I. The Cave
A cave somewhere beside the Mississippi River.
Inside lay the remains of Shi Xunchao. It was dug up by a hunter.
The Alliance attached great importance to this.
This was no ordinary spatial transfer. The place of Shi Xunchao’s death was on Brown Star, not Earth. Which was to say—he was transported here by a mysterious force, and killed afterward.
The remains exhibited multiple bone fractures. A portion of the ribs was even missing. It seemed like the work of supernatural forces.
The hunter was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He did not sign. Three days later, he did not remember ever entering that cave.
II. Kenneth
Kenneth Kenan. Alliance Leader. Of the Furred.
Burly build, domineering. Coarse fur covered his entire body. But he was balding. Doctors said it was a genetic defect.
In 2598, he was elected Alliance Leader. Thereafter, he repeatedly amended the Alliance Constitution. The original system limiting tenure to three terms was changed to indefinite reelection.
The Alliance’s upper echelon consisted almost entirely of the Furred.
The Alliance was managed by the Alliance Council and the Executive Secretary-General.
Alliance regulations stipulated that the Council adopt a 3+3+3+1 system. 3 humans, 3 xeno-humans, 3 Superstarkin, 1 person from the bottom tier of society. The Executive Secretary-General was held by a human, with the power to reject the Leader’s bills. The Leader was chosen from among these ten people.
This was the designers’ original intent. Ten people. Three forces counterbalancing one another. A voice from the bottom sitting in the corner. The Secretary-General holding veto power. No one could dominate alone.
Since Kenneth took power, the Secretary-General had been one of the Furred. The 3 xeno-human seats naturally shifted to the Furred as well. The Superstarkin were driven out of the Council. Replaced by the Bloodkin and the Molekin. Human seats decreased from 3 to 2.
Out of ten people, seven were Furred.
That single seat for the bottom-tier people was still there. But no one remembered when that seat had last made a sound.
III. The Action Team
The Alliance Anomalous Phenomena Action Team.
It was an independent department within the Alliance Police Department, specializing in handling unnatural phenomena. Managed by the Alliance Supreme Procuratorate.
The Alliance military was divided into two major systems—the Earth Alliance Guard Corps (including local forces) and the Galactic Patrol Response Army. The Stellar Fleet was a military force independent of them, under unified central management.
As for the Action Team, it belonged to no military branch. It was a department whose name would not appear in any public document. Its funding was drawn from the Alliance Supreme Procuratorate’s “Special Administrative Fund.” Audited by no one.
IV. Weber
According to the recollections of former Anomalous Phenomena Action Team captain Weber McCarthy—
“Many anomalous phenomena exist in our universe. Abbreviated as anomalies. These are not products of our universe. Dark matter cannot be detected inside their bodies either. Rather, it is a special matter.”
He sat in an old chair. The recording equipment in front of him glowed with a red light. The interviewer was a young graduate student in history, who had secretly hidden a recording pen in his jacket pocket.
“We are surrounded by the Invisible Ones.”
When he spoke those three words, his voice was very soft.
“These are the lowest-tier creatures among anomalies. Code numbered 001. Ordinary light sources cannot discern their positions. They must be illuminated using a special light. This weapon was invented by Claude. Called source light. It is not produced after the Source Stone is activated, but is light existing in nature.”
The graduate student asked: Who was Claude?
Weber glanced at him.
“A name you no longer recognize.”
“Source light is another kind of light stripped from dark matter. The reason it cannot be seen is that the dark property of dark matter obscures it. One must use the innermost wave of the hypersignal, tuning the frequency to twenty thousand hertz, to isolate it.”
He gestured with his hands.
“Source light is harmless to the human body. But extremely effective against anomalies. A brightness of 200 nits is enough to force an Invisible One to reveal itself, putting it into a brief dormancy for fifteen seconds. However, current human technology can only excite source light up to 220 nits.”
“Which is to say, the extra 20 nits are the margin.”
He paused briefly.
“And the safety rope.”
“The Invisible Ones originally came to Earth alongside Gao Fangwen.”
The graduate student leaned forward.
“They are invisible to the naked eye. Their arms are mantis scythes. They can easily slice through titanium alloy steel plates.”
Weber raised his hand and made a horizontal slicing motion.
“Their heads are relatively small and fragile. Ordinary swords can easily chop them off. Therefore, the Action Team frequently uses economical and convenient gear like machetes to deal with them. Of course, bullets are also effective against them. But considering that bullets might cause panic, the Action Team generally does not use them.”
“Incidents of the Invisible Ones harming people occur rarely. They seem to be searching for something on Earth. Preliminary judgment suggests it may be the Source Stone.”
V. Files
Shi Xunchao’s death was caused by the Invisible Ones.
His file was numbered Top Secret File 021. Those without authorization could not view it, nor could they ever know of it. Any police officer who attempted to investigate Shi Xunchao had that portion of their memory erased by the memory-stripping flash.
The memory-stripping flash. Also known as the Bruce Flash.
This was a substance Bruce extracted from source light. It could smooth the cerebral cortex, causing brief amnesia. When used properly, it could be precise down to the date—making the subject unable to recall anything after that date.
When the Bruce Flash was not available, the Action Team usually employed human stripping methods.
Commonly known as silencing the witness.
This was a right granted to them by the Alliance Central Authority.
VI. Weber’s Last Words
Weber also said:
“Claude was actually killed by the Invisible Ones. Not a plastic bag.”
The recording pen buzzed inside the pocket.
“The same goes for Gao Fangwen.”
“As for Liu Yao’s death, that remains unknown.”
He fell silent for a moment.
“However, my time is coming soon too.”
Weber passed away from illness on Arbor Day in 2603.
Doctors detected an unidentified green liquid inside his body.
This was Top Secret File 022.
No one knew where the Invisible Ones actually came from.
Only that Gao Fangwen brought them.
That youth in the first chapter, the youth who opened his eyes in the green light, the youth who saw Claude in the laboratory at Waldo—from some corner of the universe, he brought one of the four Source Stones to Earth.
And brought along, at the same time, these things.
Things invisible to the naked eye.
They killed Claude. Killed Gao Fangwen. Killed Shi Xunchao.
They were still searching.
Searching for the remaining Source Stones.
And the green liquid inside Weber’s body—was the very same color as the light emitted when the Source Stone was activated.
—End of Chapter Fourteen.