Chapter 64 Permitted Transgression

"Are you used to wearing the life-support gear?" an older member asked nearby.

"I used the training simulators, but this is my first time wearing the real deal." Through the fully enclosed helmet, Kyle's voice sounded muffled.

"Press the sweat-absorbing layer tightly against your neck and smooth out any air bubbles, or you'll be itching to death once you start sweating."

Following the senior member's advice, Kyle raised his hand to adjust it again.

Now he was entirely enveloped within the gear. The armor and form-fitting protective suit concealed his hair and every inch of his skin, with the only visible highlights on his body being the two pieces of goggles. Combined with the protruding respirator and soft tubes in front of him, he looked like a substandard robot straight out of a low-budget film. The Zeta-8 markings on his back and the side of his helmet confirmed his current identity—a member of the Mobile Task Force.

He never expected he would one day enter the Mobile Task Force...

This was a supreme honor, and it also meant an equivalent level of risk.

Fortunately, Kyle was not afraid of risk.

"Everyone, check your equipment, test your firearms, and remember your serial numbers," the captain walked past the crowd. "Don't forget to test the valve, or we'll have to trudge back and replace everyone's compressed air cylinders. Newbie, you don't need to carry a reality anchor this time—everyone else, test them one more time to ensure the anchors are functional."

The life-support suit paired with light combat armor was the dedicated equipment of the "Pangolin" Mobile Task Force.

This mobile task force specialized in underground caves, complex environments, and operations involving spatial anomalies. A suit capable of keeping the wearer alive for at least a week after being completely cut off from external sustenance meant an exponentially increased chance of survival.

Yet rumors within the bureau always claimed that the disappearance and casualty rate of the "Pangolin" was ninety percent.

Kyle quickly checked his firearms and every reading on his wrist tablet. Suddenly, someone poked him in the side of his waist belt—it was Vanessa. Although her external features were buried beneath the armor, the designation "N4-6" was marked on the side of her helmet by her goggles, indicating member number 6 from the 4th operation, with N as the department prefix.

"Unlike when you used to handle distortions, you cannot bring a specialized communicator anywhere near an uncontrolled hazard item. Hurry up and turn it off, and store it in the equipment case." Her fingertip landed on the casing of the communicator.

"I did turn it off."

Kyle unhooked the communicator from his utility belt, only to find that its screen was actually lit. He lowered his voice to defend himself.

"I remember turning it off..."

The indicator light in the corner of the device flickered slightly. Someone was sending him a message at this exact moment.

When he pressed the screen to open it, the pop-up content hit him like a stray bullet.

[Dump Truck: Keep your communicator with you during the operation. If your commander objects, escalate the question upward.]

Shi Rang waited for a moment within the communicator until he heard Kyle walk over to request permission from his commanding officer.

He jumped back to the person in charge of the "Green Island City Operation Field Command Center" he had just located, confirming that the other party had received that email.

A short while ago, among a large pile of documents containing the keyword "Green Island City," he had discovered an unread supplementary instruction sent to the command center, which mentioned certain field arrangements. Shi Rang intercepted the email and added a sentence to the mobile task force's deployment orders: "Mobile task force members are permitted to carry communicators," signed off as "Dump Truck."

At this moment, he quietly added the word "specialized" right in front of "communicator."

It was truly wonderful that the Bureau had established communication and email systems on its headquarters intranet. Even communicators could be remotely activated, making it extremely convenient for him to tamper with things.

The command center opened the email shortly after. Soon, an inquiry was sent out. Shi Rang retrieved a copy from the data stream, assuming it would be forwarded to the External Affairs Department, but unexpectedly, the recipient turned out to be a senior member of the Intelligence Department.

At the end of the data trail, the order was reported all the way up to the Minister of Intelligence, and was opened in an instant.

Shi Rang almost believed he was an S-tier Council Member himself; people inside the Bureau had no reason not to believe it. His only concern was whether he would be exposed by the real owner.

This was a risky operation, but he had to intervene in Kyle's mission.

He had to find out what on earth he had done to this community in Green Island City.

***

While waiting for Kyle's good news, he abruptly received a private message from a "familiar face."

[Assistant to the Minister of Intelligence, Harvey: What are you up to again? Unhappy with getting your hands dirty in person, so you switched to remote assistance?]

Harvey was a burner account belonging to an S-tier Council Member.

Dump Truck was also an S-tier burner account.

Neither of them knew each other's true identity.

At this point, Shi Rang finally became certain that the other party had mistaken him for some Council Member, rather than taking him for that mysterious "Council Member No. 13."

Yet which one specifically?

What were the other person's actual personality and operational style?

Aside from knowing that the Bureau Council consisted of twelve people, he knew almost nothing about them—headquarters records contained zero relevant information.

However, this group of people must be very familiar with one another...

No, perhaps not familiar enough, otherwise why wouldn't "Harvey" just go straight to the real person to ask?

