Soon, the helicopter landed at the port. By the time Mo Changhao emerged with a grim expression, the director of Wuyang's special operations division and Mayor Wan Niansong were already present.
The special operations division was the collective name for the Special Investigations Department and the military police working with the investigations department. It was a new division that was set up with the Special Investigations Department as its backbone following the cessation of the supernatural disasters, and it was responsible for overseeing all cases of paranormal activity during non-extreme times.
Everyone was quite familiar with one another, so there was no need for unnecessary small talk, particularly when there was a provincial-level director among them who was clearly in a very foul mood.
"Mr. Qin." As soon as he entered the conference room, Mo Changhao made his way directly over to Qin Ye and looked directly into his eyes as he asked, "Did you sense anything just now?"
Qin Ye cast a puzzled glance toward him. "No. Did something happen?"
Mo Changhao continued to look straight into his eyes, and only after a long while did he nod in response before giving Qin Ye a recount of what had just happened.
Qin Ye's eyes narrowed slightly after hearing his recount. "Are you doubting me?"
"I'm not doubting you," Mo Changhao replied without backing down in the slightest. "However, I am very befuddled by the fact that an Abyssal Prefect like you didn't sense anything when there was an outbreak of Infernal Judge level Yin energy fluctuations no more than several dozen nautical miles away from you."
Qin Ye nodded in response before gesturing for Mo Changhao to take a seat, and his brows also furrowed tightly.
He really had failed to sense anything...
Why was that the case? No Yin spirit should've been able to avoid the detection of an Abyssal Prefect at such a close range, even if he weren't going out of his way to sense them. To him, Infernal Judge level Yin energy fluctuations should've been as noticeable as a bright moon on a dark night, but he was certain that he had only sensed Mo Changhao's true energy fluctuations earlier.
Furthermore, how could a foreign Infernal Judge possibly have been able to enter Cathay? Only low-grade darkfeathers could enter Cathay, and they couldn't even enter the underworld. Their Yin energy would've been so strikingly conspicuous that it would've been extremely difficult for him not to have sensed it, so why hadn't he sensed it?
Finally, according to what Mo Changhao had just said, he theorized that there was something that was at least at the Abyssal Prefect level carrying the palaces on its back, and that was even more ridiculous, but there was no way that Mo Changhao would lie about something like this.
"The satellite images will be here very soon." Mo Changhao took a seat and adjusted his tie, then picked up his teacup and downed its contents in one go. "If I hadn't seen it myself, even I wouldn't think that it was real... Mr. Qin, does this have anything to do with the reason you asked all of us to come here?"
Qin Ye flicked a finger through the air to release a messenger bird, then pushed all of the resources Ren Dashi had provided in Mo Changhao's direction. Mo Changhao didn't refuse, and he began to carefully inspect the data. After half an hour, he finally looked up and asked, "So what are your intentions here?"
Qin Ye stood up and gently stroked the surface of the desk with his finger as he asked, "Have you heard of the Laws of Yin-Yang Coaction?"
"Yes, the concept was mentioned in the resources you provided a few years ago."
Qin Ye gave a slight nod and said, "If some major event happens in the mortal realm, it'll be sure to be reflected in the underworld. Recently, the Yellow Springs returned to the underworld, and a mirage city also appeared not too long after that. Almost on the exact same day, this giant chunk of undying flesh appeared in the mortal realm, and after that, you witnessed that unfathomable scene..."
Beep... Right at this moment, a notification tone rang out from one of the investigators' computers, and Ye Xingchen stuck his head over to take a look. "The satellite footage is ready, everyone."
Following an instruction from Mo Changhao, a clear image appeared on the LED screen.
Everyone remained silent and stared intently at the screen. As the Infernal Judge level evil ghost appeared, everyone's expressions only took a slightly grim turn. This still wasn't beyond the limit of what the mortal realm could handle. However, close to 20 seconds later, everyone aside from Mo Changhao had sprung to their feet to stare at the screen with incredulous expressions, and even Qin Ye's mouth had gaped open slightly.
