Chapter 64 - 64: 64, Two calm people
Chapter 64: 64, Two calm people
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Countdown 44:30:00, 3:30 a.m.
Cyber City, Ninth District.
In a small street at the bottom layer of the city, a young man in a gray suit strolled along with ease.
The puddles on the ground acted as mirrors, reflecting his composed demeanor.
This place bore none of the bustling scenes one might imagine; water and garbage could be seen everywhere on the streets, and the walls were graffitied with colorful obscenities and protest slogans.
It didn’t resemble the high-tech city of one’s imagination but rather looked likelier to be a slum.
Yet, as the young man walked here, he did so as if he were on the streets of England, casual yet gentlemanly.
He arrived in front of a clothing store.
The owner, a woman in her thirties, was lounging with her legs crossed, engrossed in the Inner World news on her transparent phone.
In fact, the Outer World also had many such bizarre little clothing stores, always selling outdated clothes, seldom with any customers.
You wouldn’t know on what revenues these stores survived, but they never went out of business.
The owner seemed not to care whether customers came.
But perhaps no one would have expected that these little shops had more going on beneath the surface.
And now, they were being brought into the Inner World.
The young man stepped through the door; the owner didn’t react, seemingly unaware of anyone’s arrival.
He stood in front of the counter, his smile revealing a sharpness as he tapped the surface with his fingers.
The owner looked up hurriedly and stood up, a bit panicked, “Mr. He, I’m sorry I didn’t notice you coming in.”
He Jinqiu chuckled and said, “Don’t be nervous, I’m here with two pieces of news you need to pass on quickly; first, Dong Suyue and Tian Xiaomiao have been discovered by the consortium as identities of the Time Traveler, tell Xiao Xiao to cut off contact with them for now, we’ll discuss everything after the return.”
“Understood,” the owner quickly memorized the instructions from He Jinqiu.
“Second, tell Xiao Xiao to collect as much information on Uncle Li Dong as possible, I’ve found that his power is even greater than we assessed before, the fact that he could emerge unscathed from such a major incident is inconceivable.”
“Understood,” the owner responded once more.
He Jinqiu muttered as if to himself, “Looks like we need to enlist Liu Dezhu before making our move on Kunlun, we need him.”
Then, He Jinqiu turned with a smile and said, “I hope you understand the mission we are shouldering, if such a lapse in vigilance occurs again, the organization will punish you. I’ll find someone to replace you once we have a suitable candidate. After the return, go and see Instructor Zhang Zongyu for additional training, any objections?”
The owner bowed her head, “No objections.”
“Good, then we’re agreeably decided!”
Having said that, He Jinqiu left.
The owner then slipped into the storage room, ready to send the messages in some unknown way.
The slums are one of the few places in Cyber City without surveillance, no one would notice a special visitor here,
He Jinqiu looked back at the clothing store; such a hidden spot was most suited for passing on messages and concealing identities, yet there were still too few people from Kyushu, and even fewer who could be of use.
It seemed necessary to quicken the pace.
…
“`
Early in the morning, the familiar banging on the door began.
The alloy gate buzzed with the prisoners’ pounding, as if on the verge of resonating.
These people were always brimming with energy, with no outlet for release.
Qing Chen didn’t leave his cell; he was waiting for Lu Guangyi to search for the Time Traveler among the new batch of inmates.
Surprisingly, no new prisoners had been escorted to Prison No. 18 last night.
He turned over and went back to sleep, completely ignoring the chaos outside.
At this moment, Uncle Li Dong was still sitting calmly at the dining table, looking at the recently acquired chess endgame positions, showing no signs of fatigue.
Even Lin Xiaoxiao marveled that while the outside world was in uproar over the events of last night, their boss was seemingly unconcerned, not giving it a second thought.
The bald and shiny-headed Guo Huchan quietly approached, whispering to Lin Xiaoxiao, “What exactly did you and your boss do last night? If there’s something exciting, count me in next time, I’m really good at fighting.”
“Eh, how did you find out,” Lin Xiaoxiao asked curiously.
Even though there was a commotion outside, Guo Huchan had no means of communication here; how could he know what happened?
He squinted at the bald man and said, “Did the psychic Transcendents from Spade come as well? How many of you arrived? Aren’t you afraid the consortium would wipe you all out in one fell swoop?”
“Just me alone,” Guo Huchan responded with a smirk, “Seriously though, give me a heads up next time you guys have a mission.”
Lin Xiaoxiao looked down on him, “I don’t know what game you’re playing. Are you just waiting for us to go out so you can take advantage of Boss’s search for ACE-005?”
“Not at all,” Guo Huchan laughed heartily, “Look at you, always thinking too much. I just want to know, what exactly did Boss Li do last night?”
Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at him, “If I told you he just wanted to eat some braised pork, would you believe it?”
“I don’t believe it. With such a big fuss, could there not be something serious?” Guo Huchan looked incredulous.
Lin Xiaoxiao sighed, knowing that the whole world wouldn’t believe that their boss had no serious business last night.
It was just a matter of wanting to take Qing Chen out for some fun.
People remembered that their boss was a dangerous contemporary Demigod, but they forgot that he was also a very capricious and carefree person.
Of course, Lin Xiaoxiao was also amazed that the other main character in this affair, Qing Chen, was still sound asleep until noon, just like nothing had happened.
The boss could be nonchalant, but how could a seventeen-year-old boy be so casual?
…
As Qing Chen was dozing off in his sleep, suddenly, the loudspeaker in the prison announced, “Inmate number 010101, you have a family visit.”
He slowly sat up, somewhat puzzled.
According to the Inner World’s timeline, hadn’t Qing Yan just visited yesterday? Why was he here again today?
Meanwhile, in the courtyard, Guo Huchan was asking Lin Xiaoxiao, “Wait, isn’t it normal for visits to be once every three months? I remember this kid had a visitor just yesterday.”
Lin Xiaoxiao, appearing unconcerned, replied, “Our boss doesn’t like him, so I’d suggest you’d better not get too close to him and not pry too much. Besides, he is from Qing’s Family, the consortium has to extend some privileges.”
Qing Chen didn’t hurry out immediately; he took his time getting ready, seemingly indifferent to the visit.
In his view, since it was clear that Qing Yan was not an ally, there was no harm in making him wait.
Half an hour later, Qing Chen, accompanied by a Mechanical Prison Guard, slowly pushed open the visitation room door, only to be stunned: inside was not Qing Yan.
It was Jindai Kongyin.