Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 366: Identity Verification

From any angle, Qing Chen didn't look like a Time Traveler.

A normal Time Traveler would never be as carefree as he was after a battle, as if everything that had just happened was just an ordinary rain in the world, nothing unusual.

"So, everything you said before was a lie," Tuanzi whispered, "Being abandoned by your teammates, going to City 10 for tutoring classes, all fake."

Qing Chen chuckled, "You guys didn't tell the truth either, like you didn't mention your Time Traveler identities, so it's a draw, right?"

Tuanzi's tone paused, "Okay."

Qing Chen curiously asked, "You exchanged Hawks with the Wildlanders to sell them to big shots in City 10?"

"Yes," Sun Chuci explained, "Falconry is popular there recently. If you can have a tamed Hawk perched on your arm when attending high-society events, it'll be very prestigious."

It's like how Outer World stars would feel prestigious wearing a high-fashion dress from a certain brand. People always chase trends.

And now, for the socialites in City 10, Hawks are the most stylish status symbol.

Qing Chen pondered, if I had Qingshan Falcon on my arm, would I be the most prestigious person?

Too bad, Qingshan Falcon is too big, my arm can't support it.

Qingshan Falcon might not be willing to cooperate with me to put on a show.

Sun Chuci continued, "A big shot commissioned the Wilderness Hunters to capture the Hawk, but it seems he wasn't buying it for himself, but as a gift to someone else."

"How much does a Hawk cost?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"1.6 million," Sun Chuci said, "We were tempted by this amount, so we offered the Wildlanders an exceptionally high price in exchange, but we didn't expect the price to be so high that they'd risk their lives."

Qing Chen thought, a 1.6 million Hawk as a gift, it must be for a very important person.

Although this gift is novel, it's too expensive.

But Sun Chuci continued, "I heard that the gift is actually for a Shadow Candidate."

Qing Chen was stunned, "How is this related to the Shadow Candidate?"

Sun Chuci whispered, "We have someone in the Outer World working at the PCE Public Security Committee. He said that the Qing Family has announced the Third Round Shadow Succession, and all Shadow Candidates must go to City 10 to take up some positions. Therefore, those who want to curry favor will naturally have to come up with sufficiently impressive gifts. Some people had previously posted missions to capture Hawks, but the reward was only around 1 million. It was only from last week that the price suddenly rose to 1.6 million."

Qing Chen sighed. Maybe this is how big shots compare themselves. In the future, a big shot who can influence the Federation will definitely emerge from the Shadow Candidates, so someone will definitely invest early.

Just like in the ancient dynasties of the Outer World, every prince with a chance to compete for the crown prince's position would never lack flatterers.

The benefits that flatterers can get from these people far exceed one million.

However, Qing Chen never expected that Sun Chuci and their capture of Hawks would have the slightest connection to him.

Of course, it's just a slight connection, after all, no one in the outside world knows he's a Shadow Candidate who faked his death, and the Hawk isn't for him.

Qing Chen thoughtfully asked, "Do you know what positions they'll be taking up?"

"It seems to be the probationary Supervisor of the third department of the Federal Central Intelligence Bureau," Sun Chuci said, "But that's just hearsay."

Qing Chen pondered, it seems the outside world doesn't know that the Shadow Candidates are actually going to join the Qing Clan Secret Intelligence Agency. However, the third department of the Federal Central Intelligence Bureau is completely controlled by the Qing Family, so the Shadow Master gave each candidate an identity with law enforcement and investigative powers for convenience.

In a sense, it's not an exaggeration to say that the third department of the Federal Central Intelligence Bureau is a subordinate institution of the Secret Spy Agency.

The influence of secret spies, and the manpower they can mobilize, goes far beyond this.

At this time, they were only over 200 kilometers away from City 10. Even if the dirt road was difficult to navigate, it would be enough to reach it in a day.

Sun Chuci and the others took turns driving the pickup truck, traveling day and night.

Previously, they had rushed to trade with the Wildlanders at the specified time, and they hadn't even slept at night, so they were a little tired now.

But when everyone thought that they would soon return to the "relatively peaceful' city and receive more than 80,000 yuan, they regained their spirits.

In the car, only Qing Chen remained energetic. He asked, "Are you guys short of money?"

Sun Chuci thought for a moment and said, "Actually, we can usually manage our food and shelter, but it's only two months until the New Year, and we also want to have a good New Year."

Qing Chen was stunned, it's only two months until the New Year?

He had a photographic memory, and he could accurately count five hours by silently counting seconds in his mind, but the Spring Festival seemed to have been deliberately forgotten by him.

When he was on Xingshu Road, the meaning of the New Year was to huddle in the cold little house and silently recall the movies or books he had memorized.

