Chapter 63

"Human experimentation?"

"Yes, 'Numbered Subjects' —these are the experimental subjects used by those people, a group of pitiful people abandoned by society, drifting along, and considered to be on the verge of becoming Dregs at any moment. But no matter what, they are still living, breathing human beings. They have their own lives, their own families. They lie on those people's operating tables with the hope of being cured. But to those insane researchers, 'Numbered Subjects' are just convenient experimental props that have lost the possibility of being human. They send people to Beyond the Boundary to capture escaped Numbered Subjects, and under the guise of 'therapeutic experiments,' they plunder these people from various cities, simply for their inflated desire for domination."

Kaoru Yanase remained expressionless, only saying in a deep voice, "Your father and I want to rescue those who haven't yet been harmed; it's what we owe them, and we also want those guys to pay the price they deserve. For this step, new bargaining chips are essential. We believe the Apostle appearing here might be an opportunity. We can't search for the Apostle's Trace alone; that would be suicidal. But we can collect the fluctuations of the 'mediums' used by the Apostle during their activities, thereby facilitating our subsequent work—simply put, the 'Trace' left behind by the Apostle."

Kaoru Yanase explained.

"This is similar to the fluctuations that occur when your agents enter into Synchronization. Agents, Beacon, or Boundary Stele each possess unique fluctuation signals. These signals are extremely subtle, completely different from the sound waves or light we can perceive. They are a different form of energy expression, like a magnetic field. Ancient people could sense its existence but didn't know what it was, so they couldn't analyze the phenomena it caused. Your father and I are likely to be the first to observe and explain it. Currently, many researchers are searching for a way to determine the unique fluctuations of the Apostle in order to quickly locate the Ruins. Your father and I are ahead of them. We just need to retrieve this data, and things will become much easier afterward."

Efnir remained silent, attentively listening to her mother's account of the research and what she and her father were doing. Gradually, she came to realize the immense scale of the project her parents were undertaking and the challenges they faced.

But this is beyond the scope of what an agent should be involved in.

Agents are warriors born from the fight against the Erosion Entity.

Researchers, on the other hand, are another group of people who dedicate themselves to strengthening humanity's armor and weapons, and contributing to the building of human society.

Their worlds are closely connected yet never intersect, but in essence, they are no different.

Efnir suddenly remembered something crucial.

"By the way, Mom, I need to go to the Special Disaster Division today. The captured Apostle is being held there, and I need to retrieve her interrogation records and files. I was thinking, since you're investigating the Apostle, is there anything I can do to help?"

82. Trace

"Strangeness..."

At this moment, Takuma Yanase stood up with some doubt. He held the detector in his hand, circled around again, and looked disappointed.

While Efnir and Kaoru Yanase talking, Takuma Yanase had already searched the entire area within a hundred meters, and now his forehead was covered in sweat.

He took out a tissue to wipe himself and then came to Kaoru Yanase.

"There is indeed a reaction here, and I've estimated the location to be in this vicinity without a doubt. However, my tests show that the preservation status of the third wavelength here isn't very good... Could it be that too much time has passed...?"

"It spilled out?"

"The data is all here, and the location has been recorded. Take a look."

Kaoru Yanase took the detector from his hand, compared the data one by one, and frowned slightly.

"That's impossible. According to the timeline, the Corruption here definitely happened a week ago. Theoretically, the residue left here should be enough for us to identify and collect. Why does it look like... more than two weeks have passed..."

The fluctuations in this data are rather strange; it doesn't seem like Trace left a week ago at all, but rather like it was left two or even three weeks ago.

This situation puzzled both the Yanase couple.

"Yes, that's why I find it strange."

"Dad, Mom? What's wrong? What did you find?"

At this moment, Efnir came to her parents' side and asked.

"We haven't found anything, or rather, it seems we're a step too late," Kaoru Yanase handed the detector to Takuma Yanase, sighed, and looked around with her hands in her pockets, trying to find the next clue. She carefully chose her words and said softly, "Actually, there's a time limit for searching and collecting these leftover 'Trace.' Generally speaking, we must collect them within ten days to ensure the validity of the experimental data we need; otherwise, there will be a significant deviation."

"It's like a drop of ink falling into a pond. Within seconds, we can extract water from different locations, and we can definitely find traces of ink in some of the samples, which are visible to the naked eye. But if we go back after a minute or an hour, that drop of ink may have already dispersed and disappeared. Even if we use very sophisticated instruments to test it again, we may not be able to get a valid and reasonable result."

Kaoru Yanase thought for a moment and then said.

