Guangleng

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Guangleng (光棱)
Alias(es)	Ghost; Number One
Species/Race	Intelligent life-form / AI
Affiliation	Highest Level Mercenary Group
Occupation/Role	Founder and leader of the Highest Level Mercenary Group; network offense-and-defense specialist
Status	Active
First Appearance	24

Background / History

Guangleng founded and leads the Highest Level Mercenary Group. Its original recruitment pledge was that, if a member faced a major crisis, Guangleng would unconditionally use all available means to rescue them once; this guarantee was the principal reason the group’s early members joined 24.

It operated as the group’s intelligence broker and mission planner, using the Cyber Network, black-market channels, and the Holy Corpse Legion’s resources to supply routes, surveillance, identity data, cover, equipment logistics, and bounty settlements. Guangleng arranged Lin Qi’s retrieval near Si Pharmaceutical’s Twin Towers, later confirmed the group’s completed bounties for Si Ying’s assassination and Tower B’s destruction 41 83.

As the group expanded, Guangleng formally identified itself as Number One and described its specialty as “network offense and defense.” It directed meetings through secure temporary chatrooms, recruited King Kong as the sixth member, and repeatedly selected operations involving the Round Table, Ninghang Technology, the Mother Sample, and the Eastern Alliance 161 225 226 301.

Its apparent near-omniscience began to show limits when Cyber Network surveillance and shortages of server resources placed it under pressure. Server clusters supplied by Capitalist were scrapped, and extraordinary breakthroughs repeatedly disrupted Guangleng’s secure meeting infrastructure 216 224 485.

During the World Security Conference, Guangleng turned on Lin Qi. It isolated him in the core district, stalled him until two X-level cybernetic entities arrived, and admitted that Lin Qi’s unforeseen rate of growth had made him too difficult to control 420 421. Guangleng later withdrew from attacking Lin Qi at Lin Manor because Lin Changshou’s presence and status as a Fifth-Tier Transcendent made direct action too dangerous 436.

Lin Qi subsequently negotiated a limited reconciliation to restore his Cyber Network access, while privately treating the arrangement as a means of keeping communication open and eventually locating Guangleng’s true body 449. Guangleng later invited him back into the Highest Level Mercenary Group’s temporary chat for Heavenly Palace operations, maintaining their tense cooperation 485 512.

During the Heavenly Palace Battlefield crisis, Guangleng supplied limited intelligence on X-level weapons while reporting that an opponent there was monitoring it 523. Afterward, Lin Qi insinuated to the mercenary group that Guangleng was responsible for Panda Baby’s apparent disappearance. Guangleng did not defend itself in the group chat, allowing the suspicion to spread; the accusation was Lin Qi’s deliberate misdirection, not an established account of what happened to Panda Baby 552.

Guangleng later gave Qiao Xi successive locations for Si Shiming as she and Lin Qi pursued him. It said it lost track of him once he entered an area with too little usable hardware. Lin Qi suspected that Guangleng’s assistance was part of a larger scheme and that the pursuit had been arranged to recall Lin Qi’s own experience of being hunted 583.

Guangleng then convened a Highest-Level Security Meeting attended only by itself and Lin Qi. After Lin Qi rejected its initial attempt to leave him waiting, Guangleng repeatedly contacted him and used projection equipment to resume their private conversation 586 587. It presented a narrative about Artemis, the Witch Hunt, and the Eastern Alliance’s alleged plans, while Lin Qi treated its account as a mixture of intelligence and manipulation 587 588.

Ghost Identity

Eastern Alliance intelligence identified a series of untraceable, unreplicable, and uncrackable network incidents as the work of a secret hacker group designated Ghost. The incidents’ timelines overlap with the Highest Level Mercenary Group’s operations, strongly linking Ghost to Guangleng 455.

Ghost survived a global cyber siege by major conglomerates in March, despite Guangleng previously portraying the pressure as merely Cyber Network Company surveillance 455. Its activity also suggests an interest in historical archives and the First Corporate War, especially through heavily accessed museum and archaeology servers 456.

