Chapter 610: Dry Oil Repair

The Steam Restoration Society, a private scientific organization founded at the beginning of this century, is primarily known for its dedication to steam-era retro activities.

These "steam retro activities" involve using steam-era technology to create products of modern technology. They have successfully built steam cars, steam airplanes, steam computers, and even steam radios.

Li Banfeng had seen steam cars, and knew about steam airplanes from historical records, but he wondered, "What exactly is a steam computer?"

Tangyuan explained the principle of the difference engine to Li Banfeng. This mechanical computer, which was never successfully built in history, had been successfully constructed by the Steam Restoration Society.

This reminded Li Banfeng of the retro craze popular during his university days, when many mechanical engineering faculty and students were keen on restoring ancient mechanical devices, most notably the famous Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse.

A steam computer was understandable, but how could a "steam radio" be explained? "It's a radio," he thought, "what's with the steam?"

Chen Changrui explained, "A steam radio is a term for a steam communication device. Unlike modern communication devices, this one operates via a steam pipe network." Tangyuan produced blueprints for a steam radio, showing how the transmitter uses mechanical regulating valves to control steam pressure, thereby transmitting signals through pressure changes.

From a modern technological perspective, this communication method — bulky, complex, and extremely prone to errors — holds almost no practical value. Yet, for the Steam Restoration Society, it represents a very significant achievement.

Li Banfeng reviewed all such achievements and concluded, "Their technological level is nowhere near capable of producing mechanical devices as complex as the spherical lifeform."

Tangyuan disagreed: "These are historically confirmed research achievements of the Steam Restoration Society. Over the past three years, we've had limited information about them, making it difficult to assess how far their technology has advanced."

Li Banfeng asked, "You haven't investigated this organization in the past three years?"

"Our investigation has never ceased. These are the various clues we've obtained over that time."

Li Banfeng reviewed the archive materials. The year before last, in Wuyang Province, a defunct machinery processing plant resumed production. Its efficiency surpassed many surrounding enterprises, leading local media to promote it as an advanced model.

"Because this machinery processing plant purchased a large amount of coal, it attracted the attention of our colleagues at the Wuyang branch. They sent people to conduct a covert investigation of the factory, only to discover that all its main equipment was steam-driven."

"This unusual technological approach drew significant attention from the Wuyang branch. When they tried to conduct a thorough investigation of the factory, everyone inside vanished." Li Banfeng didn't quite grasp Tangyuan's meaning: "Did the boss disappear, or the workers?"

"Everyone."

"How many workers did they have? It's impossible for so many people to just run away with the boss, is it?"

Tangyuan produced another document: "According to the company's registration information, the person in charge is He Yunfei. He is indeed an entrepreneur, and his records and information are traceable."

"The identities of several key personnel at the factory were also confirmed, but their whereabouts remained unknown at the time."

"Beyond them, the identities of over a hundred registered workers at the factory still cannot be confirmed. The identity information provided at the factory was all forged, and no trace of these workers' families could be found."

"According to our speculation, these workers are likely a type of AI product, what we commonly call robots."

"Steam robots?"

"We can't currently deduce the specific type of robots they are, but since they came from the Steam Restoration Society, it's highly probable they are steam-driven. This is the news report left behind by that factory at the time."

Li Banfeng examined the newspaper. The photo showed busy workers standing beside machine tools, each with different tasks, movements, and expressions. "These cannot be steam robots," Li Banfeng said, shaking his head and setting the newspaper aside.

In Li Banfeng's opinion, the "dummies" produced in Neizhou already represented the limit of steam technology. However, these dummies required external equipment, such as fans, teapots, or rickshaws.

Looking at the workers in the newspaper photo, many of them were working barehanded, with no signs of external equipment. Could it be that three years ago, the Steam Restoration Society already possessed technology superior to Neizhou's?

