Naming Technique of the Night

“I suspect that the prison system has been hacked,” Du Hao said viciously. “First, the mechanical prison guards brought in someone pretending to be Xu Linsen, and then they used behavioral activities to quickly identify us, filtering out those with lighter crimes for transfer. Do you know how much effort we spent to get transferred to Prison No. 18? Yet, our opponent acts as if this is their own home!”

“The prison system hacked?” someone questioned doubtfully. “Isn’t that impossible? Isn’t the Federal Prison System known for having the most secure defense?”

Du Hao responded, “Otherwise, how do you explain the prison system, always so fair, suddenly becoming an accomplice to others?!”

The prison system had managed prisons for nearly a thousand years, and ever since this artificial intelligence took over initially, it was because of its fairness.

Strange things had happened in the meantime, but apparently due to some special reasons, the conglomerates had never questioned its fairness.

So, when everyone realized there might be a problem with the prison system, their first thought was that it had been invaded, not that there was an issue with the system itself.

At that moment, Du Hao suddenly lifted his head to see the Iron Sky above, with its metal storm cannons pointing directly at him. The six-barreled turret was rotating, preheating and seemingly ready to fire at any moment.

He backed off, no longer pounding on the alloy gate, but instead turned and walked into the crowd, looking for something.

But just five minutes later, Du Hao muttered to himself, “As expected, Liu Dezhu has been transferred, and the people around Liu Dezhu as well! It seems we’re facing an indiscriminate attack!”

Chen Yu frowned, “Who is Liu Dezhu?”

Du Hao had been transferred here for a whole week, so he was somewhat familiar with the prison, but Chen Yu had just arrived today, so he was unaware of the situation.

Xie Yinggeng beside him explained to Chen Yu, “Liu Dezhu is a man who recently appeared by Uncle Li Dong’s side. Some suspect he has passed Uncle Li Dong’s test and is very likely to become the next Knight. Even Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan do not hold as high a status as him; this man can directly command those like Lin Xiaoxiao in Prison No. 18.”

Qing Chen, hiding in a dark corner, almost laughed out loud. He thought to himself that he finally understood why Liu Dezhu had nightmares every day…

This guy was daily giving big fat orders to Lin Xiaoxiao; it would be a miracle if he didn’t have nightmares!

However, just as Qing Chen was gloating, suddenly someone pointed at him and shouted to Du Hao, “Boss, there’s one of Liu Dezhu’s men here! I remember him, his name is Yu Junyi, he’s the closest aide to Liu Dezhu!”

Qing Chen: “???”

In an instant, all eyes turned towards him. Qing Chen thought, how on earth could impersonating Yu Junyi get him into trouble?

He had chosen to impersonate someone very inconspicuous!

Yet Du Hao quickly approached him, asking loudly, “If all the people around Liu Dezhu have been transferred, why haven’t you?”

Qing Chen looked around as the crowd slowly surrounded him. After a moment of silence, he said, “I just thought I’d wait a bit longer before leaving…”

Du Hao: “???”

Waiting a bit longer before leaving—does that make any sense?

“I think he’s the one pretending to be my boss!” Guo Huchan incited from the back of the crowd. “Catch him!”

The next moment, Du Hao leaped forward to snatch at Qing Chen.

Before Du Hao could make a move, Qing Chen had already started retreating.

But he retreated quickly while Du Hao, the expert, moved even faster.

Not only that, Xie Yinggeng also enclosed him from the side!

Qing Chen’s expression turned icy; as a beginner on the path of cultivation, how could he possibly have a chance against two masters simultaneously?

However, in that split second, a figure fell from the sky, arriving first despite acting later.

“Get lost!”

The audience didn’t even see how the newcomer moved, yet with a single kick each, Du Hao and Xie Yinggeng were sent flying dozens of meters away.

The two slid across the prison floor, unable to stop themselves no matter what.

The kicks were so fast that their trajectory was almost invisible.

Neither Du Hao nor Xie Yinggeng could comprehend what had happened; they felt as if all their internal organs had been displaced, the pain unbearable.

It was only after these two were sent flying backward that everyone could clearly see who this person descending from the sky was.

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes, “Uncle Li Dong!”

The demigod acted effortlessly, his two kicks simple yet devoid of flair, but so fast they were unimaginable. Yet, with just those two, Du Hao and Xie Yinggeng couldn’t stand up.

The atmosphere inside Prison #18 suddenly grew tense. Everyone watched Uncle Li Dong, standing there with a beaming smile, positioning himself in front of Qing Chen, firmly protecting the youth behind him.

And in the place originally occupied by Yu Junyi stood a young person wearing a Cat Mask.

Chen Yu only needed a brief glance at the other’s wrist to know that the owner of the Cat Mask couldn’t be very old.

A young person’s wrist is subtley different from that of an adult.

The red lines on the Cat Mask were vivid, yet twisted in a bizarre way, adding an extra measure of mystery.

Seeing this scene, everyone thought as expected. It was this person who had impersonated Xu Linsen.

The mask on his face was definitely a taboo item!

