Chapter 745: Information from Outside the Domain (3k)
As dawn slanted down, casting warmth on the city’s edge, a black car rumbled through narrow streets. Inside were Su Jiu and the others, fatigue evident on their faces.
Youyou held the steering wheel, her gaze fixed ahead, though her speed had dropped to around fifty miles per hour. She glanced at Ren, who was in the passenger seat, lost in thought with a silver mask in hand, and asked, “Did they give you any trouble? That Commander Li Zhen is someone who dares to yell at even the Old Man.”
“No… a familiar person helped us out, but I don’t understand her intentions.”
Ren shook his head, his eyes still fixed on the silver mask. His dark pupils were as still as stagnant water, and it was unclear what he was thinking.
“A familiar person—it must be Senior Sister Li, right? I saw her just now.” Youyou paused, then a hint of recollection flickered across her face, only to be quickly masked by indifference.
Hearing this, Su Jiu thought to herself, “As expected, that woman is definitely related to White Crow. I didn’t expect it to be Elder Li, who was mentioned before and frequently caused trouble.”
Ren furrowed his brow. “You saw her just now?”
“When we got to that large iron gate.”
Youyou pointed behind them with a finger adorned with blue nail polish, her other hand on the steering wheel. “She appeared and stopped Miss Bairnis, seemed to tell her something, and then went into the factory alone.”
“Gave Bairnis something?”
At this, not only Ren looked back at the rear seats, but Su Jiu also looked at Bairnis next to her, who was fiddling with her phone, with surprise. She had been preoccupied with her phone since earlier.
Is it related to Elder Li?
“I originally planned to tell you after I figured it out. It’s a word game that requires entering a private room set up by Miss Li to answer questions…”
Sensing Su Jiu’s gaze, Bairnis smiled helplessly and held up her phone. On the screen was a small game, similar to a word puzzle. She had already deciphered three characters: [Waiting for…].
“Waiting for news?”
Looking at the text, Su Jiu pondered for a moment, then looked at Bairnis with confusion. Making eye contact with the girl’s blue eyes, she said softly, “Does this mean we should wait for them to issue another word puzzle task?”
She couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind “waiting for news.”
Then, as if an idea struck her, she turned to Youyou. “Can you hack into their information using this little game, Sister Youyou?”
“If it’s a word game, then I understand.”
Shaking her head slightly, Youyou continued to drive with full concentration.
“This is a word game called ‘Magic Words’ used by Eagle Country for transmitting information during wartime. It has now flowed into China but still maintains its original function. Not only is the information false, but the very structure is a tangle of fake addresses.”
“Then let’s go back to the bar and wait. With the Old Man there, it’s safer than anywhere else.”
Retracting her gaze, Ren’s fingertips glowed with black flame. He pulled a cigarette from his coat pocket, shielded it with his hand, and squinted as he took a puff, seemingly finding this moment of leisure on the car ride to be blissful.
“Indeed, let’s head to the bar first.”
Glancing at the little girl sleeping on Bairnis’s lap, and seeing her somewhat dusty face, Su Jiu sighed. She took out her hip flask, downed the turtle-shaped liquid inside, and her eyes became a little hazy…After experiencing these events, she was actually quite curious about what White Crow intended to do. As a teacher who had read many novels in her past life, she had some outlandish guesses in her mind – could that Senior Brother be playing chess?
“Miss, if you’re sleepy, lean on me and get some rest.”
As she thought, drowsiness overcame her again. At this moment, a gentle, sweet voice sounded in her left ear. Bairnis propped herself up with her hand and gently shifted her body to the right.
Her eyes blurred, and Su Jiu seemed to feel the girl’s breath, carrying a floral scent. Without much thought, she leaned against her.
Her shoulder was soft and yielding, rather plump and even slightly warm.
…
Further south, on the third floor of a certain multi-story pavilion, large electronic equipment filled the space, along with the sounds of electronic calculations and the hum of electricity. The interior was like a cyberpunk world, with streams of data illuminating the entire room.
In the central alchemy seat, two figures sat facing each other. Between them lay a virtual chessboard, clearly depicting the Chu-Han Contention, but only a few pieces remained on the board.
“Checkmate!” a crisp “click” sounded from the electronic board.
“Mr. Zhuge, you lost.”
The white-haired youth’s clear voice rang out. He looked up at the middle-aged man opposite him, who was wearing a black fisherman’s outfit, and suddenly smiled, seeming to reveal the unique vitality of a youth at this moment.
“Heh, you brat rushed to see me. You wouldn’t have come just to intentionally let an old man like me, a terrible chess player, win, would you?”
Adjusting the monocle over his right eye, Zhuge Yun chuckled. He no longer paid attention to the chessboard and, leaning on a brown metal cane, hobbled to the outside of the pavilion. “The ‘White Night Plan’ has been restarted, so there’s a way now…”
“But isn’t that old thing very cautious? He never meets you alone.”
