Task Arrangements

At this time, many people in the "Youlong Restaurant" were hearing about this for the first time. Even Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er, although they had heard that Lao Xia refused to cooperate because he discovered that a certain doctor's mental evaluation was suspicious, so someone secretly broke into her home to install surveillance cameras, which she and Xiang Kun happened to catch, called the police and had them arrested, and the whole case was thoroughly investigated, they did not know the process and details of Xiang Kun beating up the two thugs that night.

As the police officer who handled the case, Zhao Feng's account of the details was naturally very convincing. In addition, the two main characters in the case were both in the restaurant and were nearby, making the story even more interesting and relatable.

When Zhao Feng recounted how the thug cried and begged the police as if they were his saviors, everyone found it amusing.

Liang Yulong couldn't help but laugh, "Those two are really pitiful to have met Xiang Kun and Lao Xia."

Zhao Feng said, "Indeed, don't be fooled by how badly they were beaten by Mr. Xiang and Dr. Xia. If an ordinary person encountered them, the situation would be very different. These people dare to use knives; they are all vicious and ruthless."

Xia Tianhuo exclaimed in surprise, "So the case you mentioned this afternoon, the Dr. Xia, is our Lao Xia! Old Wang and I were talking about the same apple, and you're talking about the same Dr. Xia. What a coincidence!"

Zhao Feng laughed and said, "I only confirmed it after seeing Mr. Xiang and Dr. Xia."

When he greeted Xiang Kun and told everyone about the case before the Lunar New Year, he was secretly observing the reactions and expressions of the other people.

From his observation, it seemed that no one knew about Xiang Kun and Dr. Xia's performance in that case before the New Year, but the curiosity they showed did not contain much surprise.

You see, when he was handling this case, he was quite surprised by the skills of Xiang Kun, the bald programmer, and by the performance of Xia Libing, the psychiatrist. Both of them were incredibly calm and their reactions were remarkably decisive. Later, he checked Xiang Kun's information and discovered that this "veteran programmer" had actually performed numerous acts of bravery in Shenhai, including apprehending fugitives, capturing human traffickers, and reporting to the police multiple times. As for Dr. Xia, her records and information were even more normal, showing nothing unusual.

Zhao Feng's biggest question and curiosity about Xiang Kun at the time was how a "senior programmer" with no military experience or systematic combat training could so easily deal with two armed thugs.

Now it seems that not only Dr. Xia, who was present at the time and appeared calm, but also Xiang Kun's other friends, Ms. Tang, Ms. Yang, and even "Brother Chu" and "Director Liu," did not seem too surprised by Xiang Kun's formidable fighting skills. They had a feeling that "he really can do such a thing." Their focus and curiosity were not on why Xiang Kun was so good at fighting, but on Xiang Kun fought.

However, after getting others involved in the conversation, he still couldn't quite understand why Xiang Kun had such strong skills, and why others took it for granted.

Originally, Zhao Feng and Wang De'an's main purpose in coming to Tongshi Town was to find Xia Tianhuo. Their main purpose had nothing to do with Xiang Kun, Xia Libing, and others. Even if Xiang Kun and Xia Libing were the parties involved in the case he was very curious about before the New Year, he would not be distracted by investigating it at this time. So it would be best if he could get an answer, but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't get an answer. There would be plenty of time in the future.

But just before 11 o'clock, Xiang Kun, Xia Libing, Yang Zhen'er, Tang Baona, and others set off to return to Chongyun Village, You Meng, Xia Tianhuo, and others closed their shops and went home, and Zhao Feng and Wang De'an were also about to hitch a ride with Xia Tianhuo to a nearby hotel, Zhao Feng's phone received a message from the information collection department.

First-hand information obtained by the information gathering department indicates that, according to the personal accounts of passengers on the ill-fated flight, after a flock of birds struck the plane and the right engine caught fire after hitting multiple birds, a little girl in a white dress did indeed stand outside the cabin and on the wing. In a way that is completely incomprehensible, she intercepted other birds that continued to strike the engine and wing, protecting the plane from further impacts.

Then the little girl disappeared without warning, just as she had appeared.

