Cthulhu Panel: One organ mutates every day

Metropolitan Times Square.

The venue for the competitive eating contest was packed with people.

Wayne stood on the competition platform and saw Charlotte squeezing through the crowd.

Charlotte ran up to the stage, panting, and stopped in front of Wayne, asking somewhat nervously:

"How's it going? You should have gotten the special ability by now, right?"

Wayne nodded:

"Yes, I got it."

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief and showed a hint of joy:

"It's good that you got it, it's good that you got it. I really didn't expect you to be so crazy. I tried to pull you away, but you wouldn't budge. How did you do that?"

Wayne smiled:

"Although we were prepared, the fact that this trip went smoothly also had an element of luck."

Charlotte's eyes held a hint of curiosity, but she feigned sudden realization:

"Luck? You're incredibly lucky."

At the same time, he secretly admired it:

"Normally, there's no room for resistance when confronting the past. Introducing the element of luck is unheard of; it's certainly not something an ordinary investigator could do."

Wein scanned the competition venue.

The councilors who should have been wolfing down their food were now sitting in their seats, staring blankly.

The microphone in the host's hand also fell to the ground, causing a piercing buzz that drowned out the jazz music.

Among the enthusiastic crowd below the stage, some people had stopped cheering and were beginning to stir.

But their eyes were vacant, as if they had not fully regained their senses.

Wayne asked:

"Metropolis is the financial center of the Federation. How did this incident escalate to this extent?"

Charlotte felt a pang of regret as she recalled the whole story:

"This incident involves some changes in the Second Department."

Normally, each Old One is accompanied by several dedicated investigator teams. These teams are usually from the Second Division, and they will guide you closer to the Old One when you come to acquire traits.

But who would have thought that the sudden deaths of several investigators in Special Task Force 069 would trigger a chain reaction, and the pollution spread rapidly throughout the metropolitan area, completely spiraling out of control, much to the surprise of Section 2.

"That's why the head of our headquarters' Second Section personally came to handle it."

The head of the Second Section of Headquarters, that must be the white-haired man.

The Second Section is a special department. It is directly under the headquarters, and the Second Sections of each branch are not under the jurisdiction of the branch.

Based on this, the head of the Second Section must have held a very high position.

Wei En asked:

"In other words, I was supposed to be guided by Metropolitan's Second Division to acquire special abilities, but all my colleagues in Metropolitan's Second Division died, and the situation in Metropolitan spiraled out of control. But even if they hadn't died, would they have been able to stop 069 from contaminating the entire city?"

Charlotte sighed softly, a look of helplessness on her face:

"Of course, it can't be stopped. Wherever the old days go, they will pollute the place. They don't even care about what they pollute."

Therefore, the Second Division is usually equipped with sealing artifacts, and its members also possess certain combination of abilities to stay close to the Old Ones, secretly reducing or limiting the scope of their contamination.

It turned out to be the case.

All of Metropolitan's Section 2 colleagues died, and the lack of a dedicated investigation team to limit the scope of 069's contamination allowed the incident to engulf the entire Metropolitan area, causing a series of paralysis and chain reactions.

However, it's quite remarkable that Charlotte, a trainee investigator, was able to cooperate with the Second Division of Headquarters in this incident.

Could it be that she, like Ethan and Lillian, already possessed special abilities before joining the Special Affairs Bureau?

Wayne raised an eyebrow and asked:

"Aren't you a trainee investigator? How come you're not only untainted by the past, but also know so much?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes deliberately; her delicate features paired with her funny expression naturally gave her a comical charm.

"I don't have time to tell you right now, the Second Department is already incredibly busy."

Wayne noticed that some people in special uniforms were maintaining order and dispersing the crowd in the audience, so he asked:

"The pollution has already covered the entire city, so evacuation is simply not feasible. Moreover, not only is evacuation difficult, but the eating contest has also had far-reaching implications in the past two days, with multiple parties involved and possibly even publishing articles in the newspapers. How are we going to explain this to the public, and to those conglomerates and legislators?"

Charlotte didn't seem to care much about this matter:

"Of course, we should try every means to settle all the accounts involved, preferably restore them to their original state. If that's not possible, we should settle the accounts in the way that minimizes the problems. After settling the accounts, the next issue is people. Dealing with people is even simpler; we can just use the sealed artifacts."

Sealed items are likely a type of mysterious artifact.

Wayne wanted to ask more questions, but then he saw the white-haired middle-aged man walk over.

The middle-aged man with white hair walked hurriedly, his expression serious. Unlike his obsequious manner when he was with 069, he now exuded an air of authority.

"Hello, Wayne, I'm Raylo, head of Section Two at the Special Affairs Bureau Headquarters."

Wayne quickly straightened his posture and greeted them:

"Greetings, Mr. Leiloko."

This is a high-ranking leader. Even if he's not your direct supervisor and it's not during working hours, you still have to be very attentive.

Lei Luo pondered for a moment, recalling how Wayne followed the gray-haired girl, and asked:

"You are 069's messenger. I saw you following Him earlier, traveling with Him. You should have already obtained the traits, right?"

Wayne nodded:

"Yes. I got the feature."

Lei Luo's deep voice praised:

"You've worked hard. There was an unexpected situation in Metropolitan Department 2 this time. We were supposed to help you acquire the ability, but we had no choice but to leave you to face the past alone. It's remarkable that you were able to successfully acquire the ability under those circumstances."

Wayne thought to himself, 'Ugh... what's the point of saying all this now? There's no real compensation coming.'

After praising him, Lei Luo turned and asked:

"You are the messenger of 069. The trait you received should be the most unique among the 069 sequence, perhaps related to the soul or consciousness. Am I right?"

Guess? The head of the second section has countless documents on hand, what's there to guess?

Ethan previously said that it's okay to expose the effects of the features, but it's best not to expose the sequence itself, otherwise it's easy to be targeted.

Now it seems that, facing the Second Section, the most special department in the Special Bureau, it is impossible to hide the sequence from them.

Or rather, every ordinary investigator in the Special Bureau is known to the higher-ups.

In such a situation, if internal strife breaks out, it's incredibly easy for higher-ups to target lower-level employees and take drastic measures.

The intended effect was to describe it as "deceptive" or "hypnotic," but the boss kept asking probing questions, and there was no way to fool them.

Wayne chose to admit it subtly:

"Section Chief Lei Luo is right, it is indeed related to the soul and consciousness."

Lei Luo nodded in satisfaction:

"Great, I need your help with something now."

Wei En hesitated:

"Help? How can I help?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The panel display for the main character's traits has been adjusted as mentioned earlier:

【Sequence 069 - Weaving the Heart: Unraveling Intentions, Planting Thoughts to Take Root】