660: Chapter 655 A Ten Million Yuan Fee for Asking for Directions?

Shen Yan only smiled and didn't explain.

He looked at the list and crossed out four names with a pen.

Now, only one was left.

"Su Mei."

Chen Guangke leaned over to take a look and shook his head.

"This person is truly bizarre."

"I've used all my connections and even hired Private Detectives, but I can't find anything."

"She's like she vanished from the face of the earth—no records, no traces."

"Not even a single photo."

Shen Yan's brow furrowed slightly.

In the system's information database, the information regarding Su Mei was also a complete blank.

This was the first time such a situation had occurred.

"A data analysis genius who can find traces of gravitational waves in background noise couldn't just disappear like this."

Shen Yan mused.

"She's either dead, or..."

"...she proactively erased all traces of her existence."

"She is hiding from something."

Shen Yan's voice was very soft, yet it felt like a massive boulder crashing into Chen Guangke's heart.

Someone who could erase all their traces definitely wouldn't be hiding from debt collectors.

"You mean..." Chen Guangke's voice was a bit dry, "that group from back then?"

Shen Yan didn't answer.

He simply walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the office, looking down at the endless flow of traffic.

The entire city was like a giant organism composed of data, light, and shadows.

And Su Mei was a cell within this organism that had proactively severed all its neural connections.

"Guang Ke, send out the word."

Shen Yan's voice came through the reflection in the glass, calm yet unquestionable.

"Starting today, all data analysts in our company are to drop their non-core projects."

"Form a temporary project team, code-named 'Soul Hunter'."

"There is only one goal."

"Find Su Mei for me."

Chen Guangke gasped.

"All analysts? Yan Zi, we just landed several AI projects that are waiting for data models, this..."

"The projects will be delayed; I'll pay the liquidated damages."

Shen Yan turned around.

"I'm giving you an unlimited budget. Go find the best headhunters, poach the best white-hat hackers, and assemble a special forces unit for information warfare."

"I want to see results in the shortest time possible."

Chen Guangke looked at Shen Yan; he knew Shen Yan wasn't joking.

This wasn't an ordinary search for someone.

This was a war.

A war launched against a ghost in the bit-sea of data.

"Fine!" Chen Guangke nodded heavily. "I'll get right on it!"

Over the next two weeks, Shen Yan's newly established company seemed to transform into a high-speed war machine.

Large sums of money were burned through like flowing water.

From Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv, the world's top cybersecurity experts and data tracking masters were drawn in by exorbitant contracts.

The company's server room roared twenty-four hours a day, with computing power pushed to the limit.

In the 'Soul Hunter' team's office, the sound of keyboard clacking never ceased day or night, and empty cans of coffee and energy drinks piled up like small mountains.

However, half a month passed.

The name Su Mei remained a ghost.

"Nothing, there's nothing."

Chen Guangke walked into Shen Yan's office holding a thick report, with dark circles under his eyes, looking much more haggard.

"We've screened all national population data, entry and exit records, and financial transaction information from the past fifteen years..."

"We used our connections to check the Skynet system and the underlying data of the three major carriers."

"We even penetrated the Dark Web."

"The result is just a blank sheet of paper."

He slapped the report onto the desk, his voice filled with frustration.

"This woman, it's as if she never existed in this world."

"The money we've spent is enough to buy another 'Icaros' patent."

"Yan Zi, are we headed in the wrong direction?"

Shen Yan looked at the report, remaining silent.

He knew that it was impossible to find a top counter-reconnaissance expert using conventional methods.

If Su Mei could fish out data from the background noise of gravitational waves, she could turn herself into a drop of pure water in the data ocean of the real world.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Ning Ke, it's me."

A slightly raspy laugh came from the other end of the line.

"President Shen, what is it? Do you have another good deal for me?"

Ning Ke was a broker in the business world, with connections reaching the heavens and extremely wild methods.

As long as you could afford the price, he could help you connect with anyone you wanted to meet.

"I'm looking for someone," Shen Yan said, getting straight to the point.

"Oh? To have President Shen himself speak up, they must be no ordinary person."

"Su Mei."

There was a full five-second silence on the other end.

"President Shen, this joke isn't funny." Ning Ke's voice turned grave for the first time. "This name is a taboo in the industry."

"I know."

"Are you sure you want to touch this?"

"I'm sure."

Ning Ke sighed.

"Fine, since President Shen's mind is made up, I won't stop you."

"However, conventional channels definitely won't work. You need to find the 'Ferryman'."

"The Ferryman?"

"An intelligence organization, or rather, an information trading platform. No one knows who they are or where they are. They only care about money, and their prices are outrageously high."

"How do I contact them?"

"You can't contact them; they will contact you," Ning Ke said. "I've already posted your 'requirement' on their internal task wall."

"In an hour, your encrypted email will receive an account."

"Deposit ten million into it as a 'fee for directions'."

"Remember, you only have one chance. They will only give you one direction, one clue. Whether you can grasp it depends on your own ability."

The call disconnected.

Chen Guangke listened from the side, dumbfounded.

"A ten million fee for directions?"

Shen Yan ignored his surprise; he opened his computer and logged into his encrypted email.

Fifty minutes later.

An email from an unknown source lay silently in the inbox.

The content of the email was simple.

An offshore account at a Swiss Bank.

Plus three words.

"Flash Crash."

"Celestial Star."

"Dice."

Shen Yan didn't hesitate for a second and immediately had the Finance Department transfer ten million over.

The moment the money arrived, the email automatically self-destructed, leaving no trace.

"Flash Crash, Celestial Star, Dice..." Chen Guangke muttered the three words. "What on earth is all this?"

Shen Yan's fingertips tapped lightly on the desk.

His brain was working at high speed.

In the system's information database, public information regarding these three words surged forth like a waterfall.

Three years ago, the stock market of a small country in South America experienced a Flash Crash within three minutes of opening without any warning. Trillions in funds evaporated, only to be pulled back in a V-shape by a mysterious force. The official explanation was a trading system bug.

A year ago, a military reconnaissance satellite code-named 'Celestial Star-7' from the European Space Agency suddenly lost contact for thirty seconds while in orbit, losing a segment of encrypted data regarding a certain sea area. The official explanation was the influence of a solar flare.