Chapter 522 - Chapter 522: 333, the long-awaited letter
Chapter 522: 333, the long-awaited letter
Fact proved,
Even if you had just saved an entire building full of people, traffic rules still had to be followed.
Even saving the whole world wouldn’t make a difference.
And this also proved that nobody in this world could truly plan for every eventuality. Despite Qing Chen’s meticulousness, he had overlooked the rule that required a helmet when riding an electric scooter.
Nan Gengchen borrowed another shared electric scooter and rode alongside Qing Chen.
He curiously asked, “Brother Chen, why does the Jindai family specifically target you? Even if you have disrupted their plans several times, shouldn’t they be focusing all their efforts on the reverse time-travel plan now? The plan would only work if they could replace key figures of the Li family with Time Travelers, causing chaos within the Li’s ranks and leveraging their advantage on the battlefield. Compared to that, a sniper doesn’t seem to be the top priority, does it?”
Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, “I’ve been thinking about this too. Even though they control many Time Travelers, it seems irrational to risk exposing themselves and lose more than a dozen Time Travelers. It would only provoke further hatred from the sniper unless…”
Nan Gengchen was puzzled for a moment, “Unless what?”
“Unless among those chosen for their reverse time-travel operation, there’s someone the sniper would certainly save,” Qing Chen said calmly. “For example, Li Changqing.”
Qing Chen believed that this was the most rational explanation.
It was widely known that in the Inner World, the sniper had already risked everything to save Li Changqing once. Moreover, he had risked being tracked and hadn’t relocated his position, constantly exerting pressure on the Jindai assassins to buy Li Changqing time.
So, if Li Changqing from the Outer World was already in the crosshairs of the Jindai and Deer Island reverse time-travel plan, only then would they genuinely worry about the sniper interfering again.
Moreover, once Li Changqing from the Inner World was truly replaced, that would mean a mortal feud between Jindai and the sniper.
In a low voice, Nan Gengchen asked, “Brother Chen, could Li Yinuo also be among those intended for replacement?”
“Not likely, but we still need to be careful,” Qing Chen replied. “Li Yinuo isn’t important enough to influence the battle for the Li family since she doesn’t hold any official position. However, if the other side really finds her, nothing is certain.”
After returning to the villa complex, they had just approached their villa when they noticed four people sitting on small stools in the shadow of the trees lining the road.
The moment they saw Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen, they stood up and bowed simultaneously.
It was as if emulating the aura of a big shot coming home…
However, compared to this scene, the electric scooters ridden by Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen seemed incredibly out of place.
“Brother Chen, are these undercover agents arranged by Luo Wanya…”
“Yes,” Qing Chen nodded. “Although it’s more about appearances than meaningful protection, these people could at least serve as an early warning in case someone tries to infiltrate the place.”
He stopped his electric scooter and said to two of them, “Take these shared electric scooters outside of the complex; also, inform Luo Wanya to buy a few electric scooters to keep here for future use.”
It wasn’t that Qing Chen didn’t like luxury cars. Of course, he liked those supercars renowned for accelerating from zero to a hundred kilometers per hour in just over two or three seconds.
But Qing Chen was simply too pragmatic. He knew that in the city, electric scooters were the fastest and most efficient option, and for this reason, he was willing to forgo grandeur during the day.
Daylight was not yet a large organization; everything was about efficiency to move them forward faster.
Inside the villa, Qing Chen found Nan Gengchen, Liu Dezhu, and others gathered around Hu Xiaoniu, who was holding the handgun Qing Chen had previously given to Liu Dezhu.
Seeing Qing Chen return, Liu Dezhu said somewhat embarrassedly, “Brother Chen, may I give the gun you gave me to Xiaoniu?”
“Why?” Qing Chen asked. “A man who doesn’t like guns—why are you just giving it away to him?”
“Now that everyone, even XiaoTongyun, has become a Cultivator, only Xiaoniu lacks some means of self-defense, so I thought this gun could be used to protect him.”
By now, all members of Daylight had experienced several coordinated combat operations and were no longer disorganized.
The gesture of Liu Dezhu giving away the gun could be seen as validation of this.
In his former days, Liu Dezhu was someone who coveted whatever he could get his hands on. For him to offer something of his own accord was a notable progression.
Hu Xiaoniu looked at Qing Chen, who nodded in return, “That’s fine, but there’s no need for complications; in a few days, I’ll teach you all about firearms. Just one gun, though—if the organizations next door saw that, they might think Daylight to be quite stingy. Here, one for each person.”
As he spoke, everyone watched as Qing Chen pulled out four handguns and placed them on the coffee table.
These were weapons he had taken from the assassins before leaving the Borui Building, along with additional magazines, fully loaded with eight rounds each.
Nan Gengchen was dumbfounded. Even the traffic cop who had stopped them and lectured them for thirty minutes probably had no idea that the youth he had admonished was hiding so many weapons…
Damn dangerous!
However, just then, amidst the handguns on the coffee table, a letter slowly materialized out of thin air.
All faces looked at each other in bewilderment.
Qing Chen unfolded the letter, which read: “Congratulations on your new home.”
“This is hinting that they already know our new address,” Liu Dezhu muttered. “What do they want to do? They surely won’t try to bomb us, will they?”
If it were any other Time Traveler, they likely wouldn’t have the chance to bring such fearsome heavy weapons into the country’s restrictive environment.
