lcionline Chapter 2 Field Missions
Chapter 2 Field Missions
The next morning, Cheng Xu enjoyed a thick-cut crystal scale beast meat ramen in the cafeteria and arrived at his workstation on time.
He turned on his computer, intending to deal with the trivial matters of anomalous containment, but then saw a red envelope icon appear in the center of the screen.
"Urgent email?"
Cheng Xu clicked on it casually.
[Given that you have been employed by the Anomaly Management Bureau for more than 180 days, in accordance with Article 167 of the Anomaly Management Bureau Employee Management System, you will soon be assigned a clerical staff fieldwork task.]
This field mission will be randomly selected from the security-level anomaly-related mission pool of the corresponding branch office. After the mission is confirmed, the specific mission time and content will be sent to you via email. Please check your email.
If you have any questions, please contact your immediate supervisor.
Sender: Anomaly Management Bureau Smart Notification Center
After reading the email, Cheng Xu suddenly realized.
During the onboarding training, the lecturer who taught the rules and regulations course emphasized this aspect of the regulations.
The administrative staff of the Administration Bureau are assigned a fixed field assignment six months after joining the company to handle abnormal matters on-site. After becoming permanent employees, they are also eligible for a field assignment once a year, which is included in their performance evaluation.
According to the management bureau, this was to allow employees to gain a better understanding of anomalies through firsthand contact and to maintain a sense of awe towards them.
After building a good relationship with the lecturer under the guise of asking questions, Cheng Xu also learned some inside information that wasn't written into the official rules—
For new employees, this field assignment will affect their probationary period evaluation score to some extent, and thus their chances of being hired permanently.
According to the lecturer, if you perform well in this field mission, you will likely be promoted to a permanent position ahead of schedule and enjoy the benefits of a regular employee six months earlier.
Full-time employee benefits!
The salary and benefits will be doubled from the current level, and the annual paid leave will be increased from 30 days to 45 days. It's a secure job that you can work until you die as long as you don't resign.
Cheng Xu raised his hand to wipe away non-existent drool from the corner of his mouth, his eyes shining.
Just before the end of the workday, Hu Zhou appeared at the office door and waved to Cheng Xu.
"Xiao Cheng, come out with me for a moment."
"The director has arrived."
Upon arriving at the small conference room next door, Hu Zhou casually poured Cheng Xu a cup of tea and looked at his subordinate with a kind and gentle expression.
"Xiao Cheng, the notification center sent me an email saying your field assignment is in the next two days."
"Yes, Director."
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. I've been there too. Your first field mission won't be too difficult."
"Yes, Director."
"Put your safety first, but don't be too timid. Be bold when it's time to take action."
"clear."
"Your performance since joining the company has been widely recognized as excellent, and I believe you will definitely succeed. Keep it up, and I wish you a smooth completion of your task, while also bringing honor to our department."
"Haha, Director, you flatter me."
"Okay, go ahead and get busy. Make sure you're well-prepared. I'll arrange for someone to temporarily take over your work while you're away."
"Okay, thank you, Director!"
As Cheng Xu walked out of the office, a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or reflection) welled up within him.
"Director Hu is truly a good leader who cares about his subordinates."
Little did he know, Hu Zhou, watching his retreating figure disappear, breathed a sigh of relief. He reached down and touched his back, finding it completely soaked.
"Feed? Mr. Ke? Yes, there's no resistance. Please report this to headquarters; there's no need to temporarily amend the employee management regulations."
The first step of the two-phase observation plan is to confirm the target's willingness to act. If there is any conflict with the target, the subsequent plan should be terminated immediately, and the plan should return to the first phase.
The so-called rules and regulations are utterly insignificant compared to the danger of a terminal-level abnormal loss of control; they can be changed without consequence.
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The second email arrived even sooner than Cheng Xu had anticipated. The moment he arrived at work that afternoon, the red envelope reappeared on his computer desktop.
Your first field assignment has been confirmed. Please see the attachment for details.
Please check this email and then proceed to the branch office's landing site. A business spacecraft has been booked for you. Your boarding information is...
If you have any questions, please contact your immediate supervisor.
Sender: Anomaly Management Bureau Smart Notification Center
Cheng Xu opened the attachment without hesitation.
[Level D (Security Level) Mission: The Fungal Tide]
Mission Location: Chengxing Star - Chengxing City - Jiangyue Campus of Chengxing University
Task details:
Five days ago, Chengxing University's Jiangyue Campus sent a request for help to the Anomaly Management Bureau, reporting unusual signs in a building on its campus.
