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

“Wherever we go, as long as we’re together, that’s all that matters,” Gwen said.

At 3 p.m., they returned to New York City. The city's hustle and bustle and fast pace were a stark contrast to the tranquil mountains they had just left.

“Welcome back to the real world,” Gwen said with a wry smile, looking at the crowded streets.

They went back to the Hall family home first, where George and Gwen started unloading their luggage. Lynn helped carry a few loads, but soon prepared to leave.

"Are you going back to work?" Gwen asked, though she already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Lynn nodded, “I’ve been away from the office for almost a week, there must be a lot of things waiting for me to handle.”

“Workaholic,” Gwen joked, but her eyes were full of understanding.

"Take care and get some rest," George advised. "Don't overwork yourself."

“I will, Dad,” Lynn hugged her father and sister. “Thank you for spending these past few days with me. Don’t forget the family dinner next month.”

“I won’t forget,” Gwen assured her. “I’ve already marked it on the calendar.”

Lynn picked up his luggage and walked to his car parked on the street. Before driving away, he looked back at George and Gwen standing in front of his house one last time, a warm feeling welling up inside him.

As Lynn drove towards Manhattan, his thoughts began to shift from vacation mode to work mode. He started thinking about the piles of documents in the office, the unfinished reports, and the new cases that might arise.

Forty minutes later, Lynn parked his car in the parking lot of the FBI's New York office. This federal building in Lower Manhattan was where he worked and spent a large part of his life.

Stepping into the building, the familiar surroundings immediately put Lynn into work mode. The security guard nodded to him, and the receptionist smiled and said, "Welcome back."

Take the elevator up to the thirteenth floor—the office area of ​​the Symbiote Special Operations Team. The elevator doors opened, and Lynn saw the familiar office scene: busy agents working at their respective workstations, whiteboards filled with case information, and various maps and charts hanging on the walls.

"Lynn! You're back!" Sarah was the first to see him and immediately stood up to greet him. "How was your vacation?"

“Very good, except for being interrupted by a murder in the middle,” Lynn laughed, “but I still ended up going fishing.”

“I heard about the case,” Sarah said. “Well done. Did the suspect plead guilty?”

“You’ve pleaded guilty, and the case has been transferred to the prosecutor,” Lynn confirmed. “Now it’s your time. Has anything important happened these past few days?”

“There are some routine cases at hand,” Sarah said, “but Chief Jason wants to see you. He said to come to his office as soon as you get back.”

Lynn nodded. "I'll go see him first. By the way, is my desk buried under a pile of files?"

“Pretty much,” Sarah said with a sympathetic smile. “You know, if you’re gone for a week, the files will multiply on their own.”

Lynn smiled and shook his head, then walked toward Supervisor Jensen's office. He knocked on the door and heard a "Come in" from inside.

Supervisor Jason was a man in his fifties, with graying hair, but he was in excellent spirits. He was sitting behind his desk, reviewing a document. Seeing Lynn enter, he looked up and smiled, "Lynn, welcome back. How was your vacation?"

“Very good, sir,” Lynn said, sitting in the chair opposite him, “although it was a bit short.”

“I heard about Adirondack’s case,” Jason said. “The state police thanked you for your assistance. However, I hope you can truly rest on your next vacation and not always be interrupted by work.”

“I wish I could,” Lynn said with a wry smile, “but it seems trouble always seems to find me.”

“That’s the fate of excellent agents,” Jason nodded, then turned to the main point, “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Lynn immediately sat up straight. "What is it?"

“While you were on vacation, we received a joint investigation request from the Department of Homeland Security,” Jason said, handing Lynn a folder, “involving potential paranormal activity and national security threats.”

Lynn opened the folder and quickly scanned its contents. It was a report on a series of strange recent events—unexplained phenomena in several different cities: widespread malfunctions of electronic devices, witness reports of luminous objects, and several attacks involving supernatural forces.

“It looks complicated,” Lynn assessed.

