Chapter 313: Ship and Dentures

06 Sleeping Quarters Section.

In the dim hallway, a woman in pajamas with disheveled hair was dragging a boy also dressed in pajamas, fleeing in panic.

The mother and son were both barefoot, ignoring the sharpness of the cold, hollowed‑metal floor, just trying to get as far as possible from the man chasing them…

"Jiali! Neil! Stop running, you're disturbing others, stop right now! If there's something, we'll discuss it at home!"

The man kept chasing while urging them.

But the woman grew even more frantic, screaming hoarsely, "Help! Help! Somebody, save us!"

Finally, the commotion attracted the attention of many neighbors; people opened their cabin doors into the hallway, ready to see what was happening and to help mediate the dispute.

Among them was Ilena, who had changed into loose dark‑gray pajamas, ready to "watch the spectacle".

As for Lin, he stayed inside his cabin, using the tiny camera sewn onto Ilena's pajamas to monitor the corridor, avoiding being recognized by the nearby residents.

At the far end of the hallway at this moment.

"Jiali, what's wrong with you?" a short‑haired woman waiting here said, quickly hugging the woman who seemed to have gone mad.

The short‑haired woman's husband also, seeing the situation, pulled the boy away to prevent the mother and son from continuing to run.

Once the couple had restrained the mother and son, Ilena, many neighbors, and the chasing man arrived here in succession.

Moreover, people gathered in the spacious, relatively fresh square, all saying something…

"Aren't you two a model couple? How did it suddenly turn into this?"

"Speak properly, Jiali, you've gone a bit too far, making it hard for you and Todd to step down."

Various conciliatory remarks kept pouring out.

"Jiali…" At this moment, Ilena interjected, "If there's anything that scares you, you can say it now; we're all here."

"Exactly."

"Right, don't be afraid."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, the woman named Jiali, sitting on the public bench, crossed her arms around herself, huddling in fear, and said to her innocent‑looking husband:

"You're not Todd, not at all! I saw with my own eyes you were trying to do something to Neil!"

"What do you mean 'something'? I'm just, as usual, telling our son a bedtime story…" Todd said, rather helplessly.

"…"

Upon hearing that, the crowd still felt Jiali was being a bit exaggerated.

"Not Todd?"

"What kind of remark is that?"

Fortunately, the short‑haired woman, as a friend, kept the conversation going and asked, "Jiali, how can you be so sure that the Todd before us… isn't Todd?"

"He…"

"He's not the father."

Just as Jiali was about to explain, the boy named Neil interrupted, breaking free from the short‑haired woman's husband's protection, rushing back into Jiali's arms, and pointed at Todd, declaring firmly:

"He's definitely not the father!"

"What mistake have I made that even my son doesn't recognize me?" Todd lamented, sounding on the verge of collapse.

"How about this?" the short‑haired woman's husband stepped forward, slinging an arm around Todd's shoulders and suggested, "Let's go have a few drinks today, clear our heads, and let Jiali and Neil stay with my wife. You two can part for a while, how does that sound?"

"What do you think? Jiali, Neil?" the short‑haired woman asked her husband.

"Hmm… okay." Jiali did not refuse.

"…" Neil nodded in agreement.

"Sigh, it seems that's all we can do," Todd sighed.

"Alright, stop sighing, let's go!" the short‑haired woman's husband tugged and pulled, leaving the square together with Todd.

The remaining people, after offering kind words of comfort and advice, gradually dispersed; the short‑haired woman led Jiali and Neil to her cabin, intending to have a proper talk.

Soon after.

Inside Ilena's cabin.

It is a typical single cabin, its overall layout similar to a ground‑level studio apartment, with a master bedroom, living room, and bathroom, only lacking a cooking stove and a wide‑view balcony.

Ilena had also spruced up her cabin a bit, adding potted plants, a distinctive carpet, and so on, making it no longer overly plain.

At this moment, Ilena, returning from outside, opened the fridge, took out two cans of lemon soda marked with a red‑white umbrella, walked to the center of the living room, and placed one can on the coffee table.

Then she sat directly on the carpet, single‑handedly pulling the pull‑tab of the can, took a sip, and, facing the sofa, asked, "Chief, aren't you drinking?"

Across the sofa, Lin, also dressed in loose clothing, sat, repeatedly watching the footage of Jiali, Todd, and Neil's conversation on his dedicated phone, his gaze never leaving the screen, and replied:

"No, I don't drink beverages."

