However, the evolution of the angel statues was not at an end.

On the contrary, all this was just the beginning of humanity opening a Pandora's Box.

A few days later, at the Earth Federation headquarters, during the meeting of the Earth Federation United Front, representatives of each continent were sitting in their respective positions. These seats were terraced, curving around the podium, separated by a three-to-four-meter-wide corridor distinctly.

The Earth Federation United Front, a department unknown to 99% of the people in the entire Federation, was one of the many authorities of the Earth Federation. Unlike other departments, it only existed within the Earth Federation itself, not like other Federation departments such as the FBI that had its own branch offices on all continents.

One would only know the name of this department when one was close to the inner core of the power of each continent.

At this time, at the meeting of the Earth Federation United Front, more than a dozen representatives had gathered. These people represented the governments of their respective continents. Although many continents only existed in name such as Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, at least on the surface, these continents still maintained the appropriate level of dignity.

At this time, an old man with gray hair and black-rimmed gla.s.ses walked to the front podium as the chairman of the United Front.

The chairmans.h.i.+p of the Earth Federation United Front Conference was held by the member continents of the United Front in turn, based on the English alphabetical order of the continents. The term of each chairman was one month and it was now June. According to the order, the chairman was from the European Continent, Julian Kirsty.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Julian Kirsty, the chairman of the Earth Federation United Front this month. It's an honor that I once again stand on this rostrum as the representative of our continent.”

Kirsty's voice was a bit hoa.r.s.e. He raised his eyes, then lowered his head to read the copy in his hand. “I believe you all know that this United Front emergency meeting held by the Earth Federation is due to an accident that began in the Quantum Laboratory.

“Just three days ago, on the night of 1 June 2020, Northern America suddenly received a warning sent to the White House by hackers, saying that: Los Angeles is undergoing a disaster concerning humanity's life and death. If it's not stopped, human civilization will even be destroyed immediately.”

Kirsty raised his head and pushed back his gla.s.ses. “I won't elaborate on the specific details of the warning here, but what I want to emphasize is that at the same time this warning arrives, the Earth Federation's top-secret — the Quantum Deity Laboratory — also experienced the first major accident since the establishment of the Earth Federation.

“In this accident, 90% of the researchers as well as the 's.h.i.+eld bearers' from all continents, died. The total death toll reached 95, among whom were twenty-three 's.h.i.+eld bearers' and seventy-five researchers.”

Hearing this momentous news, representatives of all continents immediately whispered, discussing something.

At this moment, the representative of Mainland China suddenly raised his hand, indicating that he needed to speak.

“Do you have anything to ask, Mr. Yu Qi, representative of Mainland China?”

Kirsty asked.

“Excuse me, Mr. Chairman. We all know the death toll of this tragedy and what we're eager to know now is, what happened in the Quantum Deity Laboratory?”

Yu Qi was a middle-aged man with a resolute face. Although he was questioning the chairman, he looked toward the representative of the Northern American Continent on the opposite side. “Why did this accident happen? Who is responsible for the accident? We have the right to know all this!”

“Of course.”

Kirsty nodded, unsurprised, and he also looked at the representative of the Northern American Continent. “Mr. Nancy, can you tell the whole story now?”

“Yes.”

Hearing this, the representative of Northern America took out a stack of files with a gloomy expression and then asked, “Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow representatives, do you remember the responsibilities of the Earth Federation United Front?

“The United Front, as one of the six major departments of the Earth Federation, is also the centralized department with the most concentrated power and the highest degree of confidentiality. Our duty is very simple, that is, to deal with all human-related predictions forecasted by the quantum computer 'Adam'. Therefore, it can be said that our department controls the rise and fall of the entire human civilization as well as its security…

“If the famous 'Federal Bureau of Investigation' is an internal department that is aimed at ourselves to eliminate internal threats, then our 'Earth Federation United Front' is an external department that unites us and targets foreign enemies, including but not limited to aliens, and any 'abnormal accidents' that may threaten human civilization. This is the duty of our United Front.”

“So Nancy, you mean…”

Kirsty and everyone in the audience could not help but look over, waiting for the words from the Northern American representative.

“Yes, this accident is considered an 'abnormal event' as stipulated by the Earth Federation United Front…”

Nancy replied as he looked around at everyone, “This is the first abnormal event faced by the Earth Federation United Front that could threaten human civilization and it's also the second abnormal event encountered in Northern America.”

Hearing this, everyone's expression changed and they whispered to each other again.

These so-called abnormal events referred to events that could threaten human civilization and could not be explained by science. This was stipulated when the Earth Federation was founded. Even the purpose of the quantum computer “Adam” was to deal with the occurrence of such incidents.

It was just that since the creation of the Earth Federation, there had never been such an event and no one knew why the founder of the Earth Federation United Front deliberately came up with such a cla.s.sification for events.

When everyone heard Nancy's words at this time, they naturally understood that the reason Nancy said this was the second abnormal event encountered in Northern America was that at the end of last year, there was the “This Man” incident that only occurred in Northern America. This event nearly disrupted the social order in Northern America. Although it finally disappeared, Northern America had always insisted that this incident was a so-called “abnormal event”.

“Is there any evidence?”

Hearing Nancy's words, Kirsty's expression could not help turning solemn again.

“Of course there is, but the data I have can't be compared with what China has.”

However, Nancy suddenly changed his tone and looked at Yu Qi on the opposite side. “I think the representative of Mainland China should know this perfectly well.”

