I created the Bureau of Anomaly Control

Chapter 140 139. Secrets (4k Two-in-One)

The ordinary areas in the southern part of Noah State occupy 30% of the city's area, while the remaining 60% are made up of slums. The most central golden area belongs to the filthy rich. Members of the Investigation Department and the Children of Gods also live in the wealthy district.

After careful consideration, Shen Zhihe chose a residential complex in an ordinary area as their temporary residence. Although the slums seemed more chaotic, they were actually easier for the local elites to control than the ordinary residential areas.

However, under the cover of the Secret-Keeping Night, as long as they didn't live across the street from the director of the Investigation Department, it would be almost impossible for them to be found. Noah State's urban area had over seven million permanent residents. With modern and supernatural search methods rendered useless, finding a few dozen people was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The Secret-Keeping Night not only prevented opponents from searching for them, but if the Federation wanted to deal with them, they would first have to deal with the Children of the Moon who were maintaining the Night. Therefore, they would gain a considerable respite. Moreover, the Investigation Department's plan to quickly eliminate the entire Salvation Alliance in the Southern Federation had already failed.

But the Night was not without its side effects. Its concealment of secrets did not consider the identity or purpose of those who sought to uncover them—this was to ensure that the Federation could not seize any loopholes.

However, for this reason, it also became very difficult for Salvation Alliance members in different cities to find each other.

Although they could communicate with Salvation Alliance members who had also participated in the Moon Ritual, it was conservatively estimated that they only accounted for 10% to 30% of the total combat power in the Southern Federation. The exact number depended on how many Salvation Alliance members had survived in other places.

At least according to the information he initially obtained from contacting the Children of the Moon, many Rank IV ability users who were quite famous within the Alliance had completely disappeared.

Moreover, they had to communicate with the Salvation Alliance members they could contact through the Children of the Moon in a much more cautious manner than in the past. Important information such as specific addresses and members' abilities should not be casually exposed.

Although the Secret-Keeping Night could protect the Salvation Alliance's information, even if they might leave the safe zone for various reasons in the future and be captured by the Federation, it would be difficult for them to obtain any "secrets" through mental means.

But the Secret-Keeping Night could not prevent traitors from revealing information themselves.

Shen Zhihe had personally met betrayers and paid the price.

He would never allow such a thing to happen again.

In summary, they now had to gather the remaining Salvation Alliance members and establish a new battle plan while ensuring secrecy.

These were the things Shen Zhihe planned to say in the upcoming meeting.

Knock, knock.

Shen Zhihe looked up at the door, then scanned the building...

He suddenly narrowed his eyes, stared at the corner of the room for more than ten seconds, and then looked away again.

Shen Zhihe walked silently to the doorway, pulled open the doorknob, and looked at his companion opposite him:

"Shaoying, did you see Xiaolan today?"

Standing outside the door, Feng Shaoying was a woman of about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, with a sharpness in her eyes that Shen Zhihe was often unwilling to meet—as a telepath, he could indeed feel her sharpness.

Moreover, she usually acted quite decisively, and her movements in battle were so swift that it would make people think she was in a hurry.

At the same time as Qin Luan's defeat, the Special Affairs Department sent two Rank IV members who could target her to hunt her down. Feng Shaoying had no idea what was going on, but she still managed to escape perfectly under those circumstances, and finally directly killed her way to Shen Zhihe's location.

This was also related to her ability. Feng Shaoying could greatly influence the space within a ten-meter radius around her, and had the strongest close combat ability among the three Rank IV ability users, but she also had several obvious shortcomings.

Precisely because of this, the Special Affairs Department, which already knew her ability at the time, had not even considered that they would fail.

And when the Night was raised, she was the one with the most outstanding achievements among the three.

Feng Shaoying said:

"She seemed to have talked to me this morning about what she was going to do today."

Shen Zhihe walked to the sofa chair in the living room and sat down, and as usual, he kept the door open.

The third person to arrive was Tao He, who was already over seventy years old. This shuffling old man was usually the last to arrive, because Qin Lan and Feng Shaoying would always arrive a little earlier.