Li Banfeng suspected this was fake, but everyone who had investigated the case believed it to be real. Tangyuan then cited several other examples:

Two years ago, in Amican, an underground clothing workshop was found to have production efficiency exceeding that of legitimate factories. When raided, its head was also identified as He Yunfei.

Last year, in Autrilie, a construction company purchased hundreds of thousands of tons of coal in a year. An investigation revealed that its head was also He Yunfei.

A series of clues lay before them, all pointing to one thing: He Yunfei was the leader of the Steam Restoration Society, an organization with formidable technological strength and a vast distribution network. Tangyuan presented the most recent case: "This year, the Steam Restoration Society was active in Minyue Province, but we didn't investigate them at the time."

"Why no investigation?"

Zhong Er replied, "Because we were at war then."

That period coincided with the war at Ruirong Textile Factory, and the Steam Restoration Society's case was temporarily shelved. When the Minyue branch investigated the matter afterward, the Steam Restoration Society behaved exactly as before, suddenly vanishing without a trace.

So many clues, yet not a single trace could be found. Their sophisticated methods were truly astonishing.

Now that the Steam Restoration Society had severely damaged the Special Operations Team, this elusive and persistent case was finally given top priority. The agents, including Chen Changrui, were all excited.

Such elaborate methods and abundant investigative clues made everyone who had studied investigative reasoning eager to try their hand. Chen Changrui suggested suspending all other work to fully focus on investigating the Steam Restoration Society.

This approach was certainly correct. This case involved nearly a hundred lives from the Special Operations Team, making its importance paramount over any other case.

After the meeting, Zhong Er asked Lightbulb, "Are you still investigating that matter of yours? I've already arranged with the lab to do the experiment tomorrow morning." Lightbulb rubbed his face and said, "Now? Still investigating that trivial thing? What are you thinking?"

Li Banfeng hadn't systematically studied investigation, but upon seeing such a challenging case, he felt an urge to investigate it himself.

He began sifting through clues from past cases, working until early the next morning, when he realized he hadn't slept all night. Although he was a Cloud-Level Three-Plus-Two Cultivator, the intense mental exertion still left him somewhat fatigued.

He took the case files back to his residence, intending to catch up on sleep. Before bed, he was still reviewing the chain of clues, feeling as though he had overlooked something crucial. His wife, seeing his distress, quickly urged him, "My dear husband, please get some sleep. Your eyes are completely bloodshot."

Li Banfeng rubbed his eyes and lay down to sleep.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Li Banfeng turned over and sat up, muttering, "Something's not right, it feels like a lot is missing!" With that, he resumed examining the clues.

Gramophone wondered, "What's so interesting?"

"It's a case, darling. Do you want to take a look?"

"I don't have time for this; I'm still trying to figure out the tracking device. Dear husband, take it to Hong Ying to see."

Hong Ying glanced at it and shook her head repeatedly, saying, "Qilang, please don't trouble me. I really can't understand this. Just tell me where this He Yunfei person is, and I'll go out and eliminate him for you."

Li Banfeng gave a wry smile. "If I could find him, I would have eliminated him long ago."

His wife suggested, "Husband, why don't you take it to Eighth Room? He likes this kind of thing."

"Isn't Eighth Room a Calculation Cultivator?"

"Calculation Cultivators have clear minds. Many high-level Calculation Cultivators are excellent at solving cases."

Li Banfeng took the materials to Eighth Room. Eighth Room read through the documents, pondered for over half an hour, and then exclaimed repeatedly, "It truly is! I never thought I'd see this thing again, even now."

Eighth Room had indeed discerned some hidden mystery, and Li Banfeng was very pleased.

But Eighth Room wasn't going to reveal the mystery directly: "Is it appropriate to come to me for advice empty-handed?" This was a challenge.

What he said made sense; it's indeed improper to ask for help empty-handed.

Li Banfeng returned to the main house to find a gift for Eighth Room. Hong Ying, having learned the details, casually picked up a stick and entered Eighth Room, saying, "Empty-handed isn't appropriate, so I've brought my tool."

