Tail Ring and Departure

"What do you want me to do for you?" Qing Chen asked.

Abby said, "I know it's pointless to ask you for a promise, so I hope that after you do this last thing for me, I'll tell you the containment conditions."

Qing Chen asked, "Do you think you have the right to negotiate with me?"

Abby countered, "Would you dare try it yourself, slowly?"

Qing Chen was delighted. He had searched online for a long time but couldn't find any information about the Forbidden Item in Kabri's possession.

Because this Forbidden Item originated in North America, Qing Chen was unable to return to the Inner World to find information related to it, since the continents were now cut off and information could no longer be exchanged.

Therefore, if Qing Chen doesn't want to go back to China and figure things out slowly, he should figure everything out before his trip to Europe ends.

Sometimes it takes several generations to figure out even a little bit of the rules regarding Forbidden Item.

It might even take a life to find out.

It's better to know who extracted it, as Forbidden Item are usually extracted from the burial grounds of deceased superhumans, and there are usually some unusual phenomena before they are extracted.

If you know whose grave it is, you can make inferences based on the person's preferences during their lifetime.

For example, the Forbidden Item ACE-005 Daifuku, according to Li Shutong, was extracted from a cat lover. That superhuman owned a total of 7 cats, all of which were quite famous. So the First Generation owner spent a month finding the conditions for its containment and how to use it...

For example, Puppet Master appeared very early on, but back then nobody knew what they were used for.

Everyone knows it's a Forbidden Item, but for over a hundred years no one has known what it's used for or what the containment conditions are.

Some people use it as a fishing line to catch fish, some people use it to hang clothes to dry, but who would have thought that it would be used to tie the wrists of the host and the enemy together?

He's gay and has a very gay vibe.

Qing Chen couldn't fathom how the First Generation host to discover its usage method had managed to find it...

Moreover, due to its characteristics, it is particularly demanding on the host.

The complete rules for Puppet Master are that a batch of people must be sacrificed every month, and if the sacrifice fails, the number of people to be sacrificed next time must be doubled.

If it hasn't finished flipping through the page by the ninth time, it will sacrifice its host...

On average, one host is sacrificed every nine months. Who can stand that? It's faster than being reincarnated.

It has been calculated that Puppet Master have killed more than thirty hosts, making them arguably the most host-destroying Forbidden Item in history.

There are other Forbidden Item similar to Puppet Master.

For example, if Correct Coin is asked a question and then answered, but is not given a gold bar, it will cause the host to become blind and deaf for seven days.

There is also the Forbidden Item ACE-038 "The End of the Secret," which allows the host to reveal a secret about themselves that no one else knows, in exchange for a secret from someone else.

However, if the host reveals a secret about the Forbidden Item that the host believes no one knows, but in fact someone does, then 4999 hairs will fall out.

The hosts of the Forbidden Item ACE-038 have all been bald.

Therefore, Forbidden Item have always been a double-edged sword.

Currently, Qing Chen does not know what the containment conditions of the tail ring are, or what the consequences would be if containment failed.

If he accidentally triggers some backlash rules while trying, there could be serious problems.

Even if Abby and Kabri were willing to reveal the function and containment conditions of this Forbidden Item, Qing Chen would still have to have someone test it before daring to use it himself.

For example, the Forbidden Item ACE-089 Hunter of the Praised, which is in the hands of the Tribunal of Taboos, still has no known containment conditions and can only be temporarily sealed in a metal box.

This thing will chase the singer to the ends of the earth as soon as it hears a song.

If what Kabri has is similar to the Hunter of the Praised, but Abby tells Qing Chen that the containment condition is singing, then Qing Chen is probably in big trouble.

But he needs a reference point.

Perhaps this is Abby's confidence; he is certain that Qing Chen doesn't want to try things out slowly, which is why he confidently put forward his conditions.

However, Qing Chen was not worried about this. As long as one person was willing to speak up, things would be easy to handle.

It's not like Abby is the only one who knows the function and containment conditions of this pinky ring.

Too many people die because of the old saying, "It's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality."

