Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 516: The Painter

Ten days until the countdown to the crossing.

Osaka City Hall, the top-floor conference room.

A conference room of over four hundred square meters, with a long wooden table. However, around the table large enough for dozens, only six young people sat, five men and one woman.

Everyone was dressed in formal attire and remained silent, except for a young man at the end of the table who sat cross-legged, eyes closed in cultivation. He wore an elegant white Japanese hunting attire, finger-guards, and a tall black hat.

This attire is the uniform of traditional priests, and also the ceremonial attire of samurai during the Shendai Family era.

This attire wouldn’t be out of place within the Shendai Family's Inner World, but it seemed rather incongruous here.

A tall young man sat at the head of the table, his bulging muscles straining his black suit.

He looked around and slowly said: "Shendai Yunyi is confirmed dead, only 10 days left until the crossing. How should we explain this to Uncle Shendai Jing Cheng?"

"There's nothing to explain. The strategy was decided in the meeting. Let the search team test the opponent's strength first, but he rushed in ahead of time and got himself killed," said a young man to his left. "Shendai Yunxiu, you're now in charge of the Shadow Agency, you go explain to Uncle Shendai Jing Cheng how stupid his son was."

The sturdy Shendai Yunxiu frowned: "There are only seven Chosen Ones left in the Outer World, and now one is dead. I urge everyone, even if you're just pretending, to show some sadness."

The young man on the left shrugged: "Sorry, I can't do that. I find it hard to consider such a stupid person a comrade."

Shendai Yunxiu waved his hand: "Forget it. Let's discuss who we think the murderer is. Is it a Chosen One hidden among our native Time Travelers, or is it the Nine Provinces?"

The only woman present calmly stated: "It's not a native, Gao Dao Yi Ming's identity is certainly fake."

"Why?" Shendai Yunxiu looked at the woman named Shendai Kongyu, her black hair long and straight, the ends as sharp as blades.

Shendai Kongyu said: "Si Nianhua represents the Qing Family, Ji Guanya represents the Li Clan. The timing of their shrine bombing was too coincidental; the people in Takayama Hida were creating opportunities for them. Therefore, this should be a Chosen One from the Li Clan or the Qing Family."

Shendai Yunxiu: "But why would he appear in such a remote place as Bai Chuan Village?"

Shendai Kongyu: "Perhaps the Li Clan and the Qing Family discovered the little girl's unusual abilities long ago, and they came for her."

"Could it be Qing Chen?"

After a moment of contemplation, Shendai Kongyu said: "I think there's a 40% chance it's Qing Chen. The key here is that Qing Chen suffered humiliation and serious injuries at A02 Base. He's a cautious person. After returning to the Outer World, he should have prioritized recovering and contacting various forces to discuss his rescue. However, the appearance of this Gao Dao Yi Ming doesn't allow enough time for Qing Chen to heal. A C-Class person who hasn't healed their wounds causing trouble is foolish."

Shendai Kongyu said: "It's more likely to be that Joker. After briefly appearing at Osaka Airport, they disappeared without a trace, and the clues match. I suspect this Joker is the Daybreak Boss, with familiar sniper skills, and the strength level of a Chosen One—all clues point to him. It's normal for a Daybreak member to want revenge for their members being humiliated. Judging from motive and ability, I think this person is the Daybreak Boss."

In the eyes of most people, Qing Chen is not the Daybreak Boss, nor does he reach the Joker's strength level.

Shendai Kongyu's analysis isn't entirely wrong. If it were the former Qing Chen, he would have hidden to heal his wounds, secretly raising his level before trying to escape.

But Qing Chen is different now.

The boy who has experienced redemption has shed his last trace of timidity and impurities, leaving only unwavering courage and sincerity.

Shendai Yunxiu said: "Our strength in the other world is suppressed by Kunlun and the Nine Provinces. Since this Daybreak Boss has come to our world, we must keep him here."

Shendai Yunwu, sitting on the left, calmly said: "Starting today, the six of us will split into two groups and stay together. He's been hunted for more than ten days and is constantly on the run. The remaining ten days are our best chance. Three of us against him, even if he has three heads and six arms, he has no chance of winning."

The sturdy Shendai Yunxiu nodded: "Yes, that's decided."

However, at that moment, Shendai Yunluo, the one wearing the hunting attire, suddenly opened his eyes: "I will not participate in this capture."

Shendai Yunxiu frowned: "Why?"

Shendai Yunluo calmly said: "No reason. As a Chosen One facing an enemy, the first thought of wanting to team up with three people is cowardly, a display of a coward. Besides, I admire his courage to stand up to hundreds of people to protect that little girl, he's stronger than all of you."

Shendai Yunxiu: "Have you forgotten your surname?"

Shendai Yunluo stood up and walked towards the conference room exit: "Your pursuit direction is wrong. I guess he's not in Hokkaido or Takayama Hida."