"I just figured it out; you can't hit people!" Eighth Room politely saw Hong Ying off, then invited Li Banfeng back in and directly gave the answer: "This is a 'Myriad Solutions Problem.'"

"What is a 'Myriad Solutions Problem'?"

"You've been to school, right?" That was Eighth Room's personality; he became a bit arrogant whenever Hong Ying wasn't around. Li Banfeng didn't mind: "For quite a few years."

"When you were in school, did you ever encounter a type of problem that seemed difficult, had many methods of solution, yet in the end, you couldn't actually solve it?" Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, I have."

"These types of problems are the predecessors of a 'Myriad Solutions Problem.' A 'Myriad Solutions Problem' is even more sophisticated because it involves a high-level Calculation Cultivation technique called 'Myriad Solutions Entanglement.' I've only encountered it twice before. These problems are definitely unsolvable, so don't waste your efforts on this one."

Li Banfeng frowned. "Why call it unsolvable when there are so many clues?"

"Clues are useless because the matter itself makes no sense. You all see the Steam Restoration Society as elusive and want to track them down, but have you ever considered their actual purpose in doing these things, or if there's any value in it?"

"How could it be worthless?"

"Where's the value? You say they can use steam engines to create mechanical workers. If they truly have this technology, why would they open a machinery processing plant? How much money do you think a machinery processing plant could earn them? Could this factory even recover their investment costs?"

"The one in Amican is even more absurd. Using such advanced technology to create an underground clothing workshop — never mind the profit, even if it was just for showing off, what kind of reputation could an underground workshop earn them?"

"Their superb technology and elusive movements are merely a smokescreen for this 'Myriad Solutions Problem,' causing ordinary people to overlook the root of the issue and their actual motives. You are a high-level Home Cultivator, possessing the 'Worry-Free Rest' technique. If you stay at home for a while, you'll be able to figure out the whole story."

"Consider the case you just experienced: this Steam Society severely damaged the Special Operations Team, seemingly achieving good results. But no matter how advanced the technology or how elaborate the methods, it cannot hide the fact that this incident did not hold sufficient value for them."

"A valuable hidden space combined with a batch of highly intelligent mechanical equipment could accomplish so much. Why would they insist on creating such an attack? Don't tell me it was just for fame; the cost was simply too high."

Li Banfeng rubbed his cheeks vigorously, gradually becoming more alert.

Eighth Room was right. Why did they do this? Was it just to target the Special Operations Team? No, that wasn't right.

Their initial target wasn't even the Special Operations Team; it was Lightbulb. Lightbulb discovered the hidden space and locked onto it immediately.

Was it possible for Lightbulb to enter the hidden space at that moment?

Even if it were possible, was it worth such a huge investment just to deal with one person, Lightbulb?

Was there something else about Lightbulb?

The next day, Li Banfeng called Lightbulb and Zhong Er to his office.

"You said yesterday you wanted to investigate something and mentioned the lab. What exactly was it?"

Lightbulb rubbed his face and chuckled, "It's nothing major. This kind of thing shouldn't use up the bureau's resources, so I corrected myself and didn't involve the lab."

Zhong Er shook his head. "I don't think it's trivial. We're investigating the Steam Restoration Society now, but after this busy period, that matter should definitely be looked into properly."

Li Banfeng said, "Don't wait. Tell me now, what is it?"

Lightbulb was still a bit embarrassed, so Zhong Er spoke for him: "There's a new intern here, a girl Lightbulb took a liking to. That day, he asked her out for coffee at lunchtime, and she agreed."

"He's been taking too much Harmony Agent these past couple of days, which is increasing his cultivation, but also making his face oily and smelly. I saw some face cream on Honey's desk and told him about it, so he took it and used it, hoping to mask the smell on his face."

"After using it, Lightbulb's face dried out that very afternoon, making him extremely uncomfortable, and it didn't recover for several days. I went to ask Honey what happened."

