Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 394: No More Hidden Dangers

Qing Xing didn’t genuinely suspect anyone of deliberately creating accidents and framing him.

In the eyes of a master of fate, he knew very well that the Forbidden Artifact he possessed was unique in this world.

Just as no two leaves in the world are exactly alike, the functions of Forbidden Artifacts have never been duplicated.

Even among Metahumans of the same Force field type, the extracted Forbidden Artifacts will have significant differences.

Therefore, in Qing Xing’s view, no one should be able to create such meticulously crafted accidents.

Of course, Qing Xing’s thoughts were correct. Even Qing Chen couldn’t perfectly replicate those accidents that were intricately linked yet left no trace.

The accidents he created all had clues, which meant there were flaws that could be discovered.

But the Forbidden Artifact ACE-005 Da Fu filled this flaw for him, allowing him to appear in any form.

If someone with ulterior motives were to investigate, they would find that the person who created each accident was completely different.

All Qing Chen could do was to create a reasonably passable accident and incite the Shadow Candidates’ hostility towards Qing Xing.

That was enough.

The biggest weakness of Qing Chen’s manufactured accidents was that he couldn’t guarantee success every time; he couldn’t calculate everything.

In the process of an accident, any variable could lead to his failure.

But the effect of the Forbidden Artifact was different; it was the rules twisting fate.

And Qing Xing’s biggest weakness was that people guessed his lucky aura came from the Forbidden Artifact. If it weren’t used so frequently, this Forbidden Artifact would be incredibly terrifying.

At this moment, Qing Wu hung up the phone.

He was covered in dust, looking like a terracotta warrior, his Face^[-] smeared with grime.

Just now, Qing Chen, disguised as a high-altitude window cleaner, was working when Qing Wu passed by below. Qing Chen, pretending to lose his grip on the bucket, sent the bucket directly crashing towards Qing Wu’s head.

Qing Wu was a Metahuman, and a skilled one at that.

So, the moment the bucket fell, he noticed it and dodged with lightning-fast reflexes.

However, just as Qing Wu dodged, he happened to bump into a pedestrian who was looking down at their phone.

The pedestrian stumbled to the right, accidentally knocking over a hotel signpost beside the road.

The tall signpost tilted precariously towards the road. A dump truck passing by, in an attempt to avoid it, swerved sharply, and the mud and sand in the truck, due to inertia, flung outwards, showering Qing Wu from head to toe.

Actually, there was no real danger; it just made Qing Wu look rather disheveled.

This was a very clumsy accident, but as long as it was an accident, it served its purpose.

Qing Chen, who was working high above, quickly descended from the rope and landed on the ground. Having witnessed Qing Wu making a threatening phone call to Qing Xing with his own eyes, he chuckled inwardly, barely suppressing his laughter, and comforted Qing Wu: “Sir, are you alright? I accidentally dropped something just now.”

Qing Wu glanced at Qing Chen and said coldly, “Forget it, it’s none of your business. Someone is trying to set me up.”

Qing Chen was taken aback: “Ah? Set you up? I accidentally dropped the bucket. I didn’t mean to set you up.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Qing Wu asked, “Someone deliberately caused you to accidentally drop the bucket.”

Qing Chen thought to himself that Qing Wu was quite reasonable. After attributing the blame to Qing Xing, he didn’t make things difficult for the pedestrian.

He said thoughtfully, “No wonder I felt something was off about that bucket today. But if someone was trying to set you up, that’s going too far!”

“Heh,” Qing Wu sneered, “I’ll twist his head off sooner or later.”

Perhaps neither Qing Xing nor Qing Wu expected that the perpetrator of this accident not only didn’t leave but also stayed to stir up trouble.

However, Qing Wu was a tough guy. After the accident, the first thing he did wasn’t brush off the dust but to make a threatening phone call to Qing Xing…

Qing Chen looked at Qing Wu and said, “Shouldn’t you clean off the dust first?”

Qing Wu shook his head: “It’s fine. You go about your business. Be more careful next time.”

It has to be said that this was Qing Chen’s first interaction with Qing Wu, and he actually had a pretty good impression of this Shadow Candidate.

