Early in the morning, as Yang Zicang got out of bed, an envelope had been left at his door.
It was dark gold, with an elegant vertical motif occupying the upper two-thirds. When he picked it up and opened it, inside was an investigation report on the Han Mingxiao incident.
The final conclusion read: According to Steward’s review, the current security threat within the company from Han Mingxiao’s faction has dropped below “One.”
After a moment of deep thought, the young man placed the letter by his pillow, then washed his face, ate some bread, put on his coat, and went about the day’s cleanup work.
Around four or five in the afternoon, Yang Zicang traveled via his photo to City 11.
Seeing the young man arrive on a flying carpet, Luo Bin approached and said, “Zicang, people from City 23 have started harassing our hunting teams out there.”
“How hard did it hit?”
“Not severe, but quite annoying. We worked hard to lure away ordinary bound spirits and isolate those with high bloodline concentration, but those guys deliberately sent people to create chaos and lure monsters over, leaving us unable to strike.”
“At least they showed some restraint.” Yang Zicang bit his lip, looking at the fat man’s face. “How are things on your end?”
Hearing this, Luo Bin let out a sly chuckle and said cheekily, “A huge haul.”
……
As dusk fell, the already dim city became pitch black even before six o’clock.
For safety’s sake, all the teams in the city returned to their respective camps.
Inside the arched building where the Four-Phase Team was stationed, several luminous Demonic Nightmare models lit up the room. By the iron pots bubbling over the fire, cooking porridge, the group held their routine evening discussion.
“The other side has stopped accepting new team invitation requests. Everyone in Hub town is blaming us, saying our planted spies cost them the chance to enter City 11.”
Cheng Yunze nodded. Beside him, a blonde North American spoke in somewhat broken Chinese:
“I heard that only our two guys were weeded out these days. How on earth could they know so precisely?”
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the others below, especially the seven or eight members who had joined from other teams in the city.
The crowd exchanged glances. “No way, are there enemy spies among us?”
“Alright, stop being paranoid.” Cheng Yunze said, “Has anyone seen that person with the Red Model who ran in?”
Everyone shook their heads in unison.
“Zhang Miao and Cui Rong, those three guys, aren’t even responding. Looks like they’re as stubborn as a turtle holding onto a scale—dead set on following that kid.”
“Well, that man is indeed someone special. Let’s try to recruit him. As for the matter of planting spies, let’s put it to rest. From now on, our focus should be on how to acquire those advanced bound spirit cores faster and disrupt their progress. If we can prevent them from getting even one Virtual Zero weapon before the new year, it’ll be a huge gain.”
As the conversation gradually shifted to discussing how to divert the monsters, the deputy captain, who had been pacing around the hall, suddenly stopped and said:
“Wait, Yunze. I’m afraid the other side has a very skilled intelligence expert. Do you all still remember that psychologist from before?”
Most people in the conference room looked bewildered. Cheng Yunze looked up, and suddenly it dawned on him. A few of the veteran members on the team shuddered involuntarily.
“Are you talking about that guy who could tell if someone was lying just by the subtle changes in their expression, and even read hidden emotions?”
The deputy captain said, “I’m afraid they have someone similar on their side. How else could they have so quickly and accurately identified the people we planted?”
Everyone looked at him with confusion.
“If they really had such an ability, Yang Zicang wouldn’t have been ambushed by Shi Qian’s team.”
“Maybe it’s the ability of someone from another city that entered this time. If it’s those top-tier experts who helped… damn, it’s possible.”
“Regardless, let’s assume it’s them from now on. Everyone, be more cautious.”
At that moment, a financing fold line spread outward, but dissipated in an instant.
{Four-Phase Team: Ning Jiajia, female, an eternal maiden who hates aging. Can replicate and store nine different light abilities. Currently, four light abilities are collected.}
“What’s this?” The people in the room were startled.
Ning Jiajia shot to her feet, her face turning flush red, both ashamed and furious.
“A- ancient… huh?”
The group around the iron pot fell silent.
“What are they trying to do?”
“Jiajia, don’t mind him. In this world, who isn’t an immortal turtle? Age is just a number.”