It was as if the sea had sprung to life.
It would most likely take typhoons in excess of level 10 to stir up the surface of the sea to the same extent.
How massive did the beast below the waves have to be to churn up the sea to such an incredible degree?
There was no way to tell exactly how gigantic it was. In contrast with the gargantuan creature, the helicopter was like a small raft on a boundless sea. Even through the screen, everyone was struck by a sense of apprehension at the sight of that indistinct black shadow.
What kind of creature could churn up the sea so violently with just its movement alone?
What kind of power could construct a cluster of palaces on such a creature's back?
"We have surveillance instruments such as infrared scanners, right? Were we able to use those devices to map out the entire creature's body?" Qin Ye asked as he stared intently at the screen.
"I'm afraid not," Mo Changhao replied with a wry smile. "Everything happened far too quickly for us to get those devices ready."
The room fell silent again, and after a long while, Qin Ye finally said, "A major event just so happens to have taken place in the underworld a few days ago."
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He skipped past his ventures in the Huang Clan's earthen building and gave everyone an account of the light tower in the mortal coil and Bu Wantian's memories, as well as the changes brought on by the return of the Yellow Springs. "I tried to continue to search through his memories, but some kind of seal has been placed on his memories. Whenever a sensitive secret is about to be revealed, the seal would be immediately triggered without fail, so we don't know exactly where he is."
Mo Changhao had also risen to his feet, and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes before offering one to Qin Ye. Qin Ye shook his head in refusal, and Mo Changhao lit a cigarette for himself before taking a long draw. "If we look at the timeline, right after the return of the Yellow Springs, that massive chunk of flesh appeared at Wuyang Port, and the Yellow Springs' inlet into the sea is situated right at Wuyang Port."
Qin Ye said in a grim voice, "In order to crack this mystery, we have to first figure out exactly what happened during these past few days. Only then will we be able to peel back the layers and get to the truth. The supernatural events to have taken place thus far following the return of the Yellow Springs are the emergence of that mirage city, the massive chunk of flesh that washed up on shore in the mortal realm, and the underwater palaces and giant sea beast that you saw today."
Mo Changhao nodded reflexively in response. There had to be traceable signs linking up everything that had happened, and the perpetrator's motives and potentially even their identity often lurked in the initial event in the sequence. This was something that Mo Changhao had seen time and time again during his 10 years as director of the Special Investigations Department.
Thinking carefully before acting would allow them to target the matter at its roots.
"Currently, there's one incident stacking on top of the other, but there's always an origin point. I presume you're trying to determine the origin point through the Laws of Yin Yang Coaction, then work in reverse to find the progression sequence of all of these incidents."
Had this all begun in the mortal realm or in the underworld?
Qin Ye nodded in response. "We can make a sequential timeline for these incidents. According to the information that we currently have, the initial event was the return of the Yellow Springs. As the Yellow Springs flowed out of Ashmound Port, which corresponds to Wuyang Port, then continued and crashed into the array in the underworld, changes began to take place in the mortal realm as well."
"How can you be sure that this is the initial event?" Ye Xingchen couldn't help but interject, only to be met by a stern glare from Mo Changhao for speaking out of turn.
Qin Ye didn't mind, and a wisp of Yin energy permeated out of his fingertip as he began to write in mid-air while explaining, "It's actually a very simple process to pinpoint the initial event. The first supernatural event to have occurred was the emergence of the mirage city, which appeared between the sixth and ninth tsunamis caused by the return of the Yellow Springs, and the exact time was 2 PM three days ago. The first tsunami struck the array in the underworld at 1:20 PM three days ago, and after the emergence of the mirage city, we conducted observations for three days after that. As a result, we determined that this wasn't just a singular incident. Instead, it was a phenomenon caused by the Laws of Yin Yang Coaction, and that's why I decided to pay Wuyang a visit. It also just so happens to be the case that the massive chunk of flesh washed up on Wuyang Port three days ago..."
