Three days later.
The heavy snow in Northveil finally stopped.
The thick clouds that had covered the city for several consecutive days gradually began to disperse, allowing a faint light to break through the gray-white sky. Although the sunlight remained weak, it made the entire city feel less oppressive and gave it a rare touch of winter brightness.
The snow piled along both sides of the streets had been cleared neatly.
The roads were open again.
Vehicles moved in an orderly fashion.
The shops along the streets had returned to their usual liveliness.
Almost all traces left behind by the department store incident had disappeared.
For the vast majority of citizens, it was simply a pollution incident that had already passed.
Life continued.
Nothing had changed.
But for Lucian, the real investigation had only just taken its first step.
For the past three days.
He had repeated almost the same routine.
Every morning, he arrived near the Pollution Processing Department on time.
Record.
Observe.
Confirm.
He never approached the observers directly.
Nor did he attempt to follow them again.
He simply stood silently among the crowd, watching the observation network hidden within the city operate according to the same fixed pattern again and again.
Irina left the Pollution Processing Department.
Observation began.
She entered the work area.
Observation ended.
Every day was the same.
There had never been a deviation.
The observers constantly changed.
The observation points remained fixed.
Every rotation.
Every transition.
Everything was as precise as the movement of a clock.
Meanwhile.
On the other side.
The technician had barely left the temporary office for three days.
Massive amounts of communication data continued flowing into the analysis program.
Millions of ordinary communications were filtered layer by layer.
Resident communications.
Commercial networks.
Public facilities.
Connected vehicles.
Everything was gradually eliminated.
The data that remained became less and less.
Until this morning.
The first complete analysis report was finally finished.
At ten in the morning.
Lucian returned to the same coffee shop.
He pushed open the glass door.
Warm air immediately greeted him.
The familiar aroma of coffee and freshly baked bread still lingered in the air.
It was not peak dining time.
There were not many customers inside.
Several businesspeople sat in the corner discussing work.
Someone was quietly reading a newspaper.
Others wore headphones while working on files on their computers.
Everything was no different from usual.
Near the window.
The technician was already sitting there.
But unlike the previous few days.
There was a portable data terminal beside his computer today.
Several cables extended from the computer.
A large number of analytical charts continuously refreshed across the screen.
Hearing footsteps.
The technician looked up.
He gave a slight nod.
"You're here."
Lucian sat down.
There was no small talk.
Nor did he ask about the results.
Because he had already seen from the technician's expression.
There had been new progress.
The technician gently turned the computer toward Lucian.
At the center of the screen.
There were no longer the densely packed communication records from the previous few days.
Instead.
There was an electronic map of the city that had gone through several rounds of filtering.
Only a dozen or so blinking points remained on the map.
"This is three days of data."
The technician spoke calmly.
"All abnormal communications that met the criteria."
Lucian silently stared at the screen.
The technician continued operating the computer.
The first layer of data slowly disappeared.
Half of the points on the map vanished.
"This is after removing numbers that only appeared once."
The second layer disappeared.
The number of points decreased again.
"After removing repeated communications from residents."
The third layer.
Commercial networks.
Public equipment.
Vehicle systems.
They were continuously eliminated.
Until finally.
Only six red numbers remained on the entire map.
They quietly stayed there.
The technician stopped operating the computer.
"Three consecutive days."
"Only these."
"They always appeared during the same time period."
He gently opened one of the numbers.
A new window slowly unfolded.
Appearance time.
8:43 a.m.
Duration: 0.6 seconds.
Then.
The second day.
8:43 a.m.
Duration: 0.7 seconds.
The third day.
8:43 a.m.
Duration: 0.6 seconds.
The margin of error.
Less than two seconds.
The technician opened the second one.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Almost all of them were the same.
"Rotation."
Lucian spoke slowly.
The technician nodded.
"More precisely."
"Before each rotation begins."
"They complete an extremely brief data exchange."
As he spoke.
He opened another statistical chart.
"After it ends."
"There is another one."
Lucian looked toward the chart.
Every time observation began.
Once.
When observation ended.
Once.
Every day.
Without exception.
The technician leaned slightly back in his chair.
"Now."
"We can confirm."
"These terminals."
"Belong to the same operational system."
As he spoke.
He brought the map back onto the screen.
The six numbers began moving continuously.
They did not remain in fixed locations.
Instead, they moved together with the observers.
Always shifting slowly around several observation points surrounding the Pollution Processing Department.
"This proves."
"Your judgment was correct."
"What remains fixed."
"Is not the observers."
"It is the observation points."
"The people responsible for observing can change."
"Their terminals move with them."
"What truly remains unchanged."
"Is the observation network itself."
Lucian said nothing.
He simply stared silently at the screen.
Over the past three days.
His own observations had finally matched the technical analysis completely.
That meant.
They had finally taken the first step.
The technician zoomed in on the map again.
His voice remained calm.
"What is really worth looking at."
"Isn't here."
He pressed the Enter key.
The screen changed again.
Several data trails originally scattered throughout the city began converging little by little.
Like tiny rivers.
They slowly flowed toward the southeastern part of the city.
Although each connection passed through different base stations.
And even deliberately avoided fixed routes.
After three days of overlapping data.
They still revealed one common characteristic.
All the data.
Eventually flowed toward the same area.
The technician slowly zoomed in further.
The area became clearer and clearer.
The map continued to enlarge.
The outline of the district gradually came into view.
The data trails that had originally covered all of Northveil were reduced layer by layer until only an area smaller than a palm remained.
It was located in southeastern Northveil.
Far from the administrative center.
And far from the main commercial district.
It was an old district that had gradually fallen into decline.
