Chapter 142: Internal Verdict |
The Ethics Committee was a rather unique department within the Bureau.
In an organization whose work revolved entirely around anomalies, the Ethics Committee's duties surprisingly had absolutely nothing to do with anomalies—they managed the people.
Internal oversight, behavioral audits, duty assessments... From external experts and Class-E temporary workers at the bottom, all the way up to the Supreme Council, their investigative authority theoretically covered the entire Bureau.
Now, a major dilemma lay before the Ethics Commissioners.
An Ethics Commissioner sitting near the head of the table read from a report, "The facts of this incident in the Second District are quite clear. Huang Xiao deliberately murdered innocent civilians during the operation, then colluded with Hu Lihua and over a dozen others to cover up the truth and frame Agent Xing Jianyuan, who was acting in self-defense. Afterward, the two masterminds met in secret, presumably clashed over a disagreement, and ultimately, Hu Lihua shot and killed Huang Xiao.
"As a result, Huang's mobile phone was targeted by the prize-awarding number of [CVA-B-1456: 'You Win!'] at that exact moment. Hu Lihua failed to properly ignore the prize announcement and died from the seawater impact contained within the 'prize.' Both of them perished."
The Ethics Commissioner across the table shot the speaker a glance. "Don't you think that is a bit too coincidental?"
"B-1456 has always wreaked havoc all over the world..."
""
The speaker retorted angrily, "Are you trying to say a Reality Bender shot Huang Xiao, summoned ten thousand tons of seawater to crush Hu Lihua to death, forged the dialing traces, and then quietly fled the scene?"
The others quickly joined the debate, each sticking to their own arguments. Some stood up, others slammed their hands on the table, and fingers were pointed across the room.
Such scenes were an everyday occurrence within the committee.
"Then what was this person after? Could it be some random passing superhero?"
"The focus should be on accountability! We need to root out all the responsible parties besides the masterminds involved! Tear this corruption out by the roots!"
"The Second District's operational efficiency has already been poor lately. If we chop off their higher-ups on top of that, won't that completely paralyze them?"
"You are just afraid of what a real investigation might uncover, aren't you?"
Seeing that the Ethics Committee headquarters' conference room was about to turn into a noisy fish market, the woman at the head of the table, who had kept a dark expression since the meeting began, placed her hands on the table.
All the attending Ethics Commissioners instantly fell silent and quickly sat back down in their seats.
The woman at the head of the table spoke in a freezing tone. "Those who shield murderers are accomplices. Those who lend a hand to accomplices, no matter how many there are, are co-conspirators. We are the Bureau's surgical scalpel, meant to excise internal diseases. Since when do we leave a tumor uncut when we see one?
"Does anyone here think we shouldn't cut?"
No one dared to object.
Pressing her fingertips together on the table, the woman's severe gaze swept across the trembling Class-A Ethics Commissioners.
Her eyes suddenly locked onto one commissioner, whose face immediately drained to a sickly, ashen gray.
This was the very commissioner who had just accused a colleague of being afraid to conduct a "real investigation."
"We do not need such timid ideals here. You can pack your things. You will start over as a Class-C Ethics Commissioner."
The man stood up blankly and left the table.
The conference room doors opened and closed.
The woman then turned her attention to the commissioner sitting next to the empty seat.
"After the meeting adjourns, move into the office that just opened up. I recall it has excellent natural lighting."
"
...Yes!"
Next, the woman's gaze fell on the first person to her right. "What were the results of the Intelligence Department's inspection?"
That person immediately stood up. "No signs of access to the Subject's data were found."
"Then this incident was simply a coincidence. Investigating it further would be a pointless waste of resources."
The remaining Ethics Commissioners uniformly flipped to a fresh page in their notebooks and wrote: 'The mutual deaths of Huang and Hu were a coincidence.'
The woman's eyes jumped to the commissioner across the table. "How many people will be held accountable for this incident?"
That commissioner hastily stood up. "The two masterminds are dead. There are nine remaining minor informed persons, twenty-five who committed protocol violations, and seventeen who displayed disciplinary infractions."
