"Ready?"
"3, 2, 1... open."
Inside a laboratory within the base, a fully outfitted experimenter pulled open the room's door. A vast expanse of pitch-black emptiness immediately greeted their eyes, and the experimenter was instantly shoved outward by the pressure differential.
"It's space! Close the door immediately!"
A mechanical arm above the door pushed the door panel, slamming it shut.
At the same time, the stabilizer item on the experimenter's body activated, promptly regaining control of their body and preventing them from being blown out into the vacuum of space by the pressure difference.
"Bang!"
The door slammed shut with force, and the experimenter let out a long breath.
In the external monitoring area, the experiment's designers and assistants wore expressions of disappointment, and Zhang Minglu was among them.
Beixing had issued the Door-Opening Prohibition, yet they still had a need for Coordinate Resonance Anchors.
Aside from scrambling to buy them on the open market, the only other way was to attempt production through officially designed door-opening experiments.
Zhang Minglu was a participant in the design of this experiment. The core concept was to open doors as frequently as possible while ensuring the experimenter's safety above all else.
The experimenter currently in the laboratory was, first of all, a High Mind Power Ascendant themselves, and secondly, carried multiple layers of protective items.
Behind them was also a special safety tether line. If the experimenter lost their balance, the tether would help correct their position.
Even with all these layers of protection, the experimenter had still encountered danger several times, making everyone on edge every time a door was opened.
Yet, after investing so much thought and effort, the result was that from the start of the experiments until now, with nearly ten thousand doors opened, they still hadn't obtained a single Anchor item.
The only Anchor item currently in Beixing's official possession was the one they'd scrambled to buy on the market, and it was now being studied by the research department.
This made Zhang Minglu and the others feel somewhat fortunate.
If it weren't for the Market department's quick reflexes in snatching up that one Anchor, at this rate, Beixing might not have gotten a single one before the Rules ended, completely losing their research opportunity.
"Everyone, let's take a short break."
Zhang Minglu wiped the sweat from his forehead. It wasn't hot in the base; all this perspiration was from sheer anxiety.
He pulled over a chair, and just as he sat down, someone from the intelligence department came looking for him.
The person said a few things, and after hearing them out, Zhang Minglu's expression drastically changed.
He made a special trip to the meeting room to personally confirm the facts with Li Meng, then immediately notified Silver Fox, asking her to assemble Chen Na, Bai Xuewu, Yang Ran, and Zhao Ming, a total of five people, to form an investigation team.
Afterward, he sent a private message to Guan Tong alone, explaining the matter.
Unexpectedly, Guan Tong replied almost immediately.
Guan Tong: "You don't need to worry about Shi Jingyi's safety. She's very safe right now. If you want to investigate, investigate who sold her out."
Seeing the private message reply, Zhang Minglu immediately realized that Shi Jingyi hadn't gone missing or been captured, but was with Guan Tong.
Zhang Minglu: "So she's with you. That puts our minds at ease. But what do you mean by 'sold out'? Was she really attacked?"
Guan Tong: "Suroma sent someone to teleport to her home while she was in secluded meditation, attempting to harm her. But only a few colleagues knew about her seclusion. Dr. Zhang, if you want to investigate, try to find the mole within the academy."
There weren't many people in the Countermeasures Research Office that Guan Tong could trust, but Zhang Minglu barely qualified.
The two had worked together for a long time, and their several collaborations had built up a certain level of trust.
Zhang Minglu looked at Guan Tong's private message and realized the severity of the situation.
If Shi Jingyi had merely been attacked, it wouldn't be that complicated. But if she'd been attacked after being betrayed by a traitor, the nature of the matter changed entirely.
Moreover, although the two were only communicating through text, Zhang Minglu could sense from Guan Tong's words that Guan Tong was genuinely furious this time.
Zhang Minglu: "We'll do our best to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. Shi Jingyi is one of the academy's main lecturers and an important member of the official system. No matter who's involved, we'll pursue this to the end."
Guan Tong: "Is that so? Then how come Duanmu Feng wasn't pursued to the end?"
Zhang Minglu looked at the message and didn't know how to respond for a moment.
He felt this was a difficult situation, because the words clearly indicated that Guan Tong had developed murderous intent toward Duan Weifeng.
If Guan Tong decided to kill someone, whether or not the Countermeasures Research Office chose to protect that person, Guan Tong wouldn't change his mind.
And then there was Gao Liangwei's side...
