AITAMITB Chapter 16

“We are talking about a female celebrity who lost her memory,” Gou Rixin explained.

“Lost her memory?” Zhang Hongyi’s casual expression suddenly turned serious. “Can you be sure?”

“Cannot be sure, just suspicious,” Lin Bai lowered his head, tapped a few times on the computer keyboard, then turned the screens of the phone and the computer to face everyone. “She is now living with Shen Zhifei, the executive CEO of Shen’s Entertainment, and Shen Zhifei…”

On the screen, there was a scene of Shen Zhifei standing in front of the displayed auction item, talking quietly with someone.

“Do you still remember the anomaly that happened in the parking lot of the Xinde Building that day? On the night of the anomaly, she was attending a small auction inside the Xinde Building,” Lin Bai paused, then explained, “In fact, the victims we found on that night were all participants of this auction. Based on the comparison of surveillance videos and the victims’ statements, I suspect that the time Shen Zhifei left should be very close to the arrival of Shi Xinde, the vampire, maybe even…”

Zhang Hongyi continued, “She might have actually encountered Shi Xinde, but due to the presence of the second supernatural being, she managed to escape, or she herself is a supernatural being.”

“I suddenly thought of something.” Hong Ying, who would be easily forgotten if she didn’t speak, spoke softly, “Zhao Zijin, the female celebrity in the video, you may not be aware, but I remember, she and Rong Zhen, the current heir of the Rong family, once had rumors, and Rong Zhen is Shen Zhifei’s fiancé.”

Zhang Hongyi frowned and suddenly asked, “Did Zhao Zijin mention the time frame of her memory loss?”

“From the day of the graduation dinner to the day she jumped into the water to save someone,” Hong Ying remembered clearly.

Lin Bai turned the screen back to himself, bowed his head, and busily worked on the computer screen.

The others waited.

After a while, Lin Bai hit the enter key, and cheerfully said, “Indeed, on the day Zhao Zijin lost her memory, she had just met Shen Zhifei. This is the surveillance in the cafe, where you can clearly see the faces of Shen Zhifei and Zhao Zijin, who seem to part on bad terms. The place where Zhao Zijin fainted was not found, probably not captured by surveillance, but I found her medical records at Shen’s private hospital. There was no problem with her brain, and based on the time, I can roughly deduce the location where she fainted, probably near the bridge where she jumped into the water to save someone, within a range of five hundred meters.”

“How coincidental,” he suddenly chuckled lightly, his eyes under the black-framed glasses seemed to be glowing, “In that vicinity is the Fifth People’s Hospital. Why did Shen Zhifei not take her to the Fifth People’s Hospital, which is less than a five-minute drive away, but instead chose to take her to their own hospital two hours away?”

“She is hiding something, or she is testing something,” Zhang Hongyi said.

“Love rival, hehehe…” Gou Rixin laughed suddenly, with a lecherous smile. Zhang Hongyi glanced at him without saying anything.

The possibility of a romantic rivalry between Shen Zhifei and Zhao Zijin could indeed be a reason for her to take action against Zhao Zijin.

Many supernaturals, who have quietly lived in obscurity for countless years among ordinary people, often suddenly expose themselves for seemingly ridiculous reasons.

Zhang Hongyi, looking at the computer screen, suddenly furrowed his brows.

He turned to Lin Bai and asked, “Have the batch of memory erasers that were lost before been completely recovered?”

Memory erasers, the full name being Memory Eliminator.

All large, officially recognized supernatural organizations share a common understanding – supernaturals must never expose their abilities to ordinary people.

The reason is simple: supernatural abilities are a type of power that cannot be obtained through effort. Except for a few humans who gain supernatural abilities through evil and sacrificial means, most supernaturals are lucky individuals who have no idea how they awakened their powers.

This is not a learnable skill that can change one’s destiny through study. The presence or absence of supernatural abilities is determined at birth, only differing in the awakening or lack thereof.

However, investigation results provided by some organizations suggest that the ratio between those who can become supernaturals and ordinary people is approximately one to a thousand or even more.

This ratio ensures that only a minority can become supernaturals.

For ordinary people, individuals with powers exceeding theirs pose an undeniable threat.

If the supernatural abilities remain undiscovered, all is well. Once discovered, these individuals are sure to be treated with fear and guarded by those who are aware, as they pose a threat relying solely on themselves, without external tools.

The part of human genetics responsible for reproduction inevitably makes them fearful of supernaturals, leading to intense hostility and a strong desire to attack.

Once someone becomes a supernatural, they naturally find themselves on opposing sides with ordinary people.

