Chapter 554: Lurking and Eruption (Part 2)

Chapter 554 -371: Lurking and Eruption (Part 2)

Just like that, Wu Liangchen had successfully gone undercover.

Two days later, his opportunity finally arrived.

While Wu Liangchen was getting water in the breakroom, a young man in a data center uniform and a blue badge was frowning at the coffee machine. He muttered, “How is it broken again? This damn machine…”

‘An idea struck him.’ Wu Liangchen walked over. “Is the coffee machine giving you trouble? Let me take a look.”

The young man glanced at him, then at the ID badge on his chest, and nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. This thing’s pretty temperamental.”

Wu Liangchen put on a show of inspecting it, fiddling with it for a moment, and just like that, the coffee machine started working again.

Of course, this was no coincidence. Wu Liangchen had secretly used a subtle fluctuation of his Magic to fix a minor loose connection.

“There, it should be fine now,” Wu Liangchen said with a small smile.

“Hey, not bad, man! You really know your stuff!” The young man clapped Wu Liangchen on the shoulder, a smile spreading across his face. “I’m Zhao Xiaofei, from the data center. Without my afternoon coffee, I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“Don’t mention it, it was nothing,” Wu Liangchen said, pushing up his glasses. “I’m Li Ming, from the Technical Maintenance Department. I just transferred here.”

The two made small talk for a while, and with Wu Liangchen deliberately trying to get on his good side, he quickly built a rapport with Zhao Xiaofei.

Over the next few days, Wu Liangchen “happened” to run into Zhao Xiaofei a few more times. Each time, he would provide some perfectly-timed assistance with a small problem or chat about tech topics Zhao Xiaofei was interested in. It was clear that Zhao Xiaofei now considered him a genuine, down-to-earth guy he could talk to.

Finally, on a Friday afternoon, Zhao Xiaofei needed an extra pair of hands for an urgent task—moving a batch of small equipment into the data center. His team had been temporarily reassigned, and just as he was starting to worry, he happened to run into Wu Liangchen, who was “passing by.”

“Brother Li, could you give me a hand?” Zhao Xiaofei’s eyes lit up.

Of course, Wu Liangchen was “honor-bound” to help.

And just like that, pushing a cart full of precision instruments, he followed Zhao Xiaofei and walked openly toward the data center entrance for the very first time.

Security at the data center entrance was even tighter. In addition to the standard identity verification, there was an archway shimmering with an eerie blue light.

“That’s a Magic detection gate,” Zhao Xiaofei explained to Wu Liangchen in a low voice. “It checks for any unauthorized Magic fluctuations or dangerous magical items.”

Wu Liangchen tensed internally, but his expression remained perfectly calm.

He knew this gate was the real test. If Butterfly could monitor the entire city through the network, she certainly wouldn’t be careless about protecting her own lair.

When it was his turn, Wu Liangchen pushed the cart and slowly approached the eerie blue archway.

In that instant, he could clearly feel an invisible field of energy sweep over his entire body, as if trying to see straight through him.

He held his breath, his mind as still as a deep, undisturbed well. He suppressed all of his Magic fluctuations to their absolute limit, even controlling the immense Qi and Blood within him until they were as placid as a pool of stagnant water, revealing not the slightest trace of their power.

His mind went blank, leaving only the persona of Li Ming, the awkward tech supervisor.

Time seemed to slow down, each second stretching into an eternity.

BEEP. “Verification approved.”

The green indicator light above the archway lit up.

Wu Liangchen let out an imperceptible internal sigh of relief and pushed the cart through, his expression unchanged.

Zhao Xiaofei smiled and patted his shoulder, now completely at ease. “Let’s go, Brother Li.”

What greeted him was a vast space filled with countless, densely packed server racks, their indicator lights blinking. Together, they formed a colossal data tower, with all sorts of cables crisscrossing like spiderwebs across the ceiling and under the floor.

