The next night at 10:45, Mo Sijie hurriedly arrived at Jimmy's tent after finishing his work, 15 minutes before the time they had agreed upon the previous day. He wasn't one to be late, but he also didn't like to be early, so he decided to wait outside the tent until 11:00 before entering.

A boy around ten years old in a white short-sleeved shirt ran towards him, shouting, "Murder! Murder!" Perhaps due to extreme fear, the boy's voice quivered. Mo Sijie watched the boy run past him, unfazed. Fights and brawls were as common in this area as eating a meal every day; as long as no one was killed, the police turned a blind eye. There were noticeable blood stains on the back of the boy's shirt; Mo Sijie assumed he had lost a fight and was running away. Mo Sijie chuckled ruefully. In his younger, more impetuous days, he had often resorted to violence as well.

However, it was unusual for things to be this hectic at this hour. On his way here, Mo Sijie had encountered four fights. In one of them, an elderly man in his sixties or seventies was arguing loudly with a young man; probably fighting by now.

"Hey, you're here!" Jimmy called to him from about three meters away, wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

"Exactly 11:00. Very punctual," Mo Sijie glanced at his watch and frowned. "Did you get into a fight?"

"Damned thug Ryan. He's attacking everyone like a madman," Jimmy exclaimed angrily, but with a hint of pride. "I had to step in! Only rushed back because of our appointment!"

"What have you decided about yesterday's matter?" Mo Sijie got straight to the point, as was his habit.

"I'll cooperate with you to find Harper." After Mo Sijie had left last night, Jimmy had tried various means to contact Harper but to no avail. Nothing was more important to him right now than finding Harper.

"Give me all the information you have, no holding back," Mo Sijie said as he followed Jimmy into the tent.

"I only do what he tells me to do; Harper doesn't tell me anything else, and it's not my place to ask. Those are the rules," Jimmy retrieved a laptop from under his mattress and placed it on a small wooden table. "I'm investigating the fund flows of Tuomei Investment. I've found 186 transactions that eventually ended up in a mysterious account in Eka."

"A mysterious account?" Mo Sijie pondered for a moment. "Have you found out whose it is?"

"If I knew, it wouldn't be mysterious. But it should be soon. I have quite a bit of information already and just need some time to sort it out."

"Do you think there's a connection between Tuomei Investment and Eka?"

"That depends on who is behind this mysterious account. It could be related to a terrorist organization."

"You think Tuomei Investment is secretly connected to Eka's terrorist groups?"

"I suspect so. Occupational hazard from my time with the CIA."

Investigations are like puzzles; you must patiently fit together the available pieces, finding their most suitable positions. Both Mo Sijie and Jimmy understood this well.

As Mo Sijie scrolled through the computer screen displaying Tuomei Investment's bank data for the last three years, he was impressed by Jimmy's investigative skills. The flow of funds appeared normal, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Does Harper know?"

"He knows. I promised to give him information on the mysterious account this week! Didn't expect... Do you think his disappearance has anything to do with this?"

"It's likely. If Harper was investigating this case and then suddenly disappeared in Eka, the most probable reason is that he found some clues and alarmed the other party."

Mo Sijie's eyes stopped at a line of small text: "President of Tuomei Investment: Ulysses." It surprised him. Was Harper investigating his own foster son?

As Mo Sijie was about to ask Jimmy, a teenager wearing a blue tank top suddenly burst in, anger splattered across his face, holding a wooden stick about a meter long with an "L" carved at one end. Before Mo Sijie could react, the teen swung the stick heavily towards Jimmy, who was closer to the door.

"Ugh—" Jimmy let out a long, painful cry as he collapsed, curled and twisted on the ground. Although agile, Jimmy was caught off guard while engrossed in conversation with Mo Sijie.

Mo Sijie lunged at the teenager, his right hand gripping the boy's wrist holding the stick, and his left hand tightly choking his throat. The boy instantly lost the ability to counter-attack.

Having had professional combat training, Mo Sijie easily subdued the teenager in less than five seconds. Jimmy slowly got up from the ground; the blow had felt like it was going to shatter his internal organs. The boy in the blue tank top didn't show any signs of surrendering and continued to struggle, increasing his force.

"Ah!" The boy screamed, breaking free from Mo Sijie's grip. He swung his stick at Mo Sijie's neck and shoulder, then turned and ran. The fierce and malevolent look in the boy's eyes seemed as if he had a deep-rooted grudge against the two men.

"Is he insane?" Mo Sijie asked as he and Jimmy ran out of the tent. But what they saw outside shocked them. The entire street had erupted into a massive brawl involving hundreds of people wielding various weapons. Men and women, young and old, some already bloodied, fought with the last of their willpower. It looked like a large-scale gang fight, with dozens of corpses lying helter-skelter on the ground.

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"They've gone mad, all mad!" Jimmy exclaimed, terrified.

Suddenly, it began to pour. The rain washed away the blood stains on the ground, turning the street into rivers of blood. As Jimmy stood dazed, staring at the flowing blood on the ground, Mo Sijie pulled him and they ran frantically away.

------

Memories from 21 years ago are vivid in Mo Sijie's mind as he tells Chen Chen about the events of that year. His thoughts drift, and his throat clenches, recalling the horrifying scenes he'd witnessed. Despite the years, the fate of his old mentor, Harper, remains unknown, and the slum disaster was branded one of the "Top Ten Mysterious Events in AmerEka."

Intrigued, Chen Chen questions, "Mysterious? Was there no investigation?"

"None," Mo Sijie rubs his face vigorously with both hands. "The U.S. government sent a team of top experts in various fields, but to no avail. Fearing an infectious disease, they burned down the entire slum overnight. Thankfully, no similar incidents occurred elsewhere."

