That Person

"Di... Di what?" Zhang Hongbing's face was shrouded in smoke once more, his voice muffled by the gas-filled protective mask.

"Hiss..." A sharp intake of breath echoed through the room, sucking the smoke out of his suit and revealing Zhang Hongbing's face again. "Underground?"

Everyone working nearby gathered around, peering closely at the characters on the corpse, all of them furrowing their brows.

"Wasn't it found in the Cloud Mountain woods? Could there be something beneath Cloud Mountain?"

"Maybe it says 'earth cave.' When I was a kid, the elders in my family used to say Cloud Mountain was once an imperial tomb with palaces hidden underground."

"Could they have been trying to write a location starting with 'Di' and just gave out after the first character?"

"Do you think this is Detective Conan?"

The group argued with grave expressions until Li Fan pulled out the fragment of a subway card and said:

"It could also be 'subway'."

Liu Dalong shook his head:

"A subway seems unlikely. Think about it—this thing was found inside Cloud Mountain. If it had come from a subway, it would have had to cross half the city. How could that go unnoticed?"

Li Fan looked at the subway card in his hand and nodded slightly.

It had to be the subway. Some of the corpses had clear traces of subway dust and grease on their exposed hands.

Wu Qian, standing to the side, spoke up:

"Everyone, think hard. Are there any other words starting with 'Di'? Keep brainstorming and get them into the report so the Research Department and the Bureau have something to chew on."

The group immediately set their minds to work, tossing out words like tunnel, map, earthquake, and earth, eventually even suggesting sweet potato and landmine.

After all, anomalous events defied common logic; who knew if one of these random words might be useful to the Research Department?

Li Fan did not continue dissecting the female corpse.

He had already checked it with a windproof lighter, and it was clear there were no residual anomalous infections, let alone an infection source.

The entire room full of corpses was devoid of any such source.

There was no point in continuing the dissection.

After perfunctorily taking a few samples for the record, Li Fan submitted the inspection report, pushed the corpse back into the morgue locker, and left the main Dissection Room with Ke Ke.

Once he had finished the decontamination process, shed his protective suit, and changed into his regular clothes, Li Fan went to the breakroom, sat down, lit a cigarette, and took a long, deep drag, exhaling a heavy sigh.

The Unity Society was truly like a lingering ghost.

Unlike the previous few times, they hadn't found a single source of anomalous infection.

What worried Li Fan most was that the Unity Society wouldn't go through all this trouble for no reason.

There had to be an underlying motive behind their actions.

But what was it?

What Li Fan hated most was that their behavior was likely to disrupt his plans for a quiet, early retirement.

It was a total nightmare.

He had to find them.

He would have his family look into it later.

Just as he was thinking this, the aroma of coffee drifted over. Ke Ke handed a freshly brewed cup to Li Fan and said, looking a bit embarrassed:

"Li Fan, drink... drink some coffee to perk up..."

Li Fan took the coffee, took a sip, and smiled:

"It's good. Thanks, Sister Ke Ke."

"It's just instant coffee, what's so good about it..." Ke Ke covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes curving into crescents. She then sighed and looked at Li Fan sincerely:

"Honestly, I don't know how to repay you. I'm so useless, I can only do these trivial things. Li Fan, if you ever need me for anything, you must tell me. I'll do it even if it costs me my life."

Li Fan turned serious as well, looking into Ke Ke's eyes and replying earnestly:

"Sister Ke Ke, like I said before, it was just a small favor to me. Please don't take it to heart. But since you've said that, fine—if I ever need your help, I won't hold back. For starters, I need you to take good care of your health and stop working overtime."

He spoke with such gravity that Ke Ke couldn't help but let her eyes curve into crescents again:

"Alright, Little Fan, you're starting to sound like a boss telling his staff to take care of themselves... Don't worry, I've already put the money into an investment. It's an interest-free loan anyway, and the returns are already matching what I used to make working those jobs."

Li Fan paused, then asked with a hint of nervousness:

"It's not one of those P2P investment schemes, is it? Those are all scams, you absolutely cannot touch them..."

"What are you thinking?" Ke Ke rolled her eyes at him, then smiled gently. "They're all capital-guaranteed. Besides, I graduated with a degree in finance; I know a thing or two. Look at you, getting all worked up."

As she spoke, she picked up a tissue and wiped the sweat from Li Fan's forehead.

"Cough, cough. This job today was really grueling. Finally finished, I'm exhausted, I need a massage," Zhang Hongbing's voice came from the doorway as he and several colleagues walked into the breakroom after changing into their regular clothes.

Ke Ke quickly pulled her hand back, her cheeks flushing crimson.

The colleagues were truly worn out.

They had dissected their assigned corpses from head to toe, checking them meticulously for half the day, only to find no sign of an infection source.

Finally, the report was submitted.

A group of colleagues were in the breakroom, smoking, drinking tea and coffee, and chatting. Although it was four in the morning and they were exhausted, not a single one mentioned going to sleep.

They were all waiting for Xidelong.

"Sigh, come to think of it, the victims this time were truly miserable. Just balled up like that..." Zhang Hongbing took a drag of his cigarette, sounding unsatisfied.

Beside him, Ma Lihua nodded. "I've encountered strange infected entities before, but I've never seen anything this tragic. Anomalies, anomalies... this world is becoming more and more abnormal."

"Who's to say otherwise? I remember a few years ago, there were only a few autopsy missions a year. Why has it been increasing so much in the last two years? It's only been a few days, and that's already three missions."

"The world is unpredictable. All we can do is try our best to do our jobs, let the deceased rest in peace, and give their deaths an explanation. Just do your part, that's all."

"If these anomalies appeared naturally, it would be one thing, but if they are man-made, that is simply conscience-less. I really don't know who could be so wicked."

"Poor families of the victims. Due to confidentiality agreements, many don't even know the true cause of death..."

The group of autopsy technicians who had just finished their work chatted about today's anomaly while resting, sighing incessantly. The air in the entire breakroom grew heavy.

Just then, Wu Qian's voice came from the doorway of the breakroom:

"Brothers, let's go for Xidelong!"

"Yeah!"

Southwest Bureau of the Anomaly Administration, Director's office.

Behind a massive mahogany desk, Zhao Yifeng, the Director of the Anomaly Administration, leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, listening to the report.

Before him stood Hong Tao, the captain of the Third Team, who had just returned from the scene.

"It can be basically confirmed as Gluttony. As for that guy in the Sunflower Mask who was planting corn, there is currently no relevant information. He is not in the existing files of the Cleaning Association, but it is certain that he is no less dangerous than Gluttony."

Hong Tao spoke rapidly, "The corn planted by that Sunflower Mask was tested by the organization and found to contain a small amount of human brain cells. The reason we misjudged the location of their gathering at the time was because the mental radiation emitted by this corn in a short period of time was similar to that of a human, enough to Ran."

"Director, do you think we should raise the alert level for the Cleaning Association?"

Zhao Yifeng still did not open his eyes, slowly shaking his head as he said:

"Raising the alert level is useless. While the appearance of Gluttony is terrifying, it is barely acceptable... The most terrifying thing... is that person..."