Ordinarily, even if someone knew they were being framed, they would be somewhat resentful towards bystanders, but Qing Wu didn’t do that.

This made him feel somewhat guilty towards Qing Wu, and he decided that if he were to arrange another accident next time, he should target Qing Wen instead.

Qing Chen didn’t leave. He diligently finished cleaning the windows before going to the building’s restroom, retrieving the clothes he had sealed and stored in the toilet cistern and changing into them.

By the time he left the building, he had nothing to do with the previous accident.

Qing Chen called Yan Chunmi, only to hear the woman say kindly, “Mom, I won’t be home for dinner tonight. I’m with Liu Yuan right now, and I’ll be back before 9.”

Qing Chen frowned. Liu Yuan was a top-tier star in the Federation and the most beloved character in the holographic virtual life movie. Some people said that with Liu Yuan in the movie, box office success was guaranteed.

Yan Chunmi said she would be back before 9, meaning she wouldn’t delay tonight’s trade of ‘Shendai Jingbian’ with Koshima; she would arrive on time.

At this time, seeing that Qing Chen wasn’t speaking, Yan Chunmi said, “Um, Mom, what’s up? I’m listening.”

Qing Chen knew this was a hint that Liu Yuan couldn’t hear their conversation: “Investigate Qing Xing’s every move. I want to know what he was doing every time an accident happened, and what items he carried each time he went out. Focus on the items.”

Yan Chunmi: “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll get on it right away.”

The host of a Forbidden Artifact can carry it with them or choose not to.

For example, on the day Qing Yi went to the Intelligence Bureau’s third division to apprehend someone, the person was taken away in the afternoon, but Qing Chen’s accident happened a few hours later.

For example, according to the information Yan Chunmi had previously provided, when Qing Yi’s teacher had an accident, Qing Xing was swimming in the family’s ginkgo garden, carrying nothing.

Suppose the other party really got a notebook, then the other party would write in the afternoon: This evening, Qing Chen will have a car accident at the intersection.

Of course, this is just speculation; in fact, writing fate must be much more complex.

Qing Chen suspected that the other party wouldn’t always carry the Forbidden Artifact, and no one had ever seen Qing Xing often carrying the same notebook.

According to his deduction, Qing Xing should know the importance of the Forbidden Artifact, knowing that among all the Forbidden Artifacts, it’s the most valued one, easily attracting robbery.

Therefore, he had been carefully guarding it, never letting anyone know what the Forbidden Artifact was or where it was.

This increased the difficulty for Qing Chen to seize the Forbidden Artifact. He had to know what the Forbidden Artifact was and where it was to have a chance of stealing it.

Otherwise, even if he killed Qing Xing, the Forbidden Artifact might very well be hidden by the other party and remain sealed.

Qing Chen knew that this attempt to seize the Forbidden Artifact was extremely difficult because even if he succeeded, he didn’t want others to know that he had it.

Otherwise, he would be like Qing Xing now, not only guarded by everyone, but even if someone had a minor accident, they would blame him.

At this time, Yan Chunmi also realized a problem: their new boss must have his eyes set on the Forbidden Artifact in Qing Xing’s hands.

Furthermore, she realized another problem: if this Forbidden Artifact, capable of writing fate, fell into the hands of their new boss, many people would suffer.

However, quite a few people have been eyeing the Forbidden Artifact in Qing Xing’s hands over the years, and it seems that no one has found where Qing Xing hid it.

…

…

In a barbecue restaurant in District 5, Qing Chen ate synthetic meat with a lack of appetite.

It has to be said that he sometimes felt quite sorry for the Inner World’s residents. With the Inner World’s technological level, they could clearly make the synthetic meat better, yet in fact, Outer World’s artificial meat was better than this stuff.

This showed that when the Conglomerate produced these things, they had completely abandoned the quality assurance of taste and texture; they only needed to ensure that people could ingest the necessary nutrients after eating.

Everything else was unimportant.

Qing Chen turned his head to look at the next table, but he found that the people at the next table had added a lot of seasonings to their grilled meat and were eating it with relish.