"Honey said I was a pervert for using her face cream. I said it was Lightbulb who used it, and she replied that no matter who used it, I was still a pervert. I felt there was something wrong with the face cream, so I contacted the lab to have it checked."

Lightbulb chuckled, "Zhong Er isn't very bright. Sister Honey has a crush on him, but he just doesn't know it."

"I'm telling you, Zhong Er, in terms of looks, who in our bureau can compare to Honey besides Tangyuan? Tangyuan is committed to Seventh Master, so Honey is the most attractive one left. Why don't you seize the opportunity?"

"Sister Honey has been promoted, her income has increased, she has a car, and it's said she's buying a house in the next couple of days. If you marry her, how many years of struggle will you save? Just enjoy yourself!" Li Banfeng frowned: "Let's not talk about that for now. About the face cream: aren't you an Oil Cultivator? How could your face dry out?"

Zhong Er nodded. "That's the problem. Honey said her face cream is oil-controlling, but it couldn't possibly eliminate an Oil Cultivator's oil. This is illogical, which is why I helped him investigate."

Li Banfeng called Honey. "Bring your face cream over for me to use."

"Huh?" Honey froze on the other end of the line. "Director Li, are you... going to..."

"Zhong Er took a liking to your face cream but was too embarrassed to ask!"

"Okay, I'll bring it over in a bit."

Zhong Er stared at Li Banfeng in astonishment. "Director Li, we can't do that..."

Honey brought the face cream over shortly. As she left, she gave Zhong Er a disgusted look: "Pervert!"

Li Banfeng took the face cream directly to the lab. Seeing Director Li arrive, the lab set other projects aside and prioritized testing this bottle of face cream.

After the test, the technician made a preliminary judgment: "Director Li, this is a typical counterfeit product. There's nothing in here that can control oil."

Lightbulb shook his head. "Isn't that nonsense? It even removed the oil from my face, and you're saying it has no oil-controlling ingredients?"

"No way, logically it should..." Hearing Lightbulb, the technician became a bit unsure.

Li Banfeng said, "Don't go by logic. Try it with oil!"

"Oil..." The technician thought for a moment. "Epidermal oil control means controlling fat. I'll get some animal fat to test."

Dropping animal fat onto the face cream sample showed no obvious reaction. The technician shrugged, "Director Li, as you can see, it really doesn't do anything."

"Wait a moment."

After waiting for over twenty minutes, the animal fat suddenly diminished rapidly, disappearing in a very short time.

The technician was startled and quickly put the sample back on the test bench, wondering what reagents to use for further experiments.

Li Banfeng, watching impatiently, said, "Don't use reagents yet. Look at it under a microscope."

"This chemical change involves molecular structure; an optical microscope won't be able to distinguish it well."

"Then get an electron microscope!"

The electron microscope was out for repair. With Li Qi pressing hard, the technician had no choice but to find the highest magnification optical microscope and look. What he saw startled him: "Living... alive! There are living organisms!"

Li Banfeng peered into the microscope for a long time. "What living organisms are you talking about? I can't see them!"

"Look here, sir, there are cell structures, Director Li. I truly didn't see them just now. I also used the microscope then, and they weren't there..." Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Don't talk about that yet. Change the sample and try again with some more fat!"

The technician took a new sample and dripped animal fat onto it.

Under the microscope, there was no change at first. After waiting for nearly half an hour, cell structures appeared in the face cream sample.

The technician applied a stain to the cells. Li Banfeng could see very clearly this time: the cells were rapidly growing on the face cream's surface, continuously dividing in clumps, making Li Banfeng's entire body tingle with an itchy sensation.

Lightbulb was also terrified. "Honey's face must be like this too, and mine as well...?" Li Banfeng told Zhong Er to quickly find Honey and isolate her with Lightbulb.

