Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 1156: Chapter 680: Break Through!

“Stop.”

On the midnight city streets, Qing Chen quickly halted with Zhang Mengchan in tow.

Zhang Mengchan held his breath, able to hear a swarm of rats marching ahead, no more than twenty meters away.

The road was littered with white, scattered bones, one piled upon another.

Flowing blood dyed the road red.

This was the Sixth District, completely overrun by the rat swarm. The residents of the Fifth District were almost entirely dead or injured; the rats moved their flesh and blood underground to nourish the newborns in their tribe.

The streets, which should have been bustling and lively, were now silent; even the cries of despair were almost inaudible.

Everything was dead and gone.

Zhang Mengchan’s voice trembled as he asked, “Boss, who did this?”

Qing Chen sighed, “The Jindai Consortium.”

It was then that Zhang Mengchan saw several small human skeletons, and he slowly clenched his fists, “Boss, I want to kill all the people of the Jindai Consortium; they don’t even regard other people’s lives!”

Qing Chen said expressionlessly, “Then you need to become stronger first.”

He chose not to slaughter the rat swarm, as there were simply too many.

As he and Zheng Yuandong had guessed, when you see one cockroach at home, it means hundreds have already bred in the dark corners.

When you see two or three thousand rats running on the city surface, there could already be two or three million in the dark sewers.

This is a terrifying number, even enough to exhaust a demigod, possibly without exterminating the swarm.

So Qing Chen couldn’t be rash; he had to wait quietly for the opportunity, find the Rat King’s position, and then strike.

With the Rat King dead, at least the swarm would not plan to attack humans like an army. Instinct would drive them to fear fire and guns again.

If the Rat King remains alive, Qing Chen wouldn’t have enough lives to feed the swarm.

“Boss, where are we going now?” Zhang Mengchan asked.

“Look for a clue,” Qing Chen replied calmly. “I need to find the widow of a neurotoxin expert and get some clues from her. According to the latest information, she recently moved to the Fourth District.”

“Don’t we need to rendezvous with your people? With the power out in the city and communications cut off, can they handle things on their own?” Zhang Mengchan was curious.

“No need. The necessary command work was completed before crossing over,” Qing Chen said.

Qing Chen had arranged everything so he could continue to search for the clues he wanted.

Zhang Mengchan was somewhat envious of the Time Traveler’s identity, realizing how much Qing Chen had done in some unknown time dimension.

“Let’s go.”

The two quickly moved again. While walking, suddenly a rat lunged at Qing Chen from the darkness. Its nails had broken off digging through the Fourth District concrete, but they were still incredibly sharp.

Before it could pounce, at about twenty centimeters away, it seemed as if a thin arc of electricity, like static from a human body in autumn and winter, struck its forehead.

At that moment, Qing Chen resembled an electric hedgehog, unharmed by any rat trying to attack him silently.

The once ferocious rat instantly stiffened, falling straight to the ground.

However, Qing Chen controlled the Lightning’s force to an extremely fine degree, precisely enough to pierce through the rat’s life without wasting any energy.

With so many rats, from now on, he had to be calculative and couldn’t afford any wastage of energy.

At that point, a few more rats leaped from the darkness.

Qing Chen originally intended to electrocute them, but restrained himself, leaving one alive.

He flicked a finger, sending the rat flying, and observed coldly, as if verifying something.

There were two possibilities now: one was that the swarm hadn’t yet come under Jindai Chika’s control.

Even the Taboo ACE-022, Queen Ant, might not easily control this tribe. The stronger the taboo, the more restrictions it has.

If this were the case, the rat tide disaster hadn’t reached its worst.

They were still merely following their instincts to feed and reproduce for now.

The other possibility was that Jindai Chika had already hidden with his new face in the city, having completed his control over the Rat King.

After all, only that dog knew the exact position of the demigod’s body.

Qing Chen needed a lot of information to determine the Rat King’s position, whereas the opponent could more easily trace the Rat King’s tracks.

If the current situation was the latter: Jindai Chika had controlled the Rat King and triggered the city’s disaster. That would be the worst case.

By then, the swarm would surely help Jindai Chika search for his traces, to kill himself, the future Knight Leader.

But now, that rat didn’t recognize him.

Qing Chen spared it and turned to leave.

While advancing, he repeatedly confirmed the environment, and the rat army did not suddenly rush to besiege him. Qing Chen was certain that there was a 90% probability the swarm hadn’t yet come under Jindai Chika’s control.

That was a good sign.

…

…

The two stopped and moved intermittently, relying on their hearing to avoid the rat swarm’s marching trail, barely approaching the Fourth District.

The sounds of the crowd grew louder and louder.

Sounds of wailing also came intermittently from the darkness of the Fourth District.

