Chapter 50 Striking While the Iron Is Hot

"You've found a trail?" Chen Xuan asked calmly.

"Mhm, take a look at these posts." She pressed her finger against the monitor, and the content on the screen shifted instantly—this ability to control a computer directly without a port connection was truly astonishing. "Their contents are basically all the same, completely framing everything that happened at noon as a movie promotion."

For instance, the top headline Chen Xuan had just looked at.

——"I never expected such a great response. It seems the publicity campaign for *Ascending Immortality* is really paying off."

The starting post even provided several photos: a hidden camera set up in a secluded spot, staff members pulling cables out of the water, and the back view of a woman in a long white robe stepping into a reception vehicle.

The discussion within the thread was also quite "professional." Although there was no shortage of netizen banter, many replies carried the tone of industry insiders, pointing out what the equipment in the photos was used for.

Another post was even more absurd, directly featuring a leaked video of a rehearsal, seemingly corroborating that the incident was entirely a premeditated promotional campaign.

Below it, quite a few netizens who fancied themselves independent thinkers were mocking and ridiculing the eyewitnesses who believed the immortal was real.

"No way, you guys actually believe something like this? Why don't you believe I'm Qin Shi Huang?"

"Can those who believe leave your contact info? I'll sell you life insurance when you get old."

Chen Xuan figured it out: believing or not believing was normal, but those actor photos and the pretendedly busy production crew were clearly not something ordinary netizens could pull off.

He magnified the photo of the woman in white and examined it repeatedly, discovering that her figure and facial contours bore some resemblance to Liu Shuyue. Coupled with the fact that most eyewitnesses were quite far from the bridge, anyone seeing this photo would subconsciously associate her with the immortal.

"Are you sure this is entirely the handiwork of the Limitation Bureau?"

He had heard Lin Qing introduce this agency. Generally speaking, despite its massive scale and unfathomable capabilities, the Limitation Bureau's long-term concealment beneath the surface meant its operational style was predominantly covert and low-key. The regional branches all had a logistics department primarily responsible for handling information leaks, and their greatest expertise was blurring the lines between truth and falsehood, making fiction reality.

However, during Lin Qing's active period, the agency had already split up for decades, and its organizational structure, philosophy, and policies were completely different from the past. Coupled with the strict internal confidentiality of the organization back then, she could only understand the rough outlines based on past materials.

Lin Qing stated with certainty, "Instead of a complete internet blackout, it's better to deliberately guide the narrative. The resources they can mobilize are quite astonishing. If I'm not mistaken, this hastily pieced together *Ascending Immortality* probably has already started filming. In a few days, you'll find that the theaters will actually release a trailer; this little cost is nothing to them."

"Of course, I have even more conclusive evidence," she added. "I collected all the supportive replies and handed them over to Xiao Lü for analysis—"

"Wait, who is Xiao Lü?" Chen Xuan interrupted.

"An efficiency-type E63, my personal AI assistant. In the future, everyone equipped with an auxiliary cognitive chip will have a built-in AI system."

How advanced... He felt a surge of respect. "Go on."

"Xiao Lü discovered that over 85% of these replies were generated by AI. They match the language output characteristics of the large language model 'Milk Cow,' and 'Milk Cow' is one of the AIs developed by the Limitation Bureau, which continued to work for us even after the split."

Chen Xuan couldn't help clapping softly.

This was the future... using AI to fool humanity, and then using AI to arrest AI. They handled the whole operation from start to finish.

"Why call it 'Milk Cow,' though?"

"Is the name that important? It just means it eats grass and produces milk." Lin Qing shrugged. "The AI itself doesn't mind, why should you?"

"That's true." Chen Xuan returned to the main topic. "I must admit, pulling this off makes it pretty easy to muddle through. If I didn't know Liu Shuyue, I'd definitely think the actress in the photos was the woman who jumped off the bridge back then."

"I certainly won't let them off the hook so easily. At a time like this, we should strike while the iron is hot."

"You've come up with a good idea?"

"Hmph, I'm no pushover either." A spark of excitement shone in the young girl's eyes. "There are far too many vulnerabilities in this world's network security, making it just right for me to showcase my skills. Even if this trick can only be used once, it'll still be enough to give them a headache."

...

...