He picked up the records provided by Ren Dashi as he concluded, "At 1:40 PM."
This was where his analysis concluded, and he swept his gaze across everyone present. Having occupied such a lofty position for as long as he had, he was exuding a natural aura of leadership that evoked an involuntary sense of respect within everyone else.
Furthermore, he had already made his point very clear.
The room fell silent as everyone fell into deep thought. Close to a minute later, both Ye Xingchen and Mo Changhao raised their heads in unison as they declared, "The fourth and fifth underworld tsunamis took place between 1:20 PM and 1:40 PM, could it be that those tsunamis injured that monster?"
"That's right!" Qin Ye replied. When thinking about problems, he much preferred discussing with others over pondering issues on his own.
"According to the records of Wuyang City, a small tsunami took place on that same afternoon around 50 nautical miles away from Wuyang Port, right about here..." He made a grabbing motion, and a map of Wuyang appeared in mid-air. "Shrink the satellite image so that it's on the same scale as the map."
One of the female investigators immediately executed the instruction, and several seconds later, audible gasps rang out across the entire room.
It was the same location as the one where Mo Changhao had seen those underwater palaces!
"The conversion rate from kilometers to nautical miles is 1:1.89, and at the same time, this is the edge of the underworld's array!"
The three locations were at the same point!
"While it's true that this giant beast appeared in the mortal realm, there's no way the minor tsunami in the mortal realm would've been enough to wound it like this. In that case..." He paused momentarily as he swept a meaningful gaze across the room. "What about the tsunamis in the underworld that reached several hundred meters in height?"
It was enough... It was definitely enough...
As soon as this thought arose, Mo Changhao immediately drew a sharp breath. "So that means... there is a Yin Yang Mezzanine, the largest one in history, situated 100 nautical miles east of Wuyang Port?! Otherwise, if this giant beast was only injured by the tsunamis in the underworld, how could it have ended up in the mortal realm?"
However, he then immediately shook his head as he continued, "No, we're being too quick to jump to conclusions here. Tsunamis reaching heights of hundreds of meters would definitely be enough to wound that giant beast, but other things can as well. For example, it could've cracked into a sharp and jagged underwater mountain, or it could've been attacked by other predators..."
"Neither of those are possible options," Qin Ye interjected. "Let me remind you that on the records provided by CEO Ren, it was stated that the injuries resulted from some type of shockwave. There are no signs of predator attacks or other types of physical trauma. Also... How well-versed are you in biology, Mr. Mo?"
Mo Changhao shook his head in response, and Qin Ye continued, "I just so happen to like reading books on this topic in my spare time, so I know a thing or two about this. The deeper the water, the greater the water pressure, and in order to contend with the water pressure, deep sea organisms will grow to larger and larger sizes. Under this type of environment, there's no way a sharp and jagged underwater mountain could exist. Any mountains would be completely smooth and rounded out as the jagged parts would've already crumbled under the immense water pressure. Perhaps you'll then theorize that an underwater mountain could've collapsed, thereby injuring the beast through blunt trauma. However, that's also impossible. Due to the extreme density of the water, even the heaviest mountains would fall at a snail's pace, so there's no way it would be able to harm such a gigantic creature. Hence, there could only have been one cause for the detachment of the chunk of flesh that washed up on Wuyang Port, and that's the underworld tsunamis! Otherwise, even underwater volcanic eruptions wouldn't be able to harm it in the slightest!"
There was something else that he intentionally left out as it had nothing to do with the mortal realm.
If the tsunamis had harmed this giant creature, then it would've had to have been situated on the surface of the sea. What was it doing there?
Why had it risen up to the surface just as the Yellow Springs was returning?
It was right on the edge of the Array of the Nine Gods. Perhaps it was... watching something?
For the past several millennia, a pair of untraceable eyes had been constantly lurking in the sea, silently watching the underworld. Why was it doing that? Was it waiting? Was it observing? What was it waiting for? Who was it observing?