“It seems the rat swarm has just started to attack the Fourth District,” Qing Chen said calmly, “We can’t wait any longer, let’s traverse straight through the crowd. I’ll leave once I’ve found Yuan Yang’s widow at the Peace Tower.”

As he spoke, Qing Chen started to accelerate with Zhang Mengchan. Luckily, the little boy had eaten nine Immortal Heaven Fruits, otherwise, he would have been exhausted from this long trek.

They had just entered the Fourth District when they saw people crazily running out from bars, boxing gyms, and strip clubs.

A seductive woman in high heels had her heel suddenly snap while running, with two rats hanging on her neck, gnawing at the flesh behind her neck.

A fat man had just rushed out the door but was swarmed by rats, slowly pulling his large body back into the bar.

A middle-aged man with two bodyguards dressed smartly beside him, pushed a middle-aged woman to the ground who was blocking their way in order to quickly clear a path to escape.

Everything before their eyes seemed like a living hell.

One blood-curdling scene after another was brutally and strikingly etched into Qing Chen’s mind, never to be erased. For the first time, he despised his own unparalleled memory ability.

He would never forget.

Qing Chen traversed the crowd coldly, wanting to pretend he hadn’t seen the fate of those people.

He must hurry to find Yuan Yang’s widow and illegitimate child; if they died, this lead would be severed.

The Shadow had been seeking clues for a century until Hu’s Information Agency accidentally discovered this one last, overlooked lead. If Qing Chen missed it again, the truth of that history may truly be buried.

“Let’s go,” Qing Chen whispered, while electrocuting the rats approaching them.

But just then, Qing Chen looked up and saw a little girl standing in the middle of the street. She was crying loudly, rubbing her eyes with her hands, unaware where her parents had gone.

Adults ran back and forth around her; she was the only one staying put, calling out for her mom and dad.

No one was there to save her; everyone was preoccupied.

Qing Chen’s steps began to slow down as people were continuously dying on the street. He remained unharmed due to his immense strength.

But as he turned and surveyed his surroundings, he saw four or five children who had lost their parents, an elderly person selling late-night snacks had been pushed to the ground, women were screaming and wailing, and even wealthy spectators with bodyguards watching the boxing match were surrounded by the rat swarm.

The Fourth District was the most bustling and lively place in the Federal City. Yesterday, it was all flashing lights; today, it was a living hell.

It’s so tragic.

To intervene or not?

If he intervened, he couldn’t take these people along to find Yuan Yang’s widow; if he didn’t leave the Fourth District swiftly, everyone would die together. Thus, he would have to leave them and abandon the lead search.

If he chose not to intervene, these people would die right in front of him.

Qing Chen stood on the street, bewildered.

But he had to help find the true culprit to avenge his brother and sister-in-law; time was running out, the rat swarm might have already surrounded the building where Yuan Yang’s widow was, maybe they were under attack as he thought…

It’s too late.

Clearly, he had done so much research and effort in the Outer World, along with such detailed plans, all in hopes of buying himself some time once he arrived in the Inner World, selfishly seeking a clue and truth for his brother without thinking about so many people, so many things.

But even with all he had done, he still had to face choices.

Though he had planned for everyone, he could not peacefully execute his own plans.

The Time Travelers in the academy were striving to cross the city and reach the Third District.

Kunlun members were weaving through the most dangerous areas of the Fifth District.

Family members were guarding the life passages.

Everyone was striving for the hope to live.

Qing Chen lowered his head, Zhang Mengchan silently standing by his side.

Brother, I’m sorry.

“Mengchan, we won’t search for clues anymore,” Qing Chen said quietly, “Let’s save people.”

Suddenly, he turned around, focusing on the Peace Tower that stood 600 meters away in front of him.

For Qing Chen, 600 meters was an absolute shooting range—black sniper bullets could reach instantaneously. He used to find 600 meters too close, but now it felt incredibly far.

“Save them! Mengchan, first gather all the children together!” Qing Chen shouted, “Everyone on the street, move towards me, I’ll lead you out of here!”

“Received!” Zhang Mengchan dashed out quickly, pulling along crying and bewildered children on the street, running towards Qing Chen.

He saw his boss standing on the long street, with a golden glint deep within his pupils.

For a moment, Zhang Mengchan felt proud; this was the person he wanted to follow.

In the blink of an eye, sixteen flashes of electricity zigzagged and erupted brilliantly, instantly scorching and piercing through the rat swarm chasing from the bars!

The hundreds still alive on the street saw this scene as if they’d grabbed a lifeline, surging toward him.

“Boss, they’re all back,” Zhang Mengchan shouted. Despite his youth, thanks to the effects of Immortality, he carried two little girls over his shoulders, with two relatively strong little boys trailing him.

Qing Chen took a deep breath and said, “Let’s fight our way out!”

…

Sorry, I’m not feeling well today, only 8,000 words.