He paused, his old eyes narrowing as he looked at the blood-red expanse of the sea in the distance. A flicker of killing intent flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
“Even the cautious make mistakes.”
As his leather shoes tapped on the metal floor, making crisp sounds, White Crow soon arrived beside him. He rested his hands on the railing, his gaze also fixed on the sea, and said softly, “The opportunity has arrived. There’s a prophecy that a major trend is coming. The Pope in plain sight can’t wait and wants to quickly revive a King-level Other to maintain his authority.”
“Zichuan…”
Abruptly stopping his metal cane, Zhuge Yun’s throat throbbed. He slowly uttered a name, gripping the railing with an unfathomable intensity. “And the one-eyed Other summoned back then…”
White Crow turned to look at Zhuge Yun. A smile appeared on his handsome face, and the sea breeze gently blew, rustling his Tang braid, making him look like a reckless young genius.
“Mr. Zhuge, please help me alter some information. Our inner wife is about to launch…”
“Inner wife?” Zhuge Yun paused, not immediately recalling what it meant. He raised an eyebrow and asked in a low voice, “Weren’t it just us who defected back then?”
“No, there was an eighth person, the Son of God from outside the domain.”
White Night shook his head, his expression turning serious, and looked at the red sun rising from the sea, a hint of remembrance flashing in his eyes…
He had asked that person: “This mission, you will sever all contact with everyone, live in anonymity, and do what you once despised the most. The time could be a few years, or even decades. Are you willing?”
She was the most suitable candidate: young, female, talented, and always first in school exams.
That person looked at him. Though her face was still young, her eyes held the fervor unique to her age. “I can’t be a great hero like my father, and my talent isn’t enough to be a leader of the Dragon Hunters, so I chose to take the ‘National Security’ exam…”
“Forget Li Yingying. From now on, you shall be called A’ying, a follower of the Ancient God Cult. You are wooden and dull, but you have some talent.”
The youth lowered his eyes slightly and gently patted her head. Looking at the determination on the girl’s face, his heart trembled.
At this age, she should be working steadily in a stable job, perhaps dating, having her own boyfriend, and spending all day together…
“That person is naturally suspicious. Speak less and do more. Lastly, your codename is White Night. In three days, remember to go to Fuzhou South Gate to defend the city.”
Before she left, the youth couldn’t help but ask, “Are you really sure you can do it?”
The girl stopped, her dark eyes looking at him and shaking her head slightly. She said softly, “I don’t know.”
She quickly added, “But I will try my best to complete it… My mother died in that catastrophe, just like your sister. During the prayer meeting for that disaster, my father took me to apologize to each of the bereaved families. Looking at those crying faces, I felt uneasy and always wanted to do something…”
“Until I met you.”
“I…”
The youth opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a sound. His heart felt heavy with guilt. He felt shameless for using someone, yet he felt he could only do it this way.
Only this way could he kill a rising Red Robe.
At this moment, the girl looked up, her eyes exceptionally bright, like black gemstones. “If I don’t come back, if there’s a chance, Elder Tong, please help me get home.”
“…”
The youth was stunned and silently turned away, walking towards the other end of the road, preventing himself from meeting the girl’s gaze. He only left one sentence: “Don’t overthink it, I’ll bring you home alive.”
…
As the first rays of dawn broke, the car quickly stopped in front of the Doan Bar. Su Jiu slowly opened her eyes, and a hint of alcohol escaped her lips as she asked, “Are we here already?”
“Miss slept for about an hour and a half. You can sleep more at the bar later.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, she met a pair of gentle eyes. The gentle eyes curved into crescents, and in her hand, she held a phone, seemingly still studying the word puzzle.
Her small face was flushed red, as if she was experiencing a fever related to this male… something undetectable by Baidu.
“Is this new information?”
Looking at the new word puzzle, Su Jiu, as a Dragon Country person, unlike a foreigner like Bairnis, didn’t need to search Baidu one by one. She immediately recognized it:
“Objective achieved, eliminate target, Black Flow Shore.”
“Objective achieved means someone is tracking White Crow. Eliminating the target should refer to this high school student named Guan Xiaorong. As for the latter, it’s most likely a location…”
She synthesized these words and formed her own guesses. Then, she opened the car door and looked at Ren and the other person who had already alighted. “Uncle, have you heard of Black Flow Shore?”
“Black Flow Shore? It should be Black Flow Shore Mouth.”
Upon hearing this, Ren and the other exchanged glances. Ren stepped forward a few paces and, following Su Jiu’s gaze, pointed to a distant coastal mouth and said softly, “That’s where those Little Sakuras used to smuggle themselves. Due to radiation issues, it’s now sealed off and few people can pass through.”
