Director Luo was so frustrated he wanted to smash something.
His mouth tasted bitter, and his heart was heavy with self-blame.
"Little Jiang, this is my fault. It's all my fault. If only I'd sent more people, maybe..."
"The monsters are in the shadows, and we're out in the open. If you'd sent more people, they could've sent more too. Do you even know how many Replicators there are?"
Director Luo froze, momentarily at a loss for words.
"I just don't get it. If they wanted that phone, why didn't they send someone after it earlier? Why wait until we sent people before they made their move? Was that a provocation, or an outright declaration of war?"
Director Luo couldn't make sense of it.
"There are two possibilities." Jiang Yue thought for a moment before speaking.
"First, they're sure the Replicator failed only recently, so they didn't have time to send another one over. It's also possible that moving their people around isn't easy. That would mean they have limited numbers."
"The second possibility is that the people they sent couldn't find the phone. The Replicator decided where to hide it on the spot. The monsters don't have advanced tracking technology, so they couldn't locate it. That's why they stayed hidden in the residential compound, waiting for your people to look for the phone, then swooped in at the last moment to snatch it..."
Either explanation seemed plausible.
Of course, neither possibility changed the outcome.
The phone had been stolen. For now, there was no hope of using it as evidence.
Hopefully, Old Han's team could find some clues to identify the other two Replicators.
Then, by comparing the identities the Replicators had possessed, they might be able to find a lead.
There was no denying that the phone being