Free Web NovelChapter 102: Chapter 97: Shi Jingyi’s Contact
Day seven of the Blood Plague Virus’s spread.
Guan Tong sat at his desk. He had just finished memorizing human acupoints and was now using his laptop to check for the latest official updates online.
Seven days had passed, and the government had not released any information regarding "antibodies," "infection awareness," "serum," or anything of the sort.
Guan Tong refused to believe that, with the government’s resources, they wouldn’t have discovered the existence of "adapters" after a week. Forget a week—they should have been able to find them in a single day.
Therefore, the lack of news meant they had actively chosen to keep it secret.
This was within his expectations, but what made him curious was the complete lack of related discussions online.
He tried searching for some keywords. This time, unlike when he had searched for Sober Mint Candy and gotten "no results," he got plenty of results, but they were almost all irrelevant.
’They couldn’t have upgraded their information-blocking technology, could they...?’
Guan Tong thought it was entirely possible. If so, even if information leaked, it would be contained to small, offline circles of acquaintances, unable to spread thousands or tens of thousands of times faster due to the amplifying nature of the internet.
BZZZ... BZZZ...
Just then, his phone vibrated on the desk. Guan Tong picked it up and saw, as expected, that it was a call from Xu Xiaotian.
These days, Xu Xiaotian was the only person who ever called him. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"Hello?"
"Tong, you’re alive!"
"...Gee, thanks."
Xu Xiaotian laughed awkwardly. "No, it’s just... this Rule is so insane. The casualties over here in Yong’an are terrifying. So, you know, I was worried about you!"
"With so many people in Yong’an, dealing with this Rule must be a huge hassle."
"Yeah, they started a mass evacuation on the first day, and it’s still ongoing."
"How’s your academy doing?" Guan Tong asked.
"We’re okay! The government really values the academy’s students. They shipped in tons of protective gear right after the Rule was announced—a full set for every student."
"That’s pretty good."
"Yeah. And the academy is full of hidden masters, you wouldn’t believe it, Tong. There’s this one person whose Psychic Power item is a disinfectant spray! It’s the perfect counter to this Rule’s virus! The only problem is the effective range is a bit small, about the size of a single room, so it can’t fit many people."
"That’s still something. If you squeeze, you can still fit a few dozen people in one room."
"Exactly. But that guy locked his dorm room door on the very first day and won’t let anyone in... Anyway, forget that. Tong, there’s something I wanted to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Do you happen to know Lecturer Shi Jingyi, the one who teaches the ’Psychic Power Flow’ course?"
Guan Tong was surprised. "What?"
Xu Xiaotian said, "I was asking her about a course-related question, and somehow we got on the topic of Psychic Power items. I mentioned my idea for developing multi-effect Instant Noodles, and that you were the one who inspired me, Tong. Then she said she also knew a Guan Tong, also in Yunhua, and asked if you were the same person."
"...Yeah, I have met her once."
"Really? I thought it was just a coincidence!" Xu Xiaotian was astounded. "It’s a small world. Oh, and she also said if it was the same person, she’d like your contact info. Should I give it to her?"
’She wants my contact info?’
Guan Tong wasn’t sure if Shi Jingyi needed him for something, but considering they had worked well together fighting side-by-side last time, he agreed. "Go ahead."
"Okay, I’ll send her a message later."
Not even ten minutes after finishing his chat with Xu Xiaotian, Guan Tong’s phone rang again.
The caller ID showed an unknown number. Guan Tong answered.
"Guan Tong?"
A clear, bright voice came from the receiver. It was Shi Jingyi.
"Speaking."
"Haha, I can’t believe it’s really the same person," Shi Jingyi laughed. "It seems we’re quite fated to meet, aren’t we?"
"Maybe," Guan Tong said. "Is there something you need from me?"
"Nothing in particular. It’s just that there’s... hmm, it’s not convenient to talk about that matter over the phone, so let’s just leave it."
’Not convenient to talk about over the phone?’
"Are you worried about... the call being monitored?"
"Who knows? It’s possible."
"..."
Guan Tong was a bit confused. Did he and Shi Jingyi share any secrets that needed to be protected from exposure?
’It seems... Wait a minute.’
Guan Tong suddenly realized something, and his breathing grew a little heavier.
Shi Jingyi, on the other end of the line, seemed to hear it. "Looks like you know what I mean. That’s right, it’s about that. But don’t worry, I haven’t mentioned it to anyone else."
"..."
That was it. Guan Tong understood what Shi Jingyi meant.
She probably already knew that he was... Shadow!
After the battle on Holy Grail Island, many of Guan Tong’s abilities had been exposed, including his power to create explosions and manipulate shadows.
And back during the fifth Rule, at the industrial park, Shi Jingyi had personally witnessed Guan Tong bombard the Living Dead with a Silver Hunter No. 3 Bullet. She had also seen him manipulate shadows to eliminate the "Mother Transformer" with an implosion.