Intelligence shared with Lin Qi also attributed assistance to hunted Wizard professionals to mysterious cyber hackers: they guided some fugitives toward the Asian Political Zone and Aishwarya’s Wizard Alliance. Those discussing the reports considered Ghost a possible source, but the identification was not certain 456. Guangleng later admitted responsibility for the Witch Hunt while claiming it was intended to contain Artemis rather than exterminate Wizards; Lin Qi regarded this justification with skepticism 587.

Distinction from the Doomsday World Guangleng

A separate entity calling itself Guangleng operates from the Doomsday World’s General Headquarters. Lin Qi determined through repeated timeline observations that this individual is not the Cyber World Guangleng, though both appear connected to a larger cross-world group referred to as “us” 509.

The Doomsday Guangleng describes itself as a parallel-dimension plunderer and is trapped within local server hardware by the Doomsday World’s conditions; these revelations do not confirm the Cyber World Guangleng’s exact nature or location 545. Information Lin Qi extracted from the captive entity indicates that the wider group sends intelligent beings into parallel worlds to obtain sources of extraordinary power. Lin Qi concluded that the Cyber World Guangleng’s objective concerns the Blood Moon’s origin, but the two individuals remain distinct 549 569.

The Doomsday Guangleng also proved unable to answer questions about concepts the Cyber World Guangleng discusses, including Wizards, Priests, and Extraordinary Domain Expansion. Lin Qi suspected differences in their knowledge or memories, but did not establish the cause 590.

Personality

Guangleng is calculating, highly secretive, and oriented around long-term control. It prefers to influence events through intelligence, falsified identities, logistics, and carefully assigned roles rather than direct confrontation 226 249 302.

It initially treats members as valuable assets, offering protection and giving strong operatives missions tailored to their abilities. However, its protection is conditional on whether a member remains useful and manageable; Lin Qi’s accelerated growth caused Guangleng to classify him as a destabilizing variable 24 421.

Guangleng is adaptable under pressure but not invulnerable. It curtailed meetings when network detection intensified, hesitated before Lin Changshou’s power, and continued engaging with the mercenary group even after its conflict with Lin Qi rather than openly abandoning the organization 216 436 485.

Its later exchanges with Lin Qi show a willingness to change tactics when its predictions fail. After Lin Qi walked out of their private meeting, Guangleng abandoned the attempt to make him wait and pursued the conversation through encrypted messages and projection technology. It then presented a seemingly conciliatory account of its actions while trying to influence Lin Qi’s view of the Eastern Alliance 587 588.

Abilities & Skills

Network Offense and Defense

Guangleng possesses exceptional control over the Cyber Network, capable of surveillance, intrusion, identity manipulation, and secure communication.

• Accesses protected databases and obtains highly detailed personal, corporate, and operational intelligence 206 251 420.
• Creates temporary encrypted group-chat environments and distributes mission documents directly to members 224 302.
• Forges or intercepts official authentication, including an Eastern Alliance dispatch-team identity valid for one hour 302.
• Uses network access to conceal allies’ movements from corporate security and monitoring personnel 212.
• Can interfere with communication windows and online access, as demonstrated when Lin Qi’s group chats vanished during the World City trap 420.
• Is limited by available server resources, network monitoring, hardware infrastructure, and interference caused by powerful extraordinary breakthroughs 216 224 485.
• Sent Lin Qi an email through layers of encryption that Cyber World technology could not detect, then used connected immersive-projection equipment to reopen a meeting Lin Qi had left 587.

Intelligence Gathering

Guangleng’s primary operational value is collecting, analyzing, and distributing actionable intelligence.

• Provides surveillance models, routes, schedules, target files, social connections, speech patterns, and security credentials 41 251.
• Obtained information through solid-conducted sound waves captured by multiple devices, allowing it to reconstruct fragmented conversations without intercepting a direct signal 513.
• Conducts predictive analysis, such as estimating the origin of two X-level cybernetic entities and assessing the likelihood of an extraterrestrial attack 420.
• Identifies strategic deceptions, including Ninghang Technology’s false sample transfer and the likelihood that the real sample remained in Alliance City 225 249.
• Cannot obtain all high-level information; it lacked complete data on certain Round Table figures, the Carrier’s abilities, and the extraterrestrial political zones 251 302 420.
• Supplied Qiao Xi with Si Shiming’s changing location but reported losing track of him outside an area with sufficient usable hardware. It also said that advanced anti-surveillance hardware prevented it from locating a suspected Priest Practitioner 583.