"Find out clearly from Honey where the face cream was bought, gather personnel, investigate immediately, and find the manufacturer."

"All our personnel are investigating the Steam Restoration Society."

"Forget about the Steam Society! Everyone drop what they're doing and investigate this one thing!" Just as Zhong Er was about to leave, Li Banfeng called him back.

Lightbulb discovered the hidden space while escorting the tracker. Had he been even a little impulsive and entered, he might have lost his life.

Although he didn't go in, it was precisely because of this hidden space that the Steam Restoration Society was implicated, diverting the entire Dark Star Bureau's energy and causing the matter of Lightbulb's dry face to be overlooked.

This matter was aimed at Lightbulb.

Someone knew Lightbulb had used Honey's face cream. Someone knew Lightbulb was going to investigate the face cream!

Someone deliberately created a distraction! There's an insider in the bureau!

The insider is likely in the security team, but could also be in the lab.

Li Banfeng told Zhong Er, "Don't notify the team. Tell the Investigation Section Chief to meet me in the lab." Zhong Er nodded and soon brought the Chief.

Li Banfeng didn't mention the face cream immediately. He asked the technician, "Are all lab personnel present?"

"Everyone's here today."

Li Banfeng told the Investigation Section Chief, "Have all lab personnel surrender their communication devices and block all communication signals." The technician was startled. "Director Li, our lab..."

"I'm not saying there's any problem here. Continue your experiments calmly, clarify the properties of this face cream, and be extremely careful not to get infected." The Investigation Section Chief immediately got to work, first blocking signals, then cutting off landlines, and finally collecting all communication devices.

Li Banfeng explained the situation to the Investigation Section Chief. "For this matter, you must find absolutely trustworthy people to handle it. If the news leaks, all responsibility will fall on you alone!"

The Investigation Section Chief dared not delay and immediately went to work.

Soon after, Zhong Er called Honey over. Upon hearing about the isolation, Honey still didn't know what was happening.

When asked about the face cream, Honey replied, "I bought it online. This face cream sells really well; it's very effective at controlling oil and lasts a long time."

Lightbulb said with a long face, "How could it not be effective? They're alive! Our faces have become breeding grounds. Even I feel dry; how did you manage to endure it?" Honey replied, "What's there to be afraid of if it's dry? I have oily skin, and my face gets very uncomfortable when I sweat!"

Li Banfeng had the lab conduct tests on both of them.

The test results quickly came back. Honey's facial epidermis had a large number of microorganisms of unknown origin, which were the cellular structures they had seen under the microscope. The density of microorganisms on Lightbulb's epidermis was more than six times that of Honey's.

The lab conducted a preliminary analysis of the results: this microorganism was similar to a fungus, initially lurking in the face cream as spores. Because its individual size was extremely small, it couldn't be observed with an optical microscope.

Upon encountering animal fats, the spores would rapidly grow and reproduce. The more fat present, the greater the reproduction. On Lightbulb's face, the vast number of microorganisms eventually consumed all the oil from his Oil Cultivator's face, drying it out.

According to Lianda, Lightbulb might be the only inheritor of the Oil Cultivation lineage. For others, a dry face after using the cream would be normal, but only Lightbulb could detect the abnormality. Someone was using the face cream to spread this microorganism.

Li Banfeng couldn't speculate on the extent of the disaster this microorganism might bring, but he detected another implication from the face cream: war.

Li Banfeng had been on guard against war recently, and this scene before him was likely a war launched by Neizhou, only it differed from the warfare he was familiar with! Fortunately, truly fortunately!

Fortunately, Lightbulb discovered this matter.

The Investigation Section Chief quickly traced the source of the face cream: "The manufacturer is in Yuezhou, and the person in charge is Han Xiaoxuan, a local of Yuezhou. As far as we know, this is the only manufacturer producing this type of face cream, Director Li. Should we take immediate action?"

"Yes, we should take action." Li Banfeng was somewhat worried that the news might leak given the current situation.

