The investigation had once again reached a dead end.
The old office building had already been confirmed to be nothing more than an empty shell.
The security system that had been left in place, the automatically renewed contracts, and the trading company that had long since been deregistered yet continued making payments all proved that the building was merely a carefully maintained false target.
Continuing the investigation there would yield nothing more.
At the coffee shop.
The technician was still sitting in front of the computer.
Various files continued to cycle across the screen.
Maps of the city.
Communication records.
Financial transactions.
And all the analysis results compiled over the past few days.
He tried to establish connections from different angles.
Yet there was still no breakthrough.
The silence lasted for a long time.
The technician finally stopped typing.
He gently rubbed his brow.
"All the clues."
"They've led us back to the beginning."
Lucian sat across from him.
He said nothing.
In fact, he understood it just as clearly.
Continuing to investigate the old office building had already lost its meaning.
The real data center had been removed long ago.
And the real organization would never return there.
The technician spoke slowly.
"Let's observe for another two days."
"Sometimes."
"The more desperately you try to find an answer."
"The easier it is to fall into the answer someone else prepared for you."
Lucian nodded slightly.
Then he stood up.
He did not discuss any new plans.
Nor did he head to the Pollution Processing Department.
Instead, he left the coffee shop.
And walked alone into the streets of Northveil.
...
The city had returned to its usual order after the snowfall.
Most of the snow along the streets had already been cleared.
Vehicles came and went along the main roads.
Pedestrians moved constantly through the streets.
Sunlight filtered through the clouds and fell across the roads.
After several oppressive days, Northveil finally seemed to have gained a little warmth.
Lucian had no particular destination.
He simply followed the flow of people and walked slowly.
He passed through a commercial district.
Then a bookstore.
Then a department store filled with winter goods.
Occasionally, he stopped to look at a display window.
Occasionally, he stepped into a convenience store to buy a bottle of water.
Then he continued walking.
If anyone happened to notice him at that moment, they would only think he was an ordinary tourist.
No one would imagine that he was investigating an intelligence network hidden within the city.
In fact, even Lucian himself did not know where he should go next.
The worst thing about an investigation was taking action simply for the sake of taking action.
If the direction was already wrong, continuing to invest more effort would only take him farther away from the truth.
So for now, he chose to temporarily step away from the investigation itself.
To look at the city.
And to look at the people he normally would not pay attention to.
Time passed little by little.
People continued walking past him.
Students.
Office workers.
Delivery workers.
Elderly people.
Young mothers pushing strollers.
Everything was exactly as it usually was.
Until he passed an intersection.
A man brushed past him.
Just as their shoulders were almost about to touch, Lucian's footsteps paused imperceptibly for half a beat.
That feeling had returned.
It was not danger.
Not killing intent.
Nor was it an ability fluctuation.
It was an indescribable sense of familiarity.
As if he had seen this person before.
Yet when he tried to recall where, he could not remember at all.
The man had already continued walking.
His back looked completely ordinary.
A gray coat.
Dark trousers.
An ordinary briefcase in his hand.
His hair was neatly groomed.
His walking pace was neither fast nor slow.
There was nothing to distinguish him from any other ordinary office worker on the street.
Lucian did not turn around.
But several images from the past few days began surfacing in his mind.
Near the Pollution Processing Department.
In front of the bus stop.
At the intersection of the commercial district.
And yesterday, when he had left the old district.
It seemed…
He had felt the same thing in all of those places.
He had not paid attention to it at the time.
But now that he thought about it, it was as if an extremely thin thread connected all those insignificant moments.
Lucian walked several more steps.
Then a sudden thought flashed through his mind.
He turned around.
And quickly followed.
The man had not gone far.
He was about to cross the intersection ahead.
Lucian put on a slightly apologetic expression and walked up beside him.
"Excuse me."
"Sorry to bother you."
The man stopped.
His expression was completely natural.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
Lucian lowered his head and glanced at the electronic map on his phone.
He gave an awkward smile.
"This is my first time in Northveil."
"I'm trying to get here."
"But I think the map sent me the wrong way."