The fact that he had been able to stall in the middle for so long indicated that the Council Members also harbored misgivings toward each other, or it was inconvenient for them to contact and verify things at any time.

Remaining silent this time might provoke the other party into directly seeking someone out for verification, so he had to respond.

Shi Rang thought of several replies, but all of them seemed to have flaws.

In the end, he decided to play it cool and aloof.

The less you say, the fewer mistakes you make.

[Dump Truck: I know what I'm doing.]

[Harvey: Minimizing our interference with the lower levels isn't just to avoid an overreaction from them. You must remember that if you hadn't been dispatched externally, handling resolutions and paperwork is your actual job.]

[Harvey: I'll let it slide this time. At least you've learned to command indirectly rather than disguising yourself as an agent to run and perform containment in person. That's progress, and your typing speed has improved too, so I won't file a report to Number Six.]

Harvey's typing speed was faster than usual; just as Shi Rang finished receiving and comprehending the previous sentence, the next one arrived.

[Harvey: Try to attend a few meetings in the future. You've been out of touch for a long time.]

[Harvey: I won't hold you accountable for the public parsing call from earlier. Next time you create an account, follow this procedure and open the access restrictions first. (Operation Tutorial Image)]

[Harvey: Everyone else has had strong opinions about you lately. You can do whatever you want in District 12, but don't be so blatant in the mainland and the intranet. If you ever pull something like treating the employee chat room as your private messaging channel with your confidants, dumping files everywhere and cursing out Number Six again, they're going to initiate a vote to expel you from the Council. Try to keep a low profile.]

Why did the Council Member behind "Harvey" feel somewhat nagging...?

Furthermore, what kind of miraculous character was the Council Member he kept mentioning? Weren't Council Members supposed to be terrifying masterminds hiding in the shadows, pulling strings with a wave of their fingers?

Shi Rang had thought his actions born of ignorance were already reckless enough, but there was always someone more audacious.

Still, he had somehow bluffed his way through.

Shi Rang controlled his physical body to roll over, making sure his mental load was still within tolerable limits, and eagerly returned to Kyle's perspective.

After doing data work for a while, several tens of minutes had passed in the outside world.

The members of the "Pangolin" Mobile Task Force had actually already entered the lockdown zone!

***

"Recorders activated. Everyone, check your communication systems."

Kyle turned his head to confirm that the camera on his shoulder was turned on and lightly pressed his wrist tablet. "Check complete."

The others responded one after another.

"Check complete."

"Check complete."

N4-2's response stood out from the rest: "Checked, checked."

The command center's instructions came through the earpiece: "You may proceed, 'Pangolin'."

Kyle's goggles displayed everyone's code names. N4-1 was the captain, N4-2 through 4 were the original members of the mobile task force, N4-5 was him, and the last one was Vanessa.

The signal was clear, the equipment was complete, and it was time to move out.

The quarantine gate closed behind everyone, and Kyle tried his best not to imagine whether he would ever see it open again.

He was ready. He had received military training, he had attended advanced courses, and he had made every preparation to join the Mobile Task Force...

"Lower your weapon, newbie," the captain called out to him. "We haven't entered the site yet. Conserve your stamina and hook your gun back onto the sling."

Kyle let out an audible sigh that carried a noticeable rush of wind through the comms. "Understood, sir."

The squad advanced deep into the residential area in a roughly chevron-shaped formation.

The dirty streets and crowded buildings here were identical to Kyle's impression of them. He had conducted field investigations here just last month, and he could still judge the layout of the main buildings.

Only after the cars and debris had been cleared from the street did he realize the road was actually quite wide...

Silent residential houses stood all around, indifferent as the squad pushed forward down the street under the scorching sun.

Along the way, nothing except white noise emanated from the earpieces.

Their preliminary target was the apartment building at the end of the street. Kyle squinted from a distance, allowing his goggles to automatically amplify the magnification. Illegal expansions were not uncommon in this kind of community, and blocking roads with makeshift walls or constructing unauthorized buildings could be seen everywhere. Anyone seeing the population density data for this place for the first time would be shocked.

Yet this building...

"Report."

N4-1: "Just spit it out, Kyle. We don't have time for you to draft a proper report at a critical moment."

"Understood, captain. This building has deformed. It wasn't originally like this."

Through the zoomed lens, the exterior wall of the building appeared clearly before everyone—the material and damage condition across the entire wall surface were remarkably uniform and seamless, yet a massive number of unevenly and even non-horizontally distributed windows dotted it everywhere, resembling a rotten face covered in acne. At least four bulky, old-style residential buildings had fused into one under the influence of an unknown force, transforming into a massive, novel structure.

"This is a spatial abnormality. You'll grow to hate it soon enough, newbie. Just relax," N4-2 said. "Stay close to us and make sure it doesn't snatch you away."

Captain: "Command Center, we are about to enter the building."

Command Center: "Good luck."