That evening, the fungal outbreak occurred, manifested as an explosive growth of fungal strains. By the time the email was sent, a large number of out-of-control strains had completely covered the building's interior and exterior walls and continued to expand outwards.
School officials and administrators have taken measures to limit the growth of the bacteria and have designated an isolation area.
The following is footage taken on location:
[Images][Images][Images]
[Video][Video]
Following on-site inspection and analysis by the personnel, an abnormal interference factor was identified. A request was made to the Chengmingxing Branch to assign an action specialist to handle and contain the anomaly.
After browsing through the detailed information of the mission, Cheng Xu was somewhat stunned.
The reason is simple: Chengxing University, where the mission target is located, is his alma mater. It's just that he studied at the Jinglin campus, not the Jiangyue campus, during his university years.
Jiangyue Campus is the old campus of Chengxing University and the location of many science disciplines. It has numerous laboratories and has produced many scientific research achievements since its establishment, making it a pivotal institution in the academic community of Chengxing University.
Cheng Xu had visited the Jiangyue campus several times and was deeply impressed by its floating building complex, which combined a sense of technology with a sense of history.
In the attached pictures and videos, a floating structure is completely covered by a gray carpet of fungi with various colored bacteria scattered throughout, which at first glance looks like a moldy loaf of bread.
After reading the task details twice to make sure he remembered all the information, Cheng Xu went straight to the helipad located behind the office building.
The Chengmingxing Branch's landing port resembles a steel ouroboros coiled on the earth, with its main structure being a continuous arc-shaped skeleton upon which thousands of spacecraft berths are attached.
At this moment, ships of all sizes are taking off and landing in an orderly manner under the guidance of navigation beacons and command towers, with colorful lights flashing and people moving about, creating a busy scene.
Following the information in the email, Cheng Xu found the corresponding employee channel and smoothly arrived at his official private jet.
Fifteen minutes later, a small, silver-white, streamlined spaceship took off and disappeared into the sky.
-----------------
The spaceship was spacious, with only Cheng Xu and a muscular man wearing a white vest.
Once the spacecraft entered stable cruising mode, the burly man immediately unfastened the safety device and stood up.
"Mr. Cheng Xu, is this? I am Fu Chen from the Special Operations Division of the Chengming Branch. My superiors have assigned me to assist you in this mission."
"Captain Fu, hello, hello."
Cheng Xu warmly shook hands with Fu Chen.
He had heard from a close colleague that when civilian staff like him went on their first field mission, they were usually accompanied by agents from the Special Operations Division.
They serve as both assistants in handling and resolving abnormal issues and have the responsibility of supervision and evaluation. Cheng Xu knew that cultivating a good relationship with Fu Chen was always a good thing.
After exchanging pleasantries, Cheng Xu got straight to the point:
"Captain Fu, what are the preliminary investigation results for this mission?"
Chengming Star has set up anomaly management bureau outposts in major cities. Whenever a suspected anomaly is detected, personnel will be dispatched to the scene to investigate.
When enforcement personnel in various locations are unable to handle abnormal situations smoothly, the matter will be transferred to the Chengmingxing Branch's task pool, where experienced anomaly experts will be dispatched to resolve the issue on-site.
Fu Chen was prepared. He picked up the transparent standard tablet next to him, operated it for a while, and then handed it over.
The image on the panel was much clearer than the image in the notification email; the first thing you saw was the dense mycelium clinging to the exterior wall.
These mycelia are sometimes fluffy, sometimes covered with barbs, and sometimes have a jelly-like gelatinous state. They are intertwined, swaying and moving, forming a creepy fungal carpet.
Within this fungal carpet, countless umbrella-shaped, coral-shaped, and gear-shaped fungal fruiting bodies emerge, varying in size and shape.
"This is footage of the first time personnel were sent into the area of the anomaly to investigate; the investigation was carried out by a death row inmate."
"Prior to this exploration, our regional operations team tried to conduct reconnaissance using live animals, robots, and micro-aircraft, but all of these methods were hindered by fungal attacks in shallow areas, and no effective information was obtained."
"The footage was taken using equipment carried by the dispatched personnel."
As Fu Chen explained, a fully armed figure appeared in the center of the video feed.
The death row inmate, dressed in a Type II standard protective suit from the Abnormality Management Bureau and equipped with a close-range thermoelectric cutting blade, was riding an anti-gravity ladder to the entrance of a fungus-covered building.
