Chapter 194

Chapter 194: The Dark Boundless Realm Part 49

Kui Xin originally sat; she suddenly stood up, startling the plastic surgeon.

He raised his hands over his head, scared half to death. “What do you want!”

“I just remembered something important and need to take care of it,” Kui Xin said calmly. “You guys continue, I’ll be leaving first.”

She pushed the door open and her figure vanished into the pitch-black corridor.

“Blimey, that scared me! I thought I ran into another mad guest again. The probability of encountering someone with mental issues while working here is high, they often get violent on a whim.” The plastic surgeon said.

“Come on, doctor,” He Kangshi’s voice was muffled. “You’ve only peeled off half my face, and this anesthetic sure is strong…”

Standing on the street covered in night’s darkness, Kui Xin took a deep breath.

Night brought cooler temperatures and fewer pedestrians. Her breath came out white mist and her hands stiffened slightly from the cold. But the sudden information she received revitalized her blood from her toes to fingertips, and finally into her cheeks; this surge of blood made her no longer feel the chill.

“It’s too fast… too fast,” she muttered to herself.

She hadn’t prepared fully yet. Yet the Resistance had come for her very swiftly.

She had just left the Investigation Bureau last week, the Shadowless was just getting started, and she hadn’t found suitable subordinates yet. Yesterday, she responded to the Popov Clan, provoking public opinion. She had been so pressed for time—each moment, every second, was used and not wasted.

Kui Xin calculated the dates. She faked her own death on August 18th; today was August 25th… just one week. It had only been one week since the Resistance found her.

Their operations were indeed effective, showing great determination in eliminating traitors. They could find her so quickly probably because of the mental coordinates in her brain.

“Should we hide?” Augus asked. “Leaving White Whale City in time would be feasible. With your spatial vortex, nobody can catch you if you don’t want them to.”

Kui Xin replied, “No hiding.”

“I knew you wouldn’t hide,” Augus said. “So, did you think through how to kill your enemy?”

Kui Xin reflected and organized her thoughts: First, confirm certain matters.

One, their purpose for coming here.

They had arrived, but Kui Xin couldn’t be sure by reading minds. She couldn’t definitively say whether they were here for her or if they had some other business in White Whale City. Clarification of their aim was essential. Only then could Kui Xin devise a plan of action.

Second, determine whether the Resistance has a definite way of perceiving mental coordinates.

If they did have such a method, Kui Xin needed to ascertain the third thing—determine the range of their perception.

Fourth, investigate the personnel composition of the Resistance.

These matters were critical to her. She feared her mental coordinates might act as a locator. If she stayed too long at any place, the Resistance would converge upon her as if they smelled her scent—the hunter after the prey.

Enumerating the matters needing confirmation, Kui Xin quickly realized how to check this, albeit at a risk.

She hurriedly walked to a hidden spot and opened a spatial vortex to enter it.

The location was a dark alley near Ye Fei’s casino. Standing in the alley, she could look up and see the brightly lit buildings nearby.

Entering shadow transition mode, black fog swirled around the corners.

She stayed alert, waiting.

Her only lure was herself, and the only test subject was herself as well. Hence, she could only approach the Resistance members’ current location, to see if they would detect her mental coordinates upon close inspection.

While hiding in the dark alley, Kui Xin used data manipulation to connect to the security cameras inside the office, observing the two Resistance members in real-time.

She recognized one of them as her acquaintance, Ambereye. As for the other, it was a face she didn’t know.

“Do the facial recognition results show anything?” Kui Xin asked. “Who is that person next to Ambereye?”

“An homeless person from Midnight District who served three months for destroying public property,” Augus replied. “Seems like a regular joe, but to keep company with a Resistance member, he must be someone to be reckoned with. His destitute appearance might just be a disguise.”

Kui Xin immediately judged, “That’s the Phantom, quite possibly him.”

“Phantom?” Augus asked.

“The person who recruited Annie Schalit. He seemed adept at possessing people, hence his codename Phantom. He can possess others.” Kui Xin explained.

“I get the sense this is a weird enemy,” Augus said. “Do you worry that Ambereye will detect your mental fluctuations? Psychic abilities are hard to guard against.”