Almost all the passengers on that flight who were questioned and interviewed had similar accounts: the little girl in the white dress appeared not only on one wing, but on both wings, and stayed there for a long time, so almost 70 to 80 percent of the passengers in the cabin saw the little girl.

Even without being interviewed or questioned, these passengers have posted related information on their social media. Some believe they saw angels, some say it was a hallucination in the sky, and some think it was some kind of superpowered person saving the plane. They even believe that the plane's successful landing at the airport was a manifestation of some kind of superpower.

This is sufficient proof that the story of a little girl in a white dress appearing outside the plane to protect it was not fabricated by individual passengers or social media outlets for sensationalism and traffic.

This greatly puzzled Zhao Feng. Why were Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er all keeping quiet about this matter?

Even if their seats were in the wrong place, with their view obstructed and unable to see the little girl in the white dress outside, it's impossible that they would be completely unaware of the incident and unwilling to talk about it, given that most passengers in the cabin could have seen it.

The excuses that they were blindfolded, unconscious, or didn't notice are clearly just that—excuses. Normally, even if they really didn't see it, they would have at least known about it.

Zhao Feng then sent a message to the members of the information gathering department, asking them to check the passenger list of that passenger plane and the seating chart of those passengers on the plane.

He quickly obtained the seating chart and passenger information, discovering that Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen'er were sitting in the same row, and from their seats, they could clearly see the situation on the wing outside through the adjacent porthole.

Xiang Kun and his two companions are behaving strangely; what are they hiding?

Do they really know something, which is why they're unwilling to talk about the little girl in the white dress who appeared on the plane?

He recalled the expressions on the three men's faces when Xiang Kun and the others first returned to the store and mentioned this matter.

All three looked relaxed, but they all seemed to be hiding something from each other about what happened on the plane, especially Yang Zhen'er, who inexplicably had a hint of smugness about her.

Zhao Feng suddenly spoke up and asked Xia Tianhuo, who was driving, "Mr. Xia, you said that when you were kidnapped, it was your third uncle and aunt who called your parents. So you notified your third uncle and aunt first? I overheard you talking earlier and you mentioned that your third uncle and aunt work in Citong City. Were you with them at the time, Dr. Xia? Did you also know about your kidnapping?"

Xia Tianhuo's grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly, not out of nervousness but out of excitement. This question revealed a lot of information!

During his first interview with Zhao Feng and his team in Myanmar, he mentioned that he made the ransom call to relatives in China, but he didn't mention Lao Xia. Now, after meeting Lao Xia, they proactively asked if Lao Xia knew about the kidnapping immediately. Perhaps there's a connection? Have they discovered something special about Lao Xia that they believe is related to what happened in Myanmar?

Although inwardly excited, Xia Tianhuo remained outwardly calm and replied casually, "He should be there. He's with my third uncle and aunt." After a slight pause, he jokingly asked, "Why are you suddenly asking this? Do you think my Lao Xia is good at fighting, and that it has something to do with my rescue?"

"No, that's not it. Actually, I exaggerated a bit when I told you about the case before. Only Mr. Xiang. Xiang actually did the dirty work; Dr. Xia didn't... By the way, is Mr. Xiang Dr. Xia's boyfriend? Then when they were raising the ransom in Citong City, he should have been with Dr. Xia, right?"

"Well, I'm not too sure about that. But didn't you and Old Wang say before that the kidnappers on the ship were more likely to have been 'hypnotized' and then killed each other? Besides the kidnappers and crew, the Myanmar police haven't found any trace of third-party involvement in the fight." Xia Tianhuo asked, while seemingly casually glancing at Zhao and Wang in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

Zhao Feng laughed and said, "To 'hypnotize,' there needs to be a source of 'hypnosis.'"

Just as he was about to say something more, his phone suddenly received another message from the information collection department. He glanced at it on his lap and discovered that they had found out that Old Du's godson was currently in Tongshi Town, and that this godson had even worked at the "Youlong Restaurant" and was now engaged in the catering industry—running a restaurant in Tongshi Town.

This greatly surprised Zhao Feng. When the information gathering department found information about Old Du's godson, they didn't mention that he was in Tongshi Town. They only said that after his release from prison, he had been working for his cousin, a big boss who owned a company. Because the investigation of that "godson" was not a high priority, they didn't think about contacting him immediately.

