Investigation Bureau

Biodata

Background / History

The state established the Anomaly Investigation Bureau after the Anomaly Game appeared and anomalies began killing people in large numbers. It gathered people capable of controlling anomalies, adopting the strategy of using anomalies against anomalies 7.

Initially, government policy prohibited revealing anomalies to ordinary citizens. Luo Mu therefore investigated unusual phone activity at Chen Yu’s school without explaining its true nature, instead leaving emergency contact information and warnings about specific dangers 4.

The Bureau’s combat operations had already produced severe losses: Zhang Ping recalls thirteen elite Ghost Controllers being wiped out in a battle against anomalies two years before the Linjiang school crisis 47.

Organization

Divisions

Leadership and Personnel

Authority & Operations

Civil Authority and Public Protection

• Interdepartmental authority: Li Kun reports that the Bureau has become Linjiang City’s highest-authority department and can require other departments to cooperate. Its takeover of school consolidation makes the matter a provincial S-class secret 33.
• Screening and protection: The Linjiang branch begins screening residents and promises protection to anyone whose phone displays abnormalities 14.
• Civilian evacuation: Police forward anomaly reports to the Bureau and cooperate in evacuating residents near Ghost Infant outbreaks 51.
• Concealed disaster response: Civilians near the Provincial Museum are evacuated under other pretexts after it becomes a major anomaly disaster zone 40.
• Restricted zones: The Bureau excludes civilians from its vault grounds and later establishes a guarded perimeter around the school’s back mountain 19 69.

Intelligence and Communications

• Anomalous surveillance: The Investigation Team supplements technological drones with ghosts capable of gathering and transmitting information. Ghost Drone provides overhead footage of the school’s back mountain where conventional cameras are absent 52.
• Official forum presence: Its verified account publishes anomaly bounties divided by difficulty and announces resolved incidents 7 19.
• Database access: Bureau personnel obtain Nightfall’s phone number through his platform registration during the Anomaly Computer emergency 17 18.
• Field communications: Dedicated operators receive mission reports through Bureau-issued phones; Luo Mu guides Nightfall through the vault by headset 20 31.

Recruitment and External Cooperation

• Developing recruits: Luo Mu offers Han Ningning institutional assistance with controlling her anomaly, identifying her five-star potential as a valuable addition to the Bureau 7.
• Hiring independent controllers: The Bureau seeks Xu Ao’s assistance for the Linjiang Central Hotel mission and insists on arranging support rather than allowing an unknown controller to proceed unsupported 8 13.
• Accommodating powerful outsiders: After Nightfall declines meetings and contact requests, the Bureau increasingly respects his anonymity. Zhang Ping instructs personnel to maintain goodwill with top-tier controllers even if recruitment is impossible 15 20 31.
• Compensation: Rewards include money, gold, and access to sealed anomalies. The Anomaly Zoo mission receives an additional one hundred kilograms of gold 18 19 31.

Emergency Measures

• City containment: During the Rift emergency, Zhang Ping orders Linjiang sealed off and nearby cities prepared for defense 48.
• Destruction contingency: Following headquarters-level deliberation over a Level One danger, the Bureau can authorize sealing off and destroying an overrun city, even if survivors remain. This is considered during the Ghost Infant outbreak, not described as carried out 52.
• Support system: The Bureau has six named support categories: gold, purple, red, blue, green, and white. Xie Tianhao requests “Level One Red support” during the duplicate-identity emergency 72.
• Regional reinforcement: Headquarters dispatches Southern War Zone personnel during the Ghost Infant crisis and controllers from nearby cities and the Imperial Capital after the Rift collapses 58 62 69.

Facilities & Resources

Linjiang Anomaly Vault

• Location: A forbidden suburban site surrounded by mountains, with an entrance concealed among trees 19.
• Security: Armed guards, a coded hidden entrance, monitoring, and remote headset guidance 20.
• Containment: A gold-forged door, gold furnishings, and patterned golden chests used to seal anomalies. Chen Yu detects an unusual influence from the patterns 20.
• Institutional importance: Luo Mu calls it the Bureau’s most important central location 20.

The Bureau initially avoids confronting the Level 7 Corpse Spot Anomaly wandering near the vault and issues no bounty while it remains relatively inactive. Its later attack exposes the limits of the vault’s protection until Nightfall eliminates it 20 21.

Relationships

• Chen Yu / Nightfall / Zoo Mystery Man — Independent collaborator and priority recruitment target, not a Bureau member. The Bureau initially treats Nightfall and the Zoo Mystery Man as separate experts; field personnel later learn that they share an identity. Chen Yu becomes its de facto battlefield leader during the Rift crisis 14 31 48 61.
• Bizarre Society — Independent civilian organization whose members the Bureau seeks to hire. Both organizations want to recruit Nightfall; Bizarre Society later helps rally private controllers during the citywide emergency 8 13 14 59.
• Southern War Zone — Emergency reinforcement force dispatched through headquarters. Captain Xie Tianhao coordinates with Zhang Ping and later requests additional Bureau support 58 62 72.
• Local Police — Cooperating authorities who relay reports and videos of anomalous incidents and assist with civilian evacuation 51.
• Apocalypse / Yang Wei — Hostile controllers under investigation. The Bureau identifies Yang Wei’s involvement in the Provincial Museum incident and welcomes reports of his defeat, although his apparent death proves deceptive 40 47 51.

Major Operations

Notable Quotes

“No anomaly appeased, no Buddha achieved.”
— Bureau motto stated during the Anomaly Computer crisis 18

“Every one of you in the Investigation Bureau’s divisions is a guardian deity of this city.”
— Zhang Ping to Luo Mu 31