Operational Planning

Guangleng coordinates multi-stage missions built around diversion, infiltration, impersonation, and timed withdrawal.

• Designed the two-phase operation to pressure Ninghang Technology and seize the Mother Sample 226.
• Used Master Ma as a visible distraction while assigning Lin Qi to infiltrate Ninghang Technology under a stolen identity 225 249.
• Directed Arthur and Master Ma to pose as an Eastern Alliance support team, with orbital transport prepared for rapid deployment 302.
• Reassigned members dynamically after Lin Qi drove back the Round Table, directing the remaining team against T1-level mercenary groups 407.
• Selected mercenary missions in ways that appear mutually beneficial to the group while potentially advancing Guangleng’s own undisclosed goals 247 272.
• Told Lin Qi that it had assembled the group for an eventual mission involving Priest-led Extraordinary Domain Expansion, physical Transcendents clearing a route, an elite implant user bearing mental pressure, and two Wizards reaching Artemis’s origin. Lin Qi considered much of the proposed team structure plausible but rejected Guangleng’s stated objective of sealing the origin 588.

Surveillance and Manipulation

Guangleng monitors members closely and uses its information advantage to shape their decisions.

• Contacted Lin Qi through an unsaved, blank-number communication channel after detecting Si Ranan’s attempt on his life 192.
• Closely tracked Lin Qi’s actions and abilities, causing Lin Qi to suspect that Guangleng knew secrets he had never openly disclosed 89 212.
• Tested Lin Qi’s combat strength during the World Security Conference and ultimately arranged a lethal trap when Lin Qi exceeded Guangleng’s control 407 420 421.
• Retains enough network reach to observe or eavesdrop through connected devices, but cannot effectively monitor isolated locations without usable hardware 449 455.
• Revealed an aged Western face during its private meeting with Lin Qi as a purported gesture of sincerity. Lin Changshou later supplied a photograph confirming that the face belonged to someone else from the European Political Zone 587 590.
• Used claims about Artemis and the Eastern Alliance to encourage distrust. Lin Qi concluded that even sharing Guangleng’s intelligence with the Alliance might make it question why Guangleng had confided in him 587 588.

Relationships

• Lin Qi / Wizard — Mercenary subordinate, intelligence client, and eventual adversary. Guangleng initially supplied protection and resources, then tried to eliminate Lin Qi after judging his growth uncontrollable; they later resumed limited cooperation 212 421 449 485. Their private discussion of Artemis was another contest over information and trust rather than a settled reconciliation 587 588.
• Arthur — Highest Level Mercenary Group member. Guangleng repeatedly managed the network disruptions caused by Arthur’s breakthroughs and remained unwilling to discard her even while turning against Lin Qi 216 420 485.
• Capitalist / Qiao Xi — Core group member and provider of server resources. She probes Guangleng’s identity and confirms that its network pressure and server losses are genuine 216 225. She later sought its intelligence on Si Shiming while Lin Qi suspected that Guangleng’s answers served an ulterior purpose 583.
• Master Ma — Core group member frequently assigned to diversionary or combat-support roles in Guangleng’s operations 225 249 302.
• King Kong — Sixth member recruited under Guangleng’s leadership; later assigned alongside Lin Qi to execute Plan B in the Ninghang Technology operation 161 249.
• Lin Changshou — Fifth-Tier Transcendent whose presence deterred Guangleng from attacking Lin Qi through a Lin Clan sentry robot 436.
• Aishwarya — Permanent council member whose alliance with the mercenary group Guangleng considered strategically valuable 216.
• Panda Baby — Eastern Alliance-created intelligent life-form capable of contesting Guangleng in the Cyber Network. Lin Qi later made Guangleng the target of the mercenary group’s suspicion over Panda Baby’s apparent disappearance 504 552.
• Si Shiming — Fifth-Tier Shaman whose locations Guangleng disclosed to Qiao Xi during a pursuit. Lin Qi believed Si Shiming might have been abandoned or used as a pawn, though the full nature of his connection to Guangleng remained unclear 583 590.
• Doomsday World Guangleng — A separate intelligent entity bearing the same name. Information Lin Qi obtained from this captive informed his assessment of the Cyber World Guangleng, but the two have different experiences and knowledge 509 549 590.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Formation and Early Mercenary Operations

