side. This man came before the table.
Director?
The moment this person announced his presence, Chen Chen began sizing him up. This man appeared to be somewhere in his mid-fifties. His expression was like iron. The ends of his hair stood up like sharp needles in a flat top style. He undoubtedly had the most intimidating aura Chen Chen had ever witnessed in person.
While Chen Chen was sizing this man up, the same favor was being returned as well. The newly-arrived man only started speaking after he sat down. The tone in which he spoke suggested that this man was not to be questioned. “Chen Chen, we’ve gone through your notes. We can meet your stated conditions.”
“Your ranking isn’t high enough.”
However, Chen Chen only shook his head and answered formally, “Branch director still falls a little short of what I requested.”
“Insolent!”
The girl called Shen Qi quickly howled at Chen Chen angrily. Her superior promptly raised a hand to stop her while he addressed Chen Chen, seemingly unbothered. “Of course, I understand that my ranking doesn’t meet your stated requirement. We can see to it that you get to speak to the core officials of the Mainland. Unfortunately, due to the recent cases of disappearances, they are unable to come in person. However, I can arrange for you to speak with them in a video call.”
Chen Chen was relieved when he heard this. “Alright, I’m fine with that.”
The man seemed somewhat relieved when he heard this. Meanwhile, he moved the chair under him to the side of the table.
Chen Chen quickly sensed something happening as he raised his head and looked at the mirror in front of him. He saw the mirror flash before turning into a dark panel and heard muffled noise coming out of it.
What appeared to be a regular piece of mirror had been an electronic display all this time!
Following another flash, the image of a small conference room immediately came into view.
Chen Chen could not stop himself from tightening up and breathing in a drag of cold air when he saw the image displayed before him. What he saw before him were familiar faces that regularly appeared on television!
This was a meeting with the highest-level officials of the Central Continent branch!
“How’s this for satisfying your conditions?”
The man seated at the side of the table turned to him and asked.
Chen Chen inspected the people exchanging silent whispers among themselves who occasionally stole glances in his direction, he nodded. “Yes, if this is still not satisfactory, nothing else could cut it anymore. Judging by this, I take it that you guys already know about the USB drive?”
“How did you know?” The man perched an eyebrow.
“I doubt that the ongoing spiritual abnormality in Shangdu that hasn’t even got to its worst stages is enough to demand an audience with the council.”
Chen Chen smiled. “I’d wager that what warranted you guys’ attention has more to do with the USB drive I possess. I think it’s rather clear that you guys got to Li Bo before this and found out about the USB drive used to instantiate objects from movies from him. This is the primary reason you guys invested this much effort.”
“You’re a smart one. It’d be a waste to not become a detective.”
The man nodded when he heard Chen Chen’s remark and expressed. “From the very beginning until now, you’ve been trying to stake your place in the driver seat of this negotiation. Apart from this being a sign of your intelligence, it’s also a telltale sign of how nervous you’ve been feeling. There’s no need for any of this, it’s wiser to hand the USB drive to us because there’s no way you can control it.”
The man pointed at the screen to his side. “Now that there are so many witnesses, I suppose you won’t have to be worried about me killing you and taking it by force?”
“You don’t have to tell me that, I already know you weren’t going to do that anyway.”
Chen Chen frowned. “Otherwise I wouldn’t claim to know how to fix this abnormality in my notes.”
“Spiritual abnormality, so that’s what you’re naming this?”
The man held up the notes Chen Chen referred to and nodded amiably. “Not bad, so where did you put the USB drive?”
“From the back entrance of the Roman Holiday Hotel on Wuhe Street, take twenty-five steps to the left. On the bottom of the left wall, you should spot a crack in the wall. That’s where the USB flash drive is hidden.”
Chen Chen answered without hesitation, “As for the shape of the USB drive, I’m sure Li Bo has told you about it.”
“Excellent, let’s hope it’s still there.”
The man was silently relieved at how Chen Chen revealed its location without much trouble. He originally thought that Chen Chen would raise more conditions but it turned out this young man had surprised him with how cooperative he was.
At this moment, he could not help but take interest in this well-guarded while at the same time strangely calm young man.