"The same applies to 'Trace.' Generally speaking, a 'Trace' are energy signals left at a specific spatial location. This energy is not only left in one place, but can be found throughout nature. However, it is obvious that there are huge differences in peak values, variation values, and frequency bands among them, and these differences are not limited to these. To identify the existence of 'Trace,' we must use instruments to collect and record this information, and the time limit for this 'dispersion' is ten days. Effective collection can only be achieved within ten days. Our decision to come back this time was also based on the idea of bringing the data back with us."

"Ten days..."

It has only been seven days since the headquarters building was attacked.

"Will this timeframe remain unchanged?"

"Yes, generally speaking, this so-called time limit is not fixed. If there are many people active here in these ten days, then the 'Trace' will be affected and will spread faster. They may disappear completely in as little as seven days, or even six days, just like stirring water where ink has been dropped. The ink will quickly disappear without a trace, right?"

Kaoru Yanase explained.

"Of course, the underlying principles are not exactly the same. The 'stirring' we are talking about does not originate from tangible things like 'water' or 'air,' but rather from 'magnetic fields.'"

"Geomagnetic field?"

"It's not quite the same. The so-called 'magnetic field' is just a name so far, without a formal designation," Takuma Yanase shook his head and continued, "Because it's a research conclusion that your mother and I haven't published yet."

He continued, "The magnetic field we're referring to here is a unique attribute of each individual, a characteristic unique to every independent organism. This differs from the concept of biomagnetic fields in our human sciences. This is the conclusion your mother and I reached while researching 'Dregs,' and it forms the theoretical basis for our research experiments. We believe these 'magnetic fields' are a type of 'substance' identified as 'souls' in ancient legends. Furthermore, we've hypothesized that the Erosion Entity also use this 'magnetic field' to identify humans and launch attacks."

"Does the Erosion Entity attack by recognizing the human soul?"

Efnir was taken aback; this was the first time she had heard her father say something like that.

The concept of the soul was completely denied in the Old Era, and even now, it is considered a product of ghost stories and myths, something that does not exist in the real world.

"Of course, this is just a very brief summary. The complete research results are still in our possession. This conclusion lacks crucial clues, but it is also a vital link in the endeavor of the experiment that was taken from us. Without the support of this research theory, those studies could not have achieved a breakthrough in a short period of time. This is one of the means we have left to restrain those guys. Therefore, we have not officially released this conjecture. We are still pretending to work for those guys, so Naoto, you should not tell anyone else about our conversation. Otherwise, if those guys find out, things may not be so simple."

"I see..."

"Your father and I will be here collecting some data using those two terminals. Afterwards, we'd like to go check out the site of the Erosion Disaster that occurred three days ago. Naoto, thank you again..."

The car headed towards the Central Sports Arena.

That was the very spot where Efnir had held a performance three days earlier, and also the location of the third major Erosion Disaster.

At this moment, Efnir was focused on driving, while the Yanase couple were processing the data they had just obtained in the back seat.

"No... absolutely not..."

Takuma Yanase's voice came from behind. Efnir glanced through the rearview mirror and asked, "Dad, did you find something?"

"Your mother and I were doing data analysis... and we discovered some strange phenomena."

Takuma Yanase's tone was tinged with astonishment.

Efnir frowned slightly.

"What is it?"

"Let me speak," Kaoru Yanase took over, her tone unusually grave. "Naoto, the attack on your Orderkeeper Headquarters was probably not a coincidence, but rather a premeditated attack."

Efnir's eyes flickered slightly, but she had already mentioned this guess to Masaki Hina. Given her parents' perspective, it wasn't surprising that they had discovered this.

83. Meeting venue

In any case, the parents possess the only means within the current Human Alliance to search for 'Trace' of the Apostle, which alone is a powerful tool for investigating clues.

But her mother's next words made her take it seriously.

"Furthermore, strictly speaking, the attack occurred two weeks ago. Someone had already set a 'trap' there back then! It was just 'triggered' a week ago!"

Two weeks ago!?

This was far beyond what the organization had predicted, and even Efnir showed some surprise.

"Yes!"

The mother's answer was firm and resolute.

"Mom, are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Kaoru Yanase gripped the edges of the suitcase tightly, her expression somewhat unpleasant.

"Naoto, do you remember the analogy I gave you? So, what should a drop of ink look like when it spreads in water? If an external force stirs it, the ink will indeed spread faster, but at the same time, it will also break its original shape, becoming a mess like a shredded egg yolk. But your dad and I found that the data we just collected clearly showed a very complete continuity, which means that there was no strong interference from any other 'magnetic field' there!"

