Coward

"I'm afraid you'll be appearing before all Time Walker under the ID 'A Little Duck' from now on," Qing Chen said with a regretful and heartbroken expression.

Nan Gengchen said expressionlessly, "Brother Chen, laugh if you want."

"Hahahaha!"

That laugh lasted a full ten minutes.

Someone else sent a message in the group. "Why isn't Little Duck talking yet? If you're going to join the group and not say anything, what's the point of joining?"

Zhang San thought for a moment and replied, "It's 11:30 PM now. Judging from his ID, he's probably at work right now..."

Qing Chen exclaimed, "Zhang San's analysis makes a lot of sense too!"

Nan Gengchen sat weakly on the sofa. After hesitating for a long time, he looked up and asked, "Brother Chen, I just want to know if I commit suicide now, will you bear any legal responsibility?!"

"It's not like you'd commit suicide," Qing Chen rubbed his sore cheeks from laughing. "I've thought about it, and your joining the group might not be a bad thing. Although they know you're Time Walker, they might not know your... true identity in the Inner World."

As he spoke, Qing Chen glanced at Yang Yang. With the girl present, it was somewhat inconvenient for him to talk to Nan Gengchen.

After all, none of them could be sure whether the girl was friend or foe, Qing Chen couldn't possibly reveal Nan Gengchen's identity to her.

Yang Yang said easily, "I know I'm an outsider, so it's normal for you to keep it from me."

"Thank you for your understanding," Qing Chen nodded and continued to Nan Gengchen, "If we play your card well, it can also have good results. Please wait a moment, I'll go to the restroom and report this situation to the boss."

Qing Chen went into the bathroom and took out his communicator. Liu Dezhu had already sent a message: "Boss, boss, I have important information to report regarding He Xiaoxiao's group chat!!!"

Qing Chen was quite surprised. These days, Liu Dezhu was unusually proactive in his work, reporting everything without needing to be prompted.

He sent Liu Dezhu a message: "You've already received He Xiaoxiao's invitation, right?"

Liu Dezhu on the other end of the communicator was greatly shocked. "Boss, how did you know I was going to talk about this? You're incredibly prescient! I did just receive the invitation, and I was just wondering if I should join!!!"

Qing Chen thought to himself, "Is this guy still in a state of anger? He's adding so many extra exclamation marks."

He was deep in thought.

Actually, they already have one and a half cards revealed on their side.

The entire face-up card is Liu Dezhu, while the other half is Nan Gengchen.

The difference between these two is that only a few people know that Nan Gengchen is Time Walker, but they don't know his identity in the Inner World.

Liu Dezhu's situation is more transparent. Most people now believe that he has become a core member of Li Shutong's inner circle, and that Li Shutong even instructed Li Dongze of Heng Society to kill someone for him.

These two cards need to be used together to achieve the best effect.

And they do indeed have an opponent they need to deal with!

Qing Chen sent a message to Liu Dezhu: "Join that group chat, and then tell me which group you are in and who are in the group."

On the other side, Liu Dezhu, seeing his boss's instructions, was no longer worried about exposing himself and decisively clicked the link.

After downloading the app, Liu Dezhu wanted to choose a name that wouldn't be easily exposed when entering his nickname ID. However, he was surprised to find that the dialog box for entering his nickname ID suddenly disappeared, while his personal profile showed: Liu Dezhu (real-name authentication).

Liu Dezhu almost vomited on the spot. What kind of app is this that even requires real-name authentication?

The next moment, the group chat started spamming with messages. "Liu Dezhu is here?"

"Holy crap, it's Liu Dezhu! He even has real-name authentication!"

"Officially certified Liu Dezhu!"

In the Time Walker community today, everyone knows the name Liu Dezhu, so much so that his joining the group even caused a small sensation.

Qing Chen was still waiting for a reply when he heard Nan Gengchen shout from outside the restroom, "Brother Chen, Liu Dezhu has joined the group!"

Qing Chen frowned. Liu Dezhu had also joined this group. Was it a deliberate arrangement, a coincidence, or had He Xiaoxiao invited so many people so far?

He sent a message to Liu Dezhu: "Cooperate with an ID called 'A Little Duck'."

After sending the message, Qing Chen walked out of the restroom and stared intently at the scrolling messages in the chat group, patiently waiting for an opportunity.

Nan Gengchen thought to himself, Liu Dezhu must have received instructions from Brother Chen to suddenly join the group. He glanced at Yang Yang, wondering if the girl knew Brother Chen's true identity.