“Right, don’t get mad. By the way, how come you only have four light abilities? Hasn’t the ‘Light Gate’ succeeded in duplication again?”
“Mind your own business!”
Ning Jiajia glared at the person who was being tactless and hitting a sore spot.
Another piece of information spread out, sweeping across everyone’s chest.
{Four-Phase Team: Zhang Zhiquan, an arrogant otaku. His favorite thing is to enjoy others’ flattery towards his team with a protagonist’s mindset.}
“Huh? What?”
Everyone looked towards the sturdy-armed, bewildered man sitting not far from Cheng Yunze, known as Zhang Quantou.
{He is the kind of person who, every night before bed, joyfully fantasizes about being a graceful hero who saves people from the Fate Track’s dangers, only to be praised by thousands. Unfortunately, training has turned him into a bulky guy, a far cry from the dashing image he wanted to become. So sad.}
Bang! Zhang Zhiquan slammed his hand onto the stone block beside him holding the tea jar.
“Fist, calm down.”
Zhang Zhiquan’s face reddened as he angrily said, “This is fake.”
“Wanting to be a hero is great—how awesome our Zhiquan is.” Some who knew about Zhang Zhiquan’s preferences chimed in.
“You better hold your tongue.”
Before the words even faded, another spread line diffused, and everyone flinched.
Fortunately, it wasn’t that guy, but someone entering one of the cities in City 11.
{Who is Zhang Zhiquan? What are you guys doing?}
Zhang Zhiquan’s face turned as black as stove ash, his fists clenched as if squeezing out water while he buried his head.
Those in the room whispered fearfully, when suddenly another line shot in.
{Wang Tianyi… you, so you have this kind of flaw too. Too bad, what will the girls who like you in the future do?}
One person in the room furiously spread out a model.
[Who are you! Are you from the big client’s cargo team?]
“Tianyi, don’t be impulsive.”
[I received a 9999N investment.]
The one who had just shouted “Tianyi, don’t be impulsive” only saw that, before his words were even finished, the furious man had already vanished from the bench with a whoosh.
The room erupted in a wave of shock as the people around him stumbled backward from their wooden stools as if they’d seen a ghost, scurrying several feet away. Even though they knew he had merely been teleported away in return for the investment of a ten-thousand-year lifespan in his name, a chill still crept over them, and each secretly feared being the next one singled out.
Suddenly, the thread shot out again.
{Ah, finally spoke up, eh? Sneaking around and peeping these past few days, I thought you were some nobody. Oh, by the way, let me make this clear—I’m just the one reading the words. If you guys feel like investing on my behalf, I’d be more than happy.}
This declaration, laden with data and hidden meaning, flashed and vanished in an instant. The furious deputy team leader, itching to make that investment, slammed his palm hard against the wooden table.
“These filthy bastards!”
{Miss Zhong of the Four-Phase Team—whoa, you can actually see those extra substances in the water ripples and even separate them. And well, your favorite thing is petting the abs of boy toys with ripped stomachs, and your biggest fantasy is going on dates with them.}
“Wha—what?!” A girl stood up, fists clenched, fuming as the model on her chest flickered.
“Little Zhong, don’t follow in Tianyi’s footsteps!”
“I—I…” The girl glanced around with a wounded look as tears welled up in her eyes. Suddenly, she turned and ran out of the room. Seeing this, a young man from the team immediately dropped all pretense and rushed after her, ignoring everyone’s stares, hoping to comfort the young lady.
A broken line spread outward.
All thirty or so people shuddered in their seats, and even Chen Yunze’s back instinctively tensed up.
{Is that Yang Zicang’s team? We’re from District 14. Where are you? Can I buy some talismans?}
The flickering thread of the model increased.
{I’m from District 17, Yang Zicang. Which Light Gate are you at? I’d love to buy a “Born Treasure” from you. But by the way, Miss Zhong, plenty of handsome guys here have abs. I also make cat-ear hair clips. Why not come over and make some friends?}
“These people are going too far!”
Just as the crowd in the hall was feeling both aggrieved and angry, a flashing fundraising declaration spread out once again.
