Chương 172: Analysis and Farewell

Roland gave a wry smile tinged with helplessness and self-deprecation, and then said, "I'm sorry, Miss Jiying, although I would love to tell you a specific name immediately, or at least—a clear list of suspects."

"But the truth is, I can't be sure right away, and it's even difficult to narrow down my focus to a few specific people."

Upon hearing this, Ji Ying frowned slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in his dark red eyes.

In her view, Director Roland, as the highest leader who had been in charge of the Jiangchuan City Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs for many years, must have a thorough understanding of the personnel and operational mechanisms within the bureau.

In this situation, how could he say something like "it's difficult to identify the suspect"?

However, after having a heart-to-heart talk with the other party, she was now 100% certain that the old man in front of her could not possibly be the kind of muddleheaded person who would deliberately condone the existence of traitors.

His statement that he couldn't immediately pinpoint the target indicates that there must be some significant difficulties that she is unaware of.

So she calmly asked, "What's the specific reason? Director Roland, I trust you wouldn't joke about something like this."

Roland sighed and began to explain, "Miss Jiying, you may not know, but the internal workings of our Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs are far more complex than you imagine."

"In order to respond most efficiently to the possible infiltration of the virtual world into the city at any time, we have divided the core operations department into many parts."

"For example, the Monitoring and Early Warning Center, responsible for monitoring virtual energy fluctuations around the clock and issuing alerts immediately; and the Operations Command and Dispatch Department, responsible for allocating personnel and sending specific combat instructions to you magical girls after confirming an infiltration."

"And the Intelligence Analysis and Records Management Division, responsible for collecting and organizing all intelligence, managing databases and communication records"; and the Technical Support and Communications Assurance Section, responsible for maintaining the network security of the entire system and communications networks."

"These four departments maintain very close daily communication, and in order to deal with emergencies, there is an inevitable overlap and intersection of their authority."

"So, regarding that distress signal sent to Miss Starfrost that night—" Director Roland's voice suddenly became somewhat heavy.

"These four departments, from their respective heads to ordinary operators and engineers with certain permissions, are theoretically capable of forging it without arousing too much suspicion."

He paused, then continued his analysis: "Moreover, according to your previous account, the location where Jingjue set the trap was indeed infiltrated by the Void Realm, but he used some special means to cover up the fluctuations of the Void Realm infiltration."

"The insidious nature of this tactic is that, because the infiltration itself is real, it is very difficult for our subsequent field personnel to detect any suspicious points when they follow standard procedures to handle the aftermath."

"This also greatly reduces the risk of us discovering that traitor modifying the system logs."

"This situation, as reflected in the system logs, might simply be a very subtle time difference between the time the monitoring equipment actually detected the virtual realm infiltration and the time the distress signal was sent to Miss Xing Shuang."

Finding these deliberately concealed traces of modification accurately within massive amounts of system data is inherently very difficult.

"Not to mention, more than two months have passed since the first magical girl went missing. Such a long time span is enough for that traitor to completely erase all traces of his actions."

"Especially if the traitor is of a higher rank, or a professional technician with sufficient knowledge of the system, then his methods will be more covert and it will be more difficult to leave direct evidence."

Jiying listened quietly to Roland's clear explanation of the regulations, her delicate brows furrowing involuntarily.

She now finally understood why Roland had said it would be difficult to identify the suspect; it was simply— The pool is deep and the bottom is unknown, filled with muddy water.

She asked in a low voice, "You mean—we have absolutely no way to find out the traitor's exact identity now?"

"No." Director Roland shook his head without hesitation.

"It's not that we can't find them, but it will take some time to conduct an extremely thorough and covert investigation of all personnel who may have access to core privileges."

"This is done to avoid wrongly accusing any dutiful and innocent colleague without solid evidence, and also to prevent the traitor hiding in the shadows from becoming suspicious and hiding even deeper."

He paused, his tone full of confidence: "As long as the logs have been modified, they will definitely leave a trace in the system. I am absolutely confident that I can find the real traitor."

"But—I need a little time."