However, these two have already progressed to the point of living together, so they should know that, right?

Liu Dezhu remained silent after joining the group, and the other members gradually lost their enthusiasm.

At this moment, an ID named "Yue'er" asked, "Why are there so few people in this group? Even including He Xiaoxiao, there are only 28 people."

Chuang Wang responded, "These days, who would dare join this damn group chat without a proper Data Fortress? Who knows what He Xiaoxiao is up to... Surely no one actually came in without Data Fortress?"

Yang Yang and Qing Chen looked at Nan Gengchen silently. Nan Gengchen lowered his head, too embarrassed to speak.

Zhang San said, "Everyone is on edge right now. I heard that some Time Walker obtained public beta access immigrated abroad, making it harder for Time Walker in China to find them. And since Time Walker abroad don't have much contact with them, they can't find them either."

Someone asked the Chuang Wang, "Chuang Wang, why do you know so much about the Shadow Struggle, even about Qing Huai's death? Were you present at the time?"

The Chuang Wang replied, "I know a lot more than that, don't be too surprised. I will continue to reveal more information in the future. Don't worry, I won't charge you."

Qing Chen was puzzled. This Chuang Wang's personality matched his "ID" quite well. He was a reckless and extremely vain character, as if he was about to jump out of the screen.

He didn't understand. Was this guy just trying to attract attention and satisfy his vanity? Wasn't he afraid of being exposed?

Where does that confidence come from?

However, he ignored them and instead hoped that others would ask more questions about the Shadow Struggle.

Li Si asked, "Chuang Wang, I heard in the Inner World that the Shadow Struggle weren't this intense in the past. At least there weren't any casualties in the first round. Why is this year so special?"

Chuang Wang replied, "Hehe, I actually know a thing or two about that. It's said that Qing Xun ill and has therefore considered stepping down to make way for a suitable successor from among the previous Shadows. There are only three Shadows still alive now: one is very old, one has gone on a journey, and the other developed a chronic illness during the previous Shadow Struggle and probably won't live much longer. So, the position of head of the Qing family might be decided in this generation, which is why everyone is so envious."

One family head, assisted by several generations of shadows, and the final position of family head must be chosen from among these shadows.

The Shadow position is tempting enough, let alone the position of head of the family?

Li Si then asked, "Now that Qing Huai dead, who is the most likely candidate to succeed him? Does the Time Walker have a chance to curry favor with him and gain merit by following his lead?"

The Chuang Wang replied, "Throughout history, those who have helped the head of the family emerge victorious from the struggles for the position of Shadow Struggle or head of the family have all risen to high positions within the conglomerate. This is certainly a shortcut, but the Shadow Struggle is more dangerous than you imagine. As for popular candidates, if I really had to choose, I would suggest Qing Wen from the first branch of the First Branch, or Qing Zhong from the Second Branch."

This Chuang Wang acted like he was in charge of the country, almost giving Li Si a strategy guide.

Yang Yang chimed in, "This Li Si is so concerned about the Shadow Struggle, could he be someone from within the Qing Clan?"

"It's also possible that he deliberately posed a confusing question to mislead everyone into guessing his identity," Qing Chen said. "We can't be sure yet."

The next moment, Zhang San brought up the old matter again. "Chuang Wang, do you know what ability allows you to send a letter silently? Placing it right next to your pillow like this makes it hard to sleep soundly."

Qing Chen looked at Nan Gengchen: "I'll say it, you type it. The Forbidden Item, ACE-017, is Demon Stamp. It can be used to send letters to any known address using blood-formed stamps. The letter can only contain one sentence. If Zhang San and Li Si have already received the letter, it means that your home address has been exposed to the holder of this Forbidden Item."

In the group, everyone was surprised when "A Little Duck," who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly spoke up and revealed such important information.

Information about Forbidden Item is insignificant to Qing Chen, but it is extremely valuable to other Time Walker!

At first, everyone thought that this "A Little Duck" had been silent for a long time and might be a novice Time Walker. However, now everyone realized that he was actually a master!

For a moment, no one sent any more messages; everyone waited for the little duck to speak again!

Qing Chen said, "The holder of this Forbidden Item is extremely evil. Not only did he manipulate the kidnapping case at Laojun Mountain, but many people who received the letter were also ultimately murdered by this holder. This holder not only has ulterior motives, but is also capricious and even kills his own people. If you receive the letter, the first thing you should do is move to a place where no one can find you. Then try to recall the clues to find this holder and report it to Jiuzhou or Kunlun."