The Chinese have used the stratagem of "two peaches kill three warriors" to death.

He restrained Abby from speaking, then looked at Kabri with a smile and said, "You don't want to talk about it, but someone else does. It's clearly Forbidden Item for you, yet he comes to me with conditions. If I were you, I wouldn't be able to stand it either! Can you tolerate him?! Here's what I'll do for you: tell me the function of the Forbidden Item, and I'll do one last thing for you before you die."

Qing Chen smiled and glanced at Abby. If someone like her could become the number three in the European branch in the future, he wondered what the real power holders in North America would be like.

Kabri realized that his restraints had been loosened. He gave Abby a cold look, then said to Qing Chen, "Delete all the private messages on my social media and everything in my cloud drive, and I'll tell you."

Qing Chen: "..."

Abby: "..."

Qing Chen sighed, "You truly fear not being shattered to pieces, but only wish to leave behind a pure reputation. Your last request before death was for me to help destroy the evidence of your suicide. Such noble character is truly moving."

Abby felt a pang of sadness. He was still thinking about how to use this incident to set a trap for Qing Chen, so that the Future Organization would discover their whereabouts and come to rescue them. But Kabri was not cooperating at all and had entrusted such a small task to him.

Qing Chen smiled and said, "I can help you with this, but you have to tell me the containment conditions first."

Kabri shook his head. "No, you have to do it for me first."

Qing Chen said, "Then let me ask Abby again? Perhaps he'd be more willing to complete this deal with me. Of course, you can also choose to trust me; I'm willing to help you with such a small thing, after all, it's just a small favor."

Kabri paused for a moment. "This pinky ring is called 'Power,' meaning it can take you anywhere."

Qing Chen was also taken aback. "Teleportation ability?!"

"No," Kabri shook his head, "It's that as long as you have it, you can open any door, even if that door has a mechanical lock or a combination lock. You just need to turn the handle, and it will help you unlock everything and open the door... safes too."

Kabri, fearing that Qing Chen would think the thing was useless, quickly added another sentence.

Qing Chen said irritably, "It only has one ability, and you gave it such a powerful name?! And you even said it can go anywhere!"

This would be better called a universal key!

Wait a minute, Qing Chen suddenly remembered something. It is said that the carriages of the Forbidden Item ACE-012 Steam Train are full of gold coins. If anyone tries to steal the gold coins, the Steam Train will lock the doors and trap them inside to their death.

Could this pinky ring, called "Power," be used to unlock a locked door after stealing gold coins?

Isn't this the legendary fight between rules, and magic against magic?

Of course, Qing Chen wasn't really going to try it...

After all, he didn't know if this method of exploiting the bug would work. What if the Western rules didn't take effect in the East, and the power of the pinky ring couldn't overcome the Steam Train? Then he would have to die with a smile on his face...

Qing Chen looked at Kabri: "What are the containment rules? How can one become its host?"

Kabri explained, "Its containment conditions are simple: the host must steal one thing each month, anything will do, and the stolen item must be eaten by the ring before the owner realizes it's missing."

Qing Chen thought to himself, "This must be Forbidden Item extracted from a North American master thief, it even has such a strange quirk."

If he were to return to China, he might not be able to figure out the rules of this Forbidden Item, since he has no habit of stealing.

Abby, who was standing nearby, sighed inwardly as she listened to Kabri recount all the details.

Two top-tier C-Class experts have been reduced to the miserable state of fighting over a "last wish" before their death. Abby really wanted to kill Kabri.

At this moment, Qing Chen regained control of Kabri and then put the ring on Abby's little finger. "You try it."

Abby said, "You want me to help you try on this pinky ring to see if Kabri has tricked you? Fine, but you have to delete the contents of my cloud drive as well."

He made one last attempt.

Abby could have had a better plan, but now he could only pray that some clues he left behind would give W something to think of.

Qing Chen smiled and said, "Okay."

As she spoke, Abby said to Qing Chen, "I need to steal something first, and the owner can't know. How about I go steal something from the street?"

