Chapter 236 - 96: Article 173

Chapter 236: Chapter 96: Article 173

Wen Xiao’s face was pale, and Yu Xian also frowned.

They had tested the connection more than once between yesterday afternoon and last night.

A powerful wave of fear washed over him in hindsight.

So close.

They had been so close to recklessly walking into that dark forest, completely defenseless, lighting a firework, and watching it soar into the sky.

Within those four extremely limited frequency bands, Professor Mo’s team—or the anonymous emailer lurking somewhere deeper—could join the connection at any moment.

If they ran into them head-on in one of those narrow bands...

Yu Xian and the others’ real-world identities would be laid bare, like flayed prey, completely exposed to the other party. It was no different from...

...walking right into a trap.

"We should call the police," Yu Xian said. His voice was quiet, but his tone was serious.

"I don’t think this is something just a few of us can handle anymore. We were lucky with yesterday’s test. Either that, or we just happened to catch them on their day off for Sunday and didn’t run into them. If we hadn’t realized this issue today, we could have been in serious trouble."

He looked at the other three and said gravely,

"Besides, if our earlier deduction is correct, then this thing is far more dangerous than we can imagine. Its ability to access memories is terrifying, and we don’t have the manpower to monitor every channel. If this technology is exploited, it becomes a ready-made tool for crime."

Shi Zuozhou listened, not answering right away. His brow furrowed into a tight knot.

"I’m not against calling the police, but Old Yu, you said it yourself: that’s only if ’our earlier deduction is correct.’ But... what if it isn’t?"

His expression grew uncharacteristically serious.

"Let’s take a step back. Even if it is correct, we still need evidence. Do you remember that time with Zhang Yang and the Midnight Bus? I went to the police back then, too. The officers were very professional. They accepted the report, registered it, reviewed it, and passed it up the chain, but they still couldn’t open a case. To open a criminal investigation, there has to be an actual crime, a criminally liable party, and it has to fall under police jurisdiction. If this can’t be classified as a ’dangerous method,’ it won’t trigger criminal proceedings. You can’t force them to break protocol and open a case, right?"

It was true. Back when that audio file that got classes suspended was circulating, it had been Shi Zuozhou who first suggested reporting it. In the end, he was the one who went to the police station by himself.

Yu Xian thought for a moment before pointing out the difference.

"But this is different from the Midnight Bus incident. This thing clearly possesses the full capability to commit a substantive crime. It should qualify as a ’dangerous method,’ right?"

"It’s hard to say. That entire criminal technical chain we discussed today—the ’disguised script connection’—it’s all just speculation on our part so far, isn’t it? In reality, we haven’t successfully run through our hypothesized process even once," Shi Zuozhou said grimly.

"I’m thinking we at least need to verify our theories about the connection rules first. For example, we’d have to actually test and prove that two different scripts can ’crosstalk’ on the same frequency. Or, you think of a password, and that exact password really appears in your dream. We need to take that kind of hard evidence to the police and let them test and replicate it. Only then would they be able to take on the case, right? What if the test results aren’t what you expect?"

"To verify it, we’d have to run a connection test." Yu Xian knew he had a point, but the situation now was different.

"We can’t get around the problem Wen Xiao just pointed out. There are only four frequencies. Whichever one we pick, we could run into Professor Mo’s research team. It’s too risky. And it could also expose our senior."

"And calling the police *won’t* expose her?" Shi Zuozhou’s voice rose.

"What do you mean?" Yu Xian’s frown deepened.

"Old Yu, have you thought this through? If we go to the police, they’re definitely going to have to run their own tests to verify our information," Shi Zuozhou said gravely, looking at Yu Xian.

"No matter who runs into Professor Mo’s team, they’ll only have two explanations. First, that another lab or team has independently discovered sleep-spindle hijacking technology."

Shi Zuozhou turned to look at Yang Yiyi. He paused before continuing.

"The second is that the core protocol from their own lab has been leaked."

Yang Yiyi opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"No matter which conclusion they reach, their first reaction will most likely be to conduct a thorough internal investigation. All the system logs and experiment records will be turned upside down."

Shi Zuozhou didn’t say the rest, but his meaning was clear.

The login log wouldn’t be automatically overwritten and cleared by the system for another four days—not until midnight on the first of next month.

Within those four days, even if the police protected the informant, and even if the report was anonymous, whoever ran the tests could end up leading them back to their senior. That was a risk they couldn’t accept.

Reporting it to the police required verification.

Verification required testing.

And testing could expose their senior.

The three problems were linked head to tail, like three snakes biting each other’s tails, tangled together in an unbreakable knot.

All four of them looked grim, trying to map out where things were headed and what possible solutions they had.

"Um..." Wen Xiao glanced at Shi Zuozhou’s tightly knit brow, then at the silent Yu Xian, and asked tentatively,

"What about Captain Yu? Could we ask him to help us analyze the situation?"