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Chapter 125: Sentinel & Guide (II)

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Because of the intelligence they received, the sentinel’s rescue operation went smoothly, and they controlled the situation before the terrorists could resist. According to the original development, the operation had resulted in casualties, even though they’d successfully subdued the terrorists. But this time around, they completed the task with no losses. 

Yonis stood on a high platform and scanned the noisy crowd below, attempting to find the guide who had given him information, but the noise and unpleasant smell all around rendered the place unbearable for sentinels. If a guide intentionally hid his spirit guide, it would be difficult for a sentinel to track him under such circumstances.

“Sir, the mission has been completed. Let’s pack up the team.” A sentinel came forward, asking for instructions. The surrounding din made him anxious and uncomfortable.

“Pack up.” Yonis looked around for a while, but he failed to find what he was looking for and no longer wished to remain. As long as that person was still in Biyashi, he would find him eventually. 

When he turned his head, he suddenly caught sight of a figure walking out of the mall amidst the crowd. Yonis moved in a hurry, trying to close the distance between them in several leaps. But when he chased the man beyond the mall’s vicinity, he could no longer find any traces of him. 

Shang Ke couldn’t stay because he still had the detonator with him. He had to dispose of it as soon as possible. As for the bombs in the shopping mall, he’d let the professionals slowly dismantle them.

This kind of detonator used the principle of signal transmission. So long as it left the signal coverage area, it would cut off the connection between the detonator and the bomb. Shang Ke chose a random direction and went straight ahead until the lights in the device went out. Then, he walked to a bridge and threw the detonator into the river.

Next, Shang Ke was going to face fierce retaliation from the anti-government union. They would never be merciful to traitors, not to mention the fact that the original owner had acquired many secrets about the union.

Shang Ke had to create a new identity for himself and then conceal his whereabouts as much as possible.

He evaded surveillance and quickly turned into an alley. After confirming that there was no one around, Shang Ke pulled out a few cards from his pocket, which he had stolen amidst the chaos. Although his methods weren’t right, in order to survive, he could only apologize. He considered it the reward for saving their lives.

Shang Ke checked his spoils carefully. There were identity cards, credit cards, anonymous shopping cards and a free pass card. Identity cards and credit cards required fingerprint and password verification, and were thus of little use to Shang Ke, but the anonymous shopping cards and free pass cards could resolve his most urgent needs. 

Before the other party could report the missing card, he could use the shopping card to buy goods in an unmanned store, while he’d use the free card to surf the web at an internet cafe.

The premise, of course, being that there were enough points in the shopping card and free pass card.

Shang Ke was rather lucky. The balance of both cards was above 300k points. This didn’t surprise him, since he’d deliberately considered the people who dressed exquisitely as victims of his theft. Such people usually had several unverified consumption cards, which would not only allow for convenient and quick transactions, but could also be given as ‘tips’ to others.

Looking at the balance, Shang Ke estimated that the other party would not care about losing one or two shopping cards and a free pass card.

Shang Ke first found a ‘black shop’ that didn’t require a registered identity, and then went to an unmanned shop to buy some useful daily necessities. When he returned to his residence, he began to cut and dye his hair, trim his eyebrows, and rebuild his image.

The original owner’s appearance was quite good. After Shang Ke took over his body, the beauty value rose several grades. With extra care, his previous dark and gloomy visage disappeared, and a whole new person filled with energy and radiance stood in its place. 

Shang Ke removed his clothes and planned to take a good shower in the bathroom. As he passed by the mirror, he noticed that his body was very thin. It was full of scars, both new and old, crisscrossing together. Only those who’d suffered abuse since childhood could possess so many scars.

Shang Ke had none of the original owner’s childhood memories, but he knew that this twisted life began when he entered the anti-government union at fifteen. In his opinion, the man’s childhood experiences probably played a huge role in his antisocial behaviors today.

“I guess he was also a pitiful man…” Shang Ke’s finger slowly trailed over a scar on his body as he whispered to himself.

After taking a bath, Shang Ke changed into a clean suit, his image looking very different from that of the original owner.

The owner had short, unkempt red hair and black eyes, and he constantly wore dark clothes which gave off a depressing feeling. Shang Ke dyed his hair black and carefully styled it. He then put on warm-colored comfort clothes. With his straight figure and his pair of blue eyes, he sparkled like the sea bathed in sunshine.

After tidying up his new appearance, Shang Ke didn’t rest. He logged into the network with the free pass card and used his hacker abilities to input a fabricated identity into a refugee area. The government would provide him with an identity card in due time.

In recent decades, frequent warring had displaced many civilians, so the government established a series of resettlement measures for the homeless. As long as the information was verified correctly, they could reissue the lowest-level identity card and provide free accommodation and food for the next three months.

Shang Ke had no interest in free accommodations. As long as he had an identity card, he wouldn’t need to worry about making money. But he wasn’t sure how long he could hide. Based on his knowledge of the anti-government union, Shang Ke estimated that they could find him in less than three months.

Appearances could be changed, but fingerprints, DNA, surveillance videos, etc, couldn’t be modified, unless he boldly hacked into the government database and completely altered the original owner’s information. What worried Shang Ke the most was that the original owner was a guide, and the scent of one was just like DNA. It was unique. 

