Chapter 1082 - 1081: The Lighthouse Country Begins Researching Myths Too

The four people in the dormitory, Tong Muxuan and Zhao Wei both work at major companies, and fortunately, they’ve both landed good projects. Although Lu Zheng is unemployed, everyone knows he’s doing the best; what he’s working on connects directly to companies, and his income is very high.

As for Lei Zhiyun, the tech whiz, he just graduated with a PhD. Alongside staying at the university to teach, he takes on various projects through the school, working with both private companies and state enterprises, earning quite well and holding a high status. Anyone who sees him calls him Teacher Lei.

"You all have to pay for your overseas trips, whereas mine have always been on the company dime. Apart from attending a half-day meeting, the rest is just play, play, play," Lei Zhiyun boasted.

Tong Muxuan and Zhao Wei were speechless, unable to compare.

"Speaking of..."

As he said this, Lei Zhiyun turned mysterious, lowering his voice, "At the end of September, I was actually at a conference in Los Angeles."

As soon as he said this, Tong Muxuan and Zhao Wei’s eyes lit up.

What’s the most talked-about event recently?

Even though countless other hot events have occurred over the past three months, the Los Angeles mass self-combustion incident still remains vivid in many people’s memories. Even though it’s no longer trending, various conspiracy theories continue circulating online.

Su Mengmeng and Zhao Wei’s girlfriend were naturally curious too, having heard that Lei Zhiyun was on-site at the time, and hurriedly asked, "Do you have any news?"

Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow, not expecting Lei Zhiyun to have been in Los Angeles at the time.

"The hotel I stayed at was quite far from the city center, so I didn’t witness people combusting firsthand, but over the following days, I went out with colleagues to look around."

Lei Zhiyun said in a low voice, "It’s astonishing, the whole of Los Angeles was almost becoming a ghost city, and everywhere there were people acting bizarrely. There were even sects holding meetings in our hotel.

They called themselves the Ark Divine Sect, claiming the Sect Leader is a direct descendant of Noah, and they’re planning to build a new era Noah’s Ark, blessed by God to evade the flood of Judgment Day, urging everyone to donate money."

Su Mengmeng scoffed, "Who’d be silly enough to donate to them!"

"No, there are actually many donors." Lei Zhiyun shook his head, "Even several old professors from the Lighthouse Country among us at the conference donated."

Everyone, "..."

Zhao Wei sneered, "The Lighthouse Country is inherently a religious nation; their presidents swear in holding a Bible. Don’t let their high-tech veneer fool you."

His girlfriend also nodded, "I heard many people still believe the Earth is flat."

"You can’t tell usually, but once an eerie event like this occurs, their true nature is revealed," Tong Muxuan chimed in.

Zhao Wei’s eyes twinkled, "Do you guys think the Los Angeles human self-combustion incident is the Lighthouse Country’s own experiment, or...?"

Su Mengmeng coughed lightly, "There’s a cop sitting right here, let’s trust in science."

Lin Wan chuckled hearing this, "You guys chat away, I’ll just listen."

Lu Zheng said, "Didn’t our spokesperson urge the Lighthouse Country to open their labs?"

Zhao Wei shook his head, "Still feels like something’s off about this; if they were conducting experiments, they wouldn’t need to wipe out ten thousand people at once, right?"

Lu Zheng coughed dryly twice, "Maybe... they had an accident, who knows. After all, even Pentagon’s top-secret files have leaked. Having mishaps in experiments and unintentionally triggering everything is plausible."

Zhao Wei, "..."

"Don’t say that, it actually seems possible." Lei Zhiyun nodded, "You can’t have too high expectations for them, who knows what they’ll do lately."

Su Mengmeng was startled, "Won’t they make mistakes with nuclear bombs too!"

Everyone, "..."

"Not likely." Tong Muxuan grimaced, "Even when Mao Bear was about to collapse, things never reached that level. The Lighthouse Country might be chaotic, but they wouldn’t randomly drop nuclear bombs."

"Then what happened? Were there any other sects?" Zhao Wei continued asking Lei Zhiyun.

Lei Zhiyun continued, "Since we hadn’t purchased return tickets, when the incident happened, the airport was packed, so we had to stay at the hotel for more than a week."

"So unlucky,"

"Unlucky for what, it’s like having a paid vacation. Anyway, those who died were rioters." Lei Zhiyun laughed, "Although it was indeed surreal in the following days. I had my room checked by multiple batches of Lighthouse Country officials, and I saw their credentials—from LAPD to FBI to CIA to NSA to DIA to DEA to National Guard; it really familiarized me with all of Lighthouse Country’s institutions."

"Whoa! Like being in a movie!" Tong Muxuan and the others exclaimed in surprise.

Lei Zhiyun nodded, "We originally planned to take advantage of Los Angeles being empty, to explore more, but once we hit the streets it felt like all spies were watching us as if we were thieves, so we stopped leaving the hotel. But speaking of...

According to analysis from a few old professors I know, the intense response from various Lighthouse Country departments makes it seem unlikely that they caused this themselves."

Zhao Wei’s pupils contracted, "No way?"

Lei Zhiyun shook his head, "Hard to say for sure; especially since it’s been months without any conclusion."

"But hasn’t there been any similar incident since?" Su Mengmeng stated, "If angels had descended or demons emerged, shouldn’t they manifest publicly again?"

Zhao Wei’s girlfriend nodded, "Exactly."

This is also the speculation and suspicion of most people.

In these months, Lin Wan has been monitoring global online opinions; the public’s guesses and doubts have undergone several reversals.

Initially, many people were terrified, suspecting God had delivered divine punishment.

Later, with guidance from ’interested’ and ’clever’ individuals, everyone began to suspect the Lighthouse Country.

Then, the strange actions by the Lighthouse Country combined with their strong denials led many to look towards mysterious powers.

Nonetheless, after months of probing, no further mysterious events have occurred, prompting many to refocus their suspicions on the Lighthouse Country government and various forces.

Of course, compared to ordinary people’s mere suspicion and speculation, global powers are indeed engaged in behind-the-scenes maneuvers. Even after several months, California is still teeming with spies and intelligence personnel from countries worldwide.

Moreover...

Compared to the Lighthouse Country’s official conduct, more insiders realize that mysterious events are likelier.

After all...

Human self-combustion, leaving nothing but ash—such technological means are too shocking, and the Lighthouse Country’s behavior prompts much imagination.

Besides setting up a Bible Research Office, they’ve established an Abnormal Affairs Defense Attack and Intelligence Processing Bureau.

Additionally, the NSA has invited some Indians who study Indian history on Indian Reservation lands to establish the Indo Historical Mythology Center, focusing on Indian legends near California.

These three departments are confidential, operate under the accounts of the three major intelligence agencies, and bypass Congress, so ordinary people are unaware.

However, the International Criminal Police Organization is aware.