Twenty minutes later, the local branches had almost determined the source of the sound waves - they were coming from plants.

The overgrown trees, flowers blooming out of season, fruits and vegetables in greenhouses, and even the weeds everywhere had become amplifiers of all sizes.

Xiao Zheng's legs were a bit weak as he asked, "What is the content?"

Ping Qianru raised her head from the Echo Sound wave analyzer and trembled as she said, "Did you forget something... t-try to remember."

Abnormal energy events were rare, but when the scope expanded to the entire region and the time span stretched to decades, the number of ordinary people involved in such events became a significant figure that could not be ignored.

Most of these people had their memories altered and were living peaceful lives.

However, suddenly, young people playing with their phones in bed, pedestrians halfway through their journey, and elderly people basking in the sun all felt a similar sense of unease. Their friends and family looked on in confusion as they suddenly froze and walked towards nearby plants, as if controlled by puppet strings, and pressed their ears against them.

In the buzzing sound of the plants, there seemed to be something repeatedly inducing and reminding them: "Have you forgotten something? Think carefully... Have you heard this sound before?"

The buzzing sound brought back memories of the mutated plants, terrifying monsters, and the agile field agents of the Bureau.

One by one, the things that had been erased from memory were being uncovered.

As the Bureau's hidden mountain headquarters collapsed, the seals on the secrets above were unexpectedly broken. The supernatural beasts and abilities were exposed to the light of day without any cover.

"Am I going crazy? I swear I just saw someone flying on a butterfly-shaped skeleton in the sky... It's like this memory just suddenly appeared in my mind!"

"The moss on the wall of my house was different from the others, but I always thought it was just my imagination. I just remembered that the wall collapsed!"

"I think my memories have been tampered with!"

Memory is the fundamental connection between a person's past and future, and to some extent, it determines who a person is. Once it becomes disordered, it can be a devastating blow to one's mental world.

At first, the abnormal weather and plants only made people a little uneasy, but since it didn't affect their daily lives, most people just went along with the trend and made noise about global warming. After batches of videos showcasing various supernatural abilities appeared, the unguided public opinion gradually became restless, and people began to vaguely realize that something was wrong.

However, at this point, their inherent cognition was still deeply rooted, and although they were uneasy, it wasn't easy to believe in "unnatural phenomena."

But those who were involved in the special ability incident were different. Exposed to similar information in a short period of time, memories that were once forcibly suppressed by "Echo Sound" would shake, just like Xuan Ji's Nirvana Stone.

Once there was enough stimulation, the true memories would immediately resurface.

The existence of this hidden world is not scary, nor are the various unimaginable monsters and demons within it.

What's terrifying is that they can invade people's lives at any time, and their memories have been altered without them even knowing.

Panic spread explosively, and the phones in the conference room and Chief Huang's private line were ringing off the hook.

"Chief Huang! Director!" Ping Qianru suddenly paled as if she had seen something.

A network channel broadcasted an anonymous phone interview.

The person in the voice changer spoke slowly, "It was more than thirty years ago. I was just in primary school then, traveling home with my parents. The train derailed halfway through the journey..."

The host interrupted, "I remember this. It was in the news. They said it was a railway accident."

"No... it wasn't an accident. The train didn't derail on its own. It was hit by a monster, like a snake with a diameter of several meters. When it attacked, the whole carriage was filled with a foul smell and the entire compartment was thrown out. I blacked out at the time and didn't know anything. But later on, I inexplicably forgot about it..."

The host asked, "Do you also feel like your memory has been tampered with?"

"I remember... I remember..." The person on the phone nervously repeated for a while, then a suppressed and sharp sob came out.

"I remember... I was tightly held in my mother's arms at the time. My mother... her neck was caught in the shattered car window, and her blood flowed all over me... Her neck was clearly broken on one side... Clearly..."

"Wait, if I understand correctly, you're saying that your mother died in this accident?"

"No! My mother has been fine for the past thirty years. She only passed away less than two months ago due to a stroke... But I remember her... How can someone with a broken neck live for thirty years?"

The main business of the aftermath department is to collect bodies, pay compensation, dispel rumors, and promote scientific values. For years, field agents have walked the tightrope of danger, following the Fifteen-People Red Line.

Behind them, the unsung heroes of the aftermath department clean up the mess. It's like a hero movie, where the main character defeats the villain and walks away from the rubble without looking back. The credits roll, and no one cares about who puts out the fire after the explosion, who pays for the destroyed cars, how much medical coverage the hero has for their injuries, or if the doctors will report the hero's identity to the authorities.

But those who are deemed "unimportant" hold the technology of the radio, and memories that have been erased for decades are now resurfacing. This one fact alone renders the sacrifices of the field agents meaningless.

Dan Lin had once complained that the Echo Sound Radio was a nuisance, and her words proved to be prophetic.

"Isn't there a shield?" Chief Huang accidentally knocked off half of the "shield" that was just attached to his ear. His secretary rushed over to reinforce it, but Huang waved his hand, "Don't worry about me. I haven't had my memory modified. Quickly find a way to distribute the shields!"

The Echo Sound Radio was originally a prop of the Bureau, and of course they had their own shields.

"The Shield" is a small gadget that hangs outside the ear, resembling a wireless earphone. It is disposable and inexpensive, and can be quickly mass-produced in case of any incidents of echo sound leakage.

When this thing was designed, the Research Institute boasted that even in a crowded and enclosed space like a train station during the Spring Festival travel rush, they could protect the public's brains in the first place, and no situation was beyond their control.

Now, the Research Institute's bragging has been exposed.

Not to mention the limited productivity of the Shield, even if every person in the country were given a napkin to plug their ears, it would take several days to distribute to the population of over a billion.

Moreover, the headquarters of the Bureau is paralyzed, and the temporary system has not yet been fully established!

"Chief Huang, you should put on the shield first," said Dan Lin as she put on her own. "Just because we haven't lost our memories doesn't mean our brains won't be affected by the echoes. Echoes are ultimately a spiritual means, and the content being played now is just memory recall. No one can guarantee that they will always be peaceful..."

Chief Huang's blood pressure shot up to 180, and the hairs on his neck stood up.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that this thing might implant something into our brains?"

Dan Lin sighed. "That's exactly what the Echo Sound radios are used for. Little Xiao, can you think of a way to clear the source of the Echo Sound?"

Xiao Zheng replied blankly, "Are you suggesting we burn all the plants within the area?"

We can clear the wildflowers and grass, or the decorative greenery on the roadside, and replant them later.

But what about the farmland?

What about the protected forests? The nature reserves and the virgin forests?"

"Xiao... Director Xiao..."

Xiao Zheng turned his head, feeling a chill run down his spine at the sound of his name being called by the aftermath department personnel. It felt like a curse.

"Somebody... somebody has been uploading detailed information about the Mirror Flower Water Moon Butterfly, and... and our internal investigation files!"

The original documents for the Mirror Flower Water Moon Butterfly case had already turned to ashes along with the headquarters building.

As the case was still ongoing, the electronic scans had not yet been uploaded to the internal network.

But now, this file that had not been uploaded in time had been fully exposed on the internet, with the official seal of the Bureau's Central Dispatch Office glaringly red on the document.