Zhang Minglu's head was spinning. He could only set aside the Duanmu Feng matter for now; finding the academy's traitor was more important.
A few minutes later, Silver Fox and her group of five assembled.
The five of them listened as Zhang Minglu explained the situation, and their expressions all turned serious.
Silver Fox squinted her eyes: "So, our mission is to investigate which teacher at the academy is the mole."
Bai Xuewu wasn't too enthusiastic: "Why do I have to go too? I'm not good at investigating things."
"The investigation will mainly be handled by Silver Fox and Zhao Ming," Zhang Minglu arranged. "You and Yang Ran are responsible for providing protection, and Chen Na handles reconnaissance and surveillance."
Since there was a traitor, once exposed, they might panic and resort to violence.
Without knowing the traitor's strength or whether they had backup plans, Zhang Minglu arranged for two extra combat personnel for safety.
Yang Ran caught the implication and said with some indignation: "Doctor, how come you think of me as just a reckless brute? I'm not stupid, you know. I used to watch detective dramas all the time!"
"...Heh."
Seeing no one respond, Yang Ran could only force a couple of awkward laughs to ease the embarrassment.
Chen Na shook her head as she analyzed: "Since Brother Guan said the attackers were Suromans, then that traitor must have connections with Suroma, right? Would checking everyone's phones yield any results?"
"Probably not," Zhao Ming said. "For something this confidential, they'd either contact through Mind Power items or use the encrypted platform of Ascendant Home. It's unlikely there's any communication evidence left behind."
"Oh, I see..."
"Xiao Na, don't be discouraged. Actually, what you said isn't without merit." Silver Fox said with a smile. "Now that this operation has failed, the mole in the academy will definitely be nervous after receiving the news, right? We can use exactly that to our advantage."
Zhao Ming immediately caught on to Silver Fox's idea: "You mean deliberately leaking word of the investigation to make the mole slip up out of panic?"
Silver Fox nodded and asked in return: "What do you think?"
Zhao Ming pondered for a moment: "I agree. First, notify those who knew about Shi Jingyi's seclusion, and secretly spread the word that we already have evidence of the traitor and plan to confront them face-to-face before making an arrest."
"That way, the real traitor might expose themselves out of fear, or refuse to meet and choose to run. As long as we keep a close watch and spot any irregularities, we can directly lock onto the target."
"Go with the two of your plan." After Zhang Minglu finished speaking, he added an extra warning: "The investigation needs to be completed as quickly as possible. I'm worried that if we drag this out too long, Guan Tong over there might..."
Chen Na found this strange: "What would Brother Guan do?"
Zhang Minglu looked at Chen Na and sighed: "Child, you call him Brother Guan so affectionately, but do you really know him that well?"
Chen Na frowned with displeasure: "Of course I do!"
"Then do you know how many people he's killed so far? Maybe you've never seen his cold side."
Chen Na first shook her head, then said with serious certainty: "No matter how many people Brother Guan has killed, he's still the best person in my heart. And the ones he killed must have all been bad people who deserved to die."
The moment these words came out, everyone present was shocked. Looking at Chen Na's utterly earnest expression, no one could doubt the sincerity behind her words.
Zhang Minglu was stunned, and for the first time, genuinely thought that perhaps agreeing to Chen Na's repeated requests to leave the base wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Because this young girl's trust in Guan Tong had already gone beyond rational trust, it was completely an emotional, blind faith.
He had no doubt that if Guan Tong ever asked Chen Na to steal internal intelligence from the base, she would agree without a moment's hesitation.
Even though he knew the probability of such a thing happening was extremely low, from a security standpoint, precautions should still be taken in advance.
Zhang Minglu thought that if base director Gao Liangwei heard Chen Na's words, he'd probably have similar thoughts.
No matter how strong or unique Chen Na's abilities were, if she herself posed a latent risk, if her loyalty to the base and the official system wasn't as strong as her loyalty to someone else, then she wasn't the most suitable Ascendant for the base.
Chen Na had been with Zhang Minglu the longest, and she could read his current thoughts. She smiled and changed the subject.
"I think we should get going now, right? Standing here chatting won't tell us who the traitor is. If anything, we might miss our window."
"Right," Bai Xuewu also said. "I've heard enough. Let's go."
The exchange between Zhang Minglu and Chen Na had already progressed to a point that made her uncomfortable to listen to.
"Alright, get moving then. Use the teleportation-type item to leave the base directly."