He looked around again. In this small barbecue restaurant, more than half of the people were eating absentmindedly, occasionally looking out of the window.

Outside, many people disguised as pedestrians gathered in this area.

This was the location Qing Chen had chosen for the exchange. In half an hour, he would exchange Shendai Jingbian with Koshima’s intelligence personnel here.

As the transaction time approached, countless intelligence personnel were hidden throughout the entire street, the currents of the underworld churning beneath the surface.

Qing Chen knew that people from the Shendai Family were also here.

This transaction was confidential. Shendai didn’t know what they were going to exchange, but they guessed that Koshima must have presented an important missing person from the Shendai Family.

Just then, a few young people walked in from outside.

In an instant, dozens of eyes in the barbecue restaurant turned to look, scrutinizing them from head to toe.

Qing Chen was stunned. He didn’t expect these people to be acquaintances.

Sun Chuci, Tuanzi, and their teammates from the wilderness hunting team.

Sun Chuci had sharp eyes and saw Qing Chen sitting alone at a table eating barbecue as soon as he entered the restaurant.

“Ah!” Tuanzi exclaimed in surprise, “Qing Chen, what are you doing here! What a coincidence!”

The next second, dozens of people in the barbecue restaurant stood up simultaneously, implicitly protecting Qing Chen.

Sun Chuci and the others were shocked. Dozens of people looked at them solemnly, their hands reaching under their jackets, ready to draw their guns at any moment.

They looked fearfully at Qing Chen, who was sitting alone at the table. The young man remained calm and composed, a stark contrast to the tense atmosphere around him.

Against the backdrop of those standing intelligence personnel, it was as if a spotlight suddenly shone on Qing Chen in the darkness of the stage, making the boy sitting at the table appear like the main character.

He’s certainly a big shot, Sun Chuci thought to himself. Even eating barbecue requires bringing so many people?!

Sun Chuci subconsciously wanted to pull Tuanzi and the others away. He keenly sensed that the other party’s presence here with so many people meant that danger was about to strike.

“Come and sit. I have more barbecue than I can eat,” Qing Chen said with a smile, then said to the Intelligence Bureau One, Section 7 agents around him, “Don’t be nervous; they’re my friends.”

After saying that, he looked back at the trembling shop owner and boss in the corner, comforting them, “We’ll pay for everything. We’ll leave after we’re done, and we won’t break your tables and chairs.”

The boss, seeing his kind demeanor and handsome appearance, gradually calmed down.

He then realized that there weren’t any real customers in his shop. All the tables were occupied by the people the young man brought with him.

The boss said timidly, “I’ll add some meat for you. It’s on the house.”

Qing Chen smiled, “No need. We have money.”

At this time, Tuanzi whispered to Sun Chuci, “Senior, shall we leave? I’m a little scared.”

“Don’t be afraid. I think we’re fine,” Sun Chuci said, after a brief moment of panic, immediately calming down, and continued walking into the shop.

Qing Hua gave a gesture, and Yang Xuyang, along with two agents, frisked Sun Chuci and the others, and female agents were specially assigned to frisk Tuanzi and the others.

Qing Chen didn’t stop them. Tonight’s matter was too important; it’s better to be cautious.

Qing Chen said with a smile, “You just greeted me, and letting you leave now might allow people with ulterior motives to capture you as hostages, so just relax and eat here; it’s on me. You can leave safely after I’m done.”

“Okay, thanks,” Sun Chuci nodded.

Qing Chen curiously asked, “How have you been doing after returning to City 10?”

Sun Chuci responded, “With the bounty you gave us before, we rented a new apartment and replaced some weapons and equipment. That money should be enough for us to last until after the Spring Festival. We plan to go to the wilderness again then.”

Eighty-five thousand dollars is neither much nor little; seven people should be able to get through the winter, but when it comes to replacing weapons and equipment, they certainly won’t be able to get good ones.

Qing Chen didn’t say much. Dealing with the Zheng City Time Traveler should be gradual. Being too enthusiastic might make the other party suspicious of his ulterior motives.