For Qing Chen, it was a meaningless holiday.

At dusk, the three pickup trucks finally arrived at the immigration checkpoint of City 10.

From a distance, several-meter-high barbed wire and electric fences surrounded the city to prevent people from smuggling goods.

Each city has its own tariff barriers. For example, if Shendai and Koshima's cars want to enter City 18, they have to pay a tariff of up to 47%. The same applies to Li Clan, Qing Family, and Chen Family's cars entering the northern cities controlled by Shendai and Koshima.

These are all measures taken by the Conglomerate to protect their territory.

It was unknown what day it was today, but there were many people trying to enter City 10 through the immigration checkpoint, so that a long queue formed at the city's outer cordon.

Sun Chuci said, "I heard that it's always like this during the New Year. The ones in front are Wilderness Hunters. Everyone goes to the wilderness to hunt, or hunt Wildlanders for money, then prepares for the New Year. This time it should be because of the bounty on Hawks, so more people have gone out to work."

Qing Chen pondered and asked, "How many Wilderness Hunters are there in a city?"

Sun Chuci replied, "There are 82,319 registered, this is considered a legitimate profession."

"So many," Qing Chen was surprised, because he hadn't seen frequently active hunters in the wilderness.

On the road, soldiers from the Immigration and Exit Management Bureau patrolled back and forth to maintain order, looking extremely grim.

At this moment, a fleet of cars drove past the three pickup trucks from the fast lane, without having to queue.

Qing Chen raised his eyebrows.

Sun Chuci noticed Qing Chen's unusual expression and explained, "It's common for frequent city-goers. Conglomerate vehicles, official vehicles, and even some wealthy merchants' vehicles have electronic passes and can pass directly."

Qing Chen said, "Yeah, I know."

He raised his eyebrows not because he was surprised that someone could jump the queue, after all, when he left City 18 before, he used the Qing Family's ginkgo emblem to use the priority lane.

He raised his eyebrows because he clearly saw a symbol like a "tie' on the car, which was the emblem of the Eternal Society.

Qing Chen didn't expect that the Eternal Society actually had influence in City 10.

He thought the Eternal Society only operated in City 18.

At 7 p.m., it was finally Sun Chuci's turn for identity checks.

A dozen immigration soldiers and over 30 mechanical guards surrounded them, and even UAVs were hovering in the air.

The immigration checkpoint was a gate-like building. Above was a bunker-style defense building, below was a tunnel inlaid with white light strips, and all vehicles had to be checked in this tunnel.

Qing Chen looked up and saw honeycomb structures embedded in the tunnel ceiling, with hundreds of Border-01 UAVs inside, carrying 5.56 mm standard weapons.

Unlike the Outer World, the Immigration and Exit Management Bureau here is more like part of the city defense system, with greater power.

If anyone tries to break through the checkpoint, the Immigration and Exit Management Bureau has the right to shoot them on the spot.

And they've killed many people.

At this time, a middle-aged man in a black uniform silently looked at the documents and materials Sun Chuci handed over, then asked in surprise, "You killed 17 Wildlanders? Are you kidding? Your team of F-Class Wilderness Hunters can kill 17 Wildlanders?"

Sun Chuci patiently replied, "That's right, it was quite a coincidence, but the photos and video evidence, life detection instrument records, and iris sequence extraction records can all serve as proof. Moreover, we also confiscated some firearms, you can check them."

The middle-aged man thought for a moment, beckoned to his colleagues, and someone immediately went to check the three pickup trucks.

The middle-aged man casually turned off the law enforcement recorder in front of him, then led Sun Chuci to a place without surveillance and said, "According to normal procedures, you should receive 85,000 yuan in Federation rewards, but there are four imperfections in your evidence…"

Sun Chuci quickly said, "I understand, then we'll take the reward for 13 Wildlanders."

He knew that the middle-aged man wanted to make some money, and as an ordinary Wilderness Hunter, he had to cooperate.

Otherwise, the next time he goes to the wilderness, having his firearms confiscated would make hunting very difficult.

Seeing Sun Chuci so agreeable, the middle-aged man immediately laughed, "I'm the branch chief of the seventh detachment of the Immigration and Exit Management Bureau. If you have anything else in the future, you can come to me."

"Okay," Sun Chuci nodded.

"Okay, then I'll do a routine check on your accompanying personnel's information, and then you can go," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

After saying that, he returned to his previous position, turned on the law enforcement recorder again, and then swiped the electronic identity cards of everyone Sun Chuci gave him one by one onto his handheld micro-LCD computer.

However, when he swiped Qing Chen's electronic identity card, he froze.

The middle-aged man looked at Sun Chuci in surprise, then hurriedly ran towards the pickup trucks in the tunnel…