The Aggrieved Xia Tianhuo

Based on the CVR audio, the entire incident sequence largely matches the description given by the passenger plane pilot.

By monitoring changes in engine sound, the exact time of the bird attack can be determined, and some passengers' exclamations can be faintly heard, but the specific content is not very clear.

However, none of these voices could help them confirm the existence of the "little girl in the white dress".

"If only someone had taken a photo or video back then," Zhou Rui said with some regret.

"According to one passenger, he did take out his phone to take pictures, but the phone couldn't be unlocked; it seemed to be stuck," Ye Chong said, shaking his head.

By this time, they had arrived at another small conference room, where there were only eight of them, so they didn't need to hold back in their conversation.

Mi Qiao frowned and said, "This situation... seems familiar."

"Yes, during the mass hallucination event in Montamira, when a bunch of people saw the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant, everyone's cell phones stopped working. Not just cell phones, all electronic devices were affected, even the streetlights went out. Because of this, in the central area affected by the mass hallucination, there are no surveillance cameras or videos left to watch," Zhao Feng immediately added.

He and Wang De'an had investigated the mass hallucination incident in Montamira for so long that they had memorized almost all the details.

"The aircraft's electronic equipment wasn't affected this time. If the little girl in the white dress on the wing and Montamira's Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant are the same being, then either she can intentionally control the range of influence, or her 'energy' this time is relatively small, so the range of influence is relatively small. However, I tend to believe the former," Wang De'an said.

"In other words, if they wanted to, neither the little girl in the white dress nor the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant would necessarily affect the electronic devices when they appeared. They created this effect simply to avoid being recorded?" Fang Pingfang said thoughtfully.

"If we investigate them, will it anger them?" Zhou Rui asked with some concern.

Mi Qiao shrugged. "Do we even have a choice?"

"That makes sense..." Zhou Rui wasn't too worried. Since they were paid such high salaries by Shenxing Technology, they couldn't be afraid of anything. In any case, for the time being, neither the little girl in the white dress nor the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant had a history of directly killing or injuring people; on the contrary, they had all been saving people.

"What's next?" Zhao Feng looked at Fang Pingfang: "The FDR analysis won't be quick, and I estimate that we probably won't get any valuable analytical results from that data."

He naturally had his own ideas and plans for the investigation, but since Dr. Fang was the team leader, he couldn't take on too much responsibility. He planned to wait for Dr. Fang to propose a solution before offering his own thoughts and suggestions.

Fang Pingfang flipped through the thick, black tablet in her hand, saying, "According to Lao Zhao and Old Wang's information, the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant that appeared in Montamira basically had no substantial physical impact. It left no footprints or other traces wherever it passed, so it can be determined to be a pure illusion, at most causing some magnetic field effects and interference. But the little girl who appeared on the wing of the passenger plane this time, according to some passengers' descriptions, they saw her intercept a bird that was about to crash into the engine. Unless that bird wasn't real either, she had a real physical impact on a real object, which is very different from the giant illusion in Montamira."

"Could that little girl be a real person? Someone who actually exists and isn't an illusion?" Mi Qiao murmured.

"It's also possible that the passengers were mistaken, or perhaps the little girl, while an illusion, has other special methods to influence other things, and the little girl's appearance is just a facade to deceive others. To determine the specifics, we'll talk to a few passengers, ask for more details, and confirm what they saw," Fang Pingfang said.

Zhou Rui suggested, "How about we find those three passengers that Lao Zhao and Old Wang mentioned? They happen to be in Tongshi Town, which is where we're headed anyway."

Zhao Feng shook his head and said, "If we're asking about the little girl on the wing, then it's probably not the right time to ask them, because they told me last night that they didn't see her."

"Didn't you see them?" Zhou Rui asked, puzzled. "Was their view blocked because of poor positioning?"

Zhao Feng took out his tablet, pulled up the seating chart of the passengers he and Wang De'an had requested the night before, and then pointed out the seats where Xiang Kun and his two companions were sitting. "Judging from their positions, their view should be excellent."