At this time, Qing Zhun pushed open the door of the barbecue restaurant and walked in, smiling, “Boss, Koshima’s people are here. Let’s start the transaction?”

Qing Chen glanced at Qing Zhun and directly called Shadow.

The phone connected, and a familiar voice came from the other end, lazily saying, “Ready?”

Qing Chen thoughtfully looked at Qing Zhun again and said, “Yeah, Koshima’s people have arrived. Are you ready on your end?”

“I’m ready on my end, but be careful yourself. Make sure nothing goes wrong. After all, when things get chaotic, bullets don’t have eyes,” Shadow said.

“Got it,” Qing Chen said before getting up.

Before leaving, he looked at Qing Zhun: “Is the other side ready?”

Qing Zhun smiled, “Ready.”

As he spoke, he suddenly pulled out a pistol with a silencer, aimed at two agents beside Qing Chen, and pulled the trigger.

Before the two agents could react, their eyes rolled back and they fell to the ground.

Sun Chuci and the others were dumbfounded. How could he shoot and kill people without a word?!

Tuanzi, who had been picking up meat, quickly put the meat slices back on the grill in fright.

Qing Zhun knew Qing Chen didn’t want to kill, so he explained, “Tonight’s matter is important, and we don’t have time to arrest them, right? It’s cumbersome to bring them along.”

“I can distinguish between priorities. Are there any more?” Qing Chen shook his head and asked.

Qing Zhun thought for a moment: “I think not.”

“Out of 96 agents, 5 were actually traitors. Qing Zhun, you are the acting Supervisor in charge of internal discipline. Don’t let this happen again. After tonight, there should be no more hidden dangers within Section 7,” Qing Chen said without looking back as he walked out of the barbecue restaurant.

Qing Zhun smiled, “Yes, Boss!”

Dozens of agents followed closely behind Qing Chen.

In just half a minute, the barbecue restaurant was emptied, becoming cold and quiet.

Sun Chuci put down his chopsticks, silently looked at the two corpses on the ground, then looked out the window, watching the young man walk into the dazzling neon lights outside.

“Senior, what do you think he does?” Tuanzi asked cautiously.

“I don’t know. He must be a big shot in the Conglomerate. Let’s stay here and absolutely don’t go out,” Sun Chuci said, “This kind of person is dangerous. I’m not sure if I should try to get close to him.”

A teammate beside him thought for a moment and said, “But I think he’s a good person…”

…

…

At the same time, in the secret prison of Intelligence Bureau One, the killer who had been arrested for attacking Shendai’s Fengqing Street suddenly opened his eyes.

He walked to the narrow iron door of the secret prison and gently pushed it open.

For some reason, the door, which should have been tightly locked, was already open.

The secret prison was empty, and the people who should have been guarding here were nowhere to be found.

The killer impassively entered the elevator code. He even knew the elevator code for the secret prison.

The elevator arrived, and he took it to the third floor.

At this time, Intelligence Bureau One, Section 7 was empty, and all the lights were off.

He entered the code again, went to the third-floor restroom, opened the water tank, took out a sealed bag, and then took out a set of eavesdropping equipment.

The killer then walked towards the Supervisor’s office.

However, as soon as he opened the door and walked inside, he almost tripped over something.

Before the killer could react, the lights in the office turned on, and four agents were already standing there with their guns drawn.

The next second, four pistols fired simultaneously, riddling the killer with bullets.

Tonight, Qing Chen was going to take care of everything he needed to while trading Shendai Jingbian.

Before this, Qing Zhun had been saying that there were still traitors who hadn’t been caught, but they were difficult to find and needed to be lured out.

Only tonight did Qing Zhun discover some clues.

The reason Qing Zhun hadn’t found these two traitors before was that they weren’t working for Shendai, the Li Clan, the Chen Family, or Koshima. They were working for the Qing Family’s main branch.

From the broader perspective of the Conglomerate family, these two agents were also serving the Qing Family, which is why Qing Zhun didn’t find them in the first place.

But now, for Intelligence Bureau One, Section 7, the agents’ loyalty could only serve one person.