Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 354, Section 101: Mysterious Floating Ice

Baltic Sea.

Gulf of Bothnia.

At dawn, an ordinary-looking fishing boat drifts aimlessly on the sea, but if you look further away and use the distant coastline or buoys as a reference, you will find that its actual position has hardly moved.

Moreover, the ship had a large hydraulic system that didn't seem like something a fishing boat should have. Steel cables hung from the winch and plunged into the seawater, humming as they performed some kind of operation.

The hum of the equipment suddenly rose a notch, and muffled sounds came from beneath the sea.

Wow.

A teardrop-shaped diving bell with pipes connected to its top was slowly lifted out of the water.

Seawater cascaded down its hull like a waterfall as the diving bell slowly moved to dock with the decompression chamber on the ship.

The hatch opened, and three U.S. Army divers in professional diving suits entered the decompression chamber one by one.

They unloaded the heavy equipment, and the cabin began to be pressurized according to procedure.

“This damn mission briefing is so vague,” a diver complained, wiping seawater from his face. “Searching for suspicious and valuable objects on the seabed? That’s way too broad. Are we supposed to turn over every shipwreck in the entire Baltic Sea?”

Another person chimed in, stretching his shoulders, "Most shipwrecks are in terrible condition, and the cost of salvaging them is higher than the items themselves. I don't think it's that simple."

The third diver lowered his voice, a glint in his eyes: "The fact that we need to rely on our 'subjective judgment' to determine its value suggests that the target might not be identifiable by conventional detection equipment. Do you think it could be related to those extraordinary beings?"

He paused, glanced around instinctively, and lowered his voice even further, "For example... clues to some kind of extraordinary item?"

The moment the word "extraordinary" was uttered, the atmosphere inside the decompression chamber instantly became tense. The three fell silent simultaneously, their eyes instinctively avoiding each other, but beneath the seemingly calm surface, a storm raged within each of them.

No one doesn't yearn for extraordinary power. Even if they can't become like the people of their homeland, they will surely become superior to others and enjoy the power, wealth, and attention that come with it.

One of these factors alone would be enough to make countless people willing to risk their lives. If the task before them truly held such an opportunity, even with only a one percent chance of success, it would be worth risking everything.

The three were lost in thought, but they were unaware that the search team consisted of far more than just them.

At this moment, at the US military base in Powiz, Poland, the Joint Tactical Center was processing and analyzing all the data transmitted back to them via computer.

On the tactical screen, the entire Baltic Sea, except for a small area near St. Petersburg and the Russian exclave, was dotted with numerous bright red dots.

Each red dot represents at least one seabed search team, tasked with mapping the Baltic Sea seabed with unprecedented precision and conducting preliminary searches for suspicious objects.

Ping Shenglong had just recovered from his injuries in England when he was sent here as a staff officer, responsible for providing advice and representing Vice President Collins of Aramco.

Kurosaki was also there.

It's probably going to be difficult for these two unfortunate brothers to return to Japan now.

The National Security Special Response Bureau of Amy is now under the management of the Vice President, and his first action is to borrow Heisei Ryu and Kurosaki, who performed admirably in the London incident, from Leon.

After learning that the new game was set in the Baltic Sea, he naturally took over command and sent two people to assist at the largest nearby base.

The people at the base were not happy about the arrival of the two Japanese men, but because of the endorsement of the President and the Vice President, they had no choice but to accept them into the core area of ​​the base to share classified intelligence.

"vomit!"

Kurosaki couldn't stand it after two days. He squatted at the dormitory entrance, vomiting. "You still say I smell bad? These American soldiers are the real smelly ones, no need to say more! Compared to them, I'm like a fragrant concubine. If I stay here for another two days, my eyes will get athlete's foot!"

Ping Shenglong didn't feel anything; he had caught a cold and had a stuffy nose.

Their identities are special, and they are not high-ranking on the surface. Now, because a lot of security bureau analysts have suddenly arrived at the base, there are not enough beds.

The base commander wasn't part of the current president's faction, so he wanted to give them a hard time and arranged for them to live with the regular soldiers.

Even the most slovenly kind.

The smell was so strong it stung his eyes; Kurosaki almost didn't make it out alive.

But Kurosaki was never one to be outdone. Faced with a formidable opponent, he stubbornly held out for two days. Lacking natural talent, he compensated with sheer effort, constantly emitting a body odor he could barely muster. Finally, he moved his opponents, forcing them to take a bath first.

