Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 578 366, Identity recognition

No matter how you look at it, Qing Chen didnʼt quite seem like a Time Traveler.

A normal Time Traveler would never, after having been through a battle, remain cheerful and talkative as if everything that had just happened was merely an ordinary rain that had passed in the mortal world, nothing out of the ordinary.

”So, everything you said before was a lie, right?” Tuan Zi asked quietly, ”Being abandoned by your teammates, going to City Number 10 for remedial classes, all lies.”

Qing Chen replied with a smile, ”You guys didnʼt tell the truth either, like not mentioning your identity as Time Travelers, so I guess weʼre even.”

Tuan Zi paused for a moment before responding, ”Alright then.”

Full of curiosity, Qing Chen asked, ”Are you trading falcons with the Wilderness Hunters to sell to some bigshot in City Number 10?”

”Yes,” Sun Chu Ci explained, ”Recently, itʼs become fashionable there to keep falcons. If you can stand with a tamed falcon on your arm at high-society events, itʼs considered very prestigious.”

Just like how itʼs prestigious for celebrities in the Outer World to wear a custom gown by a certain brand, people always chase after fashion trends, no matter the era.

And right now, for the social elites of City Number 10, falcons were the pinnacle of fashion.

Qing Chen wondered, if he had a Qing Shan Falcon on his arm, would he become the most prestigious person there?

Unfortunately, the Qing Shan Falcon was too big, it wouldnʼt fit on his arm.

And it was doubtful the Qing Shan Falcon would be willing to cooperate with him for show.

Sun Chu Ci went on, ”This time, the bigshot who commissioned the Wilderness Hunter to capture the falcon isnʼt buying it for himself but plans to give it to someone else as a gift.”

”How much does a falcon cost?” Qing Chen asked curiously.

”1.6 million,” Sun Chu Ci noted, ”We were enticed by the amount too, so we offered the Wilderness people a very high price to trade, but we didnʼt expect them to take the risk for such a high price.”

Qing Chen thought to himself, a 1.6 million falcon as a gift surely had to be for an influential figure.

The gift was novel, but also rather expensive.

Sun Chu Ci continued, ”I heard that the gift is actually for a Shadow Candidate.”

Qing Chen was taken aback, ”What does this have to do with Shadow Candidates?”

Speaking softly, Sun Chu Ci said, ”We have someone in the PCE Public Security Management Committee from our Outer World, He mentioned that Qingʼs Family has launched the third round of the Shadow struggle, and all Shadow Candidates must go to City Number 10 to take on some positions. So those who want to curry favor, naturally, have to offer gifts substantial enough to impress. There were tasks posted to capture falcons before, but the reward was about 1 million. It was just last week that the price suddenly soared to 1.6 million.”

Qing Chen sighed, perhaps this was how significant figures competed with each other. In the future, there would definitely be someone among the Shadow Candidates who could influence the Federation, so there would surely be early investments.

Just like in the royal dynasties of the ancient Outer World, there were always flatterers around each prince competing for the crown.

The benefits a flatterer could reap from these people were far more valuable than a mere million or so.

However, Qing Chen never expected that Sun Chu Ci and their falcon-catching would have even the slightest connection to him.

After all, it was just a slight connection, as no one outside knew he was a Shadow Candidate presumed dead; the falcon wasnʼt being given to him.

Thoughtfully, Qing Chen asked, ”Do you know what positions they are supposed to take on?”

”It seems to be a Trainee Inspector at the Central Intelligence Agency of the Federation section three,” Sun Chu Ci said, ”But thatʼs just a rumor.”

Qing Chen pondered, it seems the Outer World wasnʼt aware that the Shadow Candidates were actually joining Qingʼs Spy Agency. Itʼs just that section three of the Federal Central Intelligence Bureau had been completely taken over by the Qing Family, so Mr. Shadow gave each candidate an identity with administrative and investigative powers to facilitate their operations.

In a way, saying that section three of the Federal Central Intelligence Bureau was a subsidiary of the Spy Bureau wasnʼt an exaggeration.

The influence of a spy, along with the manpower they could mobilize, was extensive.

At that moment, they were just over two hundred kilometers away from City Number 10, and even on difficult dirt roads, a dayʼs journey was sufficient to arrive.

Sun Chu Ci and the others took turns driving the pickup truck, pushing on day and night.

Previously, to make the trade with the Wilderness people in the agreed time, they hadnʼt even slept, and now they were quite fatigued.

But the thought of soon returning to the ʼrelatively comfortableʼ city and collecting more than eighty thousand dollars revitalized everyoneʼs spirits.

In the truck, only Qing Chen remained unusually energetic, and he asked, ”Are you in need of money?”

Considering it, Sun Chu Ci replied, ”Actually, we can manage our daily needs, but itʼs only two months until the New Year, and weʼd like to have a good one.”

Qing Chen was surprised for a moment, it was only two months until the New Year.

He had a photographic memory, and he could precisely count off five hours in his head, but it seemed he had deliberately forgotten about the Spring Festival.

Back on Xingshu Road, celebrating the New Year meant curling up in a cold cabin, silently reminiscing over movies or books he remembered.

