Chapter 120
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Chapter 120: Suspect
This couldn’t be another coincidence.
The decentralization of virtual currency is capable of ensuring a certain level of transactional confidentiality, but it is by no means an impenetrable fortress. No matter how networked a system becomes, it still relies on physical servers, gateways, and network lines. Virtual currency is no exception to this base rule. Every transaction leaves a record on market servers. If network tracking prove inconvenient, then a physical breakthrough is just as effective, sometimes even more so.
Someone was clearly keeping an eye on him.
Moreover, they had tracked his activity from the Paradise game’s payment account all the way to the virtual currency market, and perhaps by now they have even traced it back to domestic channels.
Chaoyang had also forged the account data; even if the investigators managed to trace all the conversion records from the Bulgarian company’s server, they might not be able to immediately pinpoint his location. But this was undoubtedly a dangerous sign. If he fails to notice or ignored these probes and has kept using the same account for transaction flows, leading to accumulating identifiable patterns, it will only be a matter of time before he gets exposed.
Without hesitation, he infiltrated the bank’s network, directly freezing his account which was still holding a substantial balance, and them proceeded to delete and alter numerous past transaction records.
Only after completing all this did he finally felt slightly reassured.
However, what struck him as most alarming was the astonishingly targeted nature of this operation. Whoever it was, their actions didn’t seem aimed at investigating an illegal gaming company but rather specifically targeting him.
It was as if they knew he was a demon…
As this thought immersed in his mind, Chaoyang’s heart skipped a beat
No, they couldn’t possibly know he was a demon.
But that didn’t mean they were ignorant of existence of demons!
This was a fatal misconception!
After all, Angels and demons had coexisted for thousand of years. The fact that demons now struggling to survive on Earth didn’t mean they’d always been such a miserable state. There might have been eras when demons roamed openly in broad daylight, wantonly exploiting human’s souls, and some ambitious mortals even colluded with them… for as long as they possessed Wish Power, they appeared nearly omnipotent.If descendants of those collaborators survived until today, demons wouldn’t be mere mythic tales confined to books for them.
After a moment’s contemplation, Chaoyang closed his eyes and telepathically dialed Luo Di’s number with his mind.
It rang for quite a while before the call finally went through.
“Hello, you can contact me anytime, but did you have to turn my screen into an eyeball?!”
Apart from the girl’s voice, he could faintly hear some commotion in the background.
“What’s wrong? Are you busy?”
“It’s nothing, you don’t need to mind them. I’ll move to another room.”
After a moment, it finally quieted down, “Go ahead, what do you need?”
During their last conversation, Luo Di had adopted an extremely resistant tone, believing that demons shouldn’t contact her in the real world. This time, however, her demeanor was much more relaxed and natural.
“You said there’s more than one angel in the world, so how many awakened angel have you met?”
“What do you want to do?! I can’t tell you that!” Luo Di immediately became alert and guarded.
“Come on, you’ve collaborated with me in Paradise so many times, haven’t you figured out my intentions? Angels can acquire Wish Power by hunting demons, but what does a demon gain by killing angels? You don’t think that as soon as I find out their whereabouts, the first thing I’d do is send them to the deaths, right?”
“Well…” Luo Di hesitated. “First, tell me why you’re asking.”
“Joe James… or rather, Wayne Jenkins has vanished from the face of the earth without a trace.”
“What?!” She stiffened, caught off guard.
“After being imprisoned, he suddenly disappeared in thin air, leaving no records of his detention. Chances are, he’s gone—but this matter wasn’t aimed at him. I later discovered someone was covertly investigating me. My current theory is that during the promotion of Paradise, one of the players caught the attention of someone or some faction within their circle, who determined that Paradise was linked to demons and launched a targeted hunt. As since James was a potential leak, he had to be silenced immediately.” Chaoyang summarized in a few concise sentences. “I’m asking about the angels’ situation to see if there’s anything useful we can learn from it..”
Luo Di’s initial reaction was somewhat unexpected to Chaoyang.
“Are you unharmed? Have they identified you or tracked you to your house?”
“If you have time to worry about me, why not answer my question instead.”
“Those are separate issues,” she scoffed. “Wayne Jenkins got what he deserved; his death isn’t worth mourning. Personally, I still hope you can live a bit longer—at least for now. How about this… I can tell you some information about other angels, but not where they currently reside.”
“Fine, say whatever you think you can.”
“I wasn’t fully honest with you last time. Truth is, I know two angels… One of them I’ve only ever spoken to online, by the name ‘K.’ However, he holds high seniority and is a very well-respected good person, with a successful career and a happy family. He used to answer our questions with great enthusiasm, but nowadays his replies have rarely seen.”
“K?” Chaoyang couldn’t help but feel a bit speechless. “It’s one thing if you’ve never met him, but you don’t even know his full real name? Hmm…”
Could he possibly be a fire-wielding fighting expert who plays with fire? (1)
Luo Di defended, “Are you doubting me? He’s more like a mentor, guiding newly awakened beings to adapt to their identity. I learned a great deal from him.” She continued, “If you had the opportunity to converse with him, I’m sure you would also sense his wisdom.”
Certainly, this guidance surely didn’t include something like ‘contracting with demons.’ Chaoyang couldn’t help but think it.
“Alright, what about the other one?”
“K introduced me to her as well. Her name is Tiffany, she is ten years older than me, and she had awakened much later than I was.”
“You met her in person this time?”
“Yes, K believed I had qualities she could learn from, but it was an awful experience…” Luo Di’s voice turned somber, as if reluctant to recall those memories. “We only spent half a year together before falling out. She found everything I did utterly ridiculous, but worse than that, she treated my companions with disdain. In the end, she went to the States alone, and we haven’t been in contact ever since.”
“Is that all you know? I expected you would have closer relationships with other angels,” Chaoyang scoffed. “Even if you wanted to tell me their exact addresses, I doubt you could manage it, could you?”
“As the saying goes, words are sometimes sharper than asword, demon!” Luo Di said indignantly.
“That’s your French saying ; here, in my place we call it, ‘Good medicine is bitter.'” He shrugged. “But what you said does have some merit. If nothing hinders their survival, both demons and angels will inevitably interact with those around them—they are, after all, a part of the era.”
“So, Do you have a lead now?”
“I do.” First, Cyber Eye was his unique ability. However, if someone well-versed with demons noticed that Paradise was freely accessing intranet mailboxes to send invitations, they would surely be on guard. Even if they couldn’t deduce everything about Cyber Eye, they would be especially cautious about network hacks. This keen insight on the enemy’s part, however, also becomes their weakness—if they can’t rely on the network, they must resort to physical action.
“But I’ll need your help with this. I plan to investigate Tyler, Anthony, and Asahara Naruko in sequence. If this matter isn’t closely related to Joe James but rather connected to the ‘demons’ itself, then all three of them are suspects.”
(1) This is a humorous interjection, playing on the stereotypical “K” from fighting games or action movies, combined with “fire” which could be related to “K” in some contexts. It’s sarcastic/playful skepticism
