Mr. Cat

At home.

Professor Chen sat in the living room watching the news with the volume turned low.

Chen Shu walked over and sat beside him.

Professor Chen glanced at him but said nothing about his still having the leisure to watch the news with the big exam so close. He merely picked up the remote and turned the volume up a little.

"The rainy season has recently arrived, bringing heavy rainfall to many parts of our province...

"Our country's birth rate continues to fall. Solving the problem of people unwilling to marry or have children is now a top priority...

"At 9:21 this morning, Jade Capital time, Peng City in our province was once again attacked by unidentified militants. Mr. Chen Jianan, a prominent Peng City entrepreneur, was killed. This is the fourth attack our province has suffered since relations between the two countries deteriorated. Judging by a survey of residual spiritual energy at the scene, the attackers' weapon was once again a Tracer Emitter from Blue Nation, or possibly the Tracer Technique used by Blue Nation's military cultivators. No trace of the attackers has yet been found. The investigation is ongoing, and we will continue to bring you updates...

"With the big exam approaching and our province having suffered repeated attacks, military forces have been temporarily deployed to conduct searches throughout the province. They will also stand guard during the exam to ensure the safety of candidates and the smooth running of the exam...

"But we must also remind candidates..."

Professor Chen turned to look at Chen Shu. "No civilian group in Puluo has claimed responsibility for the attack the day before yesterday."

Chen Shu nodded. "Maybe they don't know whether their own people did it either."

That was perfectly normal.

Several civilian sects in Puluo had considerable strength, and more than one sect was bound to be involved in retaliatory attacks against Yi Nation. But they all used the same methods: smuggling expendable fighters across the border and having them attack with Tracer Emitters developed by Blue Nation. That way, Yi Nation could not identify who was behind them and wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

And to keep Yi Nation's authorities from discovering them, the attackers cut off all contact with their organizations once they successfully entered Yi Nation.

They chose their targets and locations themselves.

The only thing they had in common was Blue Nation's Tracer Emitter.

The Tracer Emitter was a mass-produced weapon based on the modern spell known as the Tracer Technique. It allowed ordinary people and untrained martial artists to launch ranged attacks.

The spell drew on ancient Yi Nation spells similar to Palm Thunder, as well as techniques from many other countries, before finally becoming a modern spell used by militaries around the world.

But each country's version of the Tracer Technique was different. The differences were subtle, and each version had its strengths and weaknesses.

Blue Nation's Tracer Technique was outstanding: stable trajectory, long range, great power, highly identifiable residual spiritual energy, and tightly guarded technology.

"That concludes today's Yuanzhou news. Thank you for watching.

"Goodbye."

Chen Shu got up and went back to his room. He picked up a Crystal Disk that looked like a USB drive, then headed out again. "I'm going out for a stroll to unwind."

Professor Chen gave no response.

Honestly. Puluo People were carrying out attacks everywhere, and he wasn't even worried about his son's safety.

Out on the street, Chen Shu saw plenty of police cars coming and going. Every place that might shelter an attacker was being carefully searched. Officers stood guard outside every school, too, and the police sitting in their vehicles were fully armed. They had far more than their usual riot-control pistols, and they looked intimidating.

Chen Shu followed the street, buying a cup of milk tea along the way. When he came across a female streamer dancing by the roadside, he shamelessly stood there watching for quite a while.

At last, he reached a small internet café beside a school for younger students. He happened to see police officers coming out, so he went in.

He made a circuit of the place. Sure enough, plenty of computers sat vacant and running, with their games not even closed.

He picked a suitable spot, being a little particular but not too fussy. He closed the game and inserted the Crystal Disk. After a brief loading screen, the computer automatically opened an interface.

He logged in and entered a Deep Web site called Wide and Narrow Alley.

Messages were already flashing.

Mr. Cat: How is it? Is it working well?

Mr. Cat: Where are you?

Mr. Cat: Offline again...

Mr. Cat: Still not online.

Mr. Cat: You need to break this habit. Doesn't Yi Nation have 1.3 computers per person? What do you do for work, anyway?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Here.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: I haven't learned it yet, but it looks authentic. It's just way, way, way, way too expensive.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Also, I'm not from Yi Nation.