“Yes, and it might involve the kind of special cases you’ve handled before,” Jason hinted. “The Department of Homeland Security wants our special operations team involved in the investigation.”

“I understand,” Lynn nodded. “Do you need me to begin immediately?”

“No need to rush,” Jason said. “Today, familiarize yourself with the situation and deal with the backlog of documents. Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock, we will have a joint meeting where a representative from the Department of Homeland Security will come to explain the situation in detail.”

“Understood,” Lynn stood up. “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Jason said. “Welcome back, Lynn. It’s good to see you’ve had a few days off. You look great.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lynn said. “Fishing does indeed have healing effects.”

Back at his desk, Lynn saw that Sarah wasn't exaggerating—the desk was indeed piled high with documents. He sighed and began to organize and categorize them. There were reports requiring signatures, lists of evidence awaiting review, consultation requests from other departments, and some routine administrative documents.

"Would you like some coffee?" Sarah came over with two cups of coffee. "I think you might need some."

“You’re a lifesaver,” Lynn said, taking the coffee. “Thank you.”

"So, what kind of fish did you catch?" Sarah asked curiously.

“A few sunfish, and my dad caught a big barracuda, at least ten pounds,” Lynn said, chatting with Sarah while working on some papers. “But we released them all.”

"Release them? Why?"

“Because fishing isn’t about possession, it’s about the experience,” Lynn repeated his father’s words, “and that pike was just too beautiful to kill.”

“You’ve become so poetic,” Sarah teased. “Looks like vacations really do do you good.”

At six o'clock in the evening, most of his colleagues began to leave. Sarah came over and asked, "Are you going to continue working overtime?" Lynn glanced at the remaining documents on his desk and shook his head, saying, "No, that's enough for today. I'll deal with the rest tomorrow."

“A wise decision,” Sarah agreed. “Maintaining a work-life balance is important.”

“This is something I just learned,” Lynn laughed, packing her things. “My dad says that no matter how important work is, family and health always come first.”

“Your father is a wise man,” Sarah commented.

The next morning at 8:30, Lynn arrived at the conference room ahead of schedule. It was a secure conference room on the fourteenth floor of the FBI's New York office, equipped with state-of-the-art counter-surveillance equipment and encrypted communication systems. Several people were already waiting in the room—besides Director Jensen, there were two serious-looking Department of Homeland Security officials.

“Good morning, Lynn,” Jason introduced, “This is Emily Carter, Deputy Director of the Department of Homeland Security, and this is Dr. Marcus Chen, their technical analyst.”

Lynn noticed the name Marcus Chen—the same name mentioned by the victim in the recently closed murder case, but it was clearly a coincidence; it was a fairly common Chinese name.

“Agent Hall, I’ve heard so much about you,” said Deputy Director Carter, a woman in her forties with short hair and sharp eyes, extending her hand. “I’ve heard you have a lot of experience handling special cases.”

“You flatter me,” Lynn said, shaking hands before turning to Dr. Chen. Dr. Chen looked to be in his early thirties, wearing black-rimmed glasses—a typical image of a technical expert.

“Please sit down, let’s begin,” Jason gestured for everyone to take their seats.

Deputy Director Carter opened a tablet and projected it onto the conference room's large screen. "Over the past three weeks, we have observed unusual electronic device malfunctions in multiple cities across the country. The frequency and severity of these incidents are increasing, raising concerns at the national security level."

The screen displays a map of the United States marked with multiple red dots, mainly concentrated in the Midwest.

"What's the malfunction pattern?" Lynn asked, carefully examining the map.

"It mainly manifests as a large-scale, sudden failure of electronic devices," Dr. Chen continued, his voice carrying a distinctly technical background. "This includes mobile phones, computers, vehicle electronic systems, and even medical equipment. The failures are sudden and simultaneous, and the affected area is usually a specific region—such as a city block or a building."

"And the duration?"