{Physical ailments can be cured, but mental perversions are tough to treat. Ah, forget it—this is too socially embarrassing, someone. We’ll let you off for now, but just keep in mind the year-end performance review. You wouldn’t want us to publicize the specific details and names, would you? Take it as you will.}
The crowd looked around suspiciously, as if trying to guess who the person the message didn’t name might be by observing the changes in others’ expressions.
{Mark from the Four-Phase Team!}
The named foreigner stiffened, his face frozen, leaping to his feet and shouting hoarsely, “It’s not me! They’re making it up!”
Only after that outburst did the folded line finally rest and then spread out once more.
{Heh, Mark, I’ll keep your intelligence to myself; all I can say is, good luck.}
“Good luck to me? What do you mean by good luck to me!”
Subsequently, everyone who had been sizing up those around them shifted their gaze, landing it squarely on the blond-haired man named Mark.
“He, they’re talking nonsense.” Mark looked up and met Cheng Yunze’s suspicious gaze.
“Captain, this is their tactic to sow discord.”
Ning Jiajia glared over furiously, as if finding an outlet for her anger, and pressed aggressively, “What are you plotting? That side even wishes you success!”
“I didn’t!”
Another jagged line spread outward, and the members of the Four-Phase Team in the hall nearly leaped from their chairs.
{Let’s call it a day here. See you tomorrow.}
“See you, my ass.”
“Finally over!”
{Oh, by the way, An Juke, if you like Ning Jiajia, you’d better step it up. She doesn’t fancy people without power or influence. Besides, you’re just a triangle—might as well give up that idea.}
The sound of a stool toppling.
“Just a triangle?” Everyone was stunned, turning their gazes toward a certain figure in the crowd, as well as Ning Jiajia, whose pretty face had turned the color of pig liver.
The man who called himself An Juke stood up, his face twitching. Humiliated and angry, he extended a triangular model from within.
“Didn’t they say today ends here?!”
“Stop!”
“Do you want to vanish!”
An Juke snapped out of it in a flash, disconnecting the financing model.
{Oh dear, it’s just part of recording Ning Jiajia’s data, I brought it up offhand.}
Ning Jiajia stormed off toward a few tents behind the hall, leaving behind a room full of dispirited teammates, each feeling under threat.
Chapter 65 Footprints
By the campfire, Cui Rong and the two others listened, utterly dumbfounded.
They never expected that on this desolate night, they would witness such a messy drama—it felt like being recluse deep in the mountains while gossip fell from the heavens.
“True high-level offensive and defensive tactics are nothing if not this unpretentious,”
said Cui Rong, clutching the handle of his meteor hammer wrapped in layers of coats as he turned to his companions. “Good thing we didn’t join the Four-Phase Team. Tell me, if enemy intelligence agents targeted us, what losses would we suffer?”
The two men roasting the mutant elk meat shook their heads in unison.
“Hmph.” Cui Rong smiled mysteriously, raising one palm slowly before suddenly clenching his fingers into a fist. “At the very least, they’d find out a few little secrets about our leader.”
The two men looked at him.
Leaning against a crack in a dim energy-imbued house, Li Yongqin spoke calmly without haste:
“Whether we’d get to hear the leader’s little secrets, I don’t know. But if your name gets brought up, brother, that comment of yours will sure as hell shatter whatever image you have as the top sycophant in the leader’s eyes.”
Cui Rong’s face changed color. He dropped his weapon and, filled with regret, kowtowed into the void:
“I was wrong! I admit my mistake, Leader! And Client Father, I’m sorry!”
……
“Luo Bin, nice work.”
Luo Bin, amid the horrified gazes of the group, let out a sly chuckle and leaned in close to whisper in Yang Zicang’s ear:
“Good thing they’re together. By probing A, I got intel on B. The more people, the more cross-referencing gets revealed. I never thought it’d be this useful! I’ve pretty much developed a new application for my model.”
Luo Bin, now promoted to Thousand-rank, was feeling quite pleased with himself.
“It’s a shame about that Cheng Yunze, though. Even after being elevated to Thousand-rank, I used up all three attempts and still couldn’t dig up much useful info on him.”