"Alright…"

As a senior intelligence officer and also a legendary figure she herself admires, Ilena seemed a bit restrained.

She paused briefly.

She then proactively asked, "Chief, have you discovered anything?"

"…"

Lin was silent for a moment, then after a while he looked up at Ilena, who was almost finished with the soda, and asked back:

"Has there been a frequent occurrence of such arguments lately?"

"Frequent…" Ilena thought for a moment, shook her head, "No, it's more of a norm. Here we often have couples and partners arguing, even getting into physical fights."

"But…" Ilena placed the can on the edge of the coffee table, lightly pinched her jaw with her left hand, and said in a low voice, "Today's incident is somewhat special; Jiali keeps repeating that it's not Todd, hmm, very strange."

"Is that so?" Lin put away his dedicated phone, sat upright, faced Ilena and continued, "Then Charles De, have you noticed any differences in Todd?"

"No, his words and actions are consistent with before… Chief, you don't think that Asis is some anomalous phenomenon that can mimic humans, or perhaps an abnormal creature, do you?"

【61】 "We can't rule that out; it could also be a demon from another dimension possessing a human body. If it's the latter, it's beyond our jurisdiction and the regulatory department would need to take over this case."

After hearing Lin's words, Irene's expression grew somewhat solemn, saying: "The Supervisory Bureau… hopes it isn't an anomaly linked to another dimension, by the way, Commander, do you know what effect the vaccine has against demons?"

"It effectively blocks our emotions and souls from projecting in another dimension, shielding us from the demons' whispers."

Lin hid nothing, after all the existence of plague doctors is no secret to B‑grade and above staff, and the vaccine's existence is likewise not confidential.

"Souls, emotions, whispers…" Irene nodded thoughtfully.

At this point Lin no longer continued the vaccine‑other‑dimension topic, rose from the sofa, and instructed Irene:

"Regardless of which possibility it is, or whether we need to call the Supervisory Bureau for intervention, we cannot avoid the process of on‑site investigation; keep this in mind, Charside."

"Yes!" Irene rose and returned the salute.

"Hmm, you'll work as usual tomorrow, continuing to monitor the situation around the mining area."

"Understood, Commander."

———————

…

The next day.

Local time in the Callisto star system was June 26, 07:34, "early morning."

The crowd in Acis surged, most wearing protective suits and helmets, equipped with engineering‑type mechanical exoskeletons.

Among them were many who wore only sleeveless vests and loose pants, drivers of engineering vehicles and engineering exoskeletons, or like Irene, who wore red work uniforms to ensure no accidents occurred at the mine.

Numbering in the thousands, employees of all job types rushed to the cafeteria, picked up trays, and enjoyed the free breakfast provided by the company.

The bars, shops, and various‑style restaurants in Acis's entertainment district are outsourced by the company, but the cafeteria is company‑operated, providing free meals to everyone living and working in Acis, and the company also offers substantial subsidies.

This is why people are willing to endure a fully sealed life as short as three months, or as long as half a year, a year, or even several years, just to stay in Acis.

Although no company's benefits can match Umbrella, having Umbrella as the "top big brother" forces all industries' companies to gravitate toward it, striving to improve employee treatment for fear of losing staff or receiving complaints.

Around eight o'clock.

Employees finished their meals one after another, left the cafeteria for different mining areas, and prepared to begin the daily mining tasks.

After eight o'clock passed.

Many employees' family members also woke up and headed to the cafeteria, leaving the entire sleeping quarters empty.

At that moment, inside Irene's sleeping pod.

Lin had already changed into a black form‑fitting outfit, with multiple tactical and utility packs attached to his waist.

He first operated his dedicated phone a few times, then placed the phone into one of the utility packs, and put on a headset with holographic lenses.

Immediately afterward,

Lin's whole body, from head to toe, gradually blended into the surroundings like a chameleon, directly "disappearing," and the process produced no electronic or current‑like sound.

Then Irene's sleeping pod door opened and closed.

Meanwhile, in the empty, deserted corridor outside,

On the left, a row of pods numbered "078" was the home of the couple Jiali and Tuode, where a fierce argument had erupted the previous night.

The "078" pod door also opened and closed automatically.