The cooling system continuously blasted out ice-cold air to maintain the low temperatures required by the equipment. The entire space was eerily quiet, save for the faint hum of the running machines.

‘This is the Alliance government’s network hub. All the data for the entire city of Zhongjing flows through here.’

A moment later, Zhao Xiaofei had placed the last small server in its designated rack. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he grinned. “Not bad, Brother Li! You look like a desk jockey, but you’re actually pretty quick on your feet!”

Wu Liangchen pushed up the black-framed glasses on his nose. The gaze behind the lenses remained mild and dull, even showing a hint of awkwardness at the compliment.

Zhao Xiaofei grabbed a chilled energy drink and tossed one to Wu Liangchen. “Brother Li, I really owe you one for today. I would’ve been in a real bind by myself.”

Wu Liangchen caught it clumsily, twisted off the cap, and took a token sip. The taste of artificial sweeteners made him frown slightly, but he kept a simple, good-natured smile on his face. “Of course. Xiaofei, if you ever need a hand with anything else, just let me know.”

“Awesome!” Zhao Xiaofei downed his drink in one gulp and clapped Wu Liangchen on the shoulder.

Once all the equipment was installed and calibrated, Zhao Xiaofei led Wu Liangchen out of the data center’s core area. Passing through the eerie blue Magic detection gate again, Wu Liangchen kept his aura completely suppressed, playing the part of the unremarkable Li Ming to perfection.

For the next two days, Wu Liangchen did not rush to enter the data center again. Like any new deputy team lead, he methodically handled the trivial, day-to-day tasks of the Technical Maintenance Department. He fixed a few malfunctioning printers, resolved some network connectivity issues that had been plaguing his colleagues for a long time, and even helped a woman in the adjacent administration department optimize her computer’s startup speed.

Wu Liangchen demonstrated the competence expected of a tech supervisor without standing out too much, perfectly melting into the persona of the quiet and somewhat awkward “Li Ming.”

Finally, he got another chance to enter the data center.

Once again, it was Zhao Xiaofei who led him in, but this time, they were headed for the very depths of the data center.

This area was right next to the data tower, the very heart of the facility.

The minutes ticked by as their work proceeded in an orderly fashion.

But no one noticed that Wu Liangchen’s gaze was constantly sweeping across the top level of the data tower.

Corridors stretched out from there, leading to various other sections.

Suddenly, his eyes caught something out of place.

A figure had appeared at the entrance to one of the top-level corridors.

Even though it was only a profile, with his eyesight, Wu Liangchen could clearly make out the figure’s curvaceous silhouette.

In an instant, Wu Liangchen knew who it was.

Butterfly!

She had finally appeared.

The moment he confirmed her identity, the awkward, mild persona vanished from Wu Liangchen. He was like a beast that had been lying in wait, finally baring its fangs!

‘Move!’

The command wasn’t spoken aloud; it was an explosion in his mind.

The instant the thought flashed through his mind, Wu Liangchen was already in motion!

Pushing off the balls of his feet, he shot forward like an arrow released from its bow, hurtling toward the figure at the corridor entrance on the top level of the data tower!

He moved so fast he left a faint afterimage in his wake. The air itself seemed to tear around his powerful body, letting out a low shriek.

The turn of events was too sudden, too violent!

Zhao Xiaofei, still relaxing now that their work was done, had no idea that the “harmless” Brother Li beside him would suddenly erupt with such a terrifying aura.

By the time he felt the suffocating pressure, he could only turn his head in a daze. All he saw was a blurry back and felt the stinging wind from the slipstream whipping across his face.

At the corridor entrance on the top level of the data tower, Butterfly was leisurely leaning against the railing, gazing down at the server arrays that twinkled below like a Star Sea.

She loved this feeling. It was like a king surveying his domain.

Although the Aegis Group’s attempts to corner him had so far been fruitless, Wu Liangchen had vanished without a trace. In her mind, catching him was only a matter of time, so she wasn’t the least bit worried.

And then… she saw the figure hurtling toward her from below!!!