Chapter 437 - 392: Surging Undercurrents

Chapter 437: Chapter 392: Surging Undercurrents

Thirty minutes after the new rule was announced.

Guan Tong received a private message from the hacker, Mask.

Mask: "I’ve carefully gone through the surveillance data you sent me with specialized software. I found signs of replacement in about ten minutes of footage from half a month ago."

Guan Tong had previously given the surveillance data he’d obtained from the rehabilitation center and medical department to Mask for analysis.

He now placed more trust in an independent third party with no vested interests than in any of the personnel involved.

Now, he finally had the results.

He replied, "So you’re saying someone replaced a segment of the footage?"

Mask: "Yes. The one who did the replacement was very careful. If I hadn’t gotten different professional tools from several colleagues and run multiple analyses, it would have been very difficult to spot. But just because we can see the video was replaced doesn’t mean we can get the original data."

Guan Tong: "Understood."

’Since someone went to the trouble of replacing the video, it’s impossible that they’d leave the original footage in the surveillance system.’

Mask: "I’ve sent you the proof of the replacement."

Guan Tong: "Okay. I’ll send you the final payment."

After receiving the proof, Guan Tong carefully examined the segment of replaced footage that Mask had marked.

The time wasn’t within the few days of Suzuki’s incident, but more than half a month before it.

The video’s content was simply a recording of a hallway with no one passing by.

To the naked eye, it was impossible to spot any sign of replacement; only professional-grade tools could reveal any clues.

’In the original video, the hallway camera must have captured someone entering Suzuki’s room. Could it have been that woman with the short ponytail who signed her name ’Wei Huo’?’

Guan Tong wasn’t sure, but he was certain that replacing surveillance footage wasn’t so easy.

The fact that it took an expert like Mask several days to find the evidence meant the forger not only had the technical skills but also possibly the connections to handle the rehabilitation center.

Guan Tong closed his eyes, and the surveillance feed from his Shadow appeared in his mind.

For the past few days, he had kept a Shadow monitoring the doctors, nurses, and director of the rehabilitation center, but he hadn’t found anything. He hadn’t discovered any of them secretly meeting with anyone.

Regardless, he had to investigate this matter thoroughly. Now that he had proof of the video replacement, he could go to the rehabilitation center again and press the director for an explanation. Perhaps the director knew something.

However, doing so might alert the enemy.

Guan Tong thought for a moment, then decided to first send the information he had to Shangyuan Zi, who was investigating in Sakura Prayer, to keep her in the loop.

...

An hour later, all the buyers received the scheduled intel dispatched by Guan Tong.

Just as Guan Tong had expected, all the buyers had already learned that witnessing the crimson—even indirectly—could affect people.

This was especially true for the Soloma Empire, whose time zone was the polar opposite of North Star’s. When the new rule was announced at nine in the morning in North Star, it was the middle of the night in Soloma.

One could only imagine how many people would be affected when the Soroma People saw Terra Star suddenly turn crimson.

Fortunately, any Soroma People with half a brain who valued their lives weren’t foolish enough to be outside when the rule was announced, so most of them avoided this calamity.

But the number of those who were wandering outside, not taking it seriously, was large enough to serve as a sample size for the Soloma government to draw its conclusions.

It wasn’t just direct sight of the crimson that caused an effect. A regular homeless person, who had only sat at the mouth of an alley and glanced a few times at the crimson reflection in a puddle of dirty water, also quickly descended into madness.

A common thread from the previous rules had emerged once again: compared to Ascenders, ordinary people had far too little Resistance.

During the [Outer Heaven Parasite] rule, ordinary people would quickly go from addicted to severely addicted, turning into Parasites the moment the rule ended. In contrast, some Ascenders with stronger Psychic Power who became addicted have still not fully transformed even to this day.

Now, ordinary people were losing their minds and descending into madness after just a few glances at a crimson reflection in water. This undoubtedly meant the gap between them and Ascenders had widened even further.

