American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

Jack pointed to the black phone on the table: "Through these specially made encrypted phones. Before each mission, someone delivers the phone and detailed instructions. After the mission is completed, the phone automatically destroys all data and becomes a useless piece of plastic. The reason yours still works is because the self-destruct program hadn't been activated when we were arrested."

Lynn picked up his phone and examined it closely: "Is there anything else on this that could help us track down Black Crow?"

Jack shook his head: "It's hard to say. These phones were supposedly designed by some tech genius who can control electronic devices and hack into any computer system with just his mind."

Lynn seemed thoughtful: "An interesting mutant who can control electronic devices. And what else? Who are the other key figures in the Black Crow organization?"

Jack thought for a moment: "I don't know much, but there's a woman codenamed 'Shadow' who seems very important. She can manipulate shadows, moving from one shadow to another, and is Black Crow's most frequently used messenger. There's also a man called 'Firebird,' with extremely strong fire control abilities, responsible for dealing with those who try to betray or escape the organization."

Just as Jack was about to continue, the lights in the interrogation room flickered a few times and then went out completely. The backup emergency lights came on, casting a pale red glow.

Lynn immediately became alert. He drew his sidearm and shouted towards the door, "Sarah? What happened?"

There was chaos outside the door, with the faint sounds of alarms and people's screams.

Fear was written all over Jack's face: "They're here. Black Crow found this place. I knew it would happen."

Lynn walked to the door and cautiously opened it a crack to peek outside. The entire corridor was half-dark, with several agents standing guard, weapons at their sides. Suddenly, the shadow at the end of the corridor seemed to twist, and a figure silently emerged from it.

It was a woman dressed in a black bodysuit, her face hidden in the shadow of her hood, only her eyes, which shimmered with a purple light, were visible. She held two curved blades in her hands, the blades swirling with eerie black energy.

“Shadow,” Jack whispered in terror behind Lynn.

Lynn immediately closed the door, pushed the table in front of it to create a temporary barrier, and simultaneously called for backup over the walkie-talkie: "Emergency situation in Interrogation Room Three! Suspected mutant intrusion! Requesting immediate backup!"

Jack was completely devastated, cowering in a corner, trembling: "It's over, it's over. She's coming to kill me. No one can survive against the Shadow."

Lynn calmly checked the ammunition in his handgun: "Stay calm, Jack. This is FBI headquarters; she's not going to take you out of here."

The words had barely left his lips when the interrogation room door was flung open by an invisible force, and the table was pushed aside. A shadow stood in the doorway, its purple eyes terrifying like a ghost.

“Lynn Hall,” her voice was as cold as the wind, “Black Crow is very interested in you. Unfortunately, my mission today is simply to take away this traitor.”

Lynn raised his gun and pointed it at her: "FBI, don't move!"

A slight smile played on Shadow's lips, and the next second, her body vanished into thin air like smoke. Lynn glanced around warily, suddenly feeling a chill run down his spine. He turned around quickly, but it was too late; Shadow was already behind him, a curved blade pressed against his throat.

“Humans are always so slow to react,” Shadow sneered. “Put down your weapons, or I wouldn’t mind adding another corpse to your interrogation room.”

Lynn slowly lowered his gun, his mind racing to find a solution. Just then, the interrogation room door was kicked open again, and Sarah led several agents in, all pointing their guns at Shadow.

"Get out of my place, or we'll shoot!" Sarah shouted.

The shadow glanced disdainfully at the intruding agents: "Your bullets are ineffective against me." As she spoke, her body blurred again, merging into the shadows of the interrogation room.

A sinister laugh echoed in the air. The next second, a shadow appeared beside Jack, grabbing him by the collar: "You'll soon find out Black Crow's punishment for traitors."

Lynn and Sarah fired simultaneously, but the bullets only passed through the illusory shadow. The shadow, clutching Jack, sank into the shadows of the ground and vanished without a trace.

