In just a short while, Qin Xuezhong took another look at the counter-intrusion team's system.
To her astonishment, it turned out there were not just three!
With the analytical capabilities of these seasoned agents and their powerful information analysis, the conclusion was that since Yue Zhao received funding from the fifth family and debuted, at least ten different "Yue Zhaos" had emerged.
Their appearances, temperaments, and details were almost identical.
However, the analysis revealed many areas that seemed quite rigid.
For example, his walking posture.
A person's gait evolves smoothly over time with life habits and aging.
Yet over the past year, Yue Zhao's gait had changed many times in detail, as if multiple different people were perfectly performing as "Yue Zhao."
Ultimately, they were still different individuals, and there were discrepancies in the details.
Upon realizing this, Qin Xuezhong was utterly amazed.
This was the cyber world? With prosthetic technology and cosmetic techniques so advanced that they could confuse identity, combined with forged citizen chip data... the person you think you know might not be themselves at all.
At this thought, Qin Xuezhong couldn't help but chuckle at herself—wasn't she just the same?
Xue Zhi Shi interrupted the discussion and Qin Xuezhong's musings, speaking seriously:
"Alright, we can think of these things, but the experts in the counter-intrusion team can think of them too. Don't get too caught up and invite trouble. Stay low-key."
"You need to understand, the person who died this time was from the fifth family."
He emphasized the seriousness of the situation as if teaching a lesson:
"Seventy percent of the money in Xigu Valley belongs to them, and sixty percent of the people work for their family. Even in our Bay Flow branch, there might be a few spies planted by the fifth family!"
Qin Xuezhong's heart sank—it was definitely her.
"Moreover, thousands of people go missing in Xigu Valley every year. I'll tell you, these people are eliminated by the fifth family!"
"That man, Fifth Ningyi's father, Fifth Shuofeng, has probably killed more people with his own hands than you know combined!"
After these stern warnings, Xue Zhi Shi's tone softened slightly. "So... stay low-key, especially you, Qin. You're on the counter-intrusion team's list, so you need to be even more careful."
At this point, he paused, recalling the subway incident from this morning, pointing at Qin Xuezhong. "Like what happened this morning—just lay on the ground and roll around! Cry! Act faint! Don't get involved! There are plenty of heroes out there saving the world; you don't need to jump in! Stay low-key."
Though Xue Zhi Shi's advice seemed nonchalant, Qin Xuezhong sensed his deep concern. Where could she find a leader who managed the office with a philosophy of slacking off but still cared so much?
She nodded eagerly.
Afterward, Xue Zhi Shi waved his hand like an old man, signaling everyone to disperse and do their own thing.
Before turning around, he softly said, "Being a hero usually ends badly..."
Even though she was very interested in the Yue Zhao case, after Xue Zhi Shi's stern education, Qin Xuezhong restrained her curiosity.
She was also an undercover agent and needed to be cautious.
However, unexpectedly, after a day of calm work and leisurely activities, she prepared to leave for the day when another incident occurred at the company.
Because Qin Xuezhong had assisted in reading the high-definition death memory of Wu Ningyi, it greatly facilitated the internal investigation; and after her serious subway explosion incident this morning, even though most people didn't know what was happening, a few high-ranking officials had vaguely guessed at the mastermind behind it.
Several power holders convened and decided to offer Qin Xuezhong some benefits to prevent her from becoming increasingly important after leaving the company, in case she stirred up even more trouble one day out of anger.
So, after work, Qin Xuezhong found herself again sitting in Qin Huaigui's car, her expression far from pleased.
She realized that every time she encountered this fake brother, something bad always happened.
Qin Huaigui spoke cautiously: "Team leader, the boss wants to raise your privileges, promoting you to head of the central region so that you have more connections outside, which is also... for your protection."
Hearing this, Qin Xuezhong was momentarily stunned.
Did the company already know about her attack? Zhang Yuan didn't seem like the type to spill secrets—was it really an internal assassination? Power struggles? Old enemies?
Wasn't escalating her position now just going to intensify the conflict?
Right now, she wanted to stay put and let them lose interest in her.
She replied impatiently, "No need. They don't have to worry about me; I'm fine."
Qin Huaigui observed her expression, his face showing understanding.
He thought about bringing a former board member into the undercover team, but now she was being petty about privileges... it felt even more insulting.
The boss was also confused.
He quickly added, "Team leader, the boss has also prepared 1 million credit points for you as a bonus for this incident... she said although it's not much, it's a token of her sincerity..."
To be honest, 1 million credit points was no small amount.
Perhaps for the original owner, it wasn't a lot, but for someone like Qin Xuezhong, who had never seen that much money growing up, it truly felt like a windfall.