"So they didn't see it... Does that mean they weren't affected by the illusion and didn't see the little girl? In other words, the little girl wasn't real?" Zhou Rui said.

Mi Qiao speculated, "Or perhaps they're deliberately hiding what they've seen?"

While looking at the passenger list on the tablet, Ye Chong said, "Maybe the illusions were caused by them?"

Zhou Rui perked up and said, "In that case, we should definitely go and talk to them!"

Fang Pingfang said, "No, let's contact the passengers who are currently in Jianzhou City first and talk to them."

Zhao Feng agreed, saying, "Yes, we should first talk to the passengers who saw the little girl to get a detailed understanding of what she looked like on the wing and the entire process of the plane's abnormal situation. Then we can meet with Mr. Xiang. This way, our communication will be more targeted, and we can analyze and probe more effectively."

Dr. Fang's suggestion aligned with his own thoughts, which pleased him greatly.

However, Fang Pingfang shook her head and said, "No, we won't contact those three people for the time being."

"Ah?"

Zhao Feng was stunned. Not only him, but Mi Qiao, Zhou Rui, and the others were also puzzled. It was obvious that Mr. Xiang and the other two passengers had a problem, so why wasn't Dr. Fang going to find them?

Fang Pingfang patiently explained, "On the way here, I reviewed the information collected by Lao Zhao and Old Wang, and combined it with our own information. Now, several clues point to Tongshi Town, Chongyun Village, and Chongyun Mountain. Connecting this to the near-crash flight we're investigating, the group hallucinations in Montamira, and Mr. Xia's mysterious escape after being kidnapped in Myanmar, Mr. Xiang and his friends are all at the center of this line. Now I'm basically certain that these special events we're investigating are definitely related to them, and the source is likely one of them, or perhaps a few. Therefore, before we make direct contact with them, it's best to investigate all the surrounding clues first."

While Zhao Feng, Fang Pingfang, and others were having a meeting upstairs, Xia Tianhuo was still standing suspiciously downstairs at the airport's administration building.

He felt he had caught Zhao Feng and Wang De'an red-handed, as well as Zhou Rui. He had previously suspected Zhou Rui's purpose in going to Chongyun Village and Chongyun Mountain, and now that he saw that he was in cahoots with Zhao and Wang, he was even more certain.

This group of people has a problem, a really big problem!

He secretly took a picture of the license plate of the Toyota Hiace that Zhao Feng and the others were riding in, and sent it to an old friend, asking him to find out where the car came from and see if he could trace it back to their family!

While waiting for news, Xia Tianhuo wandered around the car, trying to peek through the window to see if there was anything inside that could provide clues, while simultaneously calling Lao Xia on his phone.

"Lao Xia, you'll never guess what I've discovered!" Xia Tianhuo said smugly as soon as the call connected.

"What?" Xia Libing's tone was naturally calm.

"Didn't I tell you we'd have lunch with those two reporters today? They stood me up, saying they had an interview assignment at Jianzhou Airport. I felt something was off, so I came to the airport too, and guess what? I ran into them! And guess who I saw? Remember when I first arrived here, when I first moved to Chongyun Village? Professor Li and Little Apple were here too. One morning, two people came to ask about the Research Base construction site. One was surnamed Zhou, and the other was surnamed Li. It turned out that the one surnamed Zhou knew Professor Li; he used to be in their college. They chatted in our courtyard for a while. I just saw them here. They were with four other people, Zhao Feng and Wang De'an. They seemed to be investigating the flight that Xiang Kun and Yang the Third took yesterday!" Xia Tianhuo said excitedly.

"Then what?"

"There's definitely something wrong here. That guy surnamed Zhou can't possibly be a reporter. How could he be colleagues with Zhao Feng and Wang De'an? How could they be hanging out together? I felt something was off when he went to Chongyun Village and Chongyun Mountain. These guys are definitely doing some deeper investigation, not just interviewing!" Xia Tianhuo said with certainty.

"Maybe they're professionals hired by Zhao Feng and Wang De'an to help them analyze relevant flight data? Have you asked them what kind of research they're doing?" Xia Libing said.