Unexpectedly, the "godson" of Old Du, who was supposed to be working for his cousin's husband, was also in Tongshi Town and had a connection with the "Youlong Restaurant"!

Zhao Feng's attention immediately shifted to his "godson," and he stopped talking to Xia Tianhuo, only offering brief responses when Xia asked him questions.

However, this performance made Xia Tianhuo feel that he had grasped something.

The hotel where Zhao Feng and Wang De'an were staying was very close to the pedestrian street, so the car arrived quickly. Before the two got out of the car, Xia Tianhuo greeted them with a smile, "You two should get some rest first. We can have dinner and chat more tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you for your hospitality tonight, Mr. Xia. By the way, if possible, could you please arrange for Mr. Xiang and Dr. Xia to have dinner together tomorrow? They've really survived a close call and are bound to have good fortune. Since we've run into them, we'd like to interview them about the accident." Zhao Feng said.

"Well, I'll ask them about it for you later," Xia Tianhuo said thoughtfully.

After watching Xia Tianhuo's car leave, Zhao Feng was about to discuss the situation of Old Du's "godson" with Wang De'an when Wang De'an suddenly handed him the thick black tablet provided by the company.

Upon inspection, he discovered it was a mission sent by Mr. Liang, instructing them to join forces with an investigation team from Wushu Mountain and travel together to Jianzhou to investigate the "strange phenomena" that had occurred on the passenger plane.

Looking at the mission information, Zhao Feng frowned slightly. "Why are there so many things and so much information all of a sudden?"

Wang De'an nodded. "I feel the same way."

Xiang Kun, who had already arrived at Chongyun Village, still had complete control over Zhao Feng and Wang De'an's situation through Alice. What information they received, in which direction they would think and investigate, what they would do next, and what they could find out were all within Xiang Kun and Alice's calculations. Alice had already built relatively complete cognitive models for both of them, and with control over the information input variables, most of their behavior could be predicted and guided.

After speculating that the "mutated bird's" interception and attack on the passenger plane was aimed at him, and that the "Ultimate Predator" was 99% behind it, Xiang Kun's overall action plan underwent a major change. Although some things were not yet very certain, they had to be brought forward.

Because there is no doubt that the "Ultimate Predator" felt threatened and, once it entered what Academician Shen called the "sensitive state," it would inevitably engage in continuous operations.

If Xiang Kun were the only person in the world, or if he were indifferent to those around him, he might be able to continue steadily advancing according to his own ideas and plans. But he is not like that. As is the case today, if the plane has a problem and has to make an emergency landing outside the airport, ultimately causing an air disaster, he might not die, but the people on the plane and those who might be affected below will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were on the plane.

Therefore, he had to move his plan forward and strike first against the "Ultimate Predator." Even if the plan ultimately failed, he needed to ensure that the "Ultimate Predator" focused all its attention on him, leaving it no time to engage in any underhanded dealings that might affect those around it.

In his plan, "Shenxing Technology," or rather "Mr. Liang," is a crucial component.

After returning home, Yang Zhen'er pulled Lao Xia along, and they went to the rooftop together, saying that they had some private things to talk about with each other.

Seeing her best friend's unusual behavior, Tang Baona didn't go over to join in the fun. Instead, she stood here and there in the living room on the first floor, tilting her head and frowning slightly, as if she were inspecting the house's renovation.

If anyone else saw her like this, they would probably be very worried, thinking that she had almost been in a plane crash and was traumatized, or that she had some kind of mental problem.

But Xiang Kun wasn't worried at all, because he knew very well that Tang Baona wasn't frightened. She was just immersed in experiencing and testing her new sensory abilities and had simply forgotten herself.

So he didn't disturb Tang Baona's experience. He just went to the kitchen to make her a late-night snack. Although they had eaten quite a bit at the Youlong Restaurant, several hours had passed. What she was doing now would also consume a lot of her energy. She would definitely feel hungry when she came to her senses.

Since I made a late-night snack for Nana, Yang the Third and Lao Xia, who were whispering upstairs, will definitely eat it too.