30: Chapter 30 The Spy Who Burns

The Grey Net did not retract immediately.

Lu Chen stood deep within Xinhuo Hall, watching as the thin lines extending from the three low-level missions gradually became clear.

Inside the paper nail of the Paper-Man Knocking at the Door in the north of the city, there was a segment of thin paper fiber that had been soaked in black water.

Within the ice shards from the Wheezing Freezer at the City Second Hospital, there lingered the scent of a serial number from some kind of old goods storage.

In the Archives' Red Thread Catalog, the red thread was not an original item from the Archives, but an observational medium that someone had inserted later using some method.

They appeared unrelated.

But the purpose was very similar.

It was not to kill.

It was to observe.

"Bai Ya, there is still a thread here at the Paper-Man site." Shen Qinghe transmitted the on-site record via the Xin Huo Interface.

Bai Ya's reply appeared quickly.

[Do not burn it off immediately, mark the direction.]

A low complaint also came from Zhao Ye's side.

"The thing in the freezer also left a tail, as if it were intentionally letting us see it."

Xu Minglan looked at the ice shards in the isolation box, her expression not very good.

"Then don't let it see any more."

In the old Archives room, Zhou Yan's hands were still shaking, yet he continued to enter the file numbers entangled with red thread one by one into the Grey Net record page.

Bai Ya watched the three records overlap within the Grey Net, his tone unusually devoid of jokes.

"They are dismantling our procedures."

"Where a Candidate will stand, what equipment an Apprentice takes, who is responsible for containment, who is responsible for evacuation, and who will be affected by sound."

"This is not just casually throwing a few low-level anomalies."

"This is someone using ordinary people as a ruler to measure our reactions."

In Xinhuo Hall, Lu Chen did not refute this.

He also saw it.

The actual intensity of the anomalies was not high; the trouble lay in the opponent's purpose. The Paper-Man, the freezer, and the red thread were all hooks. They used low-cost anomaly points to probe the Xinhuo Council's processing procedures, recording member division of labor, Candidate permissions, and the performance of standard-issue equipment.

If these records were taken back intact, the system that the Xinhuo Council had just established would have a portion of its outline mapped out by others.

"Zero, take over the three residual lines," Lu Chen said.

"Taking over."

In the Grey Net, the three thin lines were pinned down bit by bit by grey-white fire patterns. The other end of the lines began to vibrate violently, as if someone had finally realized that what they had caught was not a fish, but a ball of fire that would burn right along the fishing line.

In a basement somewhere in the west of the city, a man wearing black-framed glasses was sitting at a desk, recording.

Three pages of paper were spread out on the table.

On the paper were records of the Torch members' operational methods.

Shen Qinghe: Suspected investigation and judgment position, can see traces of contamination.

Zhao Ye: Operational suppression position, wields a short baton, enhanced frontal anti-contamination ability.

Bai Ya: Intelligence tracking position, can use the Grey Net to perform reverse positioning.

Candidate: Can participate in support, but permissions are limited.

Equipment: Divided into two categories, temporary borrowing and standard-issue possession.

The man wrote up to this point, and his pen tip suddenly stopped.

He discovered that the words on the paper were starting to smoke.

It was not ordinary burning.

A wisp of grey-white firelight emerged from between the words, as if someone had lit a lamp from behind the paper.

The man's expression changed drastically, and he threw the paper away violently.

It was already too late.

The Purifying Flame did not burn the table, nor did it burn ordinary paper.

It only burned the surveillance records concerning the Xinhuo Council.

The members' faces were burned away into emptiness.

The operational routes were burned away into emptiness.

The equipment details were burned away into emptiness.

The Candidate permissions were burned away into emptiness.

The man covered his eyes and let out a muffled grunt.

It was not his eyeballs being burned.

It was the information he had just recorded in his mind, being burned into blankness inch by inch.

Within the firelight, a voice descended.