"Could you take a look?"
The man lowered his head and glanced at the terminal Lucian handed him.
The location on the map was not complicated.
Several nearby roads had simply been temporarily rerouted because of winter construction, causing the navigation to become inaccurate.
The man reached out.
And lightly pointed at the map.
"You don't need to keep going straight."
"Turn left at the intersection ahead."
"Then go past a plaza."
"You'll be there."
His voice was steady.
There was no hesitation.
He was clearly very familiar with the area.
Lucian listened carefully.
He nodded from time to time, like a tourist visiting Northveil for the first time.
When the man finished, Lucian smiled and thanked him.
"Thank you."
"I almost took the long way around."
The man smiled as well.
"No problem."
"A lot of people from out of town get lost around here."
He was about to leave.
Just then, Lucian casually asked with a smile,
"Do you work around here too?"
The man paused for a moment.
His expression remained completely natural.
"Yeah."
"Just up ahead."
As he spoke, he raised his chin toward the other side of the street.
A multi-story office building stood there.
A trading company's sign hung on its exterior.
The man continued,
"I pass through here every day."
"So I'm pretty familiar with the area."
Lucian followed his gaze.
Then nodded lightly.
"No wonder."
"I won't keep you any longer."
The man glanced at his wristwatch.
He smiled.
"It's almost time for work."
"I'll get going."
"Enjoy your stay."
With that, he turned around and disappeared into the flow of pedestrians.
His back quickly vanished into the crowd.
Lucian did not follow him.
He simply stood where he was.
He looked at the office building.
Then glanced down at his terminal.
Afterward, he put away the map.
And continued walking in the opposite direction.
The entire encounter had been completely ordinary.
Nothing unusual had happened.
It was nothing more than an ordinary exchange between a tourist asking for directions and a local passerby.
...
Evening.
The coffee shop.
The technician was already sitting in his usual seat.
The computer was still running.
When he saw Lucian enter, he raised his head.
"Find anything?"
Lucian sat down.
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he picked up the pen and paper on the table.
And wrote down the name of a company.
"Look into this."
The technician glanced at it.
"This company?"
"Yeah."
"And there's one more person."
Lucian briefly described what had happened that afternoon.
Asking for directions.
Making small talk.
The man claiming to work there.
The entire exchange had lasted less than a minute.
The technician said nothing.
He simply began searching.
The company's information quickly appeared on the screen.
"Everything looks normal."
"Established seven years ago."
"One hundred and thirty-six employees."
"Normal business records."
As he spoke, he opened the employee roster.
He began filtering the names according to the approximate age, height, and appearance Lucian had described.
Five minutes passed.
The technician frowned.
Then he changed several search conditions.
Ten minutes later, he stopped.
He remained silent for a moment.
"Nothing."
Lucian raised his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"There is no one matching him."
The technician continued,
"I also checked everyone who left the company over the past three years."
"Still nothing."
"Temporary workers."
"Outsourced personnel."
"Interns."
"I checked them all."
"No one matches the description."
Lucian said nothing.
The technician pulled up the company's access-control records.
"Today's entry and exit records."
"Nothing there either."
Then he opened the public surveillance footage from the nearby intersections.
Soon, the man's figure appeared on the screen.
He had indeed passed through the area.
And he had indeed walked toward the office building.
However, as the footage continued, the man reached the front of the building.
Yet he did not enter.
After disappearing behind a crowd for several seconds, he vanished completely.
He did not enter the lobby.
Nor did he leave through a side entrance.
He did not appear in any of the subsequent surveillance footage either.
The technician slowly leaned back in his chair.
Then quietly exhaled.
"At least one thing is certain."
"What he said…"
"Wasn't true."
Lucian stared at the screen.
The image of the man from that afternoon surfaced in his mind once again.
A natural response.
A calm expression.
Not the slightest hint of nervousness.
If he had not casually checked, anyone would have believed that the man was nothing more than an ordinary office worker.
The technician closed the surveillance footage.
He spoke quietly.
"Looks like…"
"The person you ran into…"
"Is more interesting than that office building."