Hearing this sentence, everyone subconsciously looked toward Yu Qi. Yu Qi looked dumbfounded and then frowned. “I gravely object to this! I oppose this contradictory diversion tactic employed by Northern America and we firmly stand against such groundless accusations!”

“Mr. Nancy.”

Kirsty was a little impatient. “All of us sympathize with the accident in your continent, but now isn't the time to blame each other. At least please tell us what happened.”

Nancy looked a little pacified when he heard these words. He nodded and then said, “In that case, I'll explain clearly the genesis and development of the event.

“This incident started at 8 o'clock in the evening on 1 June 2020. At that time, the White House was suddenly attacked by hackers. All the White House computers were automatically turned on, displaying a baffling statement.”

The representative of Northern America continued. “This incident alarmed the President, so he came to check on it, surrounded by bodyguards. However, he saw that the statement turned out to be a warning that in the Herrank Warehouse District of Los Angeles in Northern America, a memetic incident is taking place, which may threaten the entire human race. The statement requests the President to order the blockade of the Herrank Warehouse District.”

Hearing this, everyone looked puzzled. Even the White House network could be breached. Did the Northern American network department consist of a bunch of good-for-nothings?

“Not only that.”

Nancy continued to add. “When Mr. President went closer, a little girl's voice came from the computer. She claimed to be a member of the Blackwatch Corporation and used all kinds of sufficient evidence to get the President to issue an order. This evidence was saved by us and then the President gave the order, half-believing, half-doubting.”

It turned out to be Blackwatch again?

When they heard this, everyone subconsciously looked at Yu Qi, since Blackwatch was an enterprise under China.

Yu Qi also frowned, but he just opened his mouth without interrupting Nancy.

“Next, everything that happened was like a tragedy.”

Nancy's expression gradually became darker. “After the President issued an order to the Los Angeles City Hall, she was then about to conduct a full investigation into this matter. But she suddenly received news from the Quantum Laboratory, saying that an abnormality had occurred over there, and the quantum computer 'Adam' had begun to use encryption to perform data operations!

“Not only that, but before any results were obtained, the Quantum Laboratory lost all contact after half an hour and no one knows what happened.”

Everyone's eyes widened when they heard this because they already knew that some kind of accident had occurred in the Quantum Laboratory, which caused the deaths of all the representatives, the “s.h.i.+eld bearers” of all continents.

This was a ma.s.sive loss.

“When our troops stationed outside the Quantum Deity Laboratory finally arrived, they only saw the bodies of the researchers and the closed doors and behind the doors, there was…”

At this point, Nancy was silent again and then he laughed coldly. “I'm certain you absolutely won't believe me. Our soldiers opened the doors and saw a row of angel statues…”

“Angel statues?”

Everyone was a little mystified, not understanding the relations.h.i.+p between the angel statues and the accident.

“I know that it's difficult for everyone to understand. You don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll just say it straight.”

Nancy looked at the doors of the room and then said, “This accident originated in a video that can transform humans into a kind of angel statue and this kind of statue has a terrifying nature. They can…”

“Wait a minute.”

When they heard this, many people could not hold themselves back. Even Kirsty coughed and interrupted the other person. “Mr. Nancy, are you sure that there's no mistake in your previous sentence? What do you mean the 'video can transform humans into angel statues'?”

“I mean it literally.”

Nancy said, deadpan, “The content of that video is an angel statue covering its eyes and facing away from the camera. As you blink, you'll find that the angel statue is constantly moving on the screen as if it wants to move right up to the camera — this is what we found out when we sent a volunteer to conduct an experiment after the accident and he relayed to us the content of the video.”

“So, is he still alive?”

Kirsty immediately grasped the point.

“He was indeed alive at the time, but…”

Nancy shook his head. “We isolated him in a room and monitored him with a camera, but only a few hours later, the camera suddenly stopped functioning. Then we sent someone in, only to find that he had become an angel statue…”

Hearing these words, everyone was in an uproar and they all wore suspicious looks.

“Quiet, everyone, quiet!”

Kirsty shouted immediately, suppressing the noise of everyone in the room.

“I know you must find it a little unbelievable, but I'll prove it later.”

Nancy could not help but emphasize and then continued. “And this video was originally predicted by the quantum computer, that is, the encrypted data I mentioned just now, so everyone understands why all the 's.h.i.+eld bearers' aren't spared. Right? Because all the s.h.i.+eld bearers chose to watch this video after Adam predicted it and they all turned into statues.”

Everyone looked incredulous upon hearing this.

“And these s.h.i.+eld-bearers who were turned into statues by that mysterious video… They would lose their lives and become strange kinds of monsters. This kind of monster has a special habit, that is, it will wring the neck of any human who is facing away!”

Nancy continued. “That is to say, the accident in the Quantum Deity Laboratory was caused by the 23 s.h.i.+eld-bearers who had turned into angel statues and then slaughtered everyone in the laboratory.”

“Is there any evidence?”

Many representatives asked eagerly without waiting for the chairman to grant them permission to speak.

“Yes, of course there is.”

Nancy nodded. “But we will not release that video because it's extremely lethal. At the same time, it's not just videos but even photos and other carriers with images of angel statues can also infect humans and turn them into angel statues. Therefore, any audiovisual evidence needs to be verified through other methods, provided that you can come to Northern America in person.”

Hearing this, Yu Qi could not help but ask, “Then I'd like to ask the representative of Northern America, what does all this have anything to do with Blacklight Biotechnology?”

“Because…”

Nancy said coldly, “Because one of our survivors was in the Quantum Laboratory and witnessed that the legal owner of Blackwatch, Chen Chen, had arrived after the accident!”