Night's Nomenclature
Chapter 396: Observer

Utopia Tower, 112th floor, Qing Chen's rented apartment.

Just as Park Changhao was thinking, "Now that I'm here," intending to kill Qing Chen as well, Shadow opened the Shadow Gate and pulled Qing Chen, who was in the center of danger and chaos, in.

Qing Chen curiously examined his room.

This was his first time traversing the Shadow Gate.

One second he was in a shop beside Struggle Road, and the next he was in Utopia Tower. He didn't feel anything unusual during the process, as if he had simply walked through a small door.

Many people have fantasized about having a way to travel through space, not to go to some bank vault, not to go to some magical place.

Just to be able to wake up every day and arrive at work or school directly without driving, riding a scooter, or squeezing onto the subway or bus.

Or to be able to open a door and arrive wherever you want to travel.

What a blissful thing that would be.

Thinking of this, Qing Chen's eyes sparkled as he looked at Shadow Master's neck, where the Forbidden Artifact ACE-008 Shadow Gate pendant should be hanging.

Shadow didn't know whether to praise his courage or scold him for being reckless.

Qing Chen averted his gaze, "I'm just looking."

Shadow thought about it, "Looking is fine."

As he said that, he actually pulled the Shadow Gate pendant out of his collar.

Qing Chen had originally thought it would be an expensive item inlaid with sapphires or something, but he didn't expect the pendant to be just a small silver locket hanging at the end.

It was the kind of silver locket used to store photos of relatives or loved ones inside.

"Whose picture is inside?" Qing Chen asked.

Shadow held the silver locket in his hand and opened it, revealing a photo inside. It was a handsome young man.

"Does he look familiar?" Shadow smiled.

Qing Chen was silent because the young man in the silver locket actually bore a three-point resemblance to him, especially around the eyes.

This resemblance gave people a sense of familiarity at first glance.

"Who is in the photo?" Qing Chen asked, looking up.

Shadow smiled and said, "It's not really related to you, so don't overthink it. He is Qing Zhen, the founder of the Qing Family in the New Human Civilization Era."

Shadow continued, "In the Old Era, there was also a Qing Family Conglomerate, and at that time, this Qing Zhen was also a Shadow like me. But the status of Shadows was very low at that time, and their power wasn't that great. They were the kind of characters that the Conglomerate would use and then kill. But when the Qing Family Conglomerate wanted to kill Qing Zhen, this ancestor suddenly overturned the table, and that's how the new Qing Family came to be."

Qing Chen was taken aback, "Why is his photo hidden in the Shadow Gate pendant?"

"Because the owner of the Shadow Gate fell in love with him, but it was unrequited love, which eventually turned into an obsession," Shadow explained with a smile, "This is considered a Qing Family secret. The Metahuman who extracted the Shadow Gate loved Qing Zhen for 49 years, so in Forbidden Zone 071, there is a tombstone with only the number 49 engraved on it."

"Forbidden Zone 071," Qing Chen was stunned. He had heard of this Forbidden Zone from his teacher Li Shutong. It was the one with the rule that "only single people can enter'.

Shadow asked with a smile, "Are you a little curious as to why you and Qing Zhen still have some resemblance after so many generations?"

Qing Chen nodded, "According to genetics, it's rare for dominant genes to be passed down for so many generations."

"Because of bloodline," Shadow said with a smile, "I want to ask you, do you have a good memory, able to memorize hundreds of digits of pi? Are you usually very good at analysis, able to instantly calculate five-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division mentally?"

Qing Chen was taken aback. Wait, so this is the Qing Family's bloodline ability? But what he can do is far more than that.

Not to mention hundreds of digits of pi, he can remember tens of thousands of digits.

At this time, Shadow said, "The Qing Family is a very strange family. Every few generations, such a monstrous talent appears, not just Qing Zhen, but also Qing Wu seven hundred years ago, and Qing Xu three hundred years ago. They were all very remarkable people. Of course, there were also three who possessed monstrous talents, but they had no interest in power."

