Chapter 87: Ace Spy |
Shi Rang's primary objective for coming to Green Island City had already been achieved; he had figured out this ability.
Next, it was time to handle his secondary objective.
On the surface, he was a spy for the Alliance, tasked with probing the Bureau's movements. Beneath that facade, however, he was the very anomaly the Bureau was hunting down—the architect of this entire tragedy.
Even with the title of S13, it was impossible for Shi Rang to cooperate deeply with the Bureau any longer.
If the Bureau were to discover his true existence... he was absolutely certain he would meet a grim end.
"A spy, I am a spy responsible for probing the Bureau—what do you think of the Alliance, Sheriff?"
Leader Jack relayed the Sheriff's words from the other side of the room. "They probably aren't very good at taking care of Mini-Humans."
"I thought as much."
The Alliance and the Bureau were at odds. The enemy of an enemy seemed like a friend, but until he found a suitable refuge, his own anomaly had to be properly hidden.
Speaking of which, how much money had Investigator Scarlett given him? He hadn't even had the time to count it...
...
Shi Rang turned on the small desk lamp, sat on the edge of the bed, and began counting the cash.
The items the Alliance provided stuffed an entire suitcase. Inside was a stack of cash stashed in a biscuit tin, consisting of both large and small denominations that could be spent without drawing attention. Shi Rang counted it twice and found exactly one thousand yuan. It wasn't a massive fortune, but it was enough to make any ordinary office worker's heart skip a beat.
When he went bankrupt previously, he had tallied up the bills from the time of Ying Shang's disappearance to the present. He discovered that even though he had been extremely frugal, his expenses were still much higher than expected, leaving him completely baffled.
Financial problems had constantly plagued him, so every influx of funds brought him immense comfort.
Now, he finally felt at ease. Scarlett probably didn't know his true identity and genuinely allowed him, the spy, to maintain an air of mystery. Otherwise, there would be no need to give him this much.
For a mere five hundred yuan, he would have been willing to sell out the Bureau's secrets.
He couldn't help it; he was truly strapped for cash.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that they simply had more money than they knew what to do with. The Pan-Continent Alliance was a global organization with countless personnel under its command; they likely wouldn't miss this small amount.
Initially, he just wanted to make a little pocket money from Scarlett. However, the Council Member who approached him using an Alt Account made him realize that mingling within the Bureau's system simply wouldn't work. The elusive Council Members, the various rules and regulations restricting him, and the exceedingly shrewd cadres at every level—just his authorization for Agent Kyle to take the Special Communicator down into the facility had triggered at least three inquiry emails.
Even on the intranet, he had to keep his distance from the Bureau.
Because of this, he had to hold onto Scarlett's line and turn the Alliance into his backer. If his importance grew, he could even leverage the Alliance's influence.
This might also help him search for Ying Shang.
But a new problem immediately arose: what intelligence should he give to Scarlett?
The identity of Dump Truck was far too dangerous. Any top-tier classified information could attract unwanted attention. The Bureau had its own Intelligence Department closely monitoring the Alliance's every move. Furthermore, the Alliance wouldn't necessarily believe any "core secrets" he provided; he was just a Rookie spy, after all.
If he honestly investigated according to the tasks Scarlett assigned, what good would it do? The operation in Green Island City was over, and the Subject had been contained. Was that information really still useful?
Drawing upon famous historical examples of spies entering the field as a reference, Shi Rang quickly found a breakthrough:
Scarlett hadn't given him a direct, real-time communication line.
She only told him that someone would visit a drop point every two days to collect intelligence using a specific method. Shi Rang had visited the location; it was situated in a bustling downtown area with complex terrain, making it incredibly difficult to run surveillance there.
He had an idea!
"That 'Deer Hunter' you recruited is quite diligent. It's only been two days, and he's already submitted intelligence. A thick stack of it, too."
"Is that so?" Scarlett wedged the phone receiver between her ear and shoulder, focused on cracking a walnut. "Let me guess. Is it the helicopter formation that anyone with eyes could see? Or those two off-road vehicles tearing through the streets?"
"He attached a homemade decryption table and even delivered it separately from the intel. His attitude is very earnest, though his methods are a bit antiquated. Let me take a look... 'Personnel with red eye tattoos on their bodies drove a vehicle and smashed through the barricade...' Red eyes? Isn't the religious group worshipping the Divine Entity in the Tenth District... the Star Child? Is this reliable? How did he even see this?"
Scarlett's movements froze.
She quietly opened a file folder on her desk. The blurry photographs of the intruders were still labeled "Unknown Faction."
The incident had happened so fast that before the Alliance agents could even figure out what was going on, the Bureau had cleared the area around the breach. "'Earthquake, secondary earthquake... suspected seismic tremors... large-scale personnel mobilization following two massive tremors.' I already know this... 'Around eight in the evening, personnel evacuated via aircraft, suspected completion of operation'—wait a minute, so those slow-moving helicopters that left last night were fully loaded? The Mobile Task Force completed the containment in a single day? We could have intercepted them! Why didn't this intel arrive sooner?!"