For Qing Chen, it was a meaningless holiday.

Just as evening fell, three pickup trucks finally arrived at the immigration checkpoint of City No. 10.

From a distance, the city was enclosed by several meters high barbed wire and electric fences to prevent smuggling.

Each city had its own tariff barriers. For example, to enter City No. 18 with Jindai and Deer Islandʼs commercial vehicles, one must pay a tariff as high as 47%. The same applied to Li Family, Qingʼs Family, and Chen Clanʼs vehicles entering the northern cities controlled by Jindai and Deer Island.

It was a measure of the corporations to protect their territories.

Today, for some reason, there were many people looking to enter City No. 10 through the checkpoint, resulting in a long queue forming outside the cityʼs martial law channel.

”Iʼve heard that itʼs always like this around the year-end,” Sun Chu Ci said. ”Those lined up in front are Wilderness Hunters, gathering to hunt in the wilderness or to hunt wilders for money, then preparing to have a good New Year. This time, itʼs probably because of the Qing Shan Falconʼs bounty, so there are more people going out to work.”

Qing Chen thought for a moment and asked, ”How many Wilderness Hunters are there in a city?”

Sun Chu Ci replied, ”There are 82,319 people registered, and itʼs considered a legitimate profession.”

”That many,” Qing Chen was somewhat surprised, since he hadnʼt seen hunters active in the wilderness that often.

Along the road, soldiers from the immigration authority were patrolling back and forth to maintain order, looking extremely stern.

Just then, a convoy drove past the three pickups via a fast-track lane, bypassing the queue altogether.

Qing Chen raised his eyebrows.

Seeing the expression on Qing Chenʼs face, Sun Chu Ci explained, ”You get used to it if you travel in and out of the city often. Corporate vehicles, official vehicles, and even some wealthy businessmenʼs cars have electronic passes that allow them to clear the checkpoint directly.”

”Yeah, I know,” Qing Chen said.

He wasnʼt raising his eyebrows because he was surprised that some people could skip the queue; after all, when he left City No. 18 last time, he had used Qingʼs Familyʼs ginkgo emblem to go through the priority lane.

He raised his eyebrows because he clearly saw a symbol that looked like a ʼtieʼ atop the vehicles in the convoy, the emblem of Heng Society.

Qing Chen hadnʼt expected Heng Society to have influence in City No. 10 as well.

He had thought that Heng Society only operated in City No. 18.

It wasnʼt until 7 in the evening that it was finally Sun Chu Ciʼs turn to undergo an identity check.

More than ten immigration soldiers and over thirty mechanical guards surrounded the area, with drones also circling overhead.

The immigration checkpoint was like a city gate structure, with a bunker-like defensive building above and a tunnel embedded with white light strips below, where all vehicles had to be inspected.

Qing Chen looked up and saw a Hive embedded in the roof of the tunnel, which housed hundreds of Border-01 type drones, armed with 5.56 mm caliber standard weaponry.

Unlike the Outer World, the immigration authority here was more like a part of the city defense system, with greater authority.

If someone tried to rush through the checkpoint without authorization, the immigration authority was entitled to shoot to kill on the spot.

And indeed, they had killed many people before.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in a black uniform quietly looked at the documents and data Sun Chu Ci passed over, then asked in astonishment, ”You killed 17 wilders? Are you kidding me? Your group of F-Class rated Wilderness Hunters managed to kill 17 wilders?”

Sun Chu Ci patiently responded, ”Thatʼs right, the situation was quite coincidental, but thereʼs evidence in photos and videos, life detection device records, and iris sequence extraction records that can serve as proof. Moreover, weʼve seized some firearms; you can check them out.”

The middle-aged man thought for a moment and gestured to a colleague, who immediately went to inspect the three pickups.

The middle-aged man casually turned off the law enforcement recorder in front of him and led Sun Chu Ci to a surveillance-free area, saying, ”By standard procedure, you should be able to receive 85,000 yuan in Federation rewards, but there are four pieces of evidence in your case that are not quite complete...”

Sun Chu Ci said in a hurry, ”I understand, then weʼll accept the reward for 13 wilders.”

He was well aware that the middle-aged man was trying to make some extra money, and as an ordinary Wilderness Hunter, he had to cooperate.

Otherwise, the next time they wanted to go to the wilderness, if the other party confiscated their firearms and weapons, hunting would become very difficult.

Seeing how agreeable Sun Chu Ci was, the middle-aged man immediately smiled, ”I am the deputy commander of the immigration authorityʼs seventh squadron. You can come to me if you have any issues in the future.”

”All right,” Sun Chu Ci nodded.

”Okay, then Iʼll just do a routine check of the information of your accompanying personnel, and youʼll be free to go,” the middle-aged man said with a smile.

After finishing, he returned to where he had been standing, turned on the law enforcement recorder again, and started swiping each personʼs electronic identity card on the handheld liquid crystal computer.

However, when he swiped Qing Chenʼs electronic identity card, he froze.

The middle-aged man looked at Sun Chu Ci in astonishment, then hurriedly ran towards the pickup trucks in the tunnel.

...

One more chapter at 10 pm tonight