Soon, a large, transparent screen slowly descended from the ceiling of the circular conference room. After a flash of light, images began to appear on the screen.
The man named Robben sitting next to Shi Gaofei immediately stood up.
He was a serious-looking man, not very old, with dark skin from years spent in Africa. He immediately stood below the screen and bowed respectfully to each of the twelve screens around him. His back was ramrod straight, like a javelin, his expression solemn and dignified.
Soon, images began to appear on the screen, and Robben began to recount what had happened, accompanied by the images.
"Just three days ago, on Saturday evening, June 22nd. There were originally sixteen members in the branch. Due to a mission in Johannesburg, South Africa, four members were reassigned to handle the situation. Therefore, there were twelve members remaining. The list of those remaining is as follows: XX, XX, XX..."
Robben rattled off a list of names very clearly: "Among them was Hei San from the field team, who was the only headquarters field staff member left behind at the African branch at the time."
The screen showed footage of the African branch: at the foot of a hillside, there was a church-like building with a round roof and a Gothic architectural style. The gray walls were stained with bright red blood, and the building had become a ruin in the scene. More than half of the main structure had collapsed, and the ruins looked very tragic.
“That evening, I and two other companions drove out of the branch office to a village about 24 kilometers away to purchase some daily necessities. We also needed to conduct some routine liaison work. My trip with my two companions was approved by the branch office.” Robben’s voice was meticulous and his tone was serious as he slowly recounted, “We drove away at approximately 6:00 PM, because our appointment with the supplier in the town was around 6:30 PM. The attack occurred during that time.”
Here's what happened: About five minutes after I and three others drove away, our detectors received an alert from the African branch! So we immediately abandoned our plan to head to the town and turned back to try and get back to the branch. By the time we arrived, the battle was almost over.
Robben was interrupted as he finished speaking. It was a voice from the Hearts who asked, "So that means you left at exactly six o'clock, and when you got back, only about ten minutes had passed. The battle, if we're predicting, could have started in just over ten minutes?"
Robben thought about it seriously for a moment: "The actual time will be a little longer because the roads around the headquarters are not good, and even by car, the speed is not fast. From the time we leave to the time we get back, it will take about twenty minutes."
"More than twenty minutes! From the start to near the end of the battle? There were twelve people left behind. Apart from the three of you who went to the surrounding towns, there were nine people left in the African branch! Are you telling us that the enemy breached an African branch guarded by nine superhumans and possessing a certain level of automated defense in just over twenty minutes? They breached our African branch fortress in just twenty minutes?"
The woman with the Queen of Hearts finally revealed a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice.
Robben, after being questioned, remained silent for a moment before nodding: "Yes, that's right."
Then, Queen of Hearts posed a question to Shi Gaofei: "Mr. Shi Gaofei, regarding the architectural system of the African branch and the defensive devices installed during construction, you are an expert in this field, so please explain it to everyone first."
“Okay.” Shi Gaofei leaned back in his wheelchair and said calmly, “The main building of the African branch was completed six years ago, and the project at that time was approved by the committee. I won’t go into the budget for the main building here. In terms of defense, the African branch has a complete set of defense equipment, including a large energy detection radar, and the coverage area fully meets the standards stipulated by the organization.”
Meanwhile, around the perimeter of the branch, there are directional scanning electron scanners with a scanning range of 200 meters. I must clarify that I personally developed this equipment, and currently, our headquarters on Home Island is using this directional scanning device! It's just a larger version.
Furthermore, regarding attack methods, everyone can access the branch's architectural blueprints at any time. A total of four electromagnetic guns are deployed on the perimeter, and blast-proof electromagnetic shields are installed at the two main entrances! These electromagnetic shields can defend against most energy attacks, and their defensive strength reaches Grade A! The surrounding underground is laid with special nanomaterials and connected to an electromagnetic network, ensuring one thing: even someone with the ability to travel through time cannot sneak in or get close without alerting us.
I believe the power of the electromagnetic reaction network I personally developed is well-known to all the committee members present, so I won't elaborate. Furthermore, all these defensive forces can be directly controlled from the main control room in the branch office. I conducted a simulation test during the initial design phase, and according to my assessment, even if the operator in the control room is an ordinary person without any special abilities, the defensive forces controllable from the control room can sustain the defenses for at least forty minutes, even against a large-scale enemy attack. All of you committee members have seen the results of that initial simulation test.”
Shi Gaofei finished speaking calmly and then shut his mouth.
The Queen of Hearts still seemed somewhat dissatisfied with his answer and pressed further: "Then, Mr. Shi Gaofei, in your professional view, is it possible, or is there any doubt about this intrusion, or is it a case of dereliction of duty by human intervention...?"
"I'm sorry." Shi Gaofei looked at the screen of the Queen of Hearts, neither humble nor arrogant, and said calmly, "Ms. Queen of Hearts, I am just a simple researcher. I can only provide some information that I have. That's all! As for making judgments on specific matters, that is beyond my authority, and I will not make any guesses or assumptions. Therefore, I cannot answer your question."
He paused, his voice tinged with coldness and displeasure, and said coldly, "As for your hypothesis... I must say, such speculation is worthless! Because no equipment can be perfect. No matter how powerful a machine is, it still needs to be operated by a person. So there will always be loopholes, which is unavoidable. The word 'possible' itself implies unpredictability! There are many, many possibilities. Even if the main control room carelessly forgets to turn on the main control power... it could lead to the complete failure of the equipment! Although this possibility is very low, what I mean is, I only provide information, not any speculation."