“Well, try testing him again next week. Besides, rattling off everyone’s names all at once will just make them throw caution to the wind. Let’s take it easy for the next few days.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you.” With that, Luo Bin’s expression turned strange.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Zicang looked at him.
“I’ve noticed something.” Luo Bin met Yang Zicang’s gaze. “As for their emotional intel, they all share a common point. Right now, aside from digging into our info, it seems like they’re also paying attention to another person.”
“Who is it?”
“Not sure. Just like Cheng Yunze, I can’t extract much useful info from them either. I only became aware of this person because these people ‘know he exists’ — I caught a glimpse of that. Seems to be a newcomer who entered this city all on his own.”
“A newcomer, and that impressive?”
Yang Zicang furrowed his brow, rubbing his chin with his hand.
……
Over the past few days, Hong Haocheng had covered the general area nearby. By studying the Sail-Ink Drawings behind two Bound Spirits, he obtained even more detailed regions.
He gazed ahead at a massive black structure.
If there could be considered a landmark here, then this building would qualify as one. From the moment he discovered this structure, Hong Haocheng felt there must be something valuable inside.
As the map on his fingertip dissipated, Hong Haocheng suddenly heard sounds of battle in the distance.
“Great, someone else is here today.”
The boy’s face lit up with joy.
At that moment, someone was drawing away the monsters gathered in front of the main hall.
“Roar~”
As the Bound Spirit charged out, the agile figure in the distance raced outward, luring the two Bound Spirits temporarily away. Then another person came to lead away another attracted Bound Spirit from a different spot.
Beneath the vortex clouds that spanned dozens of miles of sky, the gray marble building radiated a calm before the impending storm.
At its perilous main entrance, a gap finally appeared.
Hong Haocheng’s entire face beamed with delight.
“Now’s the time!”
Seizing the moment, with rings of light appearing in his eyes, his figure darted nimbly through the tall, dense grass toward the large, vintage building—intact in its main structure and resembling a black White House.
The gate was already broken. The dirty boy entered, sword in hand. The interior was dim, with trash scattered everywhere. Bang! Crash! Amid the sounds of battle behind him, two more figures dashed inside. Hong Haocheng quickly hid behind a cabinet that had been moved earlier.
The two figures at the entrance glanced inside, and one of them said cheerfully:
“We made it in at last. This used to be the base of City 11’s top team.”
Two beams of flashlight shot out.
“The good stuff in here has probably been picked clean several times already.”
“We might still find something if we look again. After all, even getting in here is risky, and those teams are bound to have missed some things they couldn’t carry.”
This main hall was incredibly spacious, wide enough for a Bound Spirit two to three meters tall to enter. That was why the two of them found it hard to believe that the previous teams to enter here could have stripped the place clean of everything.
They first walked over to a wooden cabinet with a crooked door, its files long since gone.
One of them took a look, then his eyes moved slightly, scanning the floor. A silver-white halo emerged from his chest, and threads connected to the person beside him.
[Look at these footprints. Someone’s been here recently.]
The flashlight shone on the dust on the floor. The footprints were crystal clear, exactly like the ones they themselves had left, as if made in the last day or two.
His teammate drew the weapon from his back; the broken lines of an Amplified Chrono flickered onto his longsword, emitting a faint golden phantom flame. He stepped forward, following the trail of footprints.
“Come on out.”
“We’ve already seen you. You’re behind that cabinet, right? Get out here!”
On the long, dusty floor, a single trail of footprints slowly became three—they were all footprints leading into the main hall.
Both their weapons and bodies radiated a faint golden phantom flame. On alert, they slowly approached the large bookshelf that had been pulled away from the wall ahead.
Bang! One of them hurled a chair he had picked up against the wall. The immense force instantly shattered it, and the fragments, glowing with brilliance, exploded and scattered across the floor.
There was no sign of movement from anyone.
The other swung his sword and charged toward a gap between another cabinet and the wall, shining his flashlight inside.
It was empty in there.
“Really no one here?”
“The footsteps vanished. Strange.”
They looked left and right, then suddenly, as if struck by an idea, they aimed their flashlights upward. The silhouette of half a coat corner on top of the cabinet was projected onto the high ceiling.