Shadow continued, "But they all have a common trait, which is that they look like Qing Zhen, and the more monstrous they are, the better-looking they are. Of course, this is just my little discovery. Few people would constantly flip through photos and resumes of all their ancestors... Only when things aren't going well do they think of digging up their ancestors and changing the feng shui."

"But I'm from the Outer World. I shouldn't inherit this kind of bloodline," Qing Chen said, "That's an ordinary world with only ordinary people, no Metahumans."

Shadow shook his head, "Not necessarily. I've always suspected that Ren He, the founder of the Knights, came from your world. Although I don't know exactly what happened, the appearance of Time Travelers has further confirmed my idea. For example, his Farewell Song comes from the Outer World. And there are so many overlapping people in the Inner World. So, if the Outer World and the Inner World are parallel worlds, your ancestors may also have had someone with DNA identical to Qing Zhen. Of course, there are other possibilities."

Qing Chen was stunned. He didn't expect Shadow to even know that Ren He was a Time Traveler.

He always felt that Shadow was holding back when he said these things, but he couldn't be sure what the other party was deliberately leaving out.

Shadow closed the silver locket and put it back into his collar.

"What are the containment conditions for the Shadow Gate?" Qing Chen asked.

Shadow said with a thick smile, "You're still thinking about my Forbidden Artifact, but it's okay to tell you. Its containment condition is that you must remain single forever."

Qing Chen: "???"

Such strange containment conditions? Doesn't that mean Shadow has to stay single forever?

He asked curiously, "What happens if the host of the Shadow Gate ends their single life? How is this defined? A marriage certificate, feelings, or intimate relationships?"

Shadow said with a grin, "I know what you're thinking. Forbidden Artifacts control the rules. It's not so easy to find loopholes. People who try to find loopholes in Forbidden Artifacts don't end up well. Falling in love with someone, having intimate relationships with someone, fake marriages, it all counts. As for what happens when the host ends their single life... Many of its previous hosts have disappeared. Perhaps they were swallowed by the void in the Shadow Gate. They might be buried in Forbidden Zone 071 as fertilizer right now."

Qing Chen thought to himself, although he doesn't have a lover right now, it seems like he can't use this thing.

He didn't expect this to be a very dangerous Forbidden Artifact.

He looked at Shadow, "Don't you have someone you like?"

Shadow was silent for a moment, "No."

"What if you do in the future? Aren't you worried?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"Anyway, my days are numbered," Shadow said freely, "So it's unlikely that there will be any changes in the remaining time."

Someone had said before that Shadow's time was running out.

But...

"You haven't coughed in a long time recently," Qing Chen said seriously.

Shadow waved his hand, "That's just an act for outsiders. Many people think I was injured in the Shadow Succession, so I give them an obvious characteristic to confirm their thoughts. What could look more like a patient than coughing all the time?"

"So you have a long life ahead of you?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"No, there are still 3 years," Shadow said calmly, "I sold my fate to a Forbidden Artifact for something."

Qing Chen was stunned, "What kind of thing made you willing to sell your fate to a Forbidden Artifact?! And what kind of Forbidden Artifact can exchange someone else's fate?"

Shadow laughed loudly, "You didn't take it seriously, did you? Let's talk about serious business. You sold my subordinates after I gave you command authority to attract firepower and take the blame. How should this be calculated? At first, I thought you really had the courage to be the bait when I saw you personally completing the transaction. But you secretly added Qing Zhou as a transaction condition with Koshima, so that after Shendai saw Qing Zhou, they directly took all their main force to target Qing Ye and Qing Qu."

Qing Chen pondered for a moment and asked, "Aren't we supposed to be trading Shendai Jingbian? The result is good."

Shadow didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Aren't you afraid that one day when you take over the position of Shadow, Qing Ye and Qing Qu won't listen to you?"

"Can't you just tell them that it was your decision?" Qing Chen asked tentatively.

However, at this moment, Qing Family Shadow took out his phone, turned back to the communication channel with Qing Ye, Qing Qu, and others, and turned on the speakerphone.

Qing Family Shadow asked, "How is it going?"

