Day 7 of the Blood Plague Virus spread.
Guan Tong sat at the table. He had just finished reciting human acupuncture points and was using his laptop to check the latest official updates online.
Seven days had passed, and the authorities had not issued any notifications regarding "antibodies," "Infection Perception," "serum," or related topics.
Guan Tong absolutely refused to believe that, with the authorities' capabilities, they wouldn't have discovered the existence of Adaptors after a whole week. Forget a week, under normal circumstances, they should have discovered them within a day.
Therefore, the lack of news ant they had actively chosen not to disclose it.
This was within his expectations. However, what made him sowhat curious was that there was also no related discussion on the internet.
He tried searching for so keywords. This ti, unlike the "no results" feedback he got when searching for Alertness Mint before, there were many results this ti, but they were mostly irrelevant content.
"Could it be they've upgraded their information-blocking technology..."
Guan Tong thought it was entirely possible. If that were the case, even if information leaked, it would be confined to small, offline circles of acquaintances and couldn't spread out with the amplifying effect of the internet at tens of thousands of tis the speed.
Buzz buzz...
At that mont, the phone on the table vibrated. Guan Tong picked it up and looked; unsurprisingly, it was Xu Xiaotian calling.
The only person who would call him these days was this guy, Xu Xiaotian.
"Hello?"
"Brother Tong, you're still alive!"
"...Thank you."
Xu Xiaotian laughed awkwardly. "No... it's because this rule is too insane. The casualties here in Yong'an are pretty terrifying. So, I was just worried about you!"
"With so many people in Yong'an, facing this rule is indeed very troubleso."
"Yeah, that's why they implented a massive evacuation here on the very first day, and they're still evacuating people daily."
"How are things at your academy?" Guan Tong asked.
"Not bad! The authorities place great importance on academy students. Right after the rule was announced, they shipped in a large quantity of protective gear, one set for each student."
"That's good."
"Yeah. And the academy is really full of hidden talents. Brother Tong, you have no idea, there's a guy here whose Mind Power item is a disinfectant spray, which happens to counter the virus from this rule! It's just that the effective range is a bit small, about the size of a single room, so it can't hold many people."
"That's still useful. You can cram dozens of people into one room if you squeeze."
"Right. But this guy locked his dorm room door on the first day and wouldn't let anyone else in... Anyway, forget about that. Brother Tong, I have sothing I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Do you know the lecturer, Shi Jingyi, who teaches the 'Mind Power Flow' course?"
Guan Tong was surprised. "What?"
Xu Xiaotian said, "I had so course-related questions to ask her before, and while talking, the topic of Mind Power items ca up. I ntioned in passing my developnt ideas for the multi-effect noodles of my Instant Noodles, which were inspired by you, Brother Tong. Then she said she also knows a Guan Tong, also in Yunhua, and asked
if it was the sa person."
"...Hmm, I have indeed t her once."
"Really? I thought it was just a coincidence!" Xu Xiaotian was astonished. "I didn't expect the world to be so small. Ah, also, the lecturer said if it's the sa person, she wants your contact information. Do you want to give it?"
Wants my contact information?
Guan Tong didn't know if Shi Jingyi had sothing to discuss with him. Considering their pleasant cooperation during their previous joint battle, he agreed. "Give it."
"OK, I'll send her a ssage later."
Less than ten minutes after finishing his chat with Xu Xiaotian and putting down his phone, Guan Tong received another call.
The caller ID showed an unknown number. Guan Tong answered.
"Guan Tong?"
A clear, bright voice ca from the receiver. It was Shi Jingyi calling.
"It's ."
"Haha, I really didn't expect it to be the sa person," Shi Jingyi laughed. "It seems we're quite fated."
"Maybe." Guan Tong said. "Is there sothing you need from ?"
"Nothing else, just... well, that matter isn't convenient to discuss over the phone, so let's not talk about it."
Not convenient to discuss over the phone?
"Are you worried about... call interception?"
"Who knows, it's possible."
"......"
Guan Tong was sowhat puzzled. What secret between him and Shi Jingyi needed to worry about being leaked?
It seems... wait.
Guan Tong suddenly realized sothing, and his breathing beca slightly heavier.
Shi Jingyi on the other end of the phone seed to hear it and said, "It seems you know what I an. Yes, it's that. But don't worry, I haven't ntioned it to anyone else."
"......"
Yes, Guan Tong understood what Shi Jingyi ant.
She probably already knew he was... Shadow!
After the Holy Grail Island battle, many of Guan Tong's abilities were exposed. These included the ability to create explosions and manipulate shadows.