The old man walked in, supporting himself on the door frame. His aging body could no longer withstand any frontal combat, but he was the most destructive of the three present. With preparation, he could kill enemies that Shen Zhihe and Feng Shaoying could not defeat.

He was a wizard. Tao He was born in the Eastern Federation, but went to study in the Western Federation at the age of nineteen, and met his teacher there. It was not until the age of thirty, after his teacher died unexpectedly, that he began to venture into the Western Federation.

Although Shen Zhihe had never met Tao He in the past, he had heard news of him. In his youth, Tao He was a genuine criminal, using the witchcraft he had learned to commit many crimes in order to obtain various personal gains.

After offending several "big shots" at the age of forty, Tao He hid in the Southern Federation, and successfully advanced to Rank IV a few years later. After that, he rarely did evil.

Because at this time, the enjoyment he wanted could be easily obtained without doing evil.

He took the initiative to join the Salvation Alliance after the age of sixty. In the beginning, he deliberately concealed his past, but at that time, he was indeed helping them do all kinds of good deeds.

After Qin Luan personally came to the Southern Federation, he took the initiative to go to the Divine Firmament Walker to "confess."

It is said that in that conversation, he told the Divine Firmament Walker that he had realized how foolish he was in his youth. He joined the Salvation Alliance to try to be a good person as much as possible in the future, although he could not make up for the mistakes he had made in the past...

But at least he could contribute his strength and knowledge to the matter of saving the world.

And the Divine Firmament Walker answered him like this:

"I have seen your remaining life, you are not lying."

But these were all hearsay. Shen Zhihe asked the old man some time ago.

And he just said:

"Don't blindly believe rumors."

"Be careful." Shen Zhihe said to them, "Qin Lan seems to have brought a stranger."

Tao He said in a calm tone:

"She mentioned to me that she had something to announce today. Don't be so nervous. I can vouch that she is a good girl."

Feng Shaoying said:

"Old Tao is right. Are you still doubting Qin Luan's sister?"

No, he suspected everyone.

However, although Feng Shaoying answered like this, Shen Zhihe could still see that she was much more wary than before, while Tao He did not change in any way because of this reminder, as if he trusted his experience and vision very much.

Qin Lan was the last to arrive.

There was no one behind her when she walked in, but Qin Lan did not walk directly into the door.

She said straight to the point:

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to a member of the Salvation Alliance."

Shen Zhihe noticed that as she said this, Feng Shaoying's vigilance had dropped to a normal level.

Only he maintained the necessary vigilance.

"Who?" he asked with a curious expression, as if he was really looking forward to Qin Lan introducing the newcomer.

She turned around and looked at the bottom of the stairs, nodding slightly.

Shen Zhihe heard rhythmic footsteps. The interval between each step maintained an almost identical pause.

Although others would often maintain seemingly stable steps, Shen Zhihe had the ability to detect the differences, and he would use this to judge the emotions of others.

This guest instinctively adjusted his pace frequency to a nearly perfect level.

Ma En walked behind Qin Lan and greeted the Rank IV abilities present:

"Hello, I'm Ma En."

Qin Lan led him into the house and began to introduce him:

"Not long before that incident started, Ma En was personally recruited into the Coordination Bureau by me, and at that time, my sister had seen him through the 'Glasses'. Qin Luan was very optimistic about Ma En.

"When they came to arrest me, it was also Ma En who helped me escape from Dongxin State."

Feng Shaoying looked at Ma En and said gratefully:

"Thank you.

"I can't imagine what it would be like if even she fell into the clutches of the Federation."

Shen Zhihe knew that she was worried about the impact on the Divine Firmament Walker.

He deliberately turned his eyes away, and tendril-like mental power with a silvery luster stretched towards Ma En's location, and then gently drilled into his head, in an attempt to dig out possible "secrets".

"Isn't that a little impolite?" Ma En's voice interrupted him.

Shen Zhihe withdrew his power:

"Sorry, but I'm a little wary of new faces.

"If you don't mind, can I check your thoughts?"

Ma En refused:

"No, I think we can use a gentler method to understand each other."