“Chen Chen, according to your notes, your method of fixing this crisis is to use the power of the USB drive. In that case, why didn’t you do it yourself with the USB drive? Say, put an exorcist movie into the drive to instantiate the relevant tools for purging the ghost?”
The girl called Shen Qi raised the question again. “Is it because of certain limitations of the USB drive?”
“The problem is a lack of power.”
Chen Chen nodded amiably as a show of sincerity. He had to protect himself as well, which was why he gave away the location of the USB flash drive without any resistance. It would not make much sense now to be stubborn, so he laid everything on the table. “The USB drive needs to be powered to instantiate objects. After releasing the entities in four horror films, there’s no longer any power left in the USB drive.”
“What’s the energy source? How can we recharge it?”
It was neither Shen Qi nor the branch director who raised this question, but one of the men on the screen opposite Chen Chen.
Chen Chen let the silence linger for a moment. He considered for a bit and instead of telling them about the rules of the USB drive which he was well acquainted with, he pretended to be unsure. “I think it’s electricity.”
“How much electricity?” the man on the screen asked.
“A lot.”
Chen Chen smiled. “The specifics can be obtained by using Einstein’s mass-energy equation.”
Everyone’s faces turned when they heard this. Going by the energy conversion equation, for each gram of the item they planned to instantiate, at least an hour’s worth of electricity used to power an international metropolis would be required.
Chen Chen did not clarify that they did not need that much energy. The reason he did so was that he wanted to inject a sense of urgency into them. After all, he was still infected with the Kayako curse at the moment.
An eerie silence quickly descended on the conference room.
It was then when another man wearing a suit entered the interrogation room and came beside the branch director and whispered something into his ears. The branch director was immediately relieved upon receiving the message and sent the agent away with a nod before turning to Chen Chen. “We found the USB drive.”
With that, he immediately got up and bowed earnestly at Chen Chen. “I’d like to thank you on behalf of the Central Continent and the Earth Federation. If the USB drive’s properties are just as you described, it must be an extremely high-tech object. This will be greatly beneficial to mankind!”
“Don’t get too excited just yet.”
“Leave all that aside and worry about how you guys are going to charge the USB drive first. The top priority now is to deal with the Ju-on curse, otherwise, you may find that by tomorrow, the disappearance is going to spread beyond Shangdu and expand across the entire Mainland.”
The branch director answered gravely, “We’ve considered the possibility of this as well and have already quarantined all of the people who left the school. Even the ones who returned home by taking the train or planes will be quarantined by the officials at their destinations upon their arrival. Even the public officers that have entered the dormitory have been quarantined as well. There’s nothing to worry about.”
D*mn!
When Chen Chen heard this, he realized that he had been worrying too much over nothing. The fully unleashed strength of the country was certainly not to be underestimated. To think that tens of thousands of people could be quarantined without the outside world even catching wind of it, he was thoroughly impressed.
While Chen Chen silently marveled at this, the entrance to the interrogation room suddenly burst open. A man in black charged inside nervously while exclaiming, “This is bad, the USB drive broke when we tried to charge it just now!”
“What!”
The color on Chen Chen’s face was immediately drained away.
The USB drive already came with a set of rules on how it should be charged which clearly stated that it could not be damaged regardless of the voltage running through it. How did it manage to break?
Perhaps the FBI was trying to deceive the council and the branch director was a foreign spy trying to snatch away the USB drive?
Chen Chen debunked this theory as soon as he came up with it.
It was true that the Earth Federation was just a shell of its former self and the FBI that was originally meant to be under the jurisdiction of the Earth Federation had now become the manpower of each continent. Still, he heavily doubted that the situation had become hectic enough that they would try to snatch the USB drive right under the prying eyes of the head council. Besides, would the FBI have not some insurance in place to prevent such a scenario?
Unless there were other spies?
Countless speculations flashed through Chen Chen’s mind in an instant, but most of them were too much of a stretch to be believable.
It was not only Chen Chen who showed such a drastic reaction as the same reaction could be observed on all the people present at the scene. Inside the screen, many of the men glared daggers at the branch director seated beside Chen Chen. The branch director was sweating endlessly.
There was no question about it. They had also immediately suspected that this was the work of the branch director based on a logical assumption.