“After reviewing Ambereye’s data at Mechanized Dawn, though he has general extraordinary capabilities with considerable power and potential, they usually only affect individual targets, not within a range.” Kui Xin pondered. “Unless over these two weeks, he significantly enhanced his abilities.”

In Ye Fei’s office, Valeri lay unconscious on the floor, along with his former assistant.

“How’s it coming?” Phantom asked. “Can you lift his mental control?”

“No, whoever exercised supernatural abilities to control these two must be higher on the psychic scale than me,” Ambereye replied.

“Hmm, got a problem here.” Phantom said. “An A-class psychic ability user targeting the same prize as us?”

Why would an A-class psychic ability user do this? And who stands behind this ability-wielder?

Ambereye roamed the room, checking the private rooms and found a barely noticeable bloodstain under the coffee table eventually. He collected the sample, scanned it, and uploaded it.

“The blood belongs to Ye Fei. The blood spray suggests significant bleeding. Freshly shed, likely not older than 18 hours.”

“Our ‘Ye Fei’ lying here isn’t injured,” Phantom pondered. “He has a fraternal twin, identical, brother.”

Ambereye bent down to scan the iris beneath Valeri and after the result popped up, his eyebrows twitched ever so slightly, “He’s Valeri, not Ye Fei.”

“Things just got more complicated.” Phantom said. “Where’s Ye Fei? Kidnapped?”

He tried initiating the smart AI in the office but received a rejection message.

“Not authorized,” it read.

Phantom turned slowly, his gaze fixed on the window frame for a moment before breaking into laughter.

He approached, extracting a tiny pinhole camera from the screw hole at the corner of the window frame.

“Not bad, almost blended with the screws,” Phantom broke the camera. “We should find more, there’s bound to be more hiding somewhere.”

They searched through the office, using various instruments. At length, beneath a book’s spine, behind the desk’s alarm button, and even within the ceiling’s automatic fire extinguisher, they discovered more concealed cameras and bugging devices.

He pulled out a vintage fountain pen from a pen holder, clicking the cap to eject a microscopic listening device from the barrel.

Silence enveloped his expression.

Phantom opened each pen’s cap, stomped on the broken pen bodies, only to find each one hiding listening devices. He examined the bronze pen holder set with a green gemstone, discovering the seemingly natural stone was also a camera, one equipped with high-tech defenses against scanning.

Phantom seldom showed shock.

He thought they were entering an office; instead, they entered what felt like a live broadcast studio, where cameras and listening devices continually sprung out, embedded into the walls, floor, and everywhere.

“Since entering this room, all our actions and communications were exposed.” Amber solemnly declared. “Maybe the kidnapper of Ye Fei is watching us right now. We need to relocate immediately, the enemy is hidden, and we’re not safe.”

“There are still things unexplored, let’s go, Amber,” Phantom surveyed the office, turning to leave.

Encountering bodyguards in the hallway, Phantom instructed Amber to breach their minds, to understand what happened yesterday.

They couldn’t manipulate the office’s smart AI. Otherwise, viewing surveillance footage would have proven easier.

Amber retrieved the required memories from the guards’ brains in quick succession.

“From their recollection, Valeri came and went alone yesterday,” Amber reported.

“So the event occurred perhaps yesterday, a psychic slipped undetected. Controlled this gambling house, substituting the owner with his identical brother,” Phantom touched his chin. “Possibly the psychic chose Valeri over Ye Fei due to a protective barrier in Ye Fei’s mind. So, what we need to confirm is who this psychic is, and also see if he has accomplices.”

After a brief pause, Amber added, “Might be related to Mechanized Dawn. They would have both the means and the method. The setup of that many listening devices and cameras resembles the tactics of Mechanized Dawn.”

“Not a possibility to rule out,” Phantom whispered.

They stepped out of the casino, Phantom pulled out a cigar from a homeless man’s tattered pocket and lit it. “Been a while. Forgot the taste.”

“We need to locate Ye Fei,” amber mused, “that mental coordinates…”

“Already told you, we can only determine the general direction of the mental coordinates holder. Further confirmation requires proximity.”

Phantom paused, holding the cigar between his fingers. His eyes froze for a second then broke into a joyful smile which gradually spread across his face; his pupils dilated making his expression both bizarre and excited.

“Amber…” Phantom smiled, “looks like we have old acquaintances around.”