The communication channel transmitted Qing Ye's heavy breathing, "I'm convinced. That grandson Qing Chen sold me out so thoroughly. I felt like all of Shendai's experts were on my side just now. Seriously, Boss, you better not let me see that grandson recently, or I'll have to kill him."

Qing Chen was silent...

The next moment, Qing Qu's heartbroken voice came from the communication channel, "Boss, I strongly demand that grandson be severely punished. Shendai's assassins chased me all the way, chasing me for ten blocks! The last time I felt so dangerous was when I met that old kid Zheng Yuandong!"

Qing Chen raised his eyebrows. He had heard of He Jinqiu in the Inner World because the other party was one of the twelve directors of the Federation's largest neutral intelligence agency, Hu's. Li Changqing was also one of them.

However, he doesn't seem to have ever heard of Zheng Yuandong.

Is this the first time Qing Chen has heard this name in the Inner World?

However, before he could think about it, Shadow had already spoken, "Qing Chen, who sold you out, is sitting next to me right now. I have the speakerphone on."

There was silence in the communication channel.

Time seemed to be frozen by Qing Family Shadow's time ability.

Qing Chen looked up at Shadow expressionlessly, but saw the other party laughing silently, leaning back and forth.

After an unknown amount of time, Qing Ye broke the deadlock, he laughed heartily, "Hahahaha, I didn't say anything just now. By the way, Qing Qu, where are you now? I'll take you to a good place to drink!"

Qing Qu: "Okay, okay!"

After speaking, the two of them directly ended the communication.

Shadow laughed out loud, "Look, they already know that you sold them out, so you have to be careful in the future, be careful that these two will retaliate against you."

"You just can't stand to see me at peace," Qing Chen said unhappily, "I'm curious to ask a question, what is Zheng Yuandong's identity in the Inner World?"

Kunlun, as one of the largest Time Traveler organizations in the Outer World, Shadow must know that its leader is Zheng Yuandong, so there's nothing to hide.

Shadow thought for a while and said, "He is one of the Federation's most mysterious Observers, and also the most expensive assassin."

"Observer?" Qing Chen asked in confusion, "Is this an organization?"

"That's right, it's a very loose organization. What they have to do is to record the large and small events that have happened in the Federation, and then summarize them into the same physically isolated network database," Shadow said.

"Then why is he still the most expensive assassin?" Qing Chen asked in confusion.

"I don't know either. Maybe being an Observer doesn't make money. They have to support their families," Shadow said with a smile, "The predecessor of this Observer organization was actually a journalist organization belonging to Hope Media, dedicated to recording historical truth. Later, a small group of people felt that it was too dangerous for ordinary people to be investigative journalists, so Observers also had to master force so that they could fight back against the forces of darkness. Later, the Observers separated from within Hope Media, with connections to each other, but also with differences."

Qing Chen knew that the profession of investigative journalist was indeed dangerous.

Many journalists in the Outer World who investigated black-hearted coal mines that detained laborers were beaten and crippled, and journalists who exposed gutter oil might be killed in the street.

He imagined if investigative journalists were like Zheng Yuandong, going undercover in gutter oil factories.

Once a black-hearted boss discovered that he was an undercover journalist, the undercover journalist would kill all the black-hearted bosses in the gutter oil factory...

That would be quite interesting...

But what kind of strange organization is this? Qing Chen couldn't understand what had happened in the Inner World that had stimulated the journalists to want to have their own armed forces?!

At this time, Shadow suddenly said, "I have always suspected that Zheng Yuandong and He Jinqiu came here a long time ago. Even earlier than the time you entered Prison 18, although I haven't been able to confirm it, that's my intuition."

Qing Chen frowned. He had to say that he and Shadow had the same idea.

At one point, he had also had such a guess.

Shadow smiled, "However, I don't like to speculate too much without evidence. If they are really the earliest independent Time Travelers, I will find the evidence. Let's get back to business. I know you want to tear apart the intelligence alliance between Shendai and Koshima, but your acting today... Koshima will definitely be able to react after reviewing it."