And during the previous fifth rule, at the industrial park, Shi Jingyi personally witnessed Guan Tong using Silver Hunt Type 3 Ammunition to bomb the living dead and also saw him manipulate a shadow to eliminate the "Matriarch Converter" using an internal explosion.
Even if she didn't realize it at the ti, after the results of the Holy Grail Island battle spread later, she would definitely connect the two and most likely confirm that Guan Tong was that "Shadow."
"But I really didn't expect it, hehe," Shi Jingyi said. "Truly, the real master doesn't show his face."
"......"
Guan Tong felt sowhat conflicted. He wasn't too worried that Shi Jingyi would leak his identity. From her previous behavior, she didn't seem like the type to betray others' secrets for profit.
It's just that the feeling of having his true identity guessed by soone else for the first ti was bound to be a bit strange.
"Before we parted last ti, you said you'd watch my online course. Did you watch it?" Shi Jingyi didn't continue with that topic and shifted to another.
"I did," Guan Tong said. "And I've been studying it continuously."
"Really? Let
test you?"
"Sure."
Shi Jingyi randomly quizzed him on the knowledge of five or six human acupuncture points. Because Guan Tong hadn't morized them thoroughly yet, he answered three correctly.
This was enough to surprise Shi Jingyi.
"It seems you really put in the effort! Just watching the online course, you're not worse than those students attending classes in person!"
Guan Tong really didn't want to say that he stayed in his room all day and had nothing else to do besides watching more online courses.
"Since that's the case, if you have any questions, just call and ask
directly," Shi Jingyi said. "After all, online courses don't have a 'Q&A' segnt."
"Is that okay? Thank you then."
"You're welco."
After hanging up, Guan Tong took a deep breath.
Although he had long known that his identity would be discovered by others one day, he didn't expect it to happen in this slightly sudden manner.
But fortunately, only Shi Jingyi herself knew. From her deliberate choice not to ntion it over the phone to avoid interception, it seed she probably wouldn't leak it.
However, it's better to be safe than sorry. Guan Tong still needed to prepare for the possibility of his identity being completely exposed.
"As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Besides the shelter, I should find a few more hiding places... Leave so Mind Power items in these locations. If I encounter danger, I can directly use the 'Body Swap' ability to transfer there and avoid it."
"Also... should I consider leveraging my advantages to further accelerate my developnt, or use so thod to mobilize the power of a group for my own use?"
Guan Tong casually opened a webpage, stared at it for a while, and began formulating various plans in his mind.
Using the internet within the shelter didn't require worrying about being tracked. That was the core.
Based on this core, perhaps I could establish a website. Post... no, sell, sell so high-value information in exchange for a large amount of Ascension Coins?
No, in a comrcial society, the greatest profits always go to various 'platforms,' not the rchants.
If it's just selling information... if priced too high, there might not be many clients who can afford it; if priced too low, information that becos common knowledge loses its value.
But what about selling "interdiary services"?
Leveraging the characteristic that this website cannot be infiltrated or tracked, establish an interdiary network for Ascendants to trade information, items, and even post commissions among themselves. Then, I take a commission from it. Wouldn't that be the way to maximize profits?
Guan Tong thought this matter was worth trying.
The reason lies in the demand people have—at the very least, Guan Tong himself has this demand. He figured it wasn't just him; many Ascendants who choose to survive alone, and even so small to dium-sized organizations, would have concerns about privacy issues.
Many people have the need to trade items and information, but the terminal market is almost monopolized by major organizations, groups, and the authorities. If they trade on a third-party platform, they fear identity leaks, leading to offline tracking and targeting.
Then, if a dedicated Ascendant communication and trading website that guarantees no identity leaks and no tracking were to appear, it would absolutely trigger a wave of usage.
"ow."
Coal Ball jumped onto the table at that mont and lay down on the laptop's keyboard. Guan Tong tapped its head. "Do you also think this idea is good?"
The lying Coal Ball made purring sounds, clearly just having co over because the laptop keyboard was warm.
"Regardless, let's try making it first."
Guan Tong decided to act on his idea. Ignoring Coal Ball's protesting ows, he picked it up and threw it onto the bed. Then, he downloaded a website template online.
He didn't have much knowledge about website creation, but it didn't matter because this era was never short of various AI tools. Even if completely ignorant of programming, one could rely on AI assistance and then use templates to complete the foolproof process of website creation.
However, he soon discovered that a website made this way consisted only of so separate static pages. It still needed a supporting server to store data. For this, he could choose cloud services provided by other companies, but obviously, handing data over to others would defeat the purpose of this website.
"If I want to make the website properly, I still need to get so servers, hard drives, and other equipnt into my shelter... It's definitely not possible during this Blood Plague rule period. I'll have to wait until it ends and then find a way to acquire them."
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