He dared to defy the Queen of Hearts because Shi Gaofei held a superior and special position in the service company. He had the right to do so, but others were different.
The Queen of Hearts was clearly dissatisfied with Scowfield's answer and turned to Robben, asking, "And you, Mr. Robben, as a member of the African branch, do you have any valuable advice to offer regarding such an unusual event?"
Robben's previously serious face immediately flushed red. He gritted his teeth, clearly dissatisfied, but suppressed his emotions and slowly said, "The members of the African branch all strictly follow the regulations, so I don't think the problem lies with us! The possibility you mentioned... I don't think it exists. I can personally guarantee that we have absolutely not committed any dereliction of duty!"
The Queen of Hearts remained silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Please continue your report, Mr. Robben."
Robben's demeanor had softened; his face was flushed, and he resumed playing the temporarily suspended footage on the big screen, slowly continuing his narration:
"When the three of us drove back to the branch, the main entrance had already been breached, the electromagnetic net and shield were completely ineffective, the electromagnetic guns were destroyed, and the main entrance was blown up. The enemy was engaged in fierce combat with our members. Based on the situation at the time, I can confirm that there were more than twenty intruders. At least that many!"
At the time, I was wearing a portable detector, but according to the detector, we couldn't confirm the intruder's identity because they were clearly wearing devices that blocked detection. Moreover, even if we couldn't confirm their power level, our detector still couldn't determine their identity: because almost all of the intruders' characteristics—appearance, physique, abilities, and so on—were not recorded in our database! We even lost the database's auxiliary judgment! It's fair to say that the vast majority of intruders were a group of strangers, a group of superhumans we had never heard of before.”
As he spoke, some battle scenes began to appear on the big screen.
It's clear that the battle scenes were filmed from a human perspective.
"These are the photos taken by me using the portable detectors we carried during the battle, with the camera function turned on."
Robben spoke slowly.
The scene shows the main building, which resembles a church, still standing at dusk. However, the front entrance of the building is filled with flames, and many places on the surrounding lawn and square have been blasted into deep craters.
Meanwhile, the screen shook, and there seemed to be constant explosions. Figures flickered across the screen; a dozen figures moved about, some near, some far, some leaping onto the rooftop facade of a building. The clearest image was of a man wearing a mask, raising his hands. Then, a terrifying vortex, like a small tornado, appeared in the air, sweeping up the building's roof and almost completely ripping off the dome!
The service company staff who had been holding their ground on the rooftop windowsill, attempting to retaliate with electromagnetic guns, were immediately engulfed in the vortex.
The service organization is clearly in a difficult situation. Occasionally, a few of the service organization's superhumans fight back in the scene, but they are outnumbered and outgunned, and often one person has to deal with several enemies at the same time.
Shi Gaofei also saw Hei San in the picture!
Hei San's attire differed from the other service agents. She wore the black anti-electromagnetic leather suit unique to the field team, wielding a short dagger, and was simultaneously engaging in hand-to-hand combat with three enemies. Hei San's ability was close-quarters combat. She possessed C-level speed and agility, and also had a certain degree of mental attack power—her primary ability, a form of telekinesis, albeit at a lower level. While she couldn't control objects with her telekinesis, she could briefly release mental shockwaves. This caused some confusion for the enemies, disrupting their will and interfering with their minds. Even during combat, the enemies' brief disorientation could cause a momentary slowdown in their movements.
Unfortunately, the three enemies Hei San faced were all clearly powerful. One of them, judging from the naked eye, was obviously faster than Hei San. Another was probably a regenerative ability user, who, despite being stabbed twice by Hei San with a dagger, was able to quickly twist his body and attack again, his wounds automatically healing themselves.
Meanwhile, the other enemy stood at a distance, seemingly making various attempts to interfere.
Everyone present was a superhuman, and they immediately deduced from the scene that Hei San's third enemy also seemed to be skilled in some kind of mental interference. He was constantly releasing some kind of mental interference wave, causing Hei San to suffer repeated losses in a three-on-one situation, and his movements became increasingly sluggish.
The image is flickering between bright and dark, and many parts are blurry. It is clearly pieced together from different sections in post-production.
"There was another situation at the time. Our detector seemed to be interfered with by some force. It seemed that the shielding equipment the other side had not only interfered with our detection function, but also interfered with the normal operation of the instruments. So the recording process was interrupted several times. The picture you see now is the result of reconnecting all the content that my detector saw."
Robben slowly said, "When the three of us rushed back, we immediately joined the battle. Unfortunately, the three of us—me and the other two—were all from the branch liaison office, and our abilities weren't suited for combat. One of my colleagues had shorthand, and another from the liaison office had superhuman language simulation—but these abilities couldn't offer us any valuable help in the battle, so they were quickly killed. As for me, I had received some training, and my ability was simple invisibility. With some combat training, I could barely serve as a combatant. But unfortunately, I'm not a combat-oriented ability user. In such a battle, I couldn't provide much help to my comrades, so I quickly..."
At this point, a hint of guilt flashed in Robben's eyes: "I was injured by the enemy and then passed out. The enemy who injured me was a guy who could manipulate metal with his bare hands. Because we didn't have any detectors, I could only guess that he might be manipulating metal or possessing magnetic abilities..."
"You mean you went into battle, got wounded, passed out, and that's how you survived?"
The one who spoke was the Jack of Spades, who hadn't said a word until now! That is, Thunder Fox!
“Yes,” Robben replied. “My injury was just healed last night after I returned to headquarters. I’m recovering in the treatment room at headquarters.”