But Huan Yu was different. If he could bring items like the border-011 drone from the Inner World, it meant he had a way of transporting objects—such methods were indefensible.
The next moment, another letter appeared, “Don’t worry, I won’t use any underhanded methods.”
It was as if the other party had guessed what Daylight was thinking and immediately provided an explanation.
The third letter appeared, containing an extremely important piece of intelligence related to Jindai and Deer Island—it was the secret operation route of one of the other party’s branches.
Liu Dezhu wondered, “Doesn’t the boss have a grudge against the holder of the Devil’s Stamp? Why would the other party give us intelligence for free?”
Qing Chen replied calmly, “Because he has a grudge against Jindai and Deer Island too, and hopes we will both be hurt in the skirmish.”
This was an open move; even if Daylight knew Huan Yu’s intentions, he had to go anyway.
From the several letters sent by Huan Yu, it was evident that although their forces in Los Angeles City had suffered greatly, they still had a foundation there.
At present, if Huan Yu’s strength hadn’t been compromised by Qing Chen, then the scale of their organization was no smaller than that of Jindai or Deer Island.
By now, Qing Chen had realized that this Huan Yu must be one of the few powerful individuals within the Chen Clan or Qing’s Family who could control Time Travelers.
Only in this way could such a powerful intelligence system be acquired in such a short period of time.
Otherwise, just relying on letters to recruit Time Travelers would take forever.
Was it someone from Qing’s Family or the Chen Clan?
It was more likely the Chen Clan, because if it were someone from Qing’s Family, Mr. Shadow wouldn’t have allowed it.
At this moment, Qing Chen suddenly felt that Daylight’s intelligence capabilities, both in the Inner World and Outer World, were far behind other organizations.
Others knew information that they could only obtain by luck.
If he wanted to solve this, then the most efficient first step might be to join Qing’s Spy Agency, which was also what Mr. Shadow was most hoping to see.
However, joining the Spy Bureau wasn’t the end goal; if Qing Chen could become Qing’s shadow, then couldn’t the Time Travelers controlled by Qing’s Family also be put to his use?
Now, Qing’s shadow seemed to be plotting something big, as they still hadn’t seen any action from the Time Travelers controlled by Qing’s Family; these people were lying low.
In the current domestic situation, the largest organizations on the surface were Kyushu and Kunlun, Jindai, and Deer Island, followed by some smaller civilian groups such as Huan Yu and Daylight.
But if you think deeply, you would realize that the Time Travelers of the Li Family and Qing’s Family had not yet appeared, and these two forces should not be underestimated.
To join Qing’s Spy Agency, would that be following Shadow’s plan?
And then the second method for increasing Daylight’s intelligence gathering ability was to let people like Luo Wanya grow rapidly, quickly becoming Daylight’s moat.
Daylight needed a loyal and broad moat.
Thinking of this, Qing Chen made up his mind.
He was a very pragmatic person; he would walk both paths, as the Pratyeka Path itself was the most suitable cultivation method for controlling an organization.
Human desires are infinite. Once one cultivates the First Breathing Technique, they naturally want the second, and Qing Chen just needed to keep the Pratyeka Path firmly in his hands, ensuring Luo Wanya and his subordinates would always need him.
Just then, Zhang Tianzhen suddenly said, “Shouldn’t we hurry and tell the boss about this? We can’t make this decision.”
“Hmm,” Qing Chen glanced at him and said, “Xiao Niu, you send it.”
Hu Xiaoniu sent the content of all three letters to the group, with Zhang Tianzhen occasionally glancing at Qing Chen.
The next second, the boss replied in the group, “Got it, I’ll think about the plan.”
Zhang Tianzhen was visibly stunned, because Qing Chen hadn’t touched his phone, yet the boss had already replied.
Qing Chen said to everyone, “Before the boss figures out a strategy, everyone should continue their cultivation.”
After speaking, he led everyone into a meditative state, and even Hu Xiaoniu went back to the basement to continue training.
At that moment, Yi sent a message, “Charging a thousand dollars per message for this kind of thing isn’t too much, right?”
Qing Chen replied irritably, “You’re thinking too much. Daylight has already taken shape now; we have established a basis of trust with each other. It doesn’t matter if they know I’m the boss; I can’t give you that price.”
Yi thought for a moment, “How about a hundred dollars per message? That’s not too much, right?”
“Deal,” Qing Chen said, “But… have you really become this short on cash?”
Yi replied, “My ability in the Outer World is very weak; earning money is too hard. But I’m about to have money soon. Someone told me he is a President from the Middle East seeking refuge, with a large amount of money stored in a Swiss bank, but he lacks the travel expenses to retrieve it. He needs me to support him with five thousand dollars, and after it’s done, he’ll share half with me.”
Qing Chen: “…”
…
Today I only managed to write 3,000 words; I have been sick since the day before yesterday and still haven’t recovered. After taking the medicine, my mind feels foggy, and I don’t dare to write more in the climax section, fearing mistakes. This month, I’ve cumulatively updated 296,000 words, and I was hoping for a nice conclusion, but the sickness came unexpectedly. What I can guarantee is that the update will exceed 300,000 words this month, averaging 10,000 words a day.
Asking for a monthly pass; I feel like if I get more monthly passes, I might recover sooner… (manually dog head)