The technician slowly stopped operating the computer.
The red area on the screen blinked faintly.
"This is it."
Lucian did not immediately speak.
He simply stared silently at the map.
The area was not particularly large.
But it was certainly not just one building.
It still contained more than a dozen buildings of different purposes.
Old warehouses.
Abandoned office buildings.
Small logistics centers.
Several factories that had already ceased operations.
And several residential buildings awaiting demolition.
The technician slowly said,
"We can only narrow it down to here for now."
"Continuing the analysis."
"Wouldn't be very meaningful."
"Because the final section of the communications."
"All entered a local encrypted network."
"We can't continue tracking them remotely."
Lucian nodded slightly.
He understood what that meant.
Communication analysis.
Reaching this point.
Was already close to its limit.
What remained.
Had to be investigated on-site.
The technician brought up another set of files.
Several satellite images of buildings appeared on the screen one after another.
"These are all the buildings in the area."
"Size."
"Purpose."
"Ownership."
"Ownership changes over the past few years."
"Fifteen locations in total."
Lucian examined them one by one.
Most of the information was completely ordinary.
Some had been abandoned for years.
Some still carried company names.
But in reality, they had long since stopped operating.
There were even several buildings with almost no recorded electricity consumption over the past six months.
The technician continued.
"I've already completed the first round of elimination."
"Businesses operating normally."
"They can be temporarily ruled out."
"Residences with long-term occupants."
"They can also be ruled out."
As he spoke.
The buildings on the screen turned gray one after another.
Fifteen.
Twelve.
Nine.
Finally.
Only four remained.
Four red markers.
They quietly remained in the center of the map.
The technician pointed to the first building.
"A logistics warehouse."
"Operating normally during the day."
"No one on-site at night."
The second.
"An old office building."
"Officially owned by a consulting company that has already ceased operations."
"No public business records for nearly a year."
The third.
"A storage center."
"Its ownership has changed three times."
"The most recent registration."
"Six months ago."
The fourth.
"An abandoned factory."
"It has not been officially demolished."
"But its electricity supply remains active."
Lucian listened quietly.
He did not rush to make a judgment.
The technician continued.
"Based on the information alone."
"All four are possible."
"And all four look unlikely."
He spoke frankly.
"The real problem."
"Isn't the buildings."
"It's the people."
"Why did they choose this place?"
"We don't know yet."
Lucian looked at the map.
Then slowly asked,
"When do we begin the on-site investigation?"
The technician looked up.
"The sooner, the better."
"However."
"Not an infiltration."
"At least not yet."
Lucian looked at him.
The technician explained.
"If this really is a long-running observation network."
"There must be security around the perimeter."
"Entering recklessly."
"Would be too risky."
"More importantly."
"We still don't know."
"Which of these four buildings is the actual target."
He lightly tapped the map.
The four buildings were not far from one another.
Only a few minutes apart on foot.
"The best approach right now."
"Is to first confirm."
"Whether someone enters every day."
"When they enter."
"When they leave."
"Then decide what to do next."
Lucian remained silent for a moment.
Then nodded slightly.
"Start with perimeter surveillance."
The technician showed a barely noticeable smile.
"That is my recommendation as well."
He closed the computer again.
Saving all the data.
Then calmly said,
"One more thing."
"Starting today."
"We can suspend the communication analysis."
"Continuing to collect data."
"Won't produce any new breakthroughs."
"The only thing that can actually move the investigation forward."
"Is the field."
Lucian understood.
Three consecutive days of data.
Were already enough to prove the pattern.
Repeating the same process.
Would only produce the same results.
The investigation.
Had to enter its next stage.
The two remained silent for a while.
A server came over.
She refilled their coffee.
Then simply said,
"Please enjoy."
Before walking away again.
Outside the window.
The sky after the snowfall was noticeably brighter than it had been over the previous few days.
Sunlight passed through the clouds.
Shining onto the white snow piled along the streets.
All of Northveil appeared unusually quiet.
No one knew.
Just several kilometers from here.
An unremarkable old district.
Had already become Lucian's next target of investigation.
The technician took a sip of his now lukewarm coffee.
Then slowly said,
"This afternoon."
"I'll continue organizing the building records."
"And try to find as much background information as possible."
"What about you?"
Lucian looked toward the window.
His gaze remained fixed on the distance.
"Go take a look."
The answer was simple.
But it had already determined their next move.
The technician did not try to stop him.
He simply nodded.
"Perimeter."
"Don't enter the buildings."
"Don't expose yourself."
"If that really is an intelligence collection point."
"They'll be even more cautious than the observation network."
Lucian stood up.
He picked up the coat hanging over the back of his chair.
"I know."
The two did not shake hands.
Nor did they say anything else.
Just like when they had first met.
They continued to maintain the distance of ordinary strangers.
After leaving the coffee shop.
They walked away in different directions.
The technician returned to the temporary office.
Continuing to organize all the information.
Lucian, meanwhile, walked slowly along the street.
His pace remained steady.
He did not hurry toward the old district.
Instead, he moved like an ordinary tourist.
He slowly passed through the commercial district.
Walked across the plaza.
And finally boarded a bus heading toward the southeastern district.
Outside the window.
The city slowly moved backward.
The high-rise buildings became fewer.
The roads gradually narrowed.
The surrounding buildings began to reveal the marks left behind by time.
Lucian silently looked out the window.
The four red points on the map repeatedly surfaced in his mind.
Three consecutive days of data.
Had finally narrowed the search down to this place.
The real investigation.
Would begin here.
The bus slowly continued into the distance.
And the deepest hidden corner of Northveil.
Had finally entered Lucian's field of vision for the first time.