The Soloma government, however, didn’t care. The homeless man’s only value was in providing a set of test data for their data department.

What the Soloma government did care about was the "unknown hidden within the Crimson Fear" mentioned in the intel report.

To the higher-ups, that unknown was very important.

Because danger and opportunity coexist... This golden rule of the investment world had already been proven true in several of the past rules.

For example, during the [Silent Moment] rule, killing a Sound Hunter would yield dropped rewards. During the [Foggy Nightmare Beast] rule, venturing deep into the Mist could lead to the discovery of a Fog Gate and the Qimo Star Fragment within...

Now, a similar situation seemed to be happening again. This time, many people wanted to seize the opportunity, to pull chestnuts out of the fire and claim for themselves whatever benefit the "unknown" represented.

Thus, the official departments of every nation immediately prioritized discussions and plans on how to explore this "unknown."

...

「Fahe Country, Central Plaza.」

Previously, a monument to the rebellion against the old King had stood in the center of the plaza. It was composed of various sculptures of Fahe People raising their weapons, serving not only as a memorial but also as a constant reminder to the citizens to bravely resist tyranny.

Now, that monument was long gone. In its place stood a massive black stone stele erected by the Fire Worship Cult.

The stele resembled an Ascender’s Terminal Panel with all the information wiped clean, symbolizing only the unparalleled might of the Fire Thief.

Two figures stood beneath this stele.

One of them had his left eye covered with a black cloth and a red sash tied around his waist. It was Heath, one of the Bishops of the Fire Worship Cult, who had appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the bombing at the Soloma competition.

The person standing beside Heath was, surprisingly, a boy of about thirteen or fourteen, who also wore the red sash symbolizing his rank as a Bishop.

The two of them looked up at the black stele, their eyes filled with the pure light of faith.

"According to the intel our sleeper agents have gathered, the Human Federation has decided to launch a decapitation strike against us. The Pope and we Bishops are all targets," Heath said.

"And we have you to thank for that," the boy chuckled. "Your bombing was a little too effective. How many thousands were killed or injured?"

"That’s not important," Heath said with a serious expression. "And I don’t appreciate jokes, Baike. You should be well aware that the deaths were merely a secondary objective of the bombing."

The boy, Baike, nodded and dropped his smile. "True. The main purpose of the bombing was to allow our people to slip into Soloma unnoticed. Judging by the results, it was a great success."

"In fact, we have infiltrated the key teams of every member state in the Human Federation. Except for one..."

"The teams from the North Star Strategy Research Room. We can’t infiltrate them, right?" Baike said, as if stating the obvious. "We’ve known that for a long time. North Star is different from the other countries. Their background checks are the strictest."

Heath said in a low voice, "And they almost exclusively use their own people. Even if they find a talented newcomer, they put them through a long observation period. That’s why our few infiltration attempts have all ended in failure."

"To be honest, I quite admire the rigorous, pragmatic attitude of most North Star People, as well as their indomitable will. No wonder North Star has managed to maintain such a stable social order, even with the second anniversary of our god’s advent just around the corner."

Baike’s unstinting praise greatly displeased Heath.

"Baike, get one thing straight. The people you’re praising are the enemy!"

"If we want to defeat the enemy, isn’t it perfectly normal to first understand their strengths?"

"Hmph. No matter who they are, there is only one outcome for those who foolishly try to defy a god," Heath said coldly. "An insignificant death."

"Haha. In that case, I’ll leave the North Star people to you, Heath. But speaking of which, shouldn’t our allies be pulling their weight this time? Without us taking the pressure off them, they can only hide in their caves like rats."

"Those ’allies’ you speak of are also our enemies. Not dealing with them is merely a matter of priority."

"Of course I know that—a bunch of walking corpses controlled by spores. How could they possibly compare to us, the devout followers of a god?"

DONG, DONG, DONG.

Just then, three chimes of a bell rang out from the distance.

The two exchanged a look and turned toward the Grand Library.

"The Pope is summoning us," Heath said, taking the first step. "Let’s go."