"No need, it's not that complicated," Qing Chen shook his head. He released Kabri from his restraints and knocked Kabri unconscious with a single chop.

Then, Qing Chen said to Abby, "You took off his coat, that counts as stealing it. Don't worry, he's not aware of it."

Abby was shocked. She realized that "stolen items can be fed to the ring before the owner realizes they are missing" could be done in this way.

Qing Chen noticed his confusion and said seriously, "He is indeed unconscious."

Abby sighed, his plan to send a message to the outside world had also failed. "But this is blatant robbery, it's not stealing at all."

"Let's give it a try first," Qing Chen said noncommittally.

Abby pulled off Kabri's coat and then held the pinky ring next to it.

Kabri's coat seemed to burst into flames and instantly turned to ashes.

Abby was stunned. This works?!

In Frederick Hospital, W lay on a hospital bed, his body wrapped in a large number of bandages, while more than a dozen subordinates sat in the spacious VIP ward.

According to the doctor, he suffered a mild concussion, 31% of his body was burned, and he had internal bleeding.

If an ordinary person were hit by that explosion, even if they weren't killed instantly, the 31% burn area would likely be enough to cause organ failure and death.

Fortunately, W, being B-Class expert, possesses powerful self-healing abilities.

W calmly said, "Send people to watch the train station, highway entrances, expressway exits, airport, and port. Don't let Abby and Kabri have a chance to leave. Hacker the network, lock their bank accounts, social media accounts... all accounts, track their information from usage patterns. Don't let them leave Amsterdam alive, or they'll become a laughing stock among North American Time Walker."

However, at that moment, a subordinate said, "Boss, Kabri's social media accounts are logged in!"

W was taken aback. "He actually dares to log into his social media accounts at this time? What is he doing?"

The subordinate, staring at the computer, said, "He... is deleting private messages."

W frowned, "What the hell is this about deleting private messages?"

At a time like this, deleting private messages is something a person being hunted should do.

Why would the other party do something like this right now?

"No," W frowned, "This matter is not that simple... Under what circumstances would someone want to delete their private messages?"

Another subordinate said, "Boss, Abby's cloud drive account has also been logged in, and they're deleting his selfies and videos."

W suddenly remembered a time when he jokingly asked Abby what he would do if he only had five minutes left to live.

Abby's answer was: delete the things in her cloud drive to avoid being exposed and ruining her reputation.

W jumped out of bed and roared at his subordinates, "Quickly find out the IP addresses where they logged in! Find them now!"

"We found the boss. The IP address is at B-156 Danlak Street. The other party forged several IP protocols and set up more than thirty jump servers, but we cracked them all with the decoder we brought back from the Inner World," the subordinate said.

"Go quickly, surround that area!" W said. "Abby... never mind, kill any who resist, don't hold back, send Mike too!"

At this moment, W suddenly realized that Abby might be dying, and that there seemed to be more to the "Abby undercover case" than met the eye.

However, regardless of whether Abby truly betrayed the future or was coerced, W does not want any further surprises in this matter.

Fifteen minutes later, Mike arrived at the door of B-156 Danlac Street. He stared coldly at the unassuming door and asked a future member beside him, "Any activity on those accounts?"

The future member said, "They're still deleting their online traces; they haven't stopped."

Mike sneered, raised his arm and spread his fingers, and a red laser beam instantly shattered the door of B-156.

However, everyone was stunned when the door was slashed open, because there was no one inside.

Mike strode inside and saw a cell phone on the dining table that was automatically deleting all of Abby and Kabri's online account information.

New apps kept popping up on my phone, and then I quickly deleted everything, even canceling my membership to the video streaming service.

After it deleted all the network information, a Monopoly game interface suddenly popped up on the phone screen, and a new game started.

Right next to the phone, someone placed a playing card face down on the table.

Mike, his face ashen, picked up the playing card. It was a colorful Joker, laughing silently.

Tonight is the Dota 2 International (TI) Grand Finals, so that update will be very late. Please check back tomorrow morning; I'll finish writing before dawn...