Naming Technique of the Night

…

Just as Liu Hao and the others were arguing, Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan walked down the stairs.

Lin Xiaoxiao clapped his hands and said with a smile, “That scene just now was truly spectacular. We should have found a way to record it. You two families sent so many people to Prison No. 18, only to be completely outwitted by one person. I wonder if your bosses would find you incompetent if they knew about this?”

Chen Yu turned around, hands behind his back, and looked at Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan. “Was the imposter arranged by you?”

“No, no,” Lin Xiaoxiao quickly said with a smile. “That scene just now was as surprising to me as well. I would actually like to compliment that imposter. Well done.”

As the two descended the stairs, Chen Yu walked up to them, with hundreds of prisoners behind him, like a dark wall loomed right before them.

Ye Wan, facing what seemed like a tangible oppression, said emotionlessly, “You see my boss hasn’t shown up outside, do you dare to lay a hand on us now? If not, then back off.”

Lin Xiaoxiao also asked cheerfully, “Aren’t you afraid that the boss is in Prison No. 18 right at this moment?”

Chen Yu also laughed. “If he were really here, why would he tolerate our antics? Moreover, do you really think that there’s no way to kill him? Being a Demigod is just an honorary title; it doesn’t mean he’s invincible on earth—he’s still human. My friend, this era belongs to technology, even Transcendents like him and me are still subject to control by others.”

“Oh? You dare to compare yourself with my boss?” Lin Xiaoxiao questioned skeptically. “Then why haven’t I seen you try it out here before? From what you’re implying, it seems like killing my boss would be easy, so what were you doing eight years ago?”

Chen Yu sneered. “Eight years ago, the senior Lee family member insisted on protecting him, saying he would never leave Prison No. 18 in his lifetime, but now he has broken the agreement himself. Besides, the senior of the Lee family doesn’t have much time left. Haven’t you seen that people from the Lee family have come here?”

Ye Wan stated calmly, “The good-for-nothing from the Big House of Li family doesn’t represent the entire family.”

Du Hao remained silent, his expression grim.

“I think you’ve got one thing wrong,” Lin Xiaoxiao, facing the hundreds pressing in, was as calm as ever and suddenly laughed. “If it weren’t for you secretly detaining my boss’s friends, you wouldn’t be able to trap him here at all. Do you really believe that by taking hostages, you’re on a par with gods?”

Lin Xiaoxiao asked pointedly, “Do you match up?”

“Being locked in this cage by worldly emotions, Uncle Li Dong is after all human,” Chen Yu said with a smile. “So, will he go to save them tonight, stay to protect the Taboo Item ACE-002, or seek clues to rescue his friends? Which will he choose?”

Chen Yu and his group were willing to wait so long exactly to ensure that Uncle Li Dong wasn’t in the prison and wouldn’t return tonight, so that they could take action.

At that moment, Lin Xiaoxiao’s demeanor turned cold: “Step aside.”

Chen Yu smiled and waved to the crowd behind him, signaling them to part and open a path.

The prison quieted down for a time.

Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan sat at the dining table, whispering to each other, while far away, Chen Yu sat cross-legged on the ground, meditating, with hundreds surrounding him for protection.

Only Guo Huchan was sitting all alone—his Spade operatives had been captured by Qing Chen and transferred out of the prison long ago…

Countdown 7:00:00.

At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, two hours before nightfall, Du Hao and Xie Yinggeng were conspiring together.

They were still puzzled about something.

Du Hao said in a low voice, “Prisoners are thoroughly searched before entering the prison. If the impersonator was wearing a human skin mask, how could it possibly fool such a fair prison system? How did he manage to disguise himself?”

“Is it possible that the other party is a Transcendent whose ability is disguise?” Xie Yinggeng asked. “There have been similar powers before.”

“It’s a possibility, but why would someone be placed in Prison No. 18, just to pretend to be Xu Linsen? What is he after?” Du Hao wondered.

“I can’t figure it out,” Xie Yinggeng shook his head.

Indeed, what was the imposter after?!

They might not believe it if it were said, but even Qing Chen himself hasn’t figured out the answer to that question yet.

As he pondered, the icy metallic Storm above suddenly began to rotate slowly, vaguely locking trajectories over the heads of all the prisoners.

To everyone’s astonishment, not only did the rubber-bullet-firing Storms activate, but so did 36 Storm units armed with live ammunition!