The Investigation Section Chief was also somewhat worried: "I suggest we cut off all communications for the entire Dark Star Bureau now, leaving only one line open for you."

Li Banfeng shook his head. Doing so would signal to everyone in the bureau that something significant was happening, and a clever insider would find another way to send messages out. Fortunately, Li Banfeng had experience guarding against insiders from his time in Puruo Province.

He decided to issue orders on a small scale, focusing on monitoring suspicious personnel.

Zhong Er was certainly trustworthy. Li Banfeng had him gather personnel: "Go get Awl and Honey..."

"Awl went to Gourd Village, and Honey is in the lab."

He was used to working with those two.

"Call Begonia Fruit."

Zhong Er said, "Begonia Fruit and Honey used the same face cream." What a coincidence!

Since several of the strongest team leaders couldn't go, he could only take Tangyuan: "Call Tangyuan and Huajia, bring some people, and come with me to raid this factory."

"How many people should I bring?"

"Have Chen Changrui draw up a plan. We need sufficient combat personnel; the other side will likely resist arrest. We need sufficient biochemical personnel and must be prepared for large-scale biochemical attacks. We also need sufficient reconnaissance personnel; bring more drones. If we encounter biochemical warfare, we can't sacrifice lives. Bring more Fire Cultivators; we must sanitize the area after the battle..."

Zhong Er roughly calculated, "Director Li, we'll need quite a few people. It won't be easy to keep this under wraps. We should probably keep an eye on key personnel first."

"Keep an eye on key personnel."

"How many people know Lightbulb used Honey's face cream?"

Zhong Er was a bit embarrassed: "At the time, Honey called me a pervert, and her voice was really loud, so almost everyone in the team knew." Li Banfeng thought for a moment: "The person who was with Lightbulb on that escort mission that day was Star, right?"

"Right," Zhong Er nodded. "They even had a small argument."

The reason for the argument was that Star missed out on this credit.

At that time, Star had gone to buy a cold drink. Lightbulb stopped the car and saw the hidden space. It was that coincidental. Zhong Er and Li Banfeng had the same thought: "Director Li, should we control Star first?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "This person might not be simple. While he's under control, he might still find a way to send messages out."

"Have him go to the archives to sort out information related to the Steam Society. Assign him a few assistants and give him plenty of tasks, enough so he can't finish them tonight." There was no need to say more to a smart person; Zhong Er knew what to do.

Star thought he had to work overtime on the Steam Restoration Society case. When he went to the archives, he complained quite a bit.

Chen Changrui prepared the plan, Li Banfeng made modifications, departments gathered their personnel, logistics arranged vehicles, and Li Banfeng immediately led his team to the factory. Li Banfeng quietly entered the workshop; the workers were still busy, and no one noticed him.

His main purpose for entering the factory alone was to apprehend the person in charge. Passing through the workshop and entering the office building, Li Banfeng moved through each floor at an extremely rapid pace. He found the general manager's office on the third floor, pushed the door open, and entered.

Behind the desk sat a dark-skinned, tall, and sturdy man. He was holding a powder compact, looking into a mirror, and reapplying his makeup.

The powder he used was very fragrant. After patting it on his face a few times with the puff, the man seemed satisfied. He turned his head, looked at Li Banfeng, and asked softly, "Whom are you looking for?" His ability to notice Li Banfeng proved his cultivation level was not low.

Li Banfeng smiled. "Are you Han Xiaoxuan, the person in charge of this factory?"

"That's me. How can I help you?" Han Xiaoxuan closed the powder compact and looked at Li Banfeng with a smile. *Hiss~*

Through his Silk-Pulling Earring, Li Banfeng heard the crisp sound of steam being released.

"Are you the general manager of this factory?" Li Banfeng closed the office door. "I'm here to buy some face cream from you."

"Buy face cream from me?" Han Xiaoxuan praised, "Good taste! You're quite the businessman!"