Chapter 139: Ulterior Motives |
The Communication Device groaned under the pressure of Huang Xiao's gripping fingers.
To ensure no word of this leaked out, the information he revealed to everyone who "helped" was perfectly consistent. As long as Xing Jianyuan, an ordinary human, obediently took those pills, his mind would turn to mush from the side effects. Under constant external repetition and intense pressure, he was bound to forget the truth.
But if Xing Jianyuan somehow remembered and dragged his name into the investigation, there would be massive trouble.
The excuse he used to explain Xing Jianyuan acting alone—"scheduling confusion caused the backup Agent to arrive late"—seemed flawless on the surface, but it couldn't withstand close scrutiny. If the Ethics Committee intervened, they would easily discover that the Agent he pulled in as a scapegoat hadn't been trapped in a traffic control zone that day at all.
Should he silence Xing Jianyuan permanently? Or use an Amnestic Agent?
But the man was currently under heavy protection. Striking now would only draw more attention.
'No, that's not right.'
Huang Xiao's mind raced at lightning speed.
'That was my first time teaming up with Xing Jianyuan, a veteran-rookie pairing. He only knew my operational codename "Calamity," and at most, he knew my surname was Huang.'
'Unless this Dr. Wang, who knows a little bit of the inside story, guides the investigation.'
Huang Xiao felt a wave of relief and smiled once more. This time, his smile was laced with murderous intent.
He had worn this exact same expression in Room 401 of Building 5 when he said, "Hold on a second, little kid, everything will be fine soon."
'You've got a lot of nerve, daring to threaten me.'
Huang Xiao moved his fingers and began typing.
"What do you have in mind?"
The other party replied quickly, starting to play games with him. "Depends on what you want."
Huang Xiao: "We need to be careful. You are a sensitive figure right now, and the Ethics Committee is still waiting for your conclusive report."
"Then you choose the place."
Sure enough. After he hinted that the doctor was currently under heavy scrutiny, Dr. Wang let his guard down—clearly assuming he had Huang Xiao by the throat and that the agent wouldn't dare act rashly.
Thus, Huang Xiao dug up an address from his memory, sent it over, and requested a face-to-face meeting.
He was going to pin a very popular label on someone.
The label of "defector."
"The hiking trail north of the city... that leads to the Graveyard. Nice place."
"Dr. Wang"—or rather, Shi Rang—tossed the "meeting address" aside and opened his eyes in reality.
He had Jing Zi drive at top speed, finally managing to finish Mounting onto Huang Xiao's Communication Device right before the man left the site. The frequent use of his abilities left Shi Rang squatting by the street, vomiting for ages, entirely unable to walk. But it was worth it.
He had overheard some explosive information and successfully downloaded a backup of the "encrypted call" between Commander Hu Lihua and Huang Xiao.
Now he was certain. This was an elaborate frame-up against Xing Jianyuan. Xing Jianyuan was indeed at fault, but Huang Xiao and Hu Lihua were the true instigators of this disaster.
Huang Xiao's cleanup methods were highly skilled, but unfortunately for him, Shi Rang was watching from the shadows. No data could escape his surveillance.
The reason many murderers never get caught is that they always hover just outside the scope of the investigation, or they completely derail its direction. If the investigation focused on the right person, countless "perfect crimes" would suddenly become riddled with holes.
Returning to the Management Authority intranet, which served as the "comfort zone" for Shi Rang's abilities, made his work much easier. Even his headache eased significantly.
As a Data Ghost, Shi Rang simply never had a reason to send messages under someone else's name before. But that didn't mean he couldn't do it.
The Management Authority intranet was practically his second home. What was forging a message to him?
Huang Xiao was too clever for his own good, making him the perfect breach point in this terrifying conspiracy.
Xing Jianyuan was currently living under surveillance. Hu Lihua, being a Commander, was well-informed, and as a B-Class Employee, his authority was too high; he could easily use multiple channels to verify any fake messages Shi Rang sent. In contrast, Huang Xiao was much more isolated and vulnerable.
Most importantly, given Huang Xiao's personality, he likely had no true allies—only partners bound by mutual benefit.
People always judge the outside world by their own standards.
The facts proved Shi Rang right.
If the man wasn't such an ambitious, narrow-minded scoundrel, he truly wouldn't have walked right into this meticulously designed trap.
"Should we keep driving?" Jing Zi asked, seeing him wake up, and reached out to start the car.
He had absolutely no objections to Shi Rang's requests to stop and go along the entire route. No wonder Deacon Huo always had him act as a driver. He was incredibly competent.
"Let me think... The Cadre that The Head assigned to cooperate with me, can you contact him right now?"
Jing Zi immediately pulled an internal Ascension Society communication device from his jacket pocket.
"What orders do you need me to relay?"
"Tell him to assign me an ordinary person with low curiosity. They need to know how to use a Gun and follow me long-term. I need a thug who can double as a bodyguard."
Jing Zi pressed a few buttons and asked somewhat anxiously, "Then what about me...?"
"You two serve completely different purposes. Your abilities are irreplaceable."
Jing Zi finally breathed a sigh of relief and happily went to make the call.
In the backseat, Shi Rang paid no mind to the driver's inner thoughts. Instead, he reviewed his incredibly risky plan once more.