Among the cold whir of the spinning Storm, the sound of electricity came from above, sounding eerily unsettling.

The next moment, the prison square’s alloy gate slowly lifted, revealing dozens of mechanical prison guards armed with firearms.

A neutral voice from the prison’s broadcast announced: “The following numbered inmates, please gather at the gate, 039212, 039213…”

The broadcast listed 48 names in succession before finally stopping.

Both Du Hao and Xie Yinggeng looked at each other, clueless as to what was happening.

“Why would there be a sudden mass transfer of inmates?” Du Hao wondered. He said to his subordinates nearby, “Quickly check your numbers, make sure none of our people are being transferred out.”

It took great effort for everyone to be transferred in; if they were transferred out at a critical moment, that would be terrible.

The Li family, which Du Hao represented, and the Chen Clan, represented by Xie Yinggeng, had only come to a truce because the number of people they had transferred was roughly the same, planning to capture Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan first before discussing the rivalry between the two families.

The balance had already been disrupted by the arrival of Chen Yu.

If their own forces were weakened again, tonight the Big House of Li family would become just an also-ran!

The next moment, a subordinate reported to Du Hao with great excitement, “Our people have not been transferred; it’s just ordinary prisoners who have been moved.”

At this, Du Hao was also pleased.

However, just then, he suddenly noticed among the prisoners being transferred, a middle-aged man looked back at him expressionlessly.

Wasn’t he the expert that the Lee family had secretly planted among the prisoners?!

Everyone thought Du Hao was the boss in this operation, but in truth, this middle-aged man was actually the boss who had been directing from behind the scenes all along!

At that moment, Du Hao’s entire demeanor fell; the transfer had unexpectedly taken his boss away—how were they supposed to proceed now?!

He quickly stood up and yelled at the mechanical prison guards: “No, you can’t take him away!”

Just as he stood up, three units within the metallic Storm above locked their gun barrels on him.

The middle-aged man shook his head, signaling him not to be rash.

With a pale face, Du Hao felt despair, while Xie Yinggeng beside him burst into laughter, “You call us the villains, yet the Big House of Li family has also secretly planted an expert among the crowd, and even earlier than us!”

The middle-aged man was a very patient Hunter, who hadn’t thought of making a move even when Guo Huchan might have escaped with a Taboo item.

But he hadn’t anticipated that by not acting against Guo Huchan, he would be identified as an ordinary prisoner and transferred!

This was too sudden!

Furthermore, Prison #18 was fully armed and on alert from the start, giving them no chance to struggle.

It’s worth noting that the 72 Storm units above are specifically designed for Demigod-level individuals; this is the only prison in the Federation capable of incarcerating Demigods!

At this time, Du Hao’s gaze swept over the prisoners. He quickly realized a problem: none of the people on the transfer list belonged to any consortium.

Suddenly, someone said, “These are the prisoners who followed us during the transfer. Some are just petty thieves, others economic criminals, all serving less than 15 years!”

In this time period, a total of 1239 prisoners were transferred into Prison #18, of which 721 were from the consortia, and the rest were light offenders meant to disguise the real intent.

These people committed a variety of crimes, but they shared one commonality: none were sentenced to death.

Both Du Hao and Xie Yinggeng were no fools; originally worried that their power might be weakened, they now harbored another concern.

That is to say, if all these light offenders were transferred out, then Prison #18 would only be left with consortium members and those deserving of death!

A cold sweat suddenly broke out on Du Hao’s back, making his hair stand on end.

“So, the person impersonating Xu Linsen just now was trying to distinguish us to identify the light offenders who are not from the consortia, and then transfer them out!” Du Hao said.

But what in the world was the purpose of the person doing this?!

Du Hao felt profoundly disturbed.

A subordinate approached him and said, “Boss, we’ve tried many ways, but we still can’t make contact with the outside world. It seems our equipment isn’t the issue, but rather the jamming device of Prison #18 has been activated.”

“Why,” Du Hao murmured, “why would the jamming device of Prison #18 suddenly activate…”

The timing of the jammer’s activation seemed as if it was intentionally coordinated with something.

“Wait,” Du Hao turned and ran towards the alloy gate that was slowly closing: “I request to be transferred!”

…

Thanks to Meowmeowmeow for becoming a new ally of this book, a generous boss, and wishing you great fortune!