Since the establishment of the Anomaly Management Bureau, death row inmates with self-destruct chips implanted in their bodies have been excellent explorers and trailblazers, often used to explore unknown and dangerous areas.
After completing a certain number of dangerous missions, death row inmates will have the opportunity to have their sentences reduced. Therefore, even though the missions are extremely dangerous, many death row inmates still eagerly sign up, hoping to fight for a chance to live.
In the video, a condemned prisoner slices through the mycelium at the entrance and enters the building. A line of large characters above the entrance is faintly visible—
School of Life Sciences
There are also many signs on both sides of the gate, such as "XX Key Laboratory" and "XX Research Center".
The protective suit's built-in miniature device captured images of the building's interior.
The fungi inside the building were far more rampant than those outside, completely covering the ceilings and walls of the lobby and corridors, with the lush hyphae blocking the entrances.
Perhaps it was because of the high heat emanating from the hot-melt cutting blade in the death row inmate's hand that most of the fungi around him shrank and withered wherever he went.
Using weapons to clear a path, the death row inmates began searching every room in the building, trying to find the source of the fungal outbreak.
At this moment, a three-dimensional image was projected onto one side of the transparent tablet in Cheng Xu's hand, clearly and intuitively showing the internal structure of the building and the location of the death row inmate.
The repetitive process of clearing the path was somewhat tedious. This floating building had five floors, and the search for the points of light representing death row inmates went from the first floor to the third floor, but yielded nothing.
But as he walked toward the steps leading to the fourth floor, the fungi around him began to stir anew.
All the fungi in the surrounding stairwell began to multiply and grow at a visible rate, and fine pollen diffused into the air and adhered to the protective clothing.
"Based on the data transmitted from the protective suit to the outside world in real time, the spores of these fungi attempted to parasitize the protective suit, but the material of the Type II standard protective suit was sufficient to resist such intrusion."
Fu Chen's voice rang out at just the right moment.
Cheng Xu could see that the death row inmate in the video, who wanted to go up to the fourth floor, was under increasing pressure. The frenzied fungus seemed to have activated some kind of mechanism, surging up like waves.
However, with the all-around protection of the protective suits and the restraining effect of the weapons, the death row inmates were still able to slowly but firmly carve out their own path.
Fifteen minutes later, he finally broke through the encirclement of the fungal ocean and reached the fourth layer.
The death row inmates were steadily moved until they entered a room that looked like a laboratory, filled with a large amount of equipment and instruments.
Here, he encountered a special fungal specimen with countless tiny pores. As soon as the death row inmate approached, a large amount of white pollen was instantly released from its cavity.
Pollen filled the space, and the view was shrouded in mist, with only vague shadows of the surrounding objects visible.
Massive amounts of fungi continued to attack from all directions, forcing death row inmates to brandish weapons and launch an indiscriminate dispersal offensive against their surroundings.
But as he walked slowly forward, he heard a "sizzle" sound from his side. It was as if the hot melt cutting blade he was wielding had sliced through a laboratory instrument that looked like an insulated box, just like cutting tofu.
In an instant, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.
The next second, the image on the tablet became distorted, and a faint, piercing howl came from all directions.
Cheng Xu could only vaguely see the mycelium around the death row inmate gathering into several thick vines, strangling him.
A piercing scream rang out, but it only lasted for a moment before abruptly stopping. The image froze on the tattered protective suit and the mangled human body.
Cheng Xu took a deep breath. He roughly guessed that the death row inmate must have triggered some special mechanism, which caused him to die on the spot.
Looking at Fu Chen, the burly man nodded and gave him the following information:
"After his protective suit was violently torn apart, he was exposed to abnormal field effects, but the actual cause of death was not a direct attack by the fungus."
Fu Chen's tone was somewhat strange.
"According to the monitoring chip implanted in his body, his various physiological indicators changed drastically during the period from his exposure to his death."
"We concluded that he died from an imbalance of gut microbiota after analyzing the video footage."
Fu Chen pulled up several processed photos on the tablet, which clearly showed strands of fungus emerging from the mouth, nose, eyes and ears of the death row inmates.
"The fungi throughout his body were affected by the abnormal field and began to proliferate explosively, absorbing the organic matter in his body as nutrients, and taking his life almost instantly."
Cheng Xu flipped to the last photo, which showed stark white bones. He identified these bones as belonging to the human foot bones.
"As you can see, he had athlete's foot before his death. At the time of the incident, the athlete's foot had completely eaten away the flesh from his feet, and the whole process took no more than three seconds."