He couldn't hold back any longer and fled from that demonic dormitory.

"Anyway, they can't hold on any longer. Things should get better once they go back." Ping Shenglong unscrewed a bottle of water and handed it over.

Kurosaki took the bottle to rinse his mouth, but suddenly stopped, brought it close to his nose and sniffed carefully, then vomited: "Ugh—this biochemical gas is terrifying! Even the plastic bottle is soaked in it! The water inside must be rotten!"

Ping Shenglong finally looked speechless, took the bottle back, took a sip, and commented, "It doesn't smell bad."

Kurosaki's eyes instantly filled with awe when he looked at him.

After dawdling for a while, the two finally set off for the command center.

They knew there was an operation today, but the commander here was quite cold to them. They understood the general reason: if they went early, the data wouldn't be available yet, so they might as well go later.

The president and Collins have plenty of informants. They were only chosen because of their past experience in making accurate judgments about extraordinary individuals, which is why they were given important responsibilities and were trying to win people over.

Upon entering the command center, the complex aura emanating from Kurosaki, a result of fermentation and mixing, immediately caused a small commotion. People nearby rolled their eyes as soon as they got close to him, and even those drinking coffee almost spat it out.

Even the commander standing in the middle couldn't help but feel a little regretful after smelling it. He hadn't expected that the other party could actually live in that kind of hell without giving in. Now, he was pickled and turned into a human biological weapon.

"You seem like a different person since you recovered from your injury. Why don't you take this opportunity to get closer to Collins? He's the president's most trusted man. If he takes a liking to you, you'll be on your way to the top."

Kurosaki ignored those people and didn't reflect on his own actions; instead, he started chatting with Taira no Ryu.

Ping Shenglong seemed oblivious to the sarcasm in Kurosaki's tone, and gently shook his head: "Do you really think the President trusts Collins?"

"Otherwise?" Kurosaki raised an eyebrow.

"The only person the President truly trusts is himself." Ping Shenglong's voice was calm but firm. "He will not allow anyone to have long-term complete control over a sensitive department that directly involves supernatural powers."

"Isn't it Leon?"

“The Extraordinary Countermeasures Department is different, and Leon is different from Collins.”

Kurosaki didn't ask any further questions. He wasn't as good at this as Taira no Ryu, so he didn't say anything more.

Let's check the intelligence.

A cruise ship passed through the Kattegat Strait at 8:10 pm last night. (Check the ship's information and crew details.)

A Russian spy was arrested in Tallinn early this morning.

A disturbance occurred at Helsinki Zoo before its 6 PM closing time? Well, it seems there was nothing unusual, just a few animals escaped, and the surveillance footage didn't show anything special. However, the way the zoo handled the situation afterward seemed a bit too much, with the military being dispatched immediately.

Unusual bird activity, past. At 6:11 PM last night, a Russian research vessel from the Arctic returned to St. Petersburg with an ice floe less than 10 cubic meters in size, past.

Hmm, early this morning?
Kurosaki turned back, his brow furrowed as he looked at the information on the floating ice ahead.

After searching for information about the research vessel and its publicly stated purpose, I came across the earlier news about the zoo riot and the arrest of spies.

"Aren't Helsinki and Tallinn very close?" Kurosaki didn't look at the map; it was faster to ask the question to the man next to him, Ping Shenglong.

“Less than 100 kilometers away, separated by the sea.” Ping Shenglong answered almost immediately.

Kurosaki pondered for a moment, staring at the timelines of the three incidents, and slowly asked, "Is there still no result regarding the spy captured in Tallinn?"

Ping Shenglong made a phone call and hung up quickly.

"He died, he committed suicide."

"Ha," Kurosaki shook his head. Politics is truly absurd. That's why he's not interested in official positions; he'd rather have more money.

He adjusted his thoughts: "If I were that spy, and after causing a riot at the zoo, I went to Tallinn and deliberately exposed my spy identity, wouldn't I be able to divert a lot of our attention by myself?"

Heisei Ryu didn't go to confirm, but given the current tense atmosphere, a little thought would tell him that it was probably no different from Kurosaki's guess.

Actually, Amei wasn't that afraid Russia would find out anything, but she wanted to delay as long as possible. According to past practice, there would definitely be some big developments later, and she didn't expect to be able to keep it a secret forever.

