The Informant

Morning.

Countdown 16:20:00.

Last night, a new batch of inmates arrived at Prison No. 18.

Under Qing Chen's instruction, Lu Guangyi went to inquire about the backgrounds of the newcomers one by one.

Qing Chen ultimately confirmed that there were no Transmigrators among this new batch.

He surmised that all Transmigrators arrived and departed together, and no one would transmigrate in the middle of someone else's journey.

This meant all Transmigrators were on the same timeline.

At this moment, Li Shutong and Qing Chen were already seated at the dining table, playing chess.

"After you told Lu Guangyi to go easy on the newcomers, there's been less crying and howling in the prison," Li Shutong said, looking at the chessboard. "But have you noticed that the other two factions in the prison are already quite unhappy with Lu Guangyi?"

Normally, the three factions took turns holding welcome ceremonies for new inmates; it was a form of entertainment for everyone.

Now that Lu Guangyi had taken over this task entirely, it was bound to cause dissatisfaction among others.

Qing Chen moved a red piece and replied, "I've noticed, but I believe Lu Guangyi can handle this matter himself."

"Have you considered that those newcomers might not be grateful to you?" Li Shutong chuckled.

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "When you meet a beggar on the road and give him some change, that change isn't enough to lift him out of poverty, but you gain some inner peace and pleasure."

Li Shutong smiled and said no more.

The endgame they were playing today was called "Wild Horse Raging in the Field," but Qing Chen, playing red, didn't win; it ended in a draw.

In fact, the so-called chess endgame was a situation where Black had a significant advantage, so achieving a draw was considered breaking the endgame.

Unlike the usual spectators, in addition to the bewildered prisoners following Lu Guangyi, Guo Huzhan was also present.

Yesterday, the burly man had politely sat far away, but today he simply sat next to Qing Chen, in the seat diagonally opposite Li Shutong.

The over two-meter-tall strongman sat on the chair, his massive frame making the chair look like a small stool, appearing awkward.

But Guo Huzhan didn't care; he just wanted to be near Li Shutong.

Since he couldn't win, he might as well join them!

Moreover, seeing that Qing Chen's meal contained real meat while his did not, he righteously said to Li Shutong, "I'm at least a prominent figure in Black Spade. You're eating real meat yourselves and making me eat synthetic meat. Is this how you treat guests?"

Lin Xiaoxiao, seeing his shamelessness, sneered, "How can you be compared to us? Why don't you fight the boss again? If you win, you can eat it."

"It's not good to always resort to fighting," Guo Huzhan said, touching his bald head. "Besides, it's one thing for the three of you to eat it, but why is that kid playing chess also eating real meat? He's just an ordinary person. Hey, kid, go get yourself another portion and give me yours."

Everyone was stunned. They hadn't expected Guo Huzhan to be so cunning, realizing he couldn't provoke Li Shutong and deciding to pick on Qing Chen, the seemingly weaker target.

At this moment, Qing Chen looked up at Guo Huzhan, then at Lin Xiaoxiao and the others.

He noticed that Lin Xiaoxiao wasn't speaking up to retort Guo Huzhan this time. Instead, he was looking at Qing Chen with a smile, seemingly wanting to see how he would handle the bald brute.

Qing Chen silently closed his eyes, ignoring him.

Seeing this, Guo Huzhan assumed the young man was afraid to provoke him and swaggered over, taking Qing Chen's plate. "You all saw it, he gave it up himself."

However, at this moment, Qing Chen's thoughts seemed to return to yesterday.

The instant Guo Huzhan threw his punch.

The world froze.

Prisoners were unable to lift their heads under the metal storm, their prison uniforms on their backs rippling like the surface of water in the rain as rubber bullets struck them.

The slowly rising alloy gates, and the rapidly entering mechanical prison guards, the sounds of gunfire, rubber bullets hitting, and hydraulic transmissions intertwined.

At that time, only Qing Chen was calmly observing everyone.

No, that wasn't the moment he was looking for.

Qing Chen stood at the center of the memory and swept his palm, and the entire world's scene seemed to rewind.

The rubber bullets that had burst from the sky to the ground flew back into the gun barrels.

The fallen prisoners stood up in bizarre postures.

Time ticked by, and the past events replayed frame by frame in Qing Chen's mind.

Until... the moment Guo Huzhan had just entered Prison No. 18.

Qing Chen walked slowly through the crowd, listening to everyone's voices.

The people in his memory didn't speak, but the details of their bodies gave them away.

Just as Guo Huzhan was about to devour all the meat on Qing Chen's plate, Qing Chen opened his eyes.

"Lu Guangyi."