All present were people who had licked blood off the edge of knives, so they knew all too well how terrifying such abilities were. If approached by someone like that, you might not even know who killed you.

But, nobody had heard about the Knights or the Heng Society having such a person.

“Wait, the Cat Mask!” Chen Yu was stunned for a moment as if he remembered something.

Not long before, news had spread within the Federation’s conglomerates: Uncle Li Dong had left Prison #18 late at night and showed up at the top-tier Sunlight Pavillion Restaurant, ordering a serving of braised pork and a plate of Zhajiang noodles!

That night, Chen Yehu, the brightest star of the younger generation of the Chen Clan, was also forced to wait for the person wearing the Cat Mask to finish his Zhajiang noodles before he could speak.

Chen Yu, Chen Yehu’s uncle, had heard from his nephew: Uncle Li Dong was as oppressive as ever, and the owner of the Cat Mask was very young, suggesting that the meeting that night did not seem like one between significant figures, but rather like an elder taking a junior out.

In this moment, as Chen Yu watched Uncle Li Dong firmly protecting Qing Chen, he suddenly understood… it was possible that the Knights had already passed on the mantle to a new generation.

Chen Yu suddenly realized a lot of things: that night was the first time Uncle Li Dong had left Prison #18 after being trapped for eight years. He wanted to take his apprentice to see the best view of City #18 and at the same time let those “views” take a good look at his newly accepted apprentice.

Now, reflecting on Uncle Li Dong’s actions, it seemed like a deliberate display, almost as if he couldn’t wait for the entire world to see the next leader of the Knights!

Just now, it was this heir of the Knights who had casually made a move, stirring up a storm in Prison #18, instantly exposing the conglomerate’s people.

The Knight was no ordinary person; this was a recognized fact within the Federation.

At this moment, Du Hao and Xie Yinggeng were both coughing up blood while trying to get up, with Xie Yinggeng feeling some solace in their shared plight. But the thought of vomiting blood for the second time that day brought on a wave of sorrow.

Uncle Li Dong looked at Chen Yu with a smile, “Was it you who just now said they had a way to kill me?”

Chen Yu slowly backed away and said coldly, “Have you really given up on those friends of yours? So after being trapped here for eight years, in the end, you still chose to abandon your friends?”

“A man on the brink of death need not worry about such affairs,” Uncle Li Dong said with a smile: “But you don’t need to rush. After all, you can’t leave either. It just so happens that you’re waiting for nightfall, and I am too, so let’s all wait together.”

Having said this, Uncle Li Dong didn’t bother with the others and led Qing Chen toward the restaurant.

He didn’t guard against these people escaping nor did he engage in much conversation as though whatever they did would be a wasted effort, and talking with them a waste of life!

Qing Chen quietly followed Uncle Li Dong and asked in a low voice, “Master, did they hide your friends and take control of them? Do we have any clues? Let me help you analyze it.”

Uncle Li Dong patted him on the shoulder and said, “It’s enough for me to know that you care, but this isn’t something we can control. Speaking of which, did you use the Cat Mask to avoid putting the blame on Yu Junyi, preemptively clearing that there’s no connection with him?”

“Yes,” Qing Chen spoke softly: “Yu Junyi is the study rep of our class, and he’s a good person. Sometimes when I couldn’t afford the school fees, he wouldn’t highlight it in front of other students, always reminding me privately about the final date for payment.”

A little thoughtfulness between classmates was enough to move one’s heart.

Uncle Li Dong chuckled and said, “Your concern is good, but tonight, no one here will be able to leave. No one will have the opportunity to look for Yu Junyi.”

‘Tonight, no one here will be able to leave,’ meant that everyone present would have to die tonight!

Qing Chen’s breath hitched. He hadn’t expected his master to truly want to kill so many people!

3,719 people—that was the number Qing Chen tallied in an instant.

All of these people would die tonight.

In the distance, Chen Yu’s thoughts raced. Now that Uncle Li Dong had appeared here, having given up on his friends, he had to save himself.

However, when he looked around, he suddenly realized that he didn’t know how to escape from here.

The blocking device of Prison #18 was already activated, and he couldn’t even send out a message.

But, wasn’t it said that Uncle Li Dong valued friendship and loyalty? They had deliberately leaked the information about the 36 secretly detained prisoners to the Heng Society, setting up traps in anticipation of Uncle Li Dong’s rescue. Yet, he didn’t attempt the rescue and instead came back to guard the forbidden object, ACE-002!

This exceeded their expectations!

Chen Yu pursed his lips and remained silent, cursing inwardly that tonight’s events had turned into a death trap!

No matter how dismissively he spoke of Uncle Li Dong just now, only when Uncle Li Dong truly appeared did everyone understand the oppressive feeling emanating from the demigod.

This time, the oppression was no longer a figurative exaggeration; Chen Yu genuinely felt an itch between his eyebrows, as if someone held a knife tip right in front of his face!

Wait, Chen Yu suddenly realized something: in this chaos at Prison #18, which involved members from the Li’s Big Room and the Chen Clan’s Third Room, not a single person from Qing’s Family was present.

With such a commotion, why was Qing’s Family absent?

This was not normal!