Data Pack: Shadow War

7:20 AM, Countdown: 20:40:00.

Qing Chen ran three laps around the neighborhood. When he returned home, he saw Jiang Xue hanging his clothes on the drying rack on the balcony of his building.

He had been so busy with transmigration matters that he had accumulated a lot of unwashed clothes. He had planned to wash them yesterday, but Jiang Xue had taken them before he could.

Seeing him, Jiang Xue smiled and called out from the open window, "Qing Chen, I've cooked white porridge. Come up and have some."

"No, no need," Qing Chen waved his hands quickly, then headed to school, munching on a compressed biscuit.

In recent years, he hadn't seen anyone treat him so kindly, so he was a bit unaccustomed to it.

As soon as he entered the school gate, Qing Chen saw many people rushing towards the high school building. He happened to run into Nan Gengchen, who was also sprinting. He asked curiously, "What's going on?"

"Didn't you check the class WeChat group? Someone in the class next door has a Transmigrator, and that guy is in the classroom right now," Nan Gengchen said breathlessly.

"Wait, how did they discover the person is a Transmigrator?" Qing Chen wondered. No one in the adjacent class had mechanical limbs yesterday.

Nan Gengchen replied, "He was showing off. He held it in for a day, but then couldn't keep it in while chatting with classmates last night."

Qing Chen frowned upon hearing this. What was going on? There were so many Transmigrators in Luocheng Foreign Language School?

There were over two thousand students in the school. Among the known Transmigrators, four had appeared in this school alone. How many would there be nationwide?

Even if Transmigrators only appeared in a dozen or so cities nationwide, the total number of Transmigrators wouldn't be small.

At this moment, Qing Chen realized that others would likely discover the pattern he had summarized.

Would a large number of people nationwide flock to these dozen or so cities, hoping to become the third, fourth, or fifth batch of Transmigrators?

Perhaps not yet, but if a third batch of Transmigrators appeared to confirm this speculation, it would become a reality.

In the future, including Luocheng, these dozen or so cities would likely become increasingly lively.

Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen ran towards the classroom. However, before they could get closer to see clearly, the dean of students arrived with a group of teachers and took away the student who claimed to be a Transmigrator.

"We're too late!" Nan Gengchen muttered.

Qing Chen didn't meddle further. He turned and pulled Nan Gengchen towards his own classroom.

Based on his guess, the people from the mysterious organization would likely arrive at the school soon. With transmigration imminent tonight, he didn't want any complications.

He wasn't sure if the mysterious organization had seen his face. If they could restrict Jiang Xue's movements, they could probably check road surveillance too, right?

Although the area where he lived was older and had sparse surveillance, and he had deliberately chosen paths without cameras that day, Qing Chen couldn't guarantee that they hadn't found him.

For the entire day, Qing Chen stayed honestly in the classroom, avoiding any encounter with the mysterious organization.

Unless he needed to use the restroom, he wouldn't leave the classroom even half a step.

It was worth mentioning that their English teacher, Du Yihong, was on leave again today. This gave Qing Chen a more solid guess.

"Qing Chen, Qing Chen, look!" Nan Gengchen exclaimed, "He Xiaoxiao's guide has been updated!"

Qing Chen's eyes lit up. So far, many Transmigrators had introduced the Inner World, but He Xiaoxiao's guide was probably the most captivating.

This was because others only provided an overview of the world-building or some fragmented information.

He Xiaoxiao, a skilled gamer, was sharing truly useful information.

For example, the Tribunal of Taboos, Li Shutong, and gene serum – things that most Transmigrators hadn't encountered yet.

However, He Xiaoxiao suddenly disappeared and then reappeared. What had happened in between?

Qing Chen opened the mobile video.

"Hello everyone, I'm He Xiaoxiao. Due to some special reasons, I couldn't bring you a new guide yesterday."

"The guide I'm bringing today is an overview of the current expansion pack for the Inner World game: The Qing Clan Shadow Struggle."

"The Qing Clan Group is one of the five great companies in the Inner World..."

"Shadow is the person within the Qing Clan Group who holds ownership of the entire underworld."

"This is said to be a tradition of the Qing Clan that has lasted for thousands of years. Every so often, a new Shadow is chosen, staging a drama akin to the competition for succession among nine princes. Each Shadow candidate must undergo the most brutal trials. At the same time, the selection of a new Shadow also stirs up the entire Inner World."

"There are currently eight known Shadow candidates. Each of them is exceptionally talented. These eight Shadow candidates are named Qing Huai, Qing Wen, Qing Shi... but there is one who is very mysterious, and I haven't been able to find out his identity yet."

Qing Chen watched silently. The so-called expansion pack was about adding new plotlines and characters to an existing game foundation, similar to Red Alert 3: Yuri's Revenge.

He didn't know that Li Shutong had speculated he was a Shadow candidate. He himself didn't even know he was one of the Shadow candidates, and Lu Guangyi hadn't mentioned it.

But now, he suddenly understood why he had appeared in Prison No. 18.

He had to admit that He Xiaoxiao's guides were always of immense help to him.

Countdown: 6:19:29.

Qing Chen waited until the afternoon, but he didn't see anyone from the mysterious organization come to the school. However, the student from the adjacent class never returned. It was said that he was taken home by his parents to reflect.

As the time for transmigration drew closer, Qing Chen could clearly feel Nan Gengchen becoming more and more nervous.

He didn't know what advice to give him. If this guy really transmigrated to Prison No. 18, he would help him, even at the risk of being discovered.

"Hypothetically, if you transmigrate tonight, you must be careful. You've seen what people are saying online; the Inner World is not safe," Qing Chen cautioned Nan Gengchen.

Nan Gengchen's expression was a little unnatural. "I, I'm not a Transmigrator."

"Just keep it in mind," Qing Chen said no more. The fact that the other party had kept the secret until now indicated that he had some understanding.

In the evening, Qing Chen skipped class and went home, then calmly waited for the transmigration countdown at home.

He closed his eyes to rest. After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door. Qing Chen opened it and saw Jiang Xue outside. "Is there something, Aunt Jiang Xue?"

Jiang Xue hesitated and said, "You know I'm a transmigrator. The countdown will end soon. The Inner World is very dangerous, and I'm not sure if I can return. If I don't return safely tomorrow, can you take care of Xiao Yun for me for a day?"

Qing Chen was taken aback. "Why would you say that? You'll definitely come back safely."

Jiang Xue shook her head. "You don't know how dangerous that world is, which is why you're comforting me like this. But I know very well. In there, without the backing of the Five Great Companies, human lives are worthless. I'm not asking you to take care of Xiao Yun for a long time either. Her grandmother will be coming from Zhengcheng tomorrow..."

"Okay, I promise. But I still hope you'll be alright," Qing Chen nodded.

"Thank you," Jiang Xue said, and then surprisingly handed Qing Chen a key. "I'll leave a key with you. If anything happens, it'll be convenient for you to open the door."

After speaking, Jiang Xue turned and left.

Qing Chen stared blankly for a few seconds. He hadn't expected her to give him her house key.

This was a form of trust, wasn't it?

Countdown 00:09:59.

Qing Chen, using the last bit of time, placed a small USB drive in his mouth.

He wanted to test if things hidden inside his body could pass through that wall of time.

Then, he twisted his arm until it turned purple again.

After everything was done, Qing Chen took a deep breath.

Countdown: 00:00:10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

The world shattered.

And then reformed.

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