Qing Chen shook his head, "It will be too late when they react. Tonight, I will tell the Shendai members of Intelligence Bureau One that what Koshima traded to us was actually Shendai Jingbian, and tonight Koshima has already carried out a precise purge of Shendai's intelligence personnel. This feud has been forged anyway."

Qing Chen continued, "Perhaps they can still pretend that nothing happened and continue to be polite on the surface, but what about behind the scenes? Can this feud really be forgotten? Shadow Master, what I want is not for them to announce the end of the alliance in a high-profile manner, I just need their intelligence personnel to hate each other."

That's enough.

What Qing Chen wanted from the beginning was to make this intelligence alliance exist in name only.

Shadow asked, "What are your next plans?"

"Bring Qing Mu home," Qing Chen asked, "After Qing Zhun received Shendai Jingbian, he disappeared. He should have taken the person to you."

Shadow nodded, "It's not safe to keep Shendai Jingbian with you, so I asked Qing Zhun to send him to a safe place. Also, the confidentiality can be lifted tonight. I will tell everyone that Shendai Jingbian is in your hands, and all of this is to bring Qing Mu home."

This is the first step in psychological warfare. Qing Family hasn't been able to determine yet whether Shendai is willing to exchange Qing Mu for Shendai Jingbian.

But if they don't exchange, what will Shendai Family's intelligence personnel think? Will anyone be unwilling to work wholeheartedly for Shendai Family from now on?

"Do you think Shendai will exchange?"

Shadow sneered, "They must exchange. Only in this way will you be qualified to take over the Qing Family's intelligence system."

Qing Chen was stunned, "You directly appointed me as Shadow."

Shadow glanced at Qing Chen, "The Qing Family's internal factional struggles are extremely complicated. It's not like I can make you Shadow just by saying so. Moreover, there is a Family Head above Shadow. He is keeping silent now. Do you really think he's made of clay? I'm just a worker."

This was the first time Qing Chen had heard Shadow mention the Family Head. It seemed like he was also a very powerful figure, but Shadow's relationship with him didn't seem to be harmonious.

...

...

In the large office on the third floor of Intelligence Bureau One, a group of agents were excitedly discussing tonight's battle.

Qing Hua said with a smile, "Chen Lie, you were a good actor just now."

The agent named Chen Lie said smugly, "I had to secretly deal with people from other intelligence groups, and I had to pretend to be very afraid of snipers. My acting skills were considered extraordinary. By the way, I felt like Xu Ling almost shot me several times!"

Xu Ling was the sniper hiding at the A4 sniping point, cooperating with Qing Chen's acting. He scratched his head and said, "I'm sorry. I only participated in the selection of snipers in the army back then, but I wasn't selected. My level is still a bit short of a real sniper."

Qing Hua patted him on the shoulder, "It's okay. You performed very well this time. I was really worried that one of your bullets would really kill Boss and Park Changhao. It's good as long as Boss is okay."

Xu Ling smiled shyly, "Boss can come up with this kind of routine. He's really dirty. When I saw Park Changhao's tactical team cleaning up Shendai members, I felt extremely happy. By the way, you can watch the video. Boss asked me to put a camera next to the sniper rifle to facilitate the panoramic review of the battlefield."

Qing Hua's hand that was originally patting his shoulder suddenly slapped the back of Xu Ling's head, "What are you talking about, kid? How dare you slander Boss."

Xu Ling said aggrievedly, "I'm praising him."

However, at this moment, Qing Hua received a message from Qing Chen. He was silent for two seconds and looked at the agents, "Haven't you always wanted to know what we were going to do tonight? I can tell you now. The person we are really going to trade tonight is Shendai Jingbian. Boss is going to use him to make a deal with Shendai to bring Qing Mu home. If Shendai disagrees, we will copy all the humiliations Qing Mu has suffered onto Shendai Jingbian."

Before this, this matter was kept secret from the agents, so everyone was not aware of it.

But when everyone knew the truth, the originally lively office suddenly became silent. The agents couldn't help but stand up, their expressions solemn but with an undisguised excitement.

In fact, Qing Chen still couldn't imagine what this matter that Qing Family Shadow helped him facilitate would bring him.

...