novelraw Chapter 22: Invisible Hand
Chapter 22: Invisible Hand
Jinshan Villa District.
Villa Number 66, Su Yuan sat on the living room sofa.
The projection on the wall nearby clearly displayed the scene from Top Star Coffee Shop.
After returning to the villa, Su Yuan had hacked into the surveillance system of the milk tea shop opposite Top Star Coffee Shop, allowing him to watch everything happening inside the coffee shop in real time.
As for whether this hacking would leave any hidden dangers?
First, Su Yuan's hacking skills ranked 186th in Magic City, making him a top-tier hacker even by global standards.
How difficult would it be to trace information from a hacker of this level?
Second, Su Yuan's method of hacking into the surveillance came from the gray mirror. While its offensive capabilities might be somewhat weaker, its defensive capabilities were so powerful that even if Xia Country mobilized all its resources, they still wouldn't be able to track down Su Yuan's location.
This was explicitly confirmed to Su Yuan by the gray mirror.
If defensive capabilities in hacking skills were also ranked, Su Yuan would undoubtedly be the undisputed number one.After all, strictly speaking, Su Yuan's hacking skills weren't learned from Blue Star.
They were learned from those terrifying civilizations deep in the cosmos that spanned across star systems. Even the most superficial knowledge from them was beyond comparison with the information technology available on Blue Star.
......
Su Yuan watched the projection of Top Star Coffee Shop nearby.
He saw an old man wearing shorts and slippers slowly walk to the entrance of the coffee shop.
Then the old man waved toward the outside, and a large group of people rushed into the coffee shop, escorting Chizuru Kamikawa and the other three out.
"Ruan Qingcheng?"
Su Yuan watched the old man wearing shorts and slippers through the surveillance feed.
Ruan Qingcheng was an Embracing Elixir Grandmaster, and also the main force behind capturing Chizuru Kamikawa and the other three.
Only such a Level 1 lifeform could suppress four experts comparable to Transforming Force Grandmasters with casual movements.
"An Embracing Elixir Grandmaster..."
Su Yuan's gaze showed emotion. This represented a qualitative change in life itself. Whether in modern times or ancient eras, Embracing Elixir Grandmasters were considered god-like figures.
In an international metropolis like Magic City with tens of millions of people, there were only six Level 1 lifeforms comparable to Embracing Elixir Grandmasters. Two of them remained hidden in the shadows, unknown to outsiders, with even Xia Country's authorities unaware of their existence.
......
Turning off the projection.
Su Yuan looked at the gains from his operation this time—
A jade-green jade box.
Slowly opening the jade box.
A pure white snow lotus rested inside.
With the jade box's barrier removed, a chilling aura rushed toward his face.
"So this is the Tianshan snow lotus, and it's five-hundred-year-old?"
Su Yuan carefully observed it, faintly sensing an illusory power and immense vitality contained within the snow lotus.
"Soul power and life power?"
Su Yuan's eyes lit up.
The information about this snow lotus provided by the gray mirror mentioned that it contained both soul power and life power, capable of promoting evolution in three dimensions: body, soul, and potential.
"One of the best auxiliary external items for evolving into a Level 1 lifeform on Blue Star..."
Su Yuan felt joyful. According to the gray mirror's explanation about life evolution and transformation, the better the auxiliary external items used during breakthrough, the greater the personal gains and the more substantial the foundation.
"I'll use it when I evolve into a Level 1 lifeform."
Su Yuan closed the jade-green jade box.
According to his cultivation plan, he would reach the level infinitely close to Level 1 lifeform in seven days, at which point he would evolve into a Level 1 lifeform.
This Tianshan snow lotus, isolated inside and out by the jade box, would slow the dissipation of medicinal efficacy, allowing it to be preserved without any problems until seven days later.
......
Magic City suburbs.
A special detention facility.
Deputy Director Lu Wuhuai looked at the interrogation report before him, falling into deep thought for a moment.
The four members of the Chizuru family, with their special status, had been directly sent to this special detention facility after capture for interrogation and questioning.
The interrogation process turned out to be surprisingly smooth. It wasn't that Chizuru Kamikawa and the other three couldn't withstand pressure, but rather that there was no need for concealment.
The most valuable Tianshan snow lotus was already gone, so they didn't need to persist in resistance. Honestly revealing what they knew would mean less suffering for them.
"Wuhuai, what's your take on this?"
A middle-aged man looked at Lu Wuhuai and inquired.
"Director, according to their statements, this incident should be due to internal problems within the Chizuru family, colluding with external forces, resulting in the snow lotus being intercepted..."
Lu Wuhuai had reached a similar conclusion.
In fact, any normal person who learned the full story would come to this same conclusion.
If it weren't for internal problems, how could outsiders know the meeting details so thoroughly? Even understanding the secret codes and passwords?
"Mm."
The middle-aged director nodded, quite in agreement.
"By the way, that emergency call made to you needs thorough investigation..."
The middle-aged director said.
"Understood."
Lu Wuhuai nodded.
At this moment, he too realized the problem with that emergency call.
According to what was said in the call, the caller had overheard conversations between several Fusang people mentioning the Tianshan snow lotus and sending it back to their family.
However, in reality, both Chizuru Qi and Chizuru Kamikawa with the other two denied having discussed this matter in front of outsiders.
Moreover, Chizuru Qi had managed to flee alone from the northern Tianshan Mountains to Magic City, indicating extreme caution. How could he be so careless?
Therefore, the person who made that emergency call was highly likely to be the mastermind who had completely manipulated the four Chizuru family members.
"I've already had people track the phone that made that call. We should have results soon."
Lu Wuhuai said.
......
Villa Number 66.
After reviewing everything once more and confirming he hadn't left any clues behind.
Su Yuan looked at the gray mirror and asked, "How will the various parties involved in this operation ultimately respond?"
The gray mirror surface swirled with mist, soon revealing questions one after another.
[The Great Yin-Yang Master of the Chizuru family, Chizuru Ichiyo, is enraged, convinced that high-ranking family members have betrayed them by colluding with external forces, causing the snow lotus retrieval plan to fail. Over the next two months, he conducts a bloody purge of the high-ranking members, with only three of the eight elders surviving in the end]
[Xia Country's authorities ultimately classify this incident as an internal matter of the Chizuru family. Although they didn't recover the Tianshan snow lotus, at least Chizuru Ichiyo didn't obtain it. Otherwise, Fusang Country would have gained another Great Yin-Yang Master at full power...]
......
Words continued to appear on the gray mirror surface. All the involved forces believed that this interception incident was the work of hostile forces against the Chizuru family.
They had no idea that the true mastermind was Su Yuan.
"Continue studying."
Su Yuan gathered his thoughts and resumed studying computer information technology.
Of course, what Su Yuan was studying now was basically the relevant knowledge provided by the gray mirror, originating from civilizations beyond Blue Star.
Through this operation, Su Yuan became even more aware of the importance of hacking skills.
As powerful as an Embracing Elixir Grandmaster might be, they could at most control their immediate surroundings of several hundred meters.
But a top-tier hacker could make an entire city, an entire country, even the whole world become their eyes.
In the information age, while personal combat power is important, hacking skills that control the situation are equally indispensable.
......
Time passed.
Six days went by in the blink of an eye.