Scarlett forcefully flipped through a few more pages, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"I never expected him to uncover this much!"
At three minutes to six on the evening of April 12th—the second day since Shi Rang arrived in Green Island City and intervened in the containment operation—he arrived at a phone booth far from his rented attic.
He dropped a coin into the machine and began dialing, repeating the process from their previous contact.
This string of numbers was registered in the advertising column of a local newspaper. It looked like an inconspicuous decorative detail in the corner, but in reality, it was a dedicated line provided by Scarlett—a burner number meant for single use.
Before the first ring could even finish, the call was picked up.
"Deer Hunter?"
"It's me." Shi Rang was still wearing his helmet, using a crude method to muffle his real voice.
Having confirmed their identities, both ends of the line fell silent.
Shi Rang faced the smoggy streets just before dusk, his gaze darting back and forth among the wandering figures as he clutched a coin in his hand. The metal surface was already warm. It could be used to buy another minute of talk time, or it could be dropped into a bus fare box.
He could dash out of the phone booth, sprint across the street, jump onto the bus diagonally opposite, and then escape to the bus terminal to rendezvous with the Mini-Humans waiting there...
This was a massive gamble.
Shi Rang broke the silence. "I am willing to continue working with you, but I wish to keep my secrets. 'We' do not intend to officially join the Alliance; we only want to provide intelligence."
It was an exceedingly demanding request. The Alliance would very likely send someone to apprehend him.
Even though the phone booth was unregistered, the dialing location could still be traced.
Perhaps the Alliance's operatives were already nearby, hiding among the homeless on the streets and the hurried crowds, completely imperceptible to Shi Rang.
"Understandable..." Scarlett's voice was incredibly stiff, accompanied by the faint rustling of paper, as if she were reading from a script on the spot. Forcing a combat personnel like her to handle negotiations was clearly asking too much. "Given your previous performance... Forget it, screw this."
She slammed something down with a loud thud. It sounded like someone was trying to calm her down on the other end—perhaps Partner John.
"I know what I'm doing! Alright, Deer Hunter, I'm not going to beat around the bush and test you anymore. The organization I had you investigate is called the 'Anomaly Management Bureau.' How much do you know about them?"
"I know they're also searching for anomalies and locking them up."
"Do you think that's the right thing to do?"
Shi Rang had prepared an entire page of cheat sheets for this critical conversation, but deep down, he despised verbal sparring and formalities. Seeing that Scarlett had dropped the bureaucratic tug-of-war, he simply crumpled his notes into a ball. Summoning a degree of sincerity to match hers, he leaned against a relatively clean corner of the phone booth. "I think it's unnecessary."
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Expending tremendous effort to capture them is completely redundant. It sacrifices far too much manpower and resources—even lives..."
"They are monsters. There is no need to show them any mercy."
If the Bureau had taken decisive action the moment they discovered the vertical shaft by dropping a bomb or deploying a heavy weapon, the N4 Squad's disastrous operation wouldn't have happened. Captain Holly, Agent Benjamin, and many others, including those in the NO Squad, would have survived.
Without Shi Rang's intervention, without the Special Communicator he had requested they take as an exception, the annihilation of the N4 Squad would have merely been followed by N5,
N6... and so on, until enough human lives were spent to extract the crucial intelligence. Furthermore, containment didn't guarantee peace. Just like the Seed of Doom, which breached containment every now and then, turning something into a Containment Object merely foretold future economic drains and more deaths. That Divine Entity possessed intelligence. It could set ambushes and lure humans in; naturally, it wouldn't remain obediently locked away.
Yet all of this was a catastrophe triggered by his own unintentional actions. The only correct choice was to eradicate it swiftly and ruthlessly, smothering it in the cradle.
This never should have happened. He had never intended to hurt anyone.
"Is that so..."
Scarlett was clearly not entirely satisfied with this answer.
The one-minute mark was approaching. Shi Rang dropped another coin in, brought the receiver closer to the other side of his helmet, and stared blankly at the crowded street, voicing half-true, half-false sentiments.
"Besides, I have a history with them. My wife... she's gone, and they are definitely involved. That's why I've been investigating. I never agreed with their methods to begin with, so I might as well help you."
"Look here, John! A loyal new recruit!" Scarlett leaned back into the receiver. "You're growing on me, Deer Hunter. You're absolutely right; they don't deserve cells, they deserve bullets. I misjudged you earlier; I had no idea you possessed such capabilities. As for your intel... well, it arrived a bit late, but it was incredibly useful. Maybe I should apply for a medal for you..."
It seemed the emotional card wasn't enough. Shi Rang immediately played another hand.
"I want money. You promised me usable cash. I'm taking a huge risk working for you."
"Of course, of course. Everything promised will be delivered. I guarantee it will be a fitting amount."
On the other end of the line, Scarlett quickly scribbled 'Needs Money' on a piece of paper and circled it, her brow finally relaxing.
She gave a thumbs-up to the intelligence director sitting across from her and read out the lines he was holding.
"I'll give you a new location. You can get everything you need there..."