The entire process took no more than thirty seconds, and every FBI agent present watched in shock as everything that had just happened.

Lynn cursed under his breath and strode to the spot where the shadow had vanished, but only a plain shadow remained. He turned to Sarah: "Seal off the entire building immediately! Activate all security cameras and notify all entrances and exits to increase security!"

Sarah nodded and immediately gave the order over the walkie-talkie. At the same time, Chief Wilson rushed to the scene.

"Damn it, what happened?" Wilson looked at the messy interrogation room, his face grim.

Lynn gave a concise report: "The Black Crow's men found this place, and a mutant who can manipulate shadows took Jack away."

Wilson's expression grew even more serious: "This is too dangerous. They were able to infiltrate FBI headquarters and easily abduct a prisoner. The Black Crow organization is far more powerful than we imagined."

Lynn nodded, a determined glint in his eyes: "But now we at least know they are real, and Jack provided some crucial information before he was taken away."

He picked up the black cell phone on the table: "We need to analyze this phone and find out how it connects to the Black Crow network. Also, we should head to that abandoned factory in Queens that Jack mentioned immediately. Although it may be abandoned, we might find some clues."

Wilson thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "Alright, I'll immediately assemble a special operations team, and you'll be in charge of this case. Sarah, you'll assist Lynn. I'll provide you with all the necessary resources."

Lynn turned to Sarah: "First, go to the technical department and have them analyze the phone. Then we need to get to that abandoned factory as soon as possible."

Sarah nodded: "I'll go prepare the vehicles and weapons."

The two quickly left the interrogation room and headed towards the technical department. On the way, Lynn's mind kept replaying the scene of his brief encounter with Shadow. That mutant's abilities far exceeded his imagination; if the Black Raven organization was full of mutants like that, they would face a tough battle.

The technology department, located on the fourth floor of the building, is a spacious area filled with various high-tech devices. Chief Technology Officer Mark Zhang is working in front of a sophisticated computer. Mark, a Chinese-American in his thirties, wears black-rimmed glasses and is widely recognized within the department as a genius in electronics.

“Mark, we need to analyze a cell phone urgently.” Lynn handed the black cell phone to Mark.

Mark took the phone and immediately began examining it: "This doesn't look like any commercial model I've ever seen." He connected the phone to a special analysis device and started working on the computer. "Let me see its internal structure and communication protocols." A few minutes later, Mark's expression grew increasingly puzzled: "This is too strange. The phone's encryption system is incredibly advanced, more complex than any military or government-grade equipment I've ever seen. And it seems to have some kind of self-protection mechanism; every time I try to delve deeper into the analysis, it automatically changes the encryption algorithm."

Lynn and Sarah exchanged a worried look. Lynn asked, "Is it possible to trace its past communication records? To find out the location of the server it connected to?"

Mark shook his head. “It’s difficult. It seems to use some kind of distributed network, with signals going through multiple hops and redirects during transmission. But…” He suddenly stopped, staring at a string of code that appeared on the screen, “Wait, this is interesting.”

"What did you find?" Sarah leaned closer to the screen.

Mark pointed to a piece of peculiar code: “There’s a hidden subroutine here that looks like some kind of tracking system. Theoretically, such a system should be used to locate the phone holder, but if I can reverse engineer it…” He typed rapidly on the keyboard, “maybe we can use it to trace the source of the signal.”

Lynn's eyes lit up: "You mean we can find Black Crow's location?"

Mark cautiously replied, "I'm not sure. It will take time, and the chances of success are slim. But it's worth a try."

Lynn nodded. "Do your best, Mark. This might be our only lead."

Just then, Lynn's phone rang. It was Chief Wilson: "Lynn, there's just been an explosion at an abandoned factory in Queens. Local police have cordoned off the area. You need to get there immediately."

Lynn hung up the phone and said to Sarah, "Let's go, the factory in Queens has exploded. Black Crow is destroying the evidence."