But, to be honest, the vast majority of supernaturals, compared to humans, might be a bit stronger, but they are not significantly superior. Some supernaturals with weaker or unique abilities, like Hong Ying in the Night Watchers, who can reduce her own presence and have a strong perception of danger, are not even stronger than well-trained ordinary people. While individual humans may not stand out, their sheer numbers are their greatest advantage. In case of a conflict, humans might suffer short-term losses, but ultimately, it’s the supernaturals who will be annihilated.

Therefore, in the 1920s of the previous century, almost all officially recognized supernatural forces collectively signed the “Supernatural Secrecy Covenant.” The purpose was to conceal the existence of supernatural powers from ordinary people. This covenant, while protecting ordinary people, also safeguarded the supernaturals.

Unfortunately, not every supernatural being could comprehend this well-intentioned effort.

Supernatural abilities are a power that easily leads individuals to lose themselves and become inflated with power in their overwhelming strength.

Many supernaturals, upon suddenly gaining powers far beyond their own, are prone to a psychological imbalance. They perceive themselves as superior to ordinary people and may intentionally showcase their supernatural abilities in front of them to demonstrate their strength.

Furthermore, numerous supernatural criminals have exploited their powers to commit unimaginable and countless crimes.

In such circumstances, relying solely on secrecy to conceal the existence of the supernatural world proves to be extremely challenging.

Memory erasers were created to address situations like these.

As the name suggests, this is a device used for memory erasure.

Due to the specific nature of memory erasers, the regulation of these devices is quite stringent. Each eraser has a corresponding batch number and production certificate. Every entry and exit from the warehouse requires layers of verification and approval. After each use, a substantial, detailed, and accurate report is necessary, detailing where the energy inside was utilized.

Failure to provide a satisfactory explanation is equivalent to treason.

The manufacturing technology of this device is tightly controlled by major organizations, and no one dares to sell it privately.

Several black markets for supernaturals, considered among the best, were even shut down and banned due to transactions involving memory erasers.

The official stance is clear – the memory eraser is an area that no one is allowed to touch.

The potential harm if this device were to be leaked or misused is too significant to ignore. Aside from the potential damage to the human brain during usage, the hidden crimes that could be covered up pose a severe threat. This device must never become a personal item; after all, if the victims are unaware of the harm they’ve suffered, how can the criminals be identified?

Hua Country’s supervision of memory erasers is the strictest and most standardized among all supernatural forces.

However, history has shown that there is no shortage of those willing to take risks.

As stated in “Capital,” when interests exceed a certain limit, capitalists are willing to take any risk.

Theft, robbery… Behind a seemingly insignificant memory eraser lies countless stories of bloodshed.

Just six months ago, a batch of freshly assembled memory erasers was quietly stolen during transportation, using a deceptive technique.

The entire Night Guardians’ force was mobilized, coupled with the cooperation of numerous departments. It took half a year of effort to gradually retrieve the memory erasers that had entered the market.

“It should be all recovered now. The special operation has been over for a long time. If there were still erasers outside, wouldn’t the Night Guardians be making a lot of noise?” Gou Rixin said while rubbing his bald head and chewing on rich toffee.

Lin Bai did not speak but continued typing on the keyboard. He was inherently cautious, preferring to let data speak for itself, unlike Gou Rixin, who relied on intuition to ramble.

“Captain, please log in.”

Lin Bai gestured for Zhang Hongyi to vacate his seat, indicating that he should log in with his own intranet account.

Nightwalker has a strict hierarchical system, with different levels corresponding to different permissions. The higher the level, the more intelligence one can access.

Lin Bai, as a technical personnel within the Nightwalkers, had a dual identity within the Nightwatch and Nightguard factions, with a relatively high level. However, information about devices like memory erasers still required the authorization of a captain like Zhang Hongyi to access the complete details.

Others obediently avoided looking at things they shouldn’t.

Zhang Hongyi quickly read the briefing about the memory erasers, logged out, and said, “There’s still one eraser not recovered. It’s said to be damaged during use and was directly thrown into the trash by the suspect.”

This was the most troublesome situation.

If the memory eraser was put up for trade on the black market, the authorities could quickly track it down with even the slightest trace. However, in cases where it was casually discarded in the trash and no one knew how many days had passed, finding it was like searching for a needle in a haystack – extremely difficult.

It’s no wonder not all the items were recovered. The special task force established for this batch of erasers was then declared disbanded.

Considering the scarcity of supernatural abilities in Hua County, wasting such human resources was truly not affordable.

Hong Ying whispered, “So now there’s another possibility. Shen Zhifei might have another memory eraser. After using it on Zhao Zijin, causing her to lose consciousness, she took her to a private hospital for an examination to verify the effectiveness of the memory eraser.”

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