"Uh, I didn't ask, but I feel... it's definitely not that simple," Xia Tianhuo said, scratching his head.

"Um."

"Huh?" Xia Tianhuo, puzzled. "What do you mean by 'huh, 'Lao Xia?"

"I understand what you're saying, but I don't have any opinion on it," Xia Libing said.

Hearing what Lao Xia said, Xia Tianhuo couldn't help but hesitate. Had he made a mistake in his judgment?

"Mr. Xia, what's going on...?"

A voice suddenly came from behind, startling Xia Tianhuo so much that he almost instinctively swung his elbow.

Fortunately, he immediately recognized Zhao Feng's voice and quickly turned around, smiling, "Ah, Lao Zhao, you're already down? How was the interview?"

"The Civil Aviation Administration has given me specific details, so I'm sorry I can't disclose them," Zhao Feng said. "Mr. Xia, what are you doing by our car? By the way, weren't you here to help your cousin with her luggage? This is... you haven't gotten it yet?"

In fact, he had already confirmed through previous flight passenger information that Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and Yang Zhen'er did not check in any luggage; that was clearly Xia Tianhuo's excuse.

He could roughly guess Xia Tianhuo's thoughts and intentions. Although he found it a bit troublesome, he didn't expose him directly, because they might need Xia Tianhuo's help to contact Xiang Kun, Tang Baona, and others in the future.

"Oh, we still haven't received it. You know, the efficiency of the airport here is really terrible... Are you leaving already? By the way, Mr. Zhou, when we met in Chongyun Village last time, you seemed to have mentioned that you were researching flying ants or some other kind of insect? These people should be your colleagues, right? So, what brings you, Lao Zhao, and Old Wang here this time?" Xia Tianhuo asked, taking the opportunity to voice his question.

Zhou Rui laughed and said, "We're from the same research institute. We study not only insects but also birds. Yesterday, that flight was attacked by a flock of birds, right? We came here to investigate why the birds behaved this way. Our institute has collaborated with Reporter Zhao's platform before, producing some nature documentaries, so we came along this time. We might even make a program about the investigation process."

"Oh, I see. So where are you headed? If you've finished your investigation here, how about we grab a bite to eat together? How about we go to Tongshi Town? I'll invite my cousin and the others along. You can do some interviews then; they were also eyewitnesses to the incident." Xia Tianhuo quickly said, still hoping to invite them to dinner and then call Lao Xia over as well.

However, Zhao Feng and Zhou Rui firmly rejected his enthusiastic invitation. Watching the Toyota Hiace drive away, he stood in the parking lot, feeling somewhat irritated.

Zhou Rui's explanation was actually quite reasonable, but it was too reasonable, and the explanation was too detailed and patient, which made Zhou Rui instinctively feel that something was wrong.

So he searched for the research institute where Zhou Rui and his colleagues worked. Although he could find the names of Zhou Rui and others, the institute did not have any academic articles on birds, and he also could not find any bird documentaries that Zhou Rui's institute and Zhao Feng's media platform had collaborated on.

So, they really did have a problem!

The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. He felt that Lao Xia must have figured something out, probably during dinner last night, even if he hadn't asked many questions. But Lao Xia wouldn't tell him, wouldn't include him in the conversation!

What exactly do Zhou Rui and Zhao Feng know, and what are they investigating?

Xia Tianhuo thought for a moment and then made a phone call to Chu Xiuwen.

In Chongyun Village, at a Research Base the first phase of construction is almost complete.

Xia Libing was alone in a still-empty laboratory, debugging a piece of equipment that had just been delivered.

I had just finished talking to Xia Tianhuo on the phone when Alice's voice rang. "Dahuozi checked the documentary Zhou Rui mentioned on his phone! He couldn't find it, haha! He knows Zhou Rui was lying to him, Zhou Rui is so stupid! Dahuozi called Lao Chu again! Lao Xia, Lao Xia, what do you think he'll say to Lao Chu?"

Xia Libing stopped what she was doing. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I told the boss, but the boss told me to tell you!" Alice said matter-of-factly.