The door to the supervisor's office was tightly closed, and from time to time, submissive responses could be heard leaking from inside.

Out in the cubicles, everyone kept their heads down, pretending to be busy, but all they could actually do was browse the web and check for any new news.

"The captain is probably getting chewed out terribly this time," someone muttered softly.

"To think that we, the dignified Execution Squad, are being stepped on by the Logistics Squad—it's an absolute humiliation!"

"Shh, they're right next door. Watch out or you'll be heard."

Wang Baihu twirled his pen out of boredom, his gaze lingering on the video of the woman in white jumping off the bridge. He always felt that recent events hadn't been going smoothly. Ever since Crimson Lotus took the risk to infiltrate the C102 intrusion point only to fall short at the very end, not a single mission had been properly closed out.

He dragged the mouse, pulling the progress bar back to the middle—"This is for the best, saving me from having to hunt you down world by world... Let's make an end of it." When the woman uttered those words, he paused the playback and enlarged another image side-by-side.

That was the "exclusive photo" the logistics department had bought from other channels. The photographer had been only five or six meters away from the woman in white, and the camera had clearly captured her profile.

Even without facing the lens directly, one could glimpse her peerless beauty—the kind of striking, unforgettable type that, once seen, would never leave one's mind.

"Found something?" someone asked from behind.

There was no need to look back to know the speaker was Crimson Lotus.

Wang Baihu stretched. Having sat idly in his chair all day, no matter how fit he was, his back and shoulders inevitably felt a bit sore and numb. "No clue at all. The intelligence unit spent a full day and night with zero results; how could I spot any issues? Assuming these people's backgrounds are all real, it means they are all experienced wanderers. On the bright side, after eliminating those three opponents, the woman has already returned to her own world and won't threaten us anymore."

"But that doesn't make sense," Xiao鸠 from the adjacent cubicle poked her head over, speaking in a delicate voice. "Four people entering and exiting worlds need to pass through an intrusion point. That would definitely generate consistent frequency shockwaves multiple times. Even if we still haven't found this intrusion point, the machine would have recorded it as a major characteristic, yet the intelligence department says there's no such thing."

"You're a rookie, so don't take everything written in the manuals too seriously," Wang Baihu curled his lips. "Machines missing or misrecording data is a common occurrence; who knows what the real situation is. Even if she's still lingering in Jiangcheng, judging by her appearance... she probably isn't the type of destructive, bloodthirsty psycho, right?"

"Just because she's pretty?" Crimson Lotus sneered.

He coughed twice. "Well... appearance reflects the heart, you know."

"I'd like to ask a question," Xiao鸠 looked at the two of them.

"Go ahead." Crimson Lotus was actually quite polite to this junior.

"What if... she really is staying in Jiangcheng, and is unwilling to cooperate with the agency, repeatedly passing through the intrusion points later on? Should we still treat her as an enemy?"

The two exchanged glances.

In the end, it was Crimson Lotus who nodded and replied, "Yes."

"Even if she's a good person? What if she just doesn't trust us, but doesn't want to fight us either..."

"Then we must at least expel her and ensure she never sets foot in this world again." Crimson Lotus sighed softly. "I know what you're worried about. We might look like unreasonable masters rejecting all outside visitors, but this is a necessary measure to protect our world. The expansion of intrusion points will swallow the space we rely on for survival and cause more and more people to acquire mutated abilities. Can you imagine everyone possessing abilities like 'Seizure' or 'Hidden Assassination'?"

"A society like that would be way too thrilling." Wang Baihu patted the young girl's head. "To let everyone stroll the streets and eat late-night snacks without a care, rules like this are absolutely necessary."

Xiao鸠 first gave an "mhm," but soon stared at him in utter astonishment.

Uh, did I say something wrong?

He turned to look at Crimson Lotus, only to find the latter also staring at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

Wang Baihu abruptly snapped to his senses and spun back around. The computer screen had turned pitch black at some unknown point, displaying a huge number "5" in the center.

Other colleagues in the office also let out cries of alarm one after another.

"Hey, what's going on? My computer seems to have been hacked!"

"Me too, I can't operate it!"

Then came 4, 3, 2, 1...

When the countdown ended, a masked person appeared on the screen. "Hello, everyone who can see this broadcast. As you can see, I am an ability user."