“There you are! Which team are you from? Get the hell down here!”
“Haha, only the Four-Phase Team has been active lately. You must be one of them, right?”
“We’ve got you. This means we can cash in with the Piao Ming Group for even more rewards.”
The long sword, wreathed in ghostly flames, smashed into the wooden cabinet with a sound like crack . One side of the heavy solid-wood cabinet exploded. The figure on top nimbly leaped to the top of another cabinet. There was a seven- or eight-meter gap between them, yet the shadowy figure moved with extraordinary flexibility, as if he possessed the ability of weightlessness.
The moment Hong Haocheng’s feet touched the top of the cabinet, two powerful beams from the flashlights hit him.
He quickly turned his head, using his clothes to shield his face, and said, “I was just passing through. Leave me be. I’m not from the so-called Four-Phase Team either.”
“Who cares if you mean any harm? Get down here.”
“Don’t run, and we’ll guarantee your safety. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being rough.”
The two gave chase. On top of the cabinet, the boy sprang away deftly once again, disappearing behind the partition wall of the great hall.
“Stop right there!”
A broken line spread from the chests of the two men into the void.
[We’ve found someone suspected to be from the Four-Phase Team. He actually dared to slip into the castle of City 11’s premier team while we were luring the monsters away.]
The person on the other end of the Mental Link was overjoyed.
{Catch him. I’ll go notify Brother Bin immediately. We’ll capture a member of the Four-Phase Team alive and see how those losers from City 23 plan to ransom him.}
The two chased the figure ahead. But that guy moved at no slow speed, as if his body had been enhanced by secret techniques, resembling a humanoid feline beast.
Luo Bin joined the Mental Link communication. Spotting the unusually agile silhouette ahead, he quickly activated his model’s revelation ability.
[I want to learn whether the target is a member of the Four-Phase Team or a city personnel brought here by them.]
[I am beginning to unearth intelligence regarding the target. This will cost me 1N of principal.]
[Intelligence extraction failed.]
Luo Bin was taken aback. Without hesitation, amid the loud, clamorous chase of the two, he continued to activate his model.
[I’m making a second attempt to extract intelligence regarding the target. This will cost me 10N of principal.]
[Intelligence extraction failed.]
“What?!” Luo Bin snapped in anger.
His own rank was Thousand-rank; how could it fail so easily? Unless the other party was as exceptional as Cheng Yunze and that Mysterious Person she was linked to—and, of course, now that also included Yang Zicang.
Lately, he had already tried to mine related intelligence on Yang Zicang, failing every single time without exception.
At this thought, Luo Bin’s anger turned to suspicion. “Could it be that this person is that person?”
He wasn’t certain yet, so the model hadn’t counted the previous failed attempts to gather information on the Mysterious Person as applying to the person before him. But to fail so completely as to not even get their gender—it was highly likely to be that guy!
Gritting his teeth, Luo Bin began a third attempt.
[I initiate a third attempt to gather information on the target. This will cost me 100N of my principal.]
[Information extraction failed.]
Luo Bin was overjoyed!
The chubby man, who was leading the team out in the wild, shouted, “Quick, everyone head at full force to the castle camp of the City 11 chief team.”
His words sparked an immediate response. This group instantly abandoned the ordinary Bound Spirit they had barely managed to lure from its kin and followed Luo Bin as they charged in that direction.
But soon, a swarm of monsters surged forth, giving chase and scattering the group in all directions.
……
Having run for only a short while, Hong Haocheng felt the pressure on him ease. The hounding shouts from the two behind him had ceased, and their pace dropped to just trailing him at a casual distance.
“There’s a trap!”
He immediately sensed something was off, a growing unease surging from within.
A streak of red light shot toward him.
{I’m the guy from the theater team who entered the city now. There are at least seventeen people from Yang Zicang’s team closing in on you to take you alive. Get out of here, provided you really did enter the chief camp.}
Just as suspected! A surge of anger swelled in Hong Haocheng’s heart.
He hadn’t provoked or offended anyone, yet from the moment he entered this world, it seemed everything and everyone was against him.
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