"Torch cannot be observed."

This time, it was not a threat.

It was a judgment.

In Xinhuo Hall, Zero gave the conclusion coldly.

[Those who observe the fire, their eyes shall be burned.]

At the same time, the residual lines at the three mission sites simultaneously snapped.

The blackened paper nails of the Paper-Man Knocking at the Door lost their activity.

The ice shards from the Wheezing Freezer came to a complete stop.

The names on the Red Thread Catalog slowly faded away.

The mission settlement popped up immediately.

[Low-level mission: Paper-Man Knocking at the Door, completed.]

[Low-level mission: Wheezing Freezer, completed.]

[Low-level mission: Red Thread Catalog, completed.]

[Multi-point observation chain has been countered.]

[Candidate assistance record has been archived.]

[Apprentice standard-issue equipment combat record has been archived.]

In a residential building in the north of the city, Lin Zhao leaned against the stairwell wall, his forehead covered in sweat. He looked at the temporary short baton in his hand, which had already dimmed, and his first reaction was not excitement, but a long sigh of relief.

"Good thing it isn't mine."

Shen Qinghe glanced at him: "Return it after the mission ends; you must also write an explanation if it's damaged."

Lin Zhao's expression stiffened.

In the basement storage room of the City Second Hospital, Zhao Ye looked at the crack on his short baton and clicked his tongue.

"Does this thing need maintenance too?"

Xu Minglan said unhappily: "People need maintenance too. You should deal with the frostbite on your hands first."

In the old Archives room, Bai Ya put away the Grey Net record page, while Zhou Yan was still staring at the accident record that was slowly returning to blankness.

His face was paler than when he entered, but he didn't touch that file again. The feeling of clearly seeing his own name written into a death record, yet being unable to reach out and erase it, was more uncomfortable than he had imagined.

"That person just now..." Zhou Yan asked in a low voice, "Will he die?"

Bai Ya paused.

"No."

He looked toward the fire patterns deep within the Grey Net that had not yet dissipated.

"But he will forget what he just saw."

"This is more useful than killing him."

Zhou Yan did not ask again. He suddenly understood that the Xinhuo Council's counterattacks were not always spectacular. Sometimes, preventing the enemy from taking away a single record was more terrifying than burning down a house.

Inside Xinhuo Hall, Lu Chen watched the backend records being archived.

[Fire Observer seed compatibility increased.]

[Evil Suppressor seed compatibility increased.]

[Ash Picker seed compatibility increased.]

[Candidate assistance record increased.]

[Logistics resource pool combat usage record increased.]

Shen Qinghe, Zhao Ye, and Bai Ya were becoming stronger.

Lin Zhao, Xu Minglan, Zhou Yan, and Tang Zhiwei were also proving their positions.

But Lu Chen did not relax because of this.

After an anomaly was recovered, the source essence had to first enter the Core of the Torch for unified settlement, and then be converted into member contribution points, permission records, and growth qualifications according to the seven-three rule.

Seventy percent sank into the Core of the Torch, used to maintain the Hall, the Grey Net, equipment, medical treatment, containment, and subsequent analysis.

Thirty percent was mapped into the contribution point reward pool visible to members.

This line could not be messed up.

Contribution points could give members hope, and permissions could allow members to grow, but the underlying flow of source essence had to be held in the hands of the Core of the Torch.

Deep within the Grey Net, a new marker slowly lit up.

[Underground old goods trading node in the west of the city.]

[Private auction in preparation.]

[Number of anomalous old goods: Unknown.]

[Suspected deep infiltration by the Longevity Society.]

[Suspected entry of official observation personnel.]

Lu Chen looked at that marker, his eyes calm.

The multi-point anomalies were just observation.

The real game was at the auction.

Above the grey fog dome, the firelight lowered bit by bit, like a sun hidden behind the clouds.

The fire had already been lit.

Next, it was time to let the black market see where the fire would burn.