“This is the strangest part,” Dr. Chen pulled up another chart, “The failure usually only lasts a few minutes to a dozen minutes, and then all devices automatically return to normal. Moreover, after recovery, the devices themselves are not damaged, and no data is lost.”

Lynn frowned. "This doesn't seem like an electromagnetic pulse attack. Electromagnetic pulses cause permanent damage."

“Correct,” Dr. Chen nodded approvingly. “We initially suspected EMP as well, but technical analysis ruled out that possibility. The hardware of the affected device is perfectly normal; it's as if it was simply ‘suspended.’”

"Were there any casualties?" Lynn asked a crucial question.

“Fortunately, there were no direct injuries,” Carter replied, “but there were several near-accident situations. For example, in Chicago, an ambulance suddenly lost all its electronic systems while driving; fortunately, the driver reacted quickly and manually braked to avoid a crash. In St. Louis, an ICU at a hospital experienced a brief equipment failure; although a backup power supply activated in time, it still caused considerable panic among medical staff and patients' families.”

"Do the locations that occurred have any common characteristics?" Lynn continued to ask.

Carter and Dr. Chen exchanged a glance, then Carter said, “This is exactly where we need your help. On the surface, these locations don't seem to have anything in common—there are commercial areas, residential areas, industrial areas; some happen during the day, and some at night. But…”

"But?" Lynn noticed her hesitation.

“However, we noticed that before each incident, witnesses reported seeing one or more suspicious individuals nearby,” Dr. Chen said. “These individuals’ descriptions varied, but they had one thing in common—they did not seem surprised by what happened. While everyone else was panicking, these individuals remained calm and even left the scene beforehand.”

"You suspect it was done by someone?" Lynn asked directly.

“Yes,” Carter acknowledged, “and given the unusual nature of the incident—a temporary malfunction rather than permanent damage to electronic equipment—we suspect this may involve supernatural abilities.”

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds. Lynn understood why they had come to him—he had built a reputation within the FBI for handling paranormal cases after dealing with the symbiote incident.

"Do you have any specific suspects?" Lynn asked.

“No,” Carter shook his head, “that’s the problem. We don’t have any clear suspects, and we don’t know the motive. These incidents haven’t caused any substantial damage, there have been no extortionate demands, and no political statements. It looks more like…”

“Testing,” Lynn continued, “someone is testing some kind of ability or device, observing the effects.”

“Exactly,” Jason joined the discussion, “that’s why this case is so important. If it really is a test, then there might be a much larger operation planned.”

"Where did the most recent incident take place?" Lynn asked.

"Kansas City, just last night," Dr. Chen pulled up the detailed report, "a shopping mall, affecting an area of ​​about two city blocks, lasting twelve minutes. More than 10,000 devices were affected."

Lynn quickly glanced at the report. "I need to go to the site to investigate."

“We’ve made all the arrangements,” Carter said. “Your flight this afternoon is to Kansas City. The local FBI field office and police department will fully cooperate with your investigation. Dr. Chen will also be traveling with you to provide technical support.”

“Understood,” Lynn nodded, then looked at Dr. Chen. “I need you to prepare all the technical analysis equipment, including an electromagnetic spectrum analyzer, a radiation detector, and any other potentially useful testing tools.”

“Everything is ready,” Dr. Chen replied. “I also brought some special sensors that can detect abnormal energy fields.”

“Very well,” Lynn stood up, “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Be careful,” Carter said seriously. “If this really involves supernatural abilities, we don’t know what we’ll face. And if they realize we’re investigating, they might take action.”

“I will be careful,” Lynn assured him.

After the meeting, Lynn returned to his office to pack the necessary equipment. Sarah came over to help.

“Another big case,” she commented. “You just got back from vacation and you’re already going on a business trip.”

“It’s the nature of the job,” Lynn said while organizing the files. “By the way, you’ll be in charge of coordinating the regular office work while I’m away.”

“No problem,” Sarah assured her. “Be careful, Lynn. Especially if it’s a mutant.” (End of Chapter)