Book 3, Chapter 12: Resonance

Book 3, Chapter 12: Resonance

The moment Chen Chuan completed the ritual, the intensity of the blurring out effect on his second self had weakened significantly, which meant that the ritual was a success.

But he had only temporarily restrained the mannequin. It wouldn’t last long.

The array’s materials were getting drained at a rapid pace.

If the mannequin had been too weak when Chen Chuan first saw it, then it had become too strong now. If he wanted to restrain it long-term, he would have to keep investing materials into the array, since he didn’t have any unique ritual tools.

Setting aside whether he could find that many materials, he didn’t have the money to do it. Hence, he had to think of a way to weaken or eliminate the mannequin.

If he couldn’t do it, the entire neighborhood would have to be given up.

He had done what he could. Although Chen Chuan didn’t mind helping others when he could, he wouldn’t continue to do so at his own expense.

Chen Chuan packed up and left the backyard. He picked up Brother Chong’s corpse and returned to the perimeter of the run-down neighborhood.

When the residents sensed that the uncomfortable feeling had disappeared, they rushed back into their shacks. One of the youngsters passed Chen Chuan a cheap bottle of water as he ran by.

Chen Chuan didn’t scoff at the offering and took it with a word of thanks.

Qi Gao was sitting in the SUV and dozing off. There were a few times when he wanted to smoke to give himself a boost of energy, but ever since he had his daughter, he quit smoking. When he saw Chen Chuan walking over with Brother Chong’s corpse, he cried out in surprise, “Brother Chong? Who did this?”

Chen Chuan set the corpse down and said, “Someone must have come here after we left. They killed Xiao Man, and what happened next was a direct result.”

“Fuck them!” Qi Gao cursed.

“The ritual I set will last for at most two days. It’ll be difficult for me to get rid of this problem entirely, but I can restrain its effects to a smaller area and weaken them. To do that, I need to find the murderer and kill him.

“But all the people in the area of effect are either unconscious or dead. I need to find someone who was around when the murder happened and get their testimony.”

Qi Gao cast a glance at Brother Chong’s corpse and offered, “I know someone who might be able to get answers from Brother Chong’s implanted Realm Pass.”

“Is the person you know a hacker?” Chen Chuan asked.

Qi Gao nodded.

Resonators were also known as hackers. Through unique brain and neural implants, they could interfere with and destroy the information exchange between people’s Realm Passes and the domain chains around them.

The good ones could even steal information from their target’s Realm Passes and send false signals to their implants, causing them to make wrong judgments that lead to wrong reactions.

In the beginning, the government and companies trained such people to steal their competitors’ information, but as the technical know-how was passed down to the grassroots, more resonators appeared, and now, they were a common sight in Central City. Many organizations hired resonators in order to prevent their information from being stolen and corrupted.

While Chen Chuan was reading the news, he was warned not to readily connect with strangers in order to prevent resonators from stealing his information and damaging his Realm Pass.

“Are you confident he can do it?” he asked.

“I think so,” Qi Gao answered.

“Let’s give it a try, then,” Chen Chuan decided.

Qi Gao nodded. “Let me just contact him.”

He pressed down on a spot on his neck. One of his eyes flashed orange. After a while, he said, “He’s available. Should we go over now?”

“Let’s go, then,” Chen Chuan said.

They immediately got into the SUV and left the place. Soon, they got on the main road. After driving for more than an hour, they arrived at the foot of a high-class apartment complex.

Qi Gao contacted the resonator, and they went through a strict check from the security guards before entering the apartment and riding the elevator to the seventh floor. When they arrived at the apartment, the door opened from within.

The one who opened the door was a portly man with slightly wavy hair. He had a noticeable double chin, and he held a warm drink that let out a sweet-smelling aroma. When he saw them, he gave them a friendly wave.

“This is Wu Bei. He’s around your age and works as the resonator at my company. He’s a really good guy, kind-hearted, and always ready to help anyone in trouble,” Qi Gao made the introductions.

Wu Bei felt shy from all the praise and shifted to the side as he beckoned them in. “Come on in.”

They went in. Knowing that they were pressed for time, Qi Gao didn’t waste any time on pleasantries and went straight to business by telling Wu Bei about the situation.

“Did you bring the corpse over?” Wu Bei whispered.

“He’s in my SUV,” Qi Gao said.

“Alright. Let me see.”

Wu Bei shut his eyes, and Chen Chuan noticed his neck, the back of his head, and area under his skin begin to glow faintly. The light probably came from the implants beneath his implanted skin.

“Urk...”

After checking whatever it was he was looking for, he suddenly covered his neck. His face turned red, as if he couldn’t catch his breath, and he swayed.

Chen Chuan grabbed his arm and steadied him, easily keeping his 150-kilogram frame upright.