Now, the group chat was even quieter.

After a long pause, Li Si suddenly asked, "Is what you're saying true, or are you making it up?"

Judging from the previous chat history, both Li Si and Zhang San received the letter, and it seems that what "A Little Duck" said made them somewhat uneasy.

Nan Gengchen asked, "Brother Chen, do we need to respond to their questions?"

Qing Chen shook his head. "No need, let's wait a little longer."

"Waiting for what?" Nan Gengchen asked, puzzled.

"Let others confirm our claims," Qing Chen said with a smile.

At this moment, Liu Dezhu, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "It's true!!! This holder is backed by a huge, mysterious organization, and I, as a victim of the Laojun Mountain kidnapping case, have also suffered greatly from it!!! I deeply abhor this kind of evil organization. If anyone has any clues about them, please tell me immediately!!!"

The others in the group thought that this time it should be real information. Liu Dezhu was verified with his real name and held a very important position in the Inner World, so he naturally had a bit of credibility.

Moreover, as they watched the string of exclamation marks Liu Dezhu sent, they could feel his indescribable anger even through the screen.

Everyone suddenly realized that this guy might have made an enemy of the holder of the Demon Stamp, and the two seemed to be mortal enemies.

In fact, Liu Dezhu's words were truly heartfelt, because he had really suffered greatly from the torment of letters.

Others were just a little frightened, but he was going to actually bleed in return.

Last night he roughly calculated the number of replies. If the other party wanted to continue talking to the boss, then he would have to bleed 300cc of blood every month from now on!

"Wait, is the boss trying to confuse the issue and use the power of this group chat to find the holder of the Demon Stamp and cut off the mastermind behind it all?!" Liu Dezhu thought to himself.

At this moment, Qing Chen silently observed the reactions of everyone in the group; he had achieved the effect he wanted.

The holder of the Demon Stamp remained hidden in the shadows, constantly reminding Qing Chen that if he were found, he would be doomed.

Qing Chen was never one to sit idly by and wait for death. Since he couldn't find any clues yet, he asked everyone to help him search.

He said the other party was the manipulator of the Laojun Mountain incident, in order to put them on the opposite side of the Time Walker, since the gang of thugs wanted to kidnap the Time Walker as a mule.

He said that the other party's capricious and cruel killing of its own people was to make the Time Walker hesitant when recruited by the other party.

He said that he could report the other party's information to Kunlun and Jiuzhou in order to imply to everyone that this holder was on the opposite side of Kunlun, thereby confirming the other party's hostile stance.

Finally, Liu Dezhu stepped in with a certain authoritative status to confirm the "A Little Duck" statement.

Let the holder of this Demon Stamp become the target of public criticism!

Yang Yang laughed from the side, "Interesting. When you're unsure whether you can defeat an enemy, then find a few more enemies for that enemy first."

Qing Chen replied, "I'll go and send a message to the boss to tell him that the mission is complete."

As he spoke, he went into the restroom and sent a message to Liu Dezhu: "Well done."

Liu Dezhu, on the other end of the communicator, was thrilled to receive praise from his boss!

And something strange happened: the fire that had been gradually dying down in his heart suddenly reignited!

Liu Dezhu's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected his boss's praise to have this effect, "Boss, could you praise me a couple more times?"

Qing Chen looked at the message and thought to himself, "Is this guy out of his mind?"

The next moment, a letter suddenly appeared next to Liu Dezhu's pillow.

The envelope slowly appeared from nothing, looking extremely eerie.

Liu Dezhu opened the letter and sent a message to Qing Chen: "Boss, the holder has sent a letter: He actually wants to make everyone my enemy. Interesting, hehe."

Qing Chen wasn't surprised when he saw the contents of the letter. He knew that He Xiaoxiao's creation of a group was such a big deal, how could the other party miss it? So he was certain from the beginning that there must be someone else's spies in the group, and the holder himself might even be in the group.

Qing Chen said, "Reply to him: Why don't you dare come out and defend yourself? Hehe."

The holder replied, "So you can know my ID? Hehe."

Liu Dezhu asked, "Boss, how should we reply to him?"

Qing Chen: "Coward, hehe."

In the darkness, in front of a huge French window, a thin figure looked at the endless giggles in the reply and suddenly felt a little disgusted...