The man’s face was blank for a few seconds, then, as if he had regained his memory, his eyes showed terror.
He exclaimed, "I was being controlled!"
"I am the manager of the Shield Department at the Tianqin Sports Stadium," he said, enduring the pain of his severed hand, and quickly explained, "Shortly after the match started tonight, Manager Huang from the Security Department called me, saying that there was a malfunction in a shield array and asked me to come over right away. But the moment I saw him, I lost consciousness..."
"Who controlled you?" Ji Xinghuo asked.
The man tried hard to recall, shook his head in pain, "I really can’t remember... my head hurts so much..."
Ji Xinghuo looked at his condition and immediately had a bad feeling.
It was clearly the work of a Mind Hacker.
And not just any Mind Hacker, but at least a Super Mutant, or possibly even Legendary Level!
"Shut down the shield," Ji Xinghuo ordered.
It was the job of the Intelligence Information Department to pursue the Mind Hacker, and they would naturally come to interrogate this man later. It wasn’t Ji Xinghuo’s place to get involved. Right now, the most important thing was to turn off the shield.
The manager of the Shield Department didn’t know Ji Xinghuo’s identity but still did as he was told.
He operated rapidly on the console, cut off the reserve electric energy output to the stadium, and stopped the operating shield array; the two layers of shields engulfing the stadium vanished instantly.
Overhead, the tens of thousands of spectators made a noisy din.
"The shield has been lifted!"
"With such a serious incident, will the match continue?"
"It probably won’t..."
Less than five seconds after the superconductive shield was shut down, several figures entered through the control room’s door and appeared.
The arrivals were Shi Hongyi, along with Zhou Yishang, Yao Xian, and an unidentified Xuanyuan Swordsman, two legendary fighters from their respective clubs.
Zhou Yishang asked, "Did you find the person?"
"No," Ji Xinghuo shook his head, pointing at the manager of the Shield Department, "He was controlled, probably by a Mind Hacker. There’s also a manager from the Security Department who was controlled; we still don’t know where he is."
Zhou Yishang had a grave expression, realizing the trouble they were in. The ingenious traitor had been killed by Ji Xinghuo, and the accomplice was a Mind Hacker lurking in the shadows, which would likely make it hard to find any useful clues.
He waved his hand, "Take them back for investigation."
Several swordsmen who were already standing by outside immediately came in and took the Shield Department manager away.
"Are you alright?" Zhou Yishang looked at Ji Xinghuo, who was covered in wounds but seemed to be in good condition. Nonetheless, he asked with concern.
Ji Xinghuo replied, "They’re just minor injuries."
Shi Hongyi had been silent since he entered, just observing Ji Xinghuo from the side. It wasn’t until now that he spoke up, "Director Zhou, since there was no battle and I’m not needed here, I’ll take my leave. Emperor Star Club will fully cooperate with the investigation if needed."
"Alright, Chairman Shi, please take care," Zhou Yishang replied.
Shi Hongyi nodded slightly to everyone present and transformed into a streak of fire that swiftly flew away, vanishing from the control room in a blink.
In Ji Xinghuo’s magnetic field sense, Shi Hongyi had returned to his private box.
He inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
With a Heavenly King standing just a few steps away, even if he did nothing, one could feel an immense pressure.
The legendary fighters from the two clubs also left the scene. They were citizens, without the right to get involved in Sword Bureau matters.
Zhou Yishang introduced, "This is Fang Songhe, a Xuanyuan Swordsman from the bureau, code-named ’Bai Lu’."
Ji Xinghuo greeted proactively. Fang Songhe was a tall and thin man whose age couldn’t be discerned from his face. Dressed in ordinary casual clothes, he seemed quiet and reserved.
But he didn’t dare to underestimate him; the other was a powerful Mutant of Legendary Second Dan.
"Well done," Fang Songhe nodded, giving a response, but his face showed little expression. Then he fell silent again.
Zhou Yishang began giving orders to the swordsmen.
"Have the broadcasters shut down the live stream."
"Immediately evacuate the spectators, forbid anyone from getting close to the center field, and do not touch the body of the ingenious traitor without permission."
"Screen all the personnel of Tianqin Sports Stadium, access their citizen information and big data."
"Take a copy of all the security footage from the past month and hand it over to the Information Department to find clues."
"Contact the Internet Information Department for media control."
One command after another was issued.
The Sword Bureau, a machine of force, sprang into action. While the audience was being evacuated, hundreds of swordsmen entered the underground air-raid shelter and soon found the manager of the Security Department. But he was already a corpse, along with several other bodies of stadium staff members.
Clearly, they had been silenced.
Dozens of bionic remains were also collected and sent back to the Sword Bureau for source tracing.
Ji Xinghuo returned to the field above.
The big screens overhead had already been turned off, but there were still many spectators orderly exiting. Those in the front row who saw Ji Xinghuo had shining eyes and took out their phones to snap pictures of him.
The recent incident had spread across the globe, becoming headline news!
And Ji Xinghuo was the protagonist at the center of this focal event.
At this moment, countless people were extremely curious about Ji Xinghuo’s identity. The internet was in an uproar, yet no one could clarify it.
Although some had guessed that Ji Xinghuo was the victim of the All-Purpose Battle Police attack a few days ago, based on his appearance during the battle and the Thunderbolt Battle Blade that was also present, confirming him as the same person, yet, to date, no one knew his identity.