Wu Bei gasped for breath and took some time to calm down. He gave Chen Chuan a grateful look before saying, “Let me just send the memories to you...”

Qi Gao immediately said, “I don’t need—”

Before he could finish speaking, incredibly shocking scenes charged into his brain through his implanted Realm Pass.

He found “himself” sitting in the shack while talking to Xiao Man. Snatches of phrases like “your brother,” “those bottom-feeding hunters,” “organ trafficking,” and others reached his ears.

Then, the door was kicked open. A ruthless-looking man barged in, so “he” shoved Xiao Man away before engaging the man in a fight. They exchanged blow for blow in the beginning. Even if the man had a saber, “he” blocked the attacks with his implanted arm. Xiao Man also found a chance to fire at the man, but he missed.

Soon, “his” arm stiffened. “His” muscles tensed up, and “he” couldn’t move the arm anymore. It ended up causing “him” to lunge forward a little.

The saber thrust into “his” stomach, and the man twisted it. Once he pulled it out, he cut “his” neck, and “he” instantly felt a chill in that area.

“He” grabbed the saber while collapsing. As “his” consciousness faded away, “he” heard gunshots.

Then, everything faded to darkness.

Qi Gao’s face was a little pale. Wu Bei hadn’t sent just images, but transferred Brother Chong’s dying memories. Brother Chong’s emotions and pain all crashed into him, forcing Qi Gao to relive his murder.

He gasped for breath and planted his hands on his knees for support. Once he finally composed himself, he glared at Wu Bei.

Knowing that he was in the wrong, Wu Bei scratched his head in embarrassment. “Sorry, Uncle Qi. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

He turned to Chen Chuan. In comparison, Chen Chuan remained calm, as if he wasn’t affected at all. Wu Bei’s eyes widened in shock. “Didn’t you see it, Chen Chuan?”

“I did. Can you find out who the murderer is?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Sure can. Hang on,” Wu Bei answered.

Even if the man was a citizen, as long as he knew what he looked like, he could find his information through the government’s passive biosentient entity.

Soon, he said, “Found it. He’s Bo Chen, an agent.”

He then located a car through the exchange of information between his biofield and another person’s. “Lang Teng, citizen and an agent. There’s one more... Huh?”

He suddenly tilted his head, and the light under his skin flickered before he said fearfully, “Thank goodness... The last person wiped out their biofield. I wanted to check, but I nearly came into contact with the reactive domain feedback they left behind and was nearly discovered. Whoever did it should be a resonator too.”

“They’re agents? Which company do they belong to?” Chen Chuan asked.

“They’re not from a company, but an agent group called Gold Prawn.”

After hearing the name, Qi Gao’s expression changed, and he grumbled, “I should have known.”

“Do you know them?” Chen Chuan looked over.

“Remember me telling you about a group that specializes in anomalous-event missions? It’s them. But this is too much of a coincidence. Something must have led to their murder.”

He pondered it and checked his Realm Pass, only to find that the mission was listed as completed. He then scrolled up to check its previous status, which was canceled, with the reason being that the mission was completed, along with a request for the deposit to be returned.

“No wonder...” Qi Gao shook his head. “I told them not to request the deposit back, because it’ll only attract trouble. Once they asked for it, the deposit would be frozen for a day while awaiting confirmation. The next day, the person who posted the mission could reclaim the deposit, aside from the platform’s processing fee.”

His voice became laced with disgust at this point. “Those guys in Gold Prawn have no integrity. Once an anomalous-event mission is posted on the platform, they see its reward as their money. Things would have been fine if Brother Chong hadn’t canceled the mission, but once he did, it caught their attention.”

Chen Chuan mulled over this. This explained how this matter would have caught Gold Prawn’s attention and why they would have sent an agent to kill Xiao Man.

They simply went to the run-down neighborhood to kill someone. Brother Chong had been unfortunate enough to be with Xiao Man at the time, which was why he was killed too.

It looked like Chen Chuan would have to confront Gold Prawn next.

“Thank you, Wu Bei,” he said to the resonator.

“You’re welcome.”

“Sorry for bothering you. We’ll be leaving now. Let’s go, Mr. Qi,” Chen Chuan said.

Wu Bei seemed like he had something to say, but in the end, he just scratched his head and said nothing. Instead, he escorted them out.

Once they were outside, Qi Gao asked, “What are we going to do now?”

Chen Chuan smoothed out his collar and walked faster. “You should head home, Mr. Qi. I need to kill the one who murdered Xiao Man.”

“But then you’ll end up fighting their entire group. They’ll definitely work together against you, and those guys aren’t weak. They’re all martial artists, and they even have guns!” Qi Gao warned him in a panic while rushing after him.

Chen Chuan stopped for a moment to turn his head around.

“I’ll just kill them all then,” he said calmly and continued onward.