Shen Zhihe narrowed his eyes and said:

"If you say that, I will think that you have some secrets that you don't want us to know."

Qin Lan also opened her mouth and said:

"What are you doing?"

Shen Zhihe looked at Qin Lan and rebuked in a stern tone:

"You didn't tell me in advance that he was coming to see us. I don't think this is responsible for our safety.

"And the strength of his mental defense is different from what it looks like. Not everyone can do this."

"Also, you said that he only joined the Coordination Bureau not long ago. How can you be sure that he is not a spy sent by the Federation?"

Qin Lan was also a little surprised by his reaction. Although she had thought that Shen Zhihe would be somewhat suspicious and wary of Ma En's appearance, she had not expected it to be so serious.

Tao He frowned and said:

"She just said that the Divine Firmament Walker has seen him. Even if you don't believe this young man, don't you still believe her sister?"

Shen Zhihe shook his head:

"No, of course I believe in the Divine Firmament Walker.

"But the Divine Firmament Walker is not standing in front of me at this moment. I believe in the Divine Firmament Walker, but I don't believe in you, Qin Lan.

"Actually, I have been suspicious of you for a long time. You are hiding something from us, and there is actually a doubt. You are the Divine Firmament Walker's own sister. Since she has been arrested, how did you successfully escape?

"They had a machine that could predict the future at that time, and relied on it to capture many of our overt companions. I don't think they have any reason not to use that machine on you. You and I both know how strong predicting the future is.

"And your words just now seem to answer this question, but in my opinion, you are actually dispelling our doubts in advance. There is actually a reasonable explanation for why you can successfully escape.

"You were once controlled by the Federation. I don't know what they did to you. Maybe they modified your memory and made you think that this Ma En is a trustworthy companion, or maybe they made you succumb, or maybe you are not the real Qin Lan at all.

"Even if they didn't do anything to you, what you saw may not be real. It is possible that they put on a show for you. Maybe he is a spy of the Federation and has made preparations to deceive your sister."

"Qin Lan, I am willing to believe you, but I cannot allow myself to do so.

"As a telepath, I often see people making mistakes against their own will."

Qin Lan had to admit that what he said made sense. She really shouldn't have been able to successfully escape from Dongxin State, but Shen Zhihe didn't know how magical Ma En's Behind-the-Scenes Control Bureau was.

Thinking about the worst-case scenario, even if there was a possibility that this organization colluded with the government, any interests on her body were not worth the Control Bureau exposing their existence and technology.

As for the possibility of being deceived, Ma En could indeed manipulate memories, but if the "Salvation Secret Alliance" was a lie, Ma En would not be able to deceive all the Salvation Alliance members.

If he could do it, there would be no need to do so.

"Don't worry." Qin Lan said, "I can understand your doubts and worries. After I explain the reason, you will understand."

Shen Zhihe said:

"Then explain everything completely."

He had actually checked the most superficial thoughts of Qin Lan without arousing suspicion. He could already be sure that Qin Lan didn't think there was anything wrong with him before he said those words.

But Ma En's resistance made him feel that things might not be so simple.

"No, there is a reason why I don't let you invade my consciousness." Ma En said, "And for similar reasons to why you want to do this, I obtained important information outside some time ago and told Qin Lan, and then she and I investigated many problems."

Shen Zhihe said:

"If you continue to speak in riddles, I won't believe you."

Ma En said:

"I didn't explain clearly for the same reason. We have to talk in another place, Qin Lan..."

She took over and said:

"I will take your consciousness to other places, don't resist, I guarantee it is absolutely safe, please believe me, we will stay here to do this.

"Don't resist."

Tao He and Feng Shaoying looked at Shen Zhihe.

He paused and said:

"If you can do it..."

Whoosh.

They suddenly appeared in a silver-white conference room. Feng Shaoying and Tao He looked at Ma En in surprise—they both thought it was an illusion created by him.

But Shen Zhihe's heart sank, because he knew very well that this was not an illusion.

"Now she can't hear our conversation." Ma En said.

The silver crescent moon had already sunk into the depths of Shen Zhihe's eyes.