At that moment, inside the monitoring room,

Six armed guards were monitoring Acis through physical screens, but the area where Irene's pod was located appeared somewhat fuzzy, flickering with "snow" patterns, as if the signal were poor.

Because Lin had secretly interfered with the monitoring.

However, the guards paid no mind, since many surveillance cameras routinely have this issue and they've grown accustomed to it.

If they found it bothersome, the guards would use the oldest, yet most effective, repair method…

They would firmly tap the screen frame.

Moreover, the guards weren't focusing their attention there.

At that moment, another screen similarly flickering with "snow" showed, in intermittent footage, the mining area nearest the asteroid's interior, where a silver, disc‑shaped spacecraft was embedded in the rock face.

Possibly tens of thousands of years ago, or even earlier, this spacecraft suffered a mutation, becoming trapped inside Acis unable to move, and has now been accidentally unearthed by the miners.

However, those six guards and the miners responsible for the excavation basically paid no attention, or rather, ignored the spacecraft.

Upon close inspection, one could also see in the blurry footage Todd, who had frightened his wife and daughter the night before, likewise wearing a helmet and mechanical exoskeleton.

At that moment, a guard reached out and shut off that screen, self‑deceivingly assuming everything was normal.

———————

…

Meanwhile,

Using Optical Camouflage to enter a concealed state, Lin was searching for information inside the sleeping pod of Jiali and Tuode's couple.

A two‑bedroom, one‑living‑room layout.

The dwelling was in disarray, clearly the aftermath of an argument.

Last night Jiali and her son Ni'er stayed overnight at the short‑haired woman's home; now the three of them are dining in the cafeteria, while Tuode, after drinking with the short‑haired woman's husband, has returned here to rest.

The sofa still had an uncollected pillow and blanket, indicating that the short‑haired woman's husband had spent the night there.

Lin found nothing noteworthy in the living room, master bedroom, or second bedroom.

He came to the bathroom.

At a glance, the surface appeared normal, but Lin did not intend to overlook any corner.

He conducted a brief inspection.

?

Under his mask, Lin's brows furrowed slightly, because the bathtub, wall tiles, and corners were too clean.

Based on experience, he did not think it was the result of routine cleaning, and the shower curtain also looked newly installed.

To conceal bloodstains?

Considering this possibility, Lin switched the UV-A (ultraviolet) mode of his holographic glasses, but found no trace of blood.

Obtaining this result only strengthened his conviction that someone was trying to conceal the bloodstain, and that person's technique was good and meticulous, though unfortunately they could not fake the accumulated grime.

Thus Lin switched among various modes of the holographic lenses, and finally, in the gap of the bathtub's leak channel, he discovered several tiny white particles that looked as if they had been deliberately crushed and ground.

Afterwards, using the visual aid provided by the lenses, he took tweezers and a sealable bag from his tool kit and placed each of those white particles into the bag.

Finished tidying up.

Lin returned the items he had touched to their original places, untouched.

After reaching the door, he again used the detection function of the holographic lenses to confirm the hallway was empty, then reactivated his phone's jamming function and quickly left, returning to Irene's sleeping pod.

———————

…

Soon after.

The living room of Irene's sleeping pod.

Still wearing the optical camouflage suit, Lin held his dedicated phone, sitting on the sofa waiting patiently, while on the coffee table lay a "block box".

Such a "box" is an analyzer commonly used by intelligence officers, employed to analyze the tissue composition of small objects and samples; although its accuracy cannot match that of a laboratory, it is convenient and quick.

Lin placed a white particle into it, waited a moment, and the phone screen displayed the analysis result.

Seeing this.

He habitually reread it repeatedly, making sure not to miss even the slightest detail.

Porcelain…

Fired porcelain…

Metal-free porcelain tooth?

Could it be denture debris?

The result showed that the white particles had an 89% probability of being full porcelain teeth.

This made Lin furrow his brow, trying to think about the connection between the dentures and the whole incident, and exactly what circumstance caused the dentures to fall out.

After more than ten seconds.

Lin lightly shook his head; merely thinking couldn't figure it out.

Immediately he uploaded the collected relevant information and the analysis results of the denture debris, then had the intelligence department help retrieve some files.

After completing all operations, Lin prepared to first take off the optical camouflage suit, awaiting the "dead of night" to infiltrate the mining area.

Whether it be experience or the so-called sixth sense, he believed only the mining area could yield crucial intelligence and evidence.

(End of chapter)