Simply reporting this to the Management Authority wouldn't quell the burning anger in his heart. It was highly likely that those in power would pull strings to minimize the incident until it was completely swept under the rug.
Shi Rang decided to handle it himself.
He wasn't sure what methods Huang Xiao would use against "Dr. Wang," but without a doubt, Shi Rang—armed with "Phantom Transformation"—had to act as the bait himself to lure Huang Xiao into the trap.
'If I were Huang Xiao, I probably wouldn't immediately resort to lethal force against Dr. Wang, who is definitely also on the radar...'
'After all, there's no way to be sure if he told anyone else where he was going before showing up.'
'So, with Huang Xiao's lawless personality, how would he deal with Dr. Wang?'
'A Memory Wipe? Threaten his family? Stage a disappearance?'
'Yielding is the absolute least likely option.'
Shi Rang couldn't deduce much more than that.
He was still a long way from being a true schemer. He couldn't empathize with a heart so filled with sin and malice.
He possessed Rapid Regeneration, so he wasn't afraid of physical injuries. He also had a vial of Class-A Amnestic he had acquired from Shi Shixin, which counted as some measure of self-defense. But what if Huang Xiao just blew his head off?
The man's marksmanship scores were listed on the very first line of his resume, after all.
After a moment of thought, Shi Rang pulled up the equipment case from under his seat and picked out a bulletproof vest with a neck guard. Then he took out his Mobile Phone and dialed the most recent number in his call log.
Following a familiar chime, that male voice rang out once again: "You won! You have won this month's grand prize: a boat tour of the West Coast!"
"Can I discuss something with you?" Shi Rang asked tentatively.
The entity on the other end—whatever it was that obsessed over making every caller claim a prize—fell silent.
Just as the Records described, as long as you didn't refuse the prize, you could still communicate with it...
Even though, if you didn't agree to claim it, the damn thing would just forcibly deliver the prize at the end of the month anyway.
Shi Rang continued speaking, "I am willing to claim the prize, but can we change the method of delivery...
"
That night, Shi Rang, disguised as Dr. Wang, climbed the mountain.
The Graveyard was guarded at night, but slipping past the night watchman was incredibly easy. After all, the Graveyard was connected to the hiking trail, and with the vast stretch of fences and dense woods, it was impossible to ensure no one climbed over.
Then again, what would an ordinary person come to a Graveyard for in the dead of night?
Cremation was the popular trend these days, so there was no fear of grave robbers. Surely they wouldn't come just to steal food offerings, right?
Shi Rang easily made his way up the mountain.
The meeting place was halfway up the mountain, in an open plaza that also served as a decent observation deck.
He deliberately walked very slowly, hugging the trees flanking the stone steps along the way. He paused frequently to pull out his Mobile Phone—a device he had bought that afternoon. Following Huang Xiao's demands, they had stopped using Communication Devices that could easily have their locations tracked, switching to disposable numbers instead.
Huang Xiao: "I'm at the plaza. Where are you?"
"On my way. I let someone know I was heading out before I left, so don't try any funny business."
"Is that really necessary? I just want to resolve this matter quickly."
Shi Rang hummed, feigning nonchalance. A voice that didn't belong to Jing Zi crackled through the Micro Earpiece in his ear.
"The person in the plaza is still there."
The plaza halfway up the mountain was at too high an altitude. To avoid alerting the enemy, it wasn't convenient to approach for close surveillance, so Jing Zi and the thug they had just requisitioned from the Ascension Society could only watch from afar on another peak.
According to their observations, a silhouette had been pacing back and forth on the mountain for the past hour.
Shi Rang smacked his lips—this was the signal to act—and opened the dialing screen on his Mobile Phone, resting his finger over the number "1."
From this moment on, Jing Zi and the thug would start moving toward the mid-mountain plaza. To prevent any flashes of light from drawing attention, they had to take a roundabout route.
Shi Rang continued to stop and go, pausing occasionally to catch his breath, slowly climbing his way up to the mid-mountain level.
There was indeed a person waiting for him at the far end of the plaza.
The two stood on opposite sides of the plaza—one near the steps leading up to the peak, the other near the steps leading down—staring at each other. They were nothing more than faint silhouettes in the dark of night. Harboring ulterior motives, the two men waited a good while before finally stepping forward to approach one another. Shi Rang walked slowly, while Huang Xiao moved quickly. His speed was so fast that it made Shi Rang uneasy, causing him to shuffle even slower.
"We're in position. I have a visual on your location," the thug messaged. "Awaiting your signal."
Shi Rang could use his Sensing to detect a strange void at the far end of the plaza. He stopped precisely outside the range of the Reality Anchor and raised a hand to wave at Huang Xiao. "Did you really have to pick such a tough place to hike to?"
Thug: "Tough to hike to? That's the code... Sure enough, there's a Reality Anchor."
"Spit it out, what do you want?"
Shi Rang froze.
He recognized the voice of the person standing opposite him.
It was Hu Lihua, Xing Jianyuan's Operations Commander and Huang Xiao's accomplice.
Suddenly, a sharp 'swish' pierced the darkness.
Fifty or sixty meters away, Hu Lihua let out a muffled groan. Clutching his chest, he collapsed to the ground.