Chapter 755: 749 Bureau

Yang Xiao recounted the events of the past few days to Lu Xun.

Hearing that Chen Ling had led them to break through the encirclement, a look of surprise flashed across Lu Xun's face. Then, he let out a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.

"It seems I truly haven't misjudged you..." Lu Xun stood up again and solemnly extended his hand to Chen Ling. "Director Chen, our previous meeting in Shennongjia was quite rushed... Please allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Lu Xun, a doctor of astrophysics, and one of the initiators of the Scarlet Star Exploration Project."

Seeing this, Chen Ling also stood up and shook his hand. "I am Chen Ling."

Chen Ling's self-introduction was very simple. He didn't explain where he came from or why he helped Su Zhiwei and the others. His presence seemed to be shrouded in mystery, like the deep and enigmatic cosmos.

Lu Xun didn't dislike mystery. He just needed to know that Chen Ling's attitude towards them was friendly, and that was enough.

"Actually, this meeting is also a bit rushed..." Lu Xun glanced at his watch. "However, we still have at least half an hour now, and no one will disturb us during this time."

"So, what exactly is going on? Who is tracking you?"

A complex emotion flashed in Lu Xun's eyes. After a long silence, he finally sighed. "...It's Bureau 749."

"Bureau 749?" Chen Ling and Yang Xiao were both stunned.

"Bureau 749, formally known as the Paranormal Incident Investigation Bureau, was once subordinate to the Ministry of National Defense. It later became independent, specifically responsible for the exploration and investigation of civilian paranormal phenomena... Because my work involves cosmic observation, I occasionally deal with their personnel. My astronomical observation unit is under their supervision."

"There's really an organization like that?" Yang Xiao asked in surprise. "I always thought Bureau 749 was just a rumor... So, are they an official or unofficial organization?"

"The situation with Bureau 749 is quite complex... You can think of it as a semi-official organization. It has some official backing, but its members do not have official identities," Lu Xun paused, then continued. "The daily work of Bureau 749 is to search for and investigate individuals who possess divine abilities, and register them to prevent their powers from affecting social stability. These registered individuals are called 'White Hands,' while those operating within our country who have not yet been registered are called 'Black Hands.'"

After speaking, Lu Xun glanced at Chen Ling. As someone with divine abilities whose background hadn't yet been fully ascertained by Bureau 749, Chen Ling naturally fell into the category of 'Black Hands.'

"So... the government has long known about the existence of divine abilities and already has a comprehensive management system for those who possess them?"

To be honest, Chen Ling wasn't surprised by this. After all, divine abilities have existed since ancient times, so it was impossible for the government to be unaware. There must be more than one master like Xiao Chunping in the country... The so-called Intangible Cultural Heritage Exchange Forum was probably some kind of official 'White Hand' meeting.

As for someone like Nie Yu, being a fifth-tier hunter with considerable renown on the dark web, it goes without saying that people both domestically and internationally are aware of the existence of divine abilities, though it's kept a secret.

"Yes," Lu Xun nodded slightly. "The impact of the Scarlet Star's arrival was too great. There were numerous casualties in Shangjing, and Bureau 749 had already taken it very seriously... So they contacted me immediately, wanting me to lead a team to analyze the Scarlet Star fragments and understand what they truly were."

"And then you assembled us?" Yang Xiao suddenly realized. "That explains why this exploration was so urgent..."

"Because we didn't know what the Scarlet Star was, we needed experts from various fields to be present. But no one anticipated that such an unforeseen event would occur in Shennongjia..."

Lu Xun gave a bitter smile. "After the exploration concluded, Bureau 749 was very surprised by what we encountered. Who could have imagined that an extraterrestrial fragment would melt and disappear into our bodies...? So, they proposed taking my body samples for experimental analysis."

At this, Chen Ling's expression gradually became subtle. He seemed to have guessed the subsequent events.

"And then?" Yang Xiao immediately asked.

"Later, they discovered an unknown component in my blood. They couldn't analyze it, and my brainwaves had completely deviated from the human norm... This kind of discovery was unprecedented in human history.

"So, they proposed a more detailed analysis of me, and I agreed... After all, this was a significant discovery for humanity. If they could decipher something from it, human technology might achieve another leap.

"They took samples from my skin, my blood, organ biopsies, and even a portion of my bone marrow in the end...

"I cooperated with them in various experiments in the laboratory, but no significant progress was made. Until one day, I suddenly discovered that I seemed to possess some kind of power, able to turn some theoretical knowledge into reality... This astonished Bureau 749 even more.

"It was from that moment that I sensed something was wrong.

"Although I had remained in the laboratory without external contact, I could feel that dissent was beginning to appear within Bureau 749... More and more people came to take samples from me, and the experiments became increasingly intensive each day. In the end, I even experienced symptoms of shock and coma due to frequent blood draws."

"They're using you for human experiments?" Yang Xiao immediately frowned. "Bureau 749 does things like this??"

"No... This might not be Bureau 749's intention, but rather the intention of certain individuals within it. Because later, I was secretly transferred out of Bureau 749's laboratory to another location for covert experiments... I suspect someone wanted to deceive everyone and claim the secrets within me for themselves."

"...And then?"

"When I realized something was wrong, I secretly borrowed a phone from Dr. Chu and started contacting other members who participated in the exploration... Because I felt that the changes in me weren't an isolated case, and you might also become targets of these people.

"I first contacted Wu Tongyuan. His plane had just landed in Shangjing, so I told him to buy the next available flight directly to Las Vegas.

"As for the others, Dr. Ji and Dr. Lou have been missing since the exploration ended. Dr. Chu was right beside me, but I didn't have Dr. Su's number, and no one answered when I called her office... When I called your workplace, they said you were missing too...

"Time was pressing then, and I couldn't contact more people. So, I could only outwardly pretend to cooperate with the experiments while secretly looking for an opportunity to leave and then contact you all."

"I have a question!" Chen Ling suddenly interjected.

"Go ahead."

"Who is Dr. Chu?"