Even if she hadn’t realized it at the time, once news of the Holy Grail Island battle spread, she would have certainly connected the dots and, with a high degree of probability, concluded that Guan Tong was "Shadow."
"Still, I really didn’t expect it, hehe," Shi Jingyi said. "You’re a classic case of still waters run deep."
"..."
Guan Tong’s feelings were complicated. He wasn’t particularly worried that Shi Jingyi would leak his identity. Judging from her past actions, she didn’t seem like the type of person who would sell out someone’s secret for personal gain.
It was just that having someone guess his true identity for the first time felt undeniably strange.
"Before we parted ways last time, you said you’d watch my online course. Did you?" Shi Jingyi didn’t dwell on the matter, changing the subject.
"I did," Guan Tong said. "And I’ve been studying it ever since."
"Really? Want me to quiz you?"
"Go ahead."
Shi Jingyi randomly quizzed him on five or six human acupoints. Since Guan Tong hadn’t memorized them all yet, he got three right.
This was enough to surprise Shi Jingyi.
"Looks like you’ve really been putting in the effort. Just by watching the online course, you’re not any worse than the students attending in person."
Guan Tong didn’t feel like mentioning that he was cooped up in his room all day with nothing to do *but* watch online courses.
"In that case, if you have any questions, just call me directly," Shi Jingyi said. "After all, the online course doesn’t exactly have a ’Q&A’ session."
"I can do that? Thanks, then."
"Don’t mention it."
After hanging up, Guan Tong took a deep breath.
He had long known his identity would be discovered one day, but he never expected it to happen so suddenly.
Fortunately, only Shi Jingyi seemed to have guessed so far. Judging by how she deliberately avoided mentioning it over the phone to prevent the call from being monitored, she probably wouldn’t tell anyone else.
But it’s better to be safe than sorry. Guan Tong still had to prepare for the worst-case scenario of his identity being completely exposed.
’As the saying goes, a sly rabbit has three burrows. Besides the shelter, I should find a few more hideouts... I can leave Psychic Power items in those places. If I run into danger, I can use Body Shifting to teleport there and escape.’
’Also... shouldn’t I consider using my advantages to accelerate my own growth, or maybe find a way to mobilize the power of a group for my own benefit?’
Guan Tong casually opened a webpage and stared at it for a while, various ideas forming in his mind.
The core principle was that he could use the internet from his shelter without fear of being tracked.
’Based on this core principle, maybe I could build a website. A site to publish... no, to *sell* high-value information in exchange for large amounts of Sublimation Coins?’
’No, that’s not right. In the world of business, the ones who profit most are always the ’platforms,’ not the merchants.’
’If I just sell information... if I sell it for too high a price, there might not be many customers who can afford it; if I sell it too cheaply, the information becomes commonplace and worthless.’
’But what if I sell an "intermediary service" instead?’
’I could leverage the fact that this website can’t be infiltrated or traced to build an intermediary network for Ascenders to trade information and items, or even post commissions. Then I could take a cut from the transactions. Wouldn’t that be the way to maximize profits?’
Guan Tong felt this was worth a shot.
The reason was simple: people had a need for it. At the very least, Guan Tong himself had this need, and he figured he wasn’t the only one. Many Ascenders who chose to survive alone, and even some small to medium-sized organizations, would have concerns about privacy.
Many people needed to trade items and information, but the end-user market was almost completely monopolized by major organizations and the government. If they traded on a third-party platform, they’d have to worry about their identities being leaked, leading to being tracked and targeted offline.
So, if a dedicated exchange and trading website for Ascenders appeared—one that guaranteed their identities wouldn’t be leaked or traced—it would undoubtedly create a frenzy of use.
"Meow."
Coal Ball hopped onto the desk and lay down on the laptop keyboard. Guan Tong poked its head. "You think it’s a good idea, too?"
Coal Ball started purring, clearly having come over only because the laptop keyboard was warm.
"Whatever, I’ll just build it and see what happens."
Once Guan Tong had an idea, he acted on it. Ignoring Coal Ball’s protesting meows, he picked it up and tossed it onto the bed, then downloaded a website template.
He didn’t know much about web development, but that didn’t matter. In this day and age, there was no shortage of AI tools. Even someone who knew nothing about coding could rely on AI assistance to complete the fool-proof process of building a website with a template.
However, he soon discovered that websites made this way were just a collection of static pages. He still needed a corresponding server to store data. He could use a cloud service provided by another company, but entrusting the data to someone else would obviously defeat the whole purpose of the site.
’If I want to do this website right, I’ll need to get some equipment and put it here in my shelter... That’s definitely not happening during the Blood Plague Rule. I’ll have to figure out a way to get it after this is over.’