Sarah immediately stood up: "I'll go get the car and equipment."

Lynn turned to Mark: "Continue analyzing the phone. Contact me immediately if you find anything."

Twenty minutes later, Lynn and Sarah arrived at the industrial area of ​​Queens in a black SUV. From afar, thick smoke could be seen rising into the sky from an old factory building. Fire trucks and police cars were already surrounding the area, and firefighters were working hard to extinguish the fire.

Lynn and Sarah showed their FBI badges and crossed the police cordon. A NYPD sergeant approached them: "Agent Hall? This is Sergeant Davis. The situation is extremely bad. The explosion appears to have been planned, and the entire underground facility has been destroyed."

"Were there any casualties?" Lynn asked.

Davis shook his head. “Strangely, the factory seemed to have been completely emptied before the explosion. We didn’t find any casualties. But…” He hesitated, “we found a body at the back of the factory, which is very unusual.”

Lynn and Sarah exchanged a glance and followed Davis to the back of the factory. A forensic vehicle was parked there, with several police officers and a forensic doctor standing beside it.

A body lay on the ground covered by a white sheet. The medical examiner lifted the sheet, revealing the remains beneath. Lynn immediately recognized the face—it was Jack, who had been taken from FBI headquarters a few hours earlier. But shockingly, Jack's body had been completely twisted and deformed by some force, his limbs bent at impossible angles, his face frozen in an expression of extreme terror.

"What was the cause of death?" Lynn asked the medical examiner.

The forensic doctor shook his head: "The preliminary assessment is multiple fractures and ruptured internal organs, but strangely, there are no signs of external impact. It's as if his bones and organs decided to shatter on their own."

Sarah whispered, "Some kind of mutant ability."

Lynn nodded and crouched down to examine the body closely. Jack's right hand was tightly clenched around something. Lynn carefully pried open his fingers and found a folded note inside. He unfolded the note; it contained only one line of text:

"Curiosity killed the cat, and it killed the FBI. — Black Crow"

Lynn's expression grew even more somber. This wasn't just a warning; it was a blatant challenge. Black Crow had not only taken Jack but killed him and then deliberately left the body there to send a clear message to the FBI—they were fearless.

Lynn stood up and looked around. The factory building was still burning, thick smoke obscuring half the sky. How much evidence would this fire take away? How deep would the secrets of Black Crow be buried?

“Sarah, notify the forensic team. I want them to thoroughly examine this scene, every inch of land, every brick and tile.” Lynn’s voice was firm and calm. “Notify the medical examiner to conduct the most detailed autopsy possible on Jack’s body. I need to know exactly what killed him.”

Sarah nodded and immediately relayed the instructions via walkie-talkie.

Lynn looked at the note again, a firm resolve rising within him. Did Black Crow think this would scare the FBI away? On the contrary, it only strengthened his conviction that this dangerous organization must be eliminated as soon as possible.

“Lynn,” Sarah returned, “Mark just called and said there’s been some initial progress in the phone analysis. He discovered the phone periodically sends encrypted signals to a server, the last time these signals were sent from an abandoned dock area in Brooklyn.”

Lynn's eyes lit up: "Do you have a specific address?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes, Mark has already sent it to our phones. He said the signal is sent every six hours, and the next signal is expected in three hours."

Lynn glanced at his watch: "Then we must get there within three hours and prepare an ambush. Notify the special operations team to be fully armed and ready to move."

Sarah hesitated for a moment: "Lynn, if there are mutants like Shadow there, conventional weapons might be ineffective."

Lynn took a deep breath: "I know. That's why we need special equipment. Contact headquarters and request the use of Project X's suppression device."

Sarah looked at Lynn in surprise: "Project X? That's still in the testing phase."

“This is an emergency,” Lynn said firmly. “To deal with mutants, we need equipment that can suppress their abilities. Contact Chief Wilson and get authorization.”

Sarah nodded and went to the side to make a phone call. (End of Chapter)