Chapter 8: Double Strands Tightening

  Location: Science Castle, Temporary Interrogation Room, Canteen Back Alley, and Thunderhawk's Quarters

  Time: Day after Old Chen's death

  Constable Valeria Mendoza was like a stone cast into still water, the ripples continuing to spread. In the temporary interrogation room she established within Science Castle, she continuously summoned people who had contact with Old Chen: his coworkers, logistics supervisors, even several scientists whose offices he had been responsible for maintaining. The questioning was exhaustive, from Old Chen's recent emotional state to Science Castle's work processes, everything was covered. Her presence made Chaldea security personnel, especially Viktor Graham, noticeably uncomfortable.

  Graham intensified "supervision" of internal security personnel—actually applying pressure. At a brief security meeting, he clearly instructed: "Cooperate with the police investigation, but must ensure Science Castle's normal operation and that core secrets remain unaffected. Any information related to the investigation must be approved by me before being transmitted externally."

  His gaze intentionally or unintentionally swept over Thunderhawk, carrying a warning implication. Thunderhawk understood he was at the focal point of both sides' power struggle.

  Mendoza also sought out Thunderhawk again. This questioning went deeper, focusing on the unclear mutterings Old Chen shouted during the attack.

  "Mr. Morningstar, you confirm he shouted 'murderer' and 'executioners'?" Mendoza stared at him, trying to catch any subtle change in expression.

  "Yes, Constable. Though unclear, those two words appeared repeatedly, emotions filled with hatred."

  "Did he have any known personal grudge against Dr. Yang?"

  "According to public records, no."

  "Then, his hatred might be directed at a broader target, such as... Chaldea Tech, or Project Noah itself?" Mendoza's question was as precise as a scalpel.

  "That's speculation without evidence," Thunderhawk responded cautiously.

  "Before finding evidence, all reasonable speculation is an investigative direction." Mendoza closed her notebook. "Thank you, Mr. Morningstar. Remember, if you recall any detail, no matter how small, report directly to me." Her words were both a reminder and, under Graham's blockade order, quietly opening a window for Thunderhawk.

  Thunderhawk could sense that though this female constable was stern, her will to pursue truth was genuine.

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  Under pressure, Thunderhawk decided to risk contacting Isabella Chen. He "happened upon" her checking a delivery checklist in the logistics handover zone at the canteen back alley. Isabella looked much more haggard, eyes red and swollen, but still forced herself to work with spirit.

  "Ms. Chen," Thunderhawk's voice was low, "regarding your father's matter, I'm very sorry."

  Isabella's body trembled slightly but didn't look up, only humming softly.

  "I know this isn't the right time, but the police are investigating. Any information about your father's recent abnormalities might help clarify the truth." Thunderhawk chose to be direct but kept his tone as gentle as possible.

  Isabella finally looked up, her eyes filled with complex emotions: sorrow, confusion, and a trace of anger. "The truth? My father... he was just an honest maintenance worker! How could he suddenly become like this? He had been acting strange lately, always distracted. Once he even told me... said something about 'this city is eating people'... I thought he was just under too much pressure..." Her voice choked.

  "Eating people?" Thunderhawk caught this key phrase.

  "Yes, he said... some places' power meters were wrong, electricity consumption frighteningly high, not at all for human use... He also said... it seemed someone was watching him because he 'saw things he shouldn't have seen'..." Isabella suddenly became alert and stopped, wiping her eyes. "Sorry, I should get back to work. These might all be his delusions." She hurriedly grabbed the checklist and left quickly, leaving behind crucial information.

  Energy anomalies, sense of surveillance. Old Chen's intuition coincided exactly with Thunderhawk's earlier investigation. This ordinary maintenance worker had obviously also noticed Science Castle's internal core anomaly through his work, and consequently invited deadly disaster.

  That evening, in his quarters, Thunderhawk felt invisible strands tightening. Mendoza pursued relentlessly in the open, Graham watched from the shadows like a tiger, while Science Castle's deeply hidden secrets crouched like a dormant behemoth. He needed more information, needed direction to break the deadlock.

  He attempted again to activate the communication channel with Black Cat, this time not to transmit information but to send a clear distress request. He used his cyberbrain's low-level encoding function to compile an extremely brief thought signal mixing ancient Navajo vocabulary with numeric cipher—this had been one of the highest priority emergency communication methods agreed upon with his NRCan contact. He hoped Black Cat could capture and understand this unique "frequency."

  After the signal was sent, he waited patiently. A few minutes later, that familiar subtle internal vibration came again. No text, only a processed, cold and rapid electronic synthesized audio injected directly into his auditory nerves, but the content made Thunderhawk's spine chill:

  "Authorization record tracing failed, opponent's counter-tracking capability extremely strong. But captured a fragment of associated information flow: target scientist's (Dr. Yang) medical files were abnormally accessed multiple times within one hour after the attack. Access source disguised as routine inspection, but jump path points to... Security Director's office secondary terminal. Suggestion: investigate Dr. Yang."

  The information cut off abruptly. Black Cat had not only accepted his emergency request but provided an explosive direction: Graham was concerned about Dr. Yang's research? Dr. Yang's mathematical model research was directly related to the "Devourer" virus? Was this seemingly privately motivated assassination actually connected to more core secrets?

  Thunderhawk felt he was standing at the entrance to a massive maze.