Kaoru Yanase quickly analyzed the situation and continued:

"This means that the disappearance of the 'Trace' at this node located on the east side of the headquarters was entirely a natural result. Therefore, we can use the coordinate axis of the surrounding area as a reference and perform data deduction according to our research formula. The final conclusion after calculation is that the 'Trace' was actually formed 15 days and 18 hours ago! It was not the time when the Erosion Disaster occurred a week ago! The reason why the Corruption attack on the headquarters occurred must be traced back to that time 15 days ago. Someone set up some kind of 'node' there, which ultimately triggered the Erosion Disaster!"

"Trace don't lie, Naoto."

The father, Takuma Yanase, looked serious behind his glasses as he rapidly typed on his laptop.

"If I'm not mistaken, someone deliberately sabotaged the 'Boundary Stele Network' there fifteen days ago, and the disaster that occurred a week ago was a completely planned attack."

"Fifteen days ago..."

As Efnir drove, she quickly searched her mind for the events of fifteen days ago.

Eight days ago was the Maesakagawa area was attacked and destroyed.

Seven days prior to this.

What was I doing back then?

Her thoughts came to no conclusion. To be precise, Efnir couldn't accurately recall what she did every day, only vaguely remembering that she was quite busy during that period.

Asking Masaki Hina about this might yield some useful insights, but after thinking about it, Efnir didn't take out her phone.

One clue is not enough to draw a conclusion. Efnir needs more and more information. Now that her parents are still with her, this is an excellent opportunity. If she can get any other information from the disaster three days ago, combined with the information obtained from the Special Disaster Division, it won't be too late to go find Masaki Hina.

Sweeping away her unease, Efnir stepped on the gas.

"Dad, Mom, let's go back to that place from three days ago. Hopefully, we'll find something."

"Then I'll leave it to you..."

From a distance, it was clear that parts of the stadium building had collapsed to varying degrees, some directly caused by natural disasters, and others by the battle between the Apostle and Efnir.

These buildings, damaged and collapsed in the disaster, typically enter the reconstruction phase within a month.

This is a normal procedure, and it is also to facilitate subsequent investigations and rescue efforts, as well as the procedures for value assessment and the issuance of financial subsidies.

Of course, the above process is not static. In this era, most industries and buildings are entirely the property of the city government, which is partly for the convenience of management.

The headquarters building was an exception; it was quickly put into reconstruction after being destroyed.

Soon, Efnir drove up to the stadium.

At this time, the stadium was already cordoned off with long orange warning tape. Some special agents were patrolling or surveying the area. Occasionally, passersby could be seen stopping to look up, and people would take photos before being asked to leave by the officers on duty.

This is a corner of the city ravaged by Erosion Disaster, a scene Efnir has seen countless times.

The lockdown was no obstacle for Efnir; she pulled up her emails and easily passed the verification.

"Ms. Yanase, this is your temporary access permit."

"What's the situation inside now?"

Efnir asked the sergeant who handed her the temporary certificate.

"The initial investigation is basically complete, and no abnormalities have been found. The rescue mission was declared over yesterday. This area is now under the jurisdiction of our Special Disaster Division, and we are handling the follow-up matters."

The sergeant remained composed and answered with neither servility nor arrogance.

The emails presented by Efnir were highly classified, and even he could not view most of the information. He did not know who the "Ms. Yanase" in front of him was, but the emails presented by Efnir were sufficient as proof of identity, so he obtained permission to enter and exit the premises.

"I'd like to go inside and see which areas require a second application to enter?"

"No, but please be careful. Some parts of the building here have already shown Trace of cracking, and our surveyors are concerned that some areas may collapse," the sergeant explained. "If you insist on going in to check, Ms. Yanase, please allow me to send someone with you to ensure your safety."

"Then there's no need."

Efnir smiled and shook her head gently. "Anyway, thank you for your kindness. I'll take good care of myself. You just need to focus on your work and don't worry about me."

What parents need to do is collect the latest research data that has not yet been officially published. This is also an important part of parents' efforts to achieve their goals, and naturally, it should not be seen by others.

Moreover, having Efnir alone is already the safest protection measure.

After declining the sergeant's offer, Efnir drove the car into the cordoned-off area and finally stopped in front of the east gate of the venue.

"Dad, have we been able to find anything unusual here?"

"There's a point... but it's not clear enough. Based on the data I obtained while you were talking to that person, I think we should check the eleven o'clock direction."

"The direction of eleven o'clock..."