"Any survivors? What about Jimmy? Did he go mad too?" Chen Chen probes.

"Mad!" Mo Sijie closes his eyes momentarily. "He let go of my hand when he saw the pool of blood on the ground and then..." He doesn't continue, but Chen Chen guesses the outcome.

"By the way, your father Chen Tianbai, mentor Albert, and Ulysses from Nofi were all members of that expert team," Mo Sijie whispers. "Soon after that event, the 'Stanford Neuroscience Trio' parted ways. Your father developed a mental disorder."

"Do you think there's a connection between that event 21 years ago and this current Brainwave outbreak?" Chen Chen fails to see a link.

"After that incident, all leads to find Harper went cold. I had left in such a hurry that I didn't take Jimmy's computer with me. By the time I returned, the police had already cordoned off the scene. The only leads I had were Eka, Tokumei Investments, and Ulysses. In order to focus on the investigation, I soon resigned from the FBI and made a trip to Eka." Mo Sijie continues. "I found the same horror there."

"People losing control and killing each other?" Chen Chen is in disbelief.

"Exactly, but this time, I found something," Mo Sijie furrows his brow. "That incident in Eka happened in a village called Wasi, where Harper disappeared. A month before the disaster, villagers contracted a strange illness resembling the Super Brainwave we're facing now."

"You think the medication was the issue?" Chen Chen asks, intrigued.

Mo Sijie scoffs, "Just like the slums, they were buried and burned. I suspect someone is conducting human experiments. Similar phenomena occurred in war-torn areas over the years."

"International Red Cross is involved in human experimentation?"

"I doubt they know. The real culprit is likely the provider of the medicine," Mo Sijie says, "I found syringes with 'Nofi' written on them in a dump near Wasi."

"So, you think this Super Brainwave is related to Nofi?"

"Not just me, Professor Albert likely thought so too."

"How so?"

"He was killed the morning after he asked me to visit him for something crucial. I never got to know what he found."

Chen Chen ponders, then Mo Sijie concludes, "Your endorsement of Nofi, given your authority in neuroscience, has now turned them into media darlings amid this Super Brainwave crisis."

Chen Chen is startled. Mo Sijie explains, "It wouldn't be hard for anyone to find out that you'd be on this flight. Including me."

"But the pilot's sudden illness couldn't have been known."

"If this is a terrorist act, arranging these things becomes easier," Mo Sijie asserts.

"But the drug, Antamin, worked effectively. We saw its effects on Captain Richard."

"If Nofi orchestrated both the outbreak and the cure, it would be no coincidence," Mo Sijie argues.

A chill runs down Chen Chen's spine. If Mo Sijie is right, then the real plot isn't just about Super Brainwave but about Antamin itself. Chen Chen's rescue of Captain Richard would certainly tip the scale in favor of approving Antamin in the WHO's special conference, turning it into a mass-prescribed drug.

"What else did you find out, about Ulysses?"

"Anything that can be found, I have found—family, work, relationships, health, etc. He is a potential Alzheimer's patient and is currently showing symptoms."

"How do you know?"

"Medical reports! These rich people value their lives more than anything, they get a medical check-up every month."

"Does Professor Albert know?"

"Of course, he's the one who asked me to look into it. I have no interest in Ulysses' health."

"When?"

"When Professor Albert approached me 5 years ago."

"So, it was discovered then that he had a potential risk of developing Alzheimer's?"

Mo Sijie nodded.

"Nofi has been heavily investing in Alzheimer's drug development over these years; it seems to be connected to Ulysses himself."

"I think Professor Albert's development of a memory extractor is also related to Ulysses."

"He asked you to investigate Ulysses and is also developing a memory extractor to treat him? Does this explanation make sense?"

"Professor Albert announced the development of the memory extractor a month after I told him about this. I think it's very likely."

Indeed, Professor Albert's sudden announcement to develop a memory extractor for Alzheimer's treatment caught everyone off guard. The purpose of the memory extractor was to treat Alzheimer's patients, helping them to store memories in advance.

Professor Albert claimed that according to his research on Alzheimer's, the missing memories are not truly lost. All the information is stored in the brain, it's just that the mechanism for memory retrieval has malfunctioned. The memory extractor could reactivate the dormant memory imprints, allowing Alzheimer's patients to regain lost memories.

Angela mentioned that this research was privately funded by Ulysses. But why would Professor Albert want to investigate Ulysses? Weren't they good friends?

"What else did you find?"

"Over the years, Ulysses has been flying out of the U.S. to Eka on his private jet every month."

"Nofi has a Life Science Research Center in Eka. Is there a problem?"

"The frequency is a bit high. Nofi has three research centers worldwide; Ulysses only visits the other two once a year on average."

"What did Professor Albert say?"

"He asked me to investigate the Eka Life Science Research Center, but I found nothing wrong. Everything seems normal."

"What is Professor Albert trying to find out?"

"I don't know. For the past three years, he has asked me to halt all other investigations and only follow up on Ulysses' medical reports, sending them to him regularly."

Unfortunately, Professor Albert is gone, and perhaps this mystery will forever remain unsolved. Chen Chen sighed.

"Mr. Mo, what do you think I can do?"

"It's your father, Chen Tianbai! Also, you must stop Antamin from going to market! Chairman Mao once said: 'Whatever the enemy opposes, we should support; whatever the enemy supports, we should oppose.' Since Ulysses is bent on quickly pushing Antamin to the market, there must be a conspiracy. So, we must find a way to stop it."

Before Chen Chen could react, a knock at the door interrupted their conversation.

"Professor Chen, we've arranged a special flight for you, and you need to return to China immediately." The Chinese Consulate staff in Honolulu had already brought a car to the hotel entrance to pick him up.