Mr. Cat: Finally, you're online.

Mr. Cat: That's not expensive, okay? I didn't even make any money off you. Blue Asia's controls are so strict—how many people in all of Wide and Narrow Alley can get their hands on Blue Asia's Tracer Technique? Sure, if you posted that you wanted to buy it, plenty of people online would contact you. But would you dare buy from them?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: I'm so broke now.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: I don't feel like paying back those 2,000 Black Gold Coins I owe you. You can't find me anyway.

Mr. Cat: /smile

Mr. Cat: You're in Yi Nation, and at a time like this, you spent a fortune to get Blue Asia's military Tracer Technique. You think I don't know what you want it for?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: /yawn

Mr. Cat: I'd like to make another deal with you. You can pay me back while you're at it.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Sounds like a big deal.

Mr. Cat: I need a set of the most advanced Bodyguard Divine Light spells available, along with methods to help cultivate them. Right now, I can't find anyone both capable and trustworthy to do it.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: /stunned

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Go see a doctor.

Mr. Cat: Can you do it or not?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: I'm not that good. I could create a Bodyguard Divine Light spell for you, but it'd be ancient-level at best.

Mr. Cat: I'll provide a Bodyguard Divine Light spell that's slightly behind current international standards, plus one of Blue Asia's latest Bodyguard Divine Light Generators. You only need to reverse-engineer the generator and then modify the spell's Core Rune Array.

Mr. Cat: I have great faith in you.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Hmm...

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: How are you going to get them to me?

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: We've known each other for years, but we're just Deep Web contacts. We don't even count as ordinary online friends.

Mr. Cat: Can you do it?

Mr. Cat: I have channels. Pick a suitable city and name a secure location. I'll have someone leave them there, and you can collect them whenever you like. The sooner, the better, of course.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Too dangerous.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: Pay more.

Mr. Cat: 3,000 coins. I can't go higher.

Green Vegetable and White Jade Soup: I can't guarantee it'll reach the current highest standard. Anyway, I have to go. I'll contact you later.

Mr. Cat: Mm.

Chen Shu set his next login password and pulled out the Crystal Disk. The interface vanished automatically.

Chen Shu turned to look behind him—

A boy just over ten stood some distance away, watching Chen Shu use the computer he had painstakingly saved up to pay for. He neither wanted to leave nor dared ask Chen Shu to give him back his seat.

"Study hard."

Chen Shu logged the boy off on his way out.

Back home, he went into the study and stared at the globe on the desk, lost in thought.

Bodyguard Divine Light was a very basic defensive measure. Even in Yi Nation, it was one of the spells cultivators could legally learn. Of course, the version ordinary cultivators could access was many years old, probably only slightly stronger than its ancient counterpart. But it was good enough. If you weren't going to war or breaking the law, it was more than sufficient for everyday self-defense.

Bodyguard Divine Light was not especially complex, perhaps only slightly more so than the Tracer Technique, but it was crucial to the defense of cultivators and armies.

Since ancient times, authorities had kept tight control over defensive arts.

But the spell itself wasn't difficult. Given the education standards of today's major powers, there should be plenty of experts capable of optimizing Bodyguard Divine Light or analyzing it on their own. All the more so when the task was merely to improve it using an existing spell and generator. Even an extremely backward little country couldn't possibly lack a single person with that ability.

Chen Shu's gaze swept across the globe.

Mr. Cat had extensive connections on the Deep Web and plenty of money. He could obtain the Tracer Technique and a Bodyguard Divine Light Generator used by soldiers, which suggested he had considerable standing. Yet he lacked someone with the necessary skills close to him—or he had such people, but they would not analyze Bodyguard Divine Light specifically for him. Perhaps it was inconvenient or inappropriate. That, too, said something about who he was.

He needed a good Bodyguard Divine Light spell but could not obtain one through legitimate means.

Then there were the bits of information he had let slip during their earlier dealings.

Good.

Mr. Cat had narrowed down who Chen Shu might be, and Chen Shu had narrowed down who Mr. Cat might be, if only a little.

That was fair.