"Yes, I'm here, boss. What is it?" Lu Guangyi responded quickly, no longer bothering to hide his identity.

Qing Chen said, "I'll point out a few people, and you pull them out."

After speaking, he turned to face the prisoners and began pointing, naming eight people in one go.

As those individuals were pulled out of the crowd by Lu Guangyi, Guo Huzhan's expression gradually turned grim, and he forgot about eating.

Qing Chen sat back in his seat and asked Guo Huzhan, "Are these eight yours?"

"Not all of them," Guo Huzhan replied with a dark expression.

"Mhm," Qing Chen nodded. "After you were escorted in, your gaze lingered on five of them. All five made a gesture with their index fingers extended. I don't know what the gesture means, but I'm sure it was for you. The other three exchanged glances with each other immediately."

Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan's eyes flickered as they looked at Qing Chen. At that moment, even they were busy dodging gunfire and had no time to observe everyone's reactions.

It was as if, in that chaotic, downpour-like moment, Qing Chen was the only one who remained clear-headed and observant.

Li Shutong chuckled, "Prison No. 18 is a mixed bag. It's normal for people from other factions to be watching me here."

Lin Xiaoxiao puffed up with pride and asked, "Boss, should we transfer these people to other prisons?"

"No need," Li Shutong shook his head. "Transferring eight people without reason will only lead to external speculation about me. Ye Wan, isolate all eight of them and interrogate them one by one to see who sent the other three."

Just then, seeing Lin Xiaoxiao's smug look, Qing Chen, remembering his casual demeanor moments ago, stood up again and pointed out over twenty more people.

This time, he didn't say anything, but Lin Xiaoxiao's teeth began to ache. He whispered next to Li Shutong, "Boss, this kid has identified our people too..."

Li Shutong looked at Qing Chen and praised, "Although you're not a Transcendental yet, your memory and analytical abilities are something many Transcendental individuals can't match."

Seeing that Qing Chen had also identified the Knights' people, Guo Huzhan immediately understood that this young man wasn't with the Knights. "What should I call this young brother?"

Qing Chen glanced at him. "Qing Chen."

"Qing Clan?" Guo Huzhan was taken aback. "How did the Knights get involved with the Qing Clan conglomerate?"

"Does having the surname Qing automatically mean you're part of the Qing Clan? Even if you are, you don't necessarily stay with the Qing Clan forever," Li Shutong said with a smile. "Isn't there also a very famous person in the wilderness with the surname Qing?"

Guo Huzhan's eyes flickered, and his attitude immediately did a complete 180-degree turn.

He silently pushed his meal tray back towards Qing Chen and then said enthusiastically, "Little brother Qing Chen, what's your impression of Black Spade?"

"Not good," Qing Chen replied coldly.

He still couldn't figure out what kind of personality Guo Huzhan had. Despite his imposing build, his mind was unusually active and lacked any integrity.

Furthermore, the man was here to compete with him for the Forbidden Item, so Qing Chen naturally wouldn't show him any pleasantries.

Today, by leveraging Li Shutong's influence, he had managed to eliminate some of the opposition's pre-arranged pawns, which was a gain of sorts.

As they spoke, a commotion arose nearby.

Qing Chen looked over and saw Ye Wan frowning.

The three non-Black Spade members he had just identified were lying on the ground, their lips and faces tinged with a purplish hue.

These were typical symptoms of death by suffocation.

Ye Wan took off his shirt, wrapped it around his hand, and then crouched down to gently pry open one of the deceased's mouths. He looked up at Li Shutong. "Boss, it's a poison sac hidden in the back molar. There's a faint bitter almond smell when the mouth opens. It's cyanide."

Guo Huzhan said, "These three are not my Black Spade people."

"Suicide operatives," Li Shutong said calmly. "This is rather surprising."

No one knew who had arranged for them to be here, nor why they had entered Prison No. 18.

Qing Chen watched silently, his expression unreadable.

Only his tightly clenched fists revealed his tension.

He opened his palm and glanced at it. His palm bore red marks from his fingernails digging in, along with sweat.

Whether in the Outer World or the Inner World, this was the first time he had faced death directly.

He had only ever seen things like poison sacs hidden in teeth in movies.

The brutal methods of the three operatives pulled Qing Chen back to reality, making him realize anew that this was, after all, a world where fierce beasts roamed.

Countdown 15:21:59.

With the return imminent, he couldn't afford any more complications.

Seeking recommendation votes, seeking monthly votes! The situation is excellent, charge!

Thanks to xiao功 for becoming a new ally of this book. The boss is generous, the boss's fortune is as vast as the East Sea, and his life is as long as the Southern Mountains!