The main reason is that Russia also wants to make progress!

They've publicly held several rounds of superpower competitions in their country, and even claimed to have found a prodigy, but that's just something to take with a grain of salt; it's just something to boost the confidence of their own people.

Once they learn that there are extraordinary traces of the Baltic Sea on their doorstep, they will inevitably get carried away and try to get a share of the spoils.

Kurosaki pointed to the detailed information on the tablet.

"The ship's ice floes did not come from the ship."

"Since this research vessel happened to be returning from the Arctic, let's assume that this ice floe came from the Arctic. But why did it make a special detour into the Baltic Sea? Was it just for fun? Russia probably has the most ports in the entire Arctic, and the ship didn't even originate in St. Petersburg."

"If the ice floes came from the Baltic Sea, it's early October now. I'm not very good at geography, but I know that even though it's colder this year, this shouldn't be the ice age here."

"So, no matter where this ice floe came from, it's clearly illogical."

Ping Shenglong listened silently, nodded in agreement, but made no move.

Kurosaki is no longer as impatient with these extraordinary events as he used to be. After all, his initial goal was to warn the world that mystery has never gone away and that demons are watching the human world. Now that almost everyone knows, he has nothing to be dissatisfied with.

As for resisting demons, let's leave that to the players and the military; they will do what they can.

“I understand. You want to hide your true abilities, get rid of Collins, and then return home.” In silence, Kurosaki figured out Heisei Ryu’s purpose.

Ping Shenglong remained noncommittal.

They remained completely unnoticed, watching the information being compiled, until noon. It wasn't until they were about to go eat that they heard the roar of J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the National Security Agency, from the command center—the true commander of this operation.

"What did you say?! Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! Track down that ship and that ice floe immediately!"

It seems they've finally realized something's wrong.

However, even if Kurosaki reported it as soon as he discovered it, it was already too late.

That ice floe has now been secretly transported to Moscow.

Although it's not yet winter, temperatures in Moscow only dropped below zero in the early morning.

But this piece of ice is quite magical; it melts extremely slowly and is not affected by any external forces.

Even if you put it in a fire, it will still melt at a certain speed.

This is why they felt comfortable transporting the ice floes to Moscow; otherwise, they would have conducted the research directly in St. Petersburg.

But ultimately, St. Petersburg is too close to the border, and its research equipment is not advanced enough.

Now that it was certain that the ice floe was melting at a constant rate, Russian President Viktor Akhmet ordered it to be sent to Moscow for study, even though he knew it was a risky move that could potentially trigger a disaster for the entire city and even the whole country.

But in this extraordinary competition, Russia has fallen far behind, and the pressure from all sides at home is immense, so he has to do this.

Besides
In the research lab, Vicki, dressed in only a simple protective suit, stood in front of the seven or eight cubic meter milky white diamond-shaped ice block, without feeling the slightest bit of cold.

On the contrary, the passion within him drove his body, making him want to take off the stuffy protective suit.

"Your Excellency, we are now able to confirm, at the millimeter level, that within this particular block of ice lies a complete set of medieval knight's plate armor and a two-handed longsword."

"However, the plate armor was empty; there was nothing inside."

Finally, he, who stood at the very top of the country, was able to witness and come into close contact with the legendary extraordinary things.

It's absurd. It's a certainty that the extraordinary originated from history, but after collecting a large number of ancient artifacts and conducting detailed research, no extraordinary arrival or anomalies were found.

I don't know if the situation is the same in other countries.

Is it only extraordinary beings who can truly activate extraordinary things?

So, who activated this extraordinary item?
Japan produced Ashiya Dōman, and England produced the Ripper; the names of these two men can now stop children from crying at night.

Hopefully, the current situation won't be like that.

After listening carefully, Vickers nodded slowly: "At the rate at which this ice is melting, how long will it take to completely thaw?"

"Three days."

“Three days?” Viktor repeated, knowing that these would be three difficult days.

I wonder how many people will pay the price with their lives for this.

He knew that the trick wouldn't buy him much time, and the fact that he had gained most of the day was completely beyond his expectations.

The real test is yet to come, especially the possibility of facing truly extraordinary pressure.

"Russia must have a place in the world in the future."

"Otherwise, there would be no reason for this world to exist."

“Dr. Ivan, I trust you. Now, please install the cradle system on my heart.”

(End of this chapter)