The original owner didn’t register in the country’s National Guide Union, but the union certainly recorded his guide scent. He could only hide his spirit guide as much as possible to avoid being discovered by them.

In fact, Shang Ke didn’t have to worry about this at all, since the original owner wasn’t a guide. But first impressions were the strongest, and he already considered this guide status to belong to the original.

Five days later, the identity card issued by the government arrived. He had to say, “It’s really efficient.”

The low-level identity card was light gray. The front displayed the logo, and the back was inlaid with a chip. In addition, there were no redundant images and characters. His personal information could only be obtained through the card.

After receiving it, Shang Ke immediately left his temporary residence, entered the city, and rented a small house. The noisier the place, the easier it was to hide his identity as a guide, since a sentinel’s heightened senses couldn’t spread out in a loud environment for a long time.

Shang Ke’s choice truly made things bitterly hard for Yonis, who was searching all over for him.

Meanwhile, Yonis thought he was a registered guide. This usually implied that they lived in a high-class residence with a quiet environment. This was his first search target. But as expected, he found nothing.

Then, he used his privilege to get information about all the unpaired guides, and still found nothing. In the end, he could only judge that the other party was an unregistered and wild guide.

There were many such guides. Most of them pursued freedom and did not want to be restricted by the labor union, where a degree of compatibility could determine their lives.

Yonis gradually expanded the scope of his search and patiently investigated all areas.

After ten days, he finally caught the familiar spiritual fluctuation which was only twenty to thirty miles away from him.

Yonis immediately drove to Area D. Although there was no expression on his face, he was brimming with impatience inside. He’d never experienced such strong feelings before. They hadn’t even met yet, but he already thought it to be an inevitable outcome.

The flying car sped swiftly through the air, and his super senses stretched to the limit, accurately avoiding all obstacles.

Within a few minutes, Yonis arrived at the place where the spiritual fluctuation occurred. However, the entire area was a mess. Debris from a flying car’s explosion littered the ground, and a body mutilated beyond recognition lay close by with blood splattered across the streets. Many civilians gathered around.

Yonis tightened his hands and scanned the dead man with his spiritual powers to make sure he wasn’t the one he was looking for. Afterwards, he felt slightly relieved. He quickly opened his communicator and contacted the person in charge of the area to obtain a detailed report.

“The accident only recently occurred and is still under investigation. According to surveillance and eyewitness accounts, a Zo flying car exploded while it was being driven a few minutes ago. The driver died instantly. 

A passenger jumped out of the car at the last minute and rushed across the road using the blast. Then, the passenger was attacked again, but the sniper was hidden from surveillance cameras. However, the passenger must have been seriously injured, because he left a lot of blood along the way before disappearing by the left river bank. He probably jumped into the river, but I don’t know whether he escaped.”

“Send me the surveillance video. Start the investigation as soon as possible and report directly to me tomorrow,” Yonis said with a stony face.

Once the call ended, Yonis followed the bloody trail to the left river bank. He released his spirit guide and began a wide range search. Late at night, the river was cold and dark with a slight chill. Yonis imagined a weak guide struggling to survive in the icy water, and his heart felt inexplicably depressed.

What kind of trouble was he facing?  Why was he being attacked?  Who attacked him?

Yonis realized that the guide he had chosen was probably not a simple person… 

Shang Ke didn’t expect the attack to come so soon. He should have died, but the moment he got in the car, his spirit guide, Waves, suddenly appeared and warned him. He jumped out and luckily avoided a bullet.

Ignoring the pain, Shang Ke had rushed desperately towards the left river bank while concealing himself using obstacles and plunged into the turbulent river.

He didn’t know how long he swam for at the bottom of the river, but it wasn’t until he felt exhausted that Shang Ke climbed ashore with difficulty.

He was covered in injuries, the most prominent being the gunshot wound on his left shoulder. Combined with excessive blood loss, Shang Ke felt dizzy. However, his superior willpower developed from several worlds made him able to bear it.  Dragging his tired body, Shang Ke found a relatively hidden place before dawn.

He leaned against the rock wall and bandaged his wounds, pondering on how he’d leaked his whereabouts.

A moment later, a light flashed across his mind. Fingerprints! It must have been his fingerprint!

Fingerprint verification was required to ensure that drivers weren’t driving wanted criminals or blacklisted households. This fingerprint verification would be cleaned every two days. Today was Shang Ke’s first call for a car. In just a few minutes, the union had locked onto his position and launched a sniper operation against him. Their speed and efficiency were really incredible.

Luckily, Shang Ke disguised himself every time he went out. The union shouldn’t know his current identity and appearance, because the fingerprint information of the identity card was absolutely confidential, unless the union could hack into the database system. The reason they took immediate action was because they wanted to hit the target in one stroke and finish him. Unexpectedly, he had escaped.

It seemed that he couldn’t carry out any activities requiring fingerprint verification in the future, Shang Ke lamented silently.

【Congratulations to Host for surviving one assassination attempt, please continue your efforts.】

Shang Ke was still unaware that his disguise, and his actions of evading fingerprint verification, not only created obstacles for his pursuers but also troubled Yonis greatly. He had managed to extract Shang Ke’s fingerprint from the taxi system, but there was no further lead after the result… 

#Why was it so hard to find his guide!#

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