"Dig through their old records. Investigate the operational logs of everyone involved over the past ten years. Allow one-way anonymous reporting. Put everyone who 'got along well' or 'hung out' with them on the observation list. Do not let the two dead men off the hook either—searches, property confiscations, and asset recoveries must all be executed without exception. Punish them swiftly and severely to serve as a warning to every maggot in the Bureau."
Dozens of pens swayed as their tips rustled across the paper.
Once everyone had noted down the orders, a pin drop could be heard in the conference room. Pairs of eyes nervously stared at the table, waiting for the woman's next command.
This time, her gaze landed at the far right end of the table, on a commissioner sitting in this conference room for the very first time.
"Speak up if you have a question. This is not a dictation session."
Even so, having just witnessed a colleague who had fought so hard to reach this position get casually knocked back to square one with a single sentence, the commissioner was shaking from head to toe. He bounced out of his chair with excessive force, trying desperately to untie his tongue. "R-Reporting! What about the Second District's administrative efficiency?"
"I will handle it. Meeting adjourned."
The commissioners still in their seats stood up in unison, pushed their chairs back, and practically jogged out of the conference room to execute their orders. The Class-A Ethics Commissioner, on his very first day at the committee headquarters, stood stunned for a moment before quickly regaining his professionalism and sprinting out at the back of the line.
Once the conference room was empty, the woman pressed a panel beneath the desk, immediately opening a holographic projection in the air.
As a string of characters flashed by, a voiceprint box appeared within the projection.
A somewhat flat, androgynous voice rang out. "Qiu Ju, you didn't call just to audit me, did you?"
"If seven or eight hundred mid-to-high-level members in the Second District were to be reassigned or suspended in the near future, could you handle it?"
"Ha ha ha ha..." The voice let out a dry, mechanical laugh, emphasizing every word. "If enough personnel can be promoted and transferred to fill the gaps, and I am granted the authority to take over the Second District, and the First Council Member and Second Council Member agree to let me bypass my jurisdiction to operate downward, I can guarantee the fallout from this incident will be compressed to ten percent of its original impact."
"I will convince Tian Ying and Fen Shuiji."
"Once all the conditions are met, I will begin the work. Also, have you received the news?"
Qiu Ju furrowed her brows slightly. "What news?"
The voiceprint box remained still, but a document was sent to the communication device of Councilor Six, Qiu Ju.
She skimmed the title, the wrinkles on her forehead bulging sharply. After scanning another line, she slammed her fist down, denting the table.
"Acting first and reporting later. What nerve he has!"
"He sent it privately to Tian Ying without going through a formal vote. Currently, this squad is still in the formation stage, but the candidates for Commander and Captain have already been decided."
"No, absolutely not. Forming a Mobile Task Force using anomalies must never happen again. It seems it has been too long since I audited him, to think he dares to completely disregard me!" Qiu Ju immediately dialed a connection.
The lines in the voiceprint box spiked. "Experimental data indicates that frowning accelerates the aging of facial skin. Also, I do not think calling him personally is a—"
[The other party has rejected the communication request]
"He actually dared to hang up on me!!!"
At the same time.
A bonfire party was underway deep in the desert of the Twelfth District.
If not for the insignias on their belts, it would be hard to imagine that this rugged, dust-covered group were Bureau employees.
Sitting before the facility gates that were nearly buried in yellow sand, Researchers and Field Agents sat shoulder to shoulder, while Containment Specialists and clerks linked arms. They were all covered in grime, dressed like soldiers. Some were even wounded, wrapped in bloodstained bandages, yet everyone's morale was sky-high.
A man wearing a bandana and draped in ammunition belts stood in the center of the crowd, raising a can of beer above his head. "We successfully contained another Class-B Anomaly, adding a massive haul to the convoy! I am authorizing you all to get dead drunk today!
Come on, drink! To the fallen, and to humanity!"
"To humanity!" the crowd cheered, raising their drinks high.
Amidst the spray of beer foam and jubilation, the man's assistant proactively leaned in. "Officer, your communication device just rang."
The man held up a finger to signal for a moment's pause. He used a dagger to score a line across the bottom of the beer can, popped the tab, tilted his head back, and chugged the alcohol through the gash. Only after wiping the foam dripping down his beard did he ask, "Which communication device?"
"The one logged into your Council Member account."
"Just someone looking for trouble. Set it to auto-reject and ignore it."