3
Had the "Deer Hunter" continuously preached dreams of eradicating anomalies, Scarlett would have grown increasingly wary of him, and the Alliance would never have deepened their cooperation. The "Deer Hunter" was highly capable and absurdly eager. He wanted to maintain his mystery while securing a spy identity, acting entirely as if he were holding the winning hand.
Acting purely out of personal grudges and idealism without asking for anything in return—that would have been truly suspicious.
Ideals were unreliable. The vast majority of self-proclaimed idealists turned into spineless cowards the moment they faced real pressure.
Moreover, financial transactions served as a leverage to control the "Deer Hunter." Establishing an economic link meant placing chips directly into the Alliance's hands. If things went south in the future, it would be impossible for the "Deer Hunter" to wash his hands of the matter.
By the time she finished relaying the handover location and specific protocols, the intelligence director had already written out the next set of lines.
"We won't assign you any detailed missions for now; you just need to keep monitoring the Bureau's activities. Their influence is far greater than you imagine. They have facilities and personnel all over the world, with field agents and public-facing employees practically everywhere. They aren't just some nation or secret society—they are a 'shadow government' lurking in the dark, far more capable than you realize. So, you must be extremely cautious."
"Got it. Is that all?"
"Why, is there a situation near you?" Scarlett leaned forward, casting a questioning look at the intelligence officer. The officer pressed his earpiece, murmured a brief question, and then shook his head at her.
"If we keep talking, I'll have to put in another coin to extend the call."
Scarlett let out an exasperated laugh.
What a cheapskate.
"Alright, I won't waste your precious coins. We'll be in touch."
Clack.
The "Deer Hunter" hung up with utmost efficiency.
"It's done. Are you going to send someone to grab him?" Scarlett set down the receiver and asked the officer sitting across from her.
"There's no need. We can continue developing him as a hidden asset. The person feeding him intelligence is probably a low-level security guard or field agent at the site; that's the only way they could observe the intruders' features at such close range. The Star Child was definitely after the Divine Entity, but the commotion here was too small to suggest any traces of Divinity. There is still much to unearth in Green Island City; we still need him."
The department within the Pan-Continent Alliance responsible for internal and external intelligence activities had a rather mystical-sounding name—the Spirit Vision Department.
It wasn't because they possessed any supernatural abilities; it was simply because their original name clashed with the Bureau's Intelligence Department, which rubbed them the wrong way.
After multiple protests to the Bureau went ignored in the last century, the Alliance had overhauled its naming conventions from top to bottom. The Alliance Secretary-General became the Archbishop, the Assembly became the Order, and so on—all to distinguish their path from the Bureau's, framing themselves as more "human."
Scarlett asked, "Are the Bureau's finances really doing that poorly? I thought a thousand yuan was too little and he'd flip out."
The intelligence officer remained noncommittal, instead sliding a file folder over to her. Scarlett flipped open the hard plastic cover. Inside prominently lay Shi Rang's identity file.
"He is the Deer Hunter? No, that can't be right. I clearly met the 'Deer Hunter' in the old factory district... Are they part of the same crew, and they just shared my contact info?"
She stared at the file for a long time but couldn't make heads or tails of it. All she knew was that the lowly reporter in the dossier was a far cry from the spy she had in mind. All she could picture was the pathetic wimp trapped amongst a gang of street thugs, completely at a loss.
With a frail frame like his, she could easily take on five of him with one hand tied behind her back.
Why would the Private Hunter she stumbled upon during her mission associate with someone like this?
The intelligence officer elaborated, "A second possibility is that the 'Deer Hunter's' backers are hidden much deeper than anticipated. The one who answered the phone was this 'Shi Rang,' and he's also the one renting the attic, but he hasn't gone out at all these past few days. His previous appearance in Pinglan City also had a highly specific motive. Someone is passing messages to him; he's merely a mouthpiece sent out to show his face. He's under a lot of financial strain, so asking for money was probably his own initiative. We can't rule out the existence of a larger organization behind him. He has an indirect connection to the Bureau, which is likely why that organization recruited him in the first place."
Scarlett flipped to the next page. "His girlfriend is a 'charity-subsidized orphan'—that counts as a connection? There are orphans everywhere."
"There's also a third possibility—this is another phishing operation set up by the Bureau."
Scarlett shrugged. "Don't we spend all day Fishing for their people too? It's just courtesy."
"Why are you telling us all this?" Partner John, who had been listening silently on the sidelines, finally spoke up.
Prompted by his question, it finally dawned on Scarlett as well.
She wasn't part of the Spirit Vision Department. Why divulge so much to her?
The intelligence officer sat up straight, adopting the solemn expression unique to announcing a grave mission.
"As his recruiter, you will continue to monitor the 'Deer Hunter's' subsequent activities. You will be directly responsible for all contact with him. Until his true intentions and background are thoroughly verified, your team's field operations are suspended."
Scarlett's face froze, followed immediately by a violent twitch in her facial muscles.
Even after the intelligence officer had left, she remained rooted to the spot. A long time passed before she finally squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth.
"John."
"What is it?"
"Next time, remind me never to recruit Private Hunters for no good reason."