Upon hearing this, Ji Ying breathed a slight sigh of relief. She looked at Roland and asked, "So, is there anything I can do to help with this? I possess the ability of 'Shadow Leap,' which allows me to move with great stealth."

"If you can find a prime suspect, I can try to break into their residence to investigate, or—I can directly contact them in my current capacity and test their reaction."

However, Director Roland shook his head again, his tone gentle yet firm as he rejected Ji Ying's suggestion: "Miss Ji Ying, I appreciate your kindness, but please leave this matter to me."

"Within the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, I have people I can absolutely trust to carry out this covert investigation, so you don't need to worry about it anymore."

He paused, his voice becoming somewhat low, and a deep sense of self-reproach and guilt appeared on his weathered face: "I know perfectly well that our Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs can't be of much help in a direct confrontation with an enemy as powerful as Mirror Lord."

"And the Special Affairs Bureau, which should have been the strongest support for you magical girls and allies like you who are willing to cooperate with us, has instead—a traitor has appeared."

"Not only have the brave children who protect this city disappeared one after another, but they've also leaked crucial information about the arrival of the Star String Inspector—"

"As the highest leader of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, I feel deeply guilty and know that I am also largely to blame."

"If I can't even find the internal traitor on my own, then I'm afraid I won't have the face to stay in this position of director."

Ji Ying sighed as she looked at Director Roland's self-reproachful expression, but she still wanted to speak up and insist on her point of view, since having more people to help would always make things more efficient.

But Director Roland seemed to see through her thoughts, and shook his head again, his tone becoming more solemn: "Moreover, Miss Jiying, the reason I refused your help was not simply to save face for myself or for our Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs."

His tone instantly became extremely serious and solemn: "You must understand a crucial fact—during the time that cunning Mirror Lord hasn't shown himself, the traitor hiding among us is our only clue to finding his whereabouts."

"If you do as you just said, infiltrate the home of a prime suspect to conduct an investigation, or directly contact the suspect using your current special identity—"

"At best, it will immediately alert the traitor, causing him to sever all ties with Mirror Lord and making us completely lose this valuable lead."

"And worse—it might even completely expose your false identity, the one that Mirror Lord mistook for one of his own kind, and the one with whom you swore an oath of 'non-interference'."

"Such losses would be absolutely unacceptable for our entire plan."

After listening to Director Roland's insightful strategic analysis, Ji Ying fell completely silent. She knew that what he said was absolutely correct, and that her suggestion just now was indeed somewhat presumptuous.

She nodded slightly, acknowledging the other person's judgment, and stopped insisting: "—I understand."

Director Roland smiled with satisfaction as he saw that Ji Ying had been persuaded. He then assured her, "Miss Ji Ying, please rest assured, I will identify the traitor in the shortest possible time."

"I also hope that you can convey this message to Miss Hoshino during our next meeting, so that she won't have to worry about it too much."

"I understand," Jiying replied.

Looking at the elderly man before her, who, though blind, possessed an incredibly bright and resolute spirit, she sincerely said, "Director Roland, please don't be discouraged by this incident. I can assure you that you are a responsible and excellent director."

Upon hearing this, Director Roland was slightly taken aback, then a genuine smile appeared on his face. He slowly stood up from his chair and bowed solemnly to the petite girl in front of him.

"Thank you for your understanding, Miss Jiying. Please also convey to Miss Xingshuang and her companions that in the upcoming confrontation with Jingjue, I, and the Jiangchuan City Bureau of Extraordinary Events that I lead, will continue to be your strongest support."

"You children who are fighting on the front lines are the ones who are facing the toughest challenges."

Faced with the old man's solemn bow, Ji Ying immediately stood up straight and returned the bow deeply.

"Well then, Director Roland, it's almost time. I need to prepare for my meeting with Miss Xingxian, so I'll take my leave now."

"Understood, please be careful."

Under Roland's watchful gaze, Ji Ying's petite body transformed into a flowing shadow, silently merging into the darkness of the office corner without leaving a trace.

Once again, only Roland remained in the office.

He stood quietly in front of the French windows, facing the endless curtain of rain outside, speechless for a long time.