"Huh?"

"If I were him, I'd return to Osaka City to kill you fools. After all, 80% of the Shadow Agency members are chasing him, Osaka City is empty," Shendai Yunluo stood at the door, looking back at Shendai Yunxiu: "You're holding a press conference tomorrow to quell the rumors from the recording, right? If I were you, I'd place personnel at all sniper points within a 2600-meter radius."

Having said that, Shendai Yunluo walked out.

Shendai Yunxiu asked: "Where are you going? Going alone will make you a target."

Shendai Yunluo: "How else am I going to lure him out? Don't worry, I will kill him fairly. Also, restrain your subordinates; at least don't defile a nine-year-old girl. It's disgusting."

With that, the young man in the white hunting attire walked away.

Shinsaibashi, Osaka.

This is perhaps the most bustling area in Osaka. Tourists flow continuously, and civilians performing street art thrive here. Some perform magic tricks, some dress up as Spiderman to take photos with tourists.

In the midst of this bustling city, a young boy sat by the bridge, a drawing board in front of him, his pencil sketching on the paper, making a rustling sound.

If someone observes carefully, they will find that the boy doesn't actually understand sketching techniques; his method isn't professional, and he doesn't seem to have learned how to draw.

The painting lacks light and shadow; only simple and sharp lines outline the contours of the passersby's faces.

But strangely,

More than ten passersby would walk by every second, yet he could memorize someone's appearance in that instant, even if the person had long since walked away, the boy could replicate it with his completely unprofessional methods, without any difference.

At this moment, a couple walked by hand-in-hand. Seeing the boy with the drawing board, they smiled and asked: "Hello, how much would it cost to draw a picture of the two of us?"

The boy looked up and smiled: "One portrait is 10,000 yen, two people would be 15,000 yen, is that okay?"

The couple looked at each other. The price seemed a little high, but they were already here. The girl happily said: "Then draw one for us."

"Thank you!" The boy said with a smile, "If you don't like it, it's free."

He used a blade to gently sharpen his pencil tip and then looked at the couple before starting to draw.

The couple felt a little strange. Usually, artists need to repeatedly observe the subject, determining proportions, light and shadow, and contours.

But this young artist only glanced at them once, and he remembered them all?

The man curiously went to the front of the drawing board, only to see that the boy had outlined the couple's features with a few strokes, and with these few strokes, the boy was sure that he had drawn him and his girlfriend correctly.

This was pixel-level sketching.

However, at this moment, seven or eight young men in black suits quickly walked past. They wore gold brooches on their chests—the mark of the Shadow Agency.

As these people passed by, the pedestrians avoided them.

The boy suddenly stopped drawing and said to the girl and boy: "Sorry, wait for me, 27 seconds."

With that, he followed the Shadow Agency members with his pencil.

The man and woman watched in disbelief.

In the next moment, the boy leaped forward, the tip of his pencil piercing the carotid artery of a Shadow Agency member.

But the boy didn't stop. In a few breaths, he killed all the Shadow Agency members, all lying in a pool of blood.

The speed of killing was so fast that the tourists in Shinsaibashi didn't even react.

When he slowly returned to his seat at the drawing board, the surrounding tourists screamed.

The boy wiped the pencil tip with a napkin and looked up at the couple, smiling: "Sorry, I'll be done soon."

The couple noticed that the boy had killed eight people, yet the pencil tip he used as a weapon was still intact.

The two trembled. They watched as the boy drew, got up to kill, and returned to draw, seamlessly.

But what impressed them most was the 27 seconds the boy had mentioned, that precise, confident time.

The couple didn't check the time, but at one point they looked at the boy and felt that it must have been exactly 27 seconds from when he got up to when he came back, no more, no less.

The tourists screamed and fled behind them, but the two stood there, unable to move.

The boy sighed: "Sorry, I probably scared you. This painting is free, and you can keep the drawing board."

With that, he stood up and handed over the drawing board. On the white paper was a picture of the couple, almost identical to the real thing.

The couple looked at the drawing board in silence. They couldn't understand why he could calmly return to painting after killing people, who exactly was this?

How could he be so calm?

Wait, they suddenly found the boy a little familiar—wasn't that Gao Dao Yi Ming, who was wanted by the Shadow Agency?!

The couple suddenly looked up, but found the boy had disappeared without a trace, as if he had never been there, and everything here had nothing to do with him.

At the same time, the hacker who had disappeared for a day reappeared. This time, she didn't release new recordings, but all accounts kept flashing one sentence: "I'm back, is the dirty Shadow Agency ready to Face^[-] the consequences?"

This sentence spread continuously, along with the video of the Shinsaibashi murder that was also filmed and spread.

The video started after the killing. In the video, the boy returned to the drawing board and continued to paint, very seriously.