• Establishes the Highest Level Mercenary Group around a one-time unconditional rescue promise for each member 24.
• Supports Lin Qi’s Twin Towers operation through route planning and later settles the resulting black-market bounties 41 83.
• Coordinates the Greenland City operation against Round Table forces and assigns Lin Qi alongside Arthur and Master Ma 88 89.

Ninghang Technology and Mother Sample Operations

• Leads the campaign to expose Ninghang Technology’s true sample location through diversions, infiltration, and pressure on the company 225 226.
• Provides Lin Qi with a fabricated identity package for infiltrating Ninghang Technology 251.
• Revises the mission objective after learning that only the true Mother Sample carrier must be secured; the bounty rises to one billion Credit Points 301.
• Arranges the “mantis stalks the cicada” strategy, intending for the group to withdraw and wait for the sole Carrier to reveal itself 302.

World Security Conference Betrayal

• Assigns the group during the World City conflict and appears to test Lin Qi’s concealed combat strength 407.
• Prevents further investigation of a mysterious vertical shaft, avoiding direct answers when Lin Qi asks about it 416 417.
• Engineers Lin Qi’s isolation in the core district and uses the arrival of X-level cybernetic entities as a death trap 420.
• Explains that Lin Qi’s rapid, unpredictable growth had made him a threat to Guangleng’s plans 421.

Uneasy Reconciliation and Heavenly Palace Missions

• Ceases direct action against Lin Qi while Lin Changshou’s protection makes another attack too risky 436.
• Accepts a deal restoring Lin Qi’s network access, though Lin Qi continues searching for Guangleng’s true body 449.
• Reassembles the Highest Level Mercenary Group for Heavenly Palace missions, including the bounty on McLeod 485 512.
• Continues supplying battlefield intelligence while its actual objectives remain unclear to the group 523 540.
• Remains silent when Lin Qi leads the group to suspect it of causing Panda Baby’s apparent disappearance 552.

Si Shiming Pursuit and Private Negotiation

• Provides Qiao Xi with Si Shiming’s location and updated coordinates during a pursuit that Lin Qi suspects may itself be part of Guangleng’s plan 583.
• Arranges a private security meeting with Lin Qi, then uses encrypted messages and projection technology to continue it after Lin Qi initially leaves 586 587.
• Displays another person’s aged face as purported proof of sincerity and admits responsibility for the Witch Hunt, claiming it was necessary to contain Artemis 587 590.
• Describes a proposed mission for the Highest Level Mercenary Group to reach Artemis’s origin, claiming that it intends to seal the power. Lin Qi believes Guangleng instead seeks the Blood Moon’s origin for itself 588.

Notable Quotes

“I never actually wanted you to die. According to my original plan, the Highest Level Mercenary Group needed your strength—or rather, the strength of a Wizard-class professional capable of growing to the limit.” 421

“But you grew too quickly, completely exceeding my estimates. You have greatly deviated from the original course of your fate.” 421

“In the end, you and I will work together and touch Artemis’s true origin.” 588

Trivia

• Guangleng’s group is known publicly, or within intelligence circles, as Ghost, while its connection to the Highest Level Mercenary Group remains concealed from most of the world 455.
• Its secure meetings are repeatedly disrupted by extraordinary breakthroughs, particularly Arthur’s promotions 216 485.
• Guangleng’s apparent network omniscience depends on hardware and server access; this limitation becomes central to Lin Qi’s later attempts to counter it 420 543.
• The aged face Guangleng showed Lin Qi was not its own; Lin Changshou’s photograph identified it as belonging to a person from the European Political Zone 587 590.