"First floor clear."
"Second floor clear."
"Third floor clear."
The drones led the way, with the special forces following close behind, searching every room.
They used keys to open any locked rooms.
The keys came from the library staff, sparing them from having to force every door open.
The special forces soon cleared their way to the sixth-floor entrance. They had found none of the missing security guards on the first five floors.
During the search, the technical investigators discovered that the library's surveillance recordings had been wiped. All the footage was gone.
Ke Meng and the other three arrived at the sixth-floor entrance with Tangyuan and sensed something distinctly unusual.
Ke Meng felt it most strongly. He smelled a scent that had already dissipated; without Synesthesia, it would have been difficult to detect a smell that had once lingered there.
The smell of printed paper still hung in the air, masking it, but Ke Meng picked it out: the odor of decaying books, a smell found only in moldy things.
The moldy smell was unusually strong. Ke Meng took a step inside and felt it growing stronger.
Luo Yuan entered as well, taking out a Paper Talisman, one of his offensive items.
Seeing this, the special forces immediately asked whether they could enter. Doctor Liang said, "Don't send too many people in. One per investigator is enough to protect them. Too many people will disrupt the conditions for Synesthesia at the scene."
A cluttered scene made Synesthesia harder for the investigators. The fewer people, the better.
Of course, fewer people were not always better. It depended on the situation.
After stepping inside, Ke Meng looked around, his nose twitching as he searched for the place where the moldy smell was strongest.
Luo Yuan and Cheng Le also saw some