Just as she was about to break into a smile, Qin Huaigui continued, "It's already been deposited into your personal anonymous account. The boss said she knows you prefer that one."
Qin Xuezhong's face froze again.
Because in the remaining memories of the original owner, there was no information about this anonymous account at all!
Where can she access it? What's the account number? What's the password?
Fingerprint authentication or iris recognition? None of it!
It felt like winning the lottery and then losing the ticket, leaving her heart in despair.
She wore a grim expression, as if receiving this 1 million was an insult.
She finally said, "Very good."
Her tone was gritted.
After returning home in a less-than-pleasant mood, Qin Xuezhong logged into the training simulator once more.
She wanted to shoot a few rounds to vent her frustrations.
After firing a few shots in single-player training to reacquaint herself with the feel of the weapon, she went through the counter-tracking drills again. Eventually, she switched to the battle zone.
Last time, she had found the 10-player free-for-all quite enjoyable and beneficial for her counter-tracking training.
She loved the feeling of experiencing her own growth.
However, just as she entered the battle zone page, her heart nearly stopped.
She hadn't even had a chance to check how to select a room or what maps were available; all the top rooms in the battle zone and the hottest tech threads nearby were tagged with her nickname "Er Gou."
[Heavyweight player looking to add Er Gou as a friend]
[Waiting for a match with Er Gou]
[Please don't enter, just waiting for Er Gou]
[A brief analysis of Er Gou's movements in the 10-player urban free-for-all]
...
Qin Xuezhong clicked on the last analysis thread.
The writer spoke with confidence, laying out his thoughts convincingly, but the content was complete nonsense.
The first paragraph read:
[Er Gou stayed at the spawn point for 3 minutes, which is something most players haven't considered. During the first three minutes, everyone is on high alert and focused, making it very risky to move out... This is precisely why Er Gou chose to avoid the fiercest early skirmishes...]
Qin Xuezhong knew this was utter nonsense; at that time, she had still been reading the instructions!
Another section stated:
[In the entire battle, my favorite thing was Er Gou's gun. Unlike others, who are ready to fire as soon as they spawn, Er Gou only took it out to look at, then put it away... He was ready to not fire a shot, intending to make the last remaining player hear the chambering sound and choose to surrender. I have to say, that's just too cool!]
Below were a bunch of praises:
[Wow, that's enlightening!]
[This is the most reliable analysis I've ever seen!]
[Bro, you totally get it!]
[Amazing!]
[Mom, I'm in love!]
[...]
Qin Xuezhong was speechless; she had completely forgotten to chamber a round and ended up scaring herself.
But... looking at these comments, she felt inexplicably happy.
She finally realized that her counter-tracking skills seemed to be quite impressive. Perhaps she could focus on improving them further; who knows, one day she might master them, becoming unparalleled and able to escape whenever she wanted.
Naively optimistic, Qin Xuezhong envisioned a bright future.
However, today, she couldn't use the alias "Er Gou." Just as she was considering whether to change her alias and log back in for some fun, she received a friend request notification:
[From: Kase]
[Hello, big shot! I'm the person who surrendered last time. I apologize for adding you again. I have a request—through chip direct connection, you can control a puppet for infiltration. The data security is absolutely guaranteed. With your skills, it will be a piece of cake. Are you interested?]
[Confirm friend request: Yes / No]
Qin Xuezhong hesitated for a moment before not rejecting it outright.
She first looked up what Kase meant by chip direct connection and puppets.
The results were intriguing.
This was a method of controlling others—controlled individuals, or "puppets," would wear a collar around their necks and then be drugged into unconsciousness.
This collar could receive brain control signals from others, allowing for consciousness transmission via chips, thereby controlling the person's body to carry out actions.
It was like playing a game.
However, this technology had high requirements for the controller; much like reading death memories, the higher the level of brain development, the faster the connection and the more precise the control.
Kase likely guessed this; since Qin Xuezhong could handle 100% realism, her brain development level must be high, meaning she could easily become a controller.
Qin Xuezhong immediately realized that this technology seemed particularly suitable for her.
First, personal safety.
She could control a puppet from the comfort of her home, doing whatever she wanted.
Second, data security.
With her consciousness in a virtual void, she wouldn't leave any traces regardless of which device she accessed. So no matter what happened, she wouldn't be discovered.
Previously, she hesitated to add friends due to fears of exposure, but now she realized she wouldn't be exposed at all.
So she decisively accepted the friend request, activated her voice changer, and coolly said, "You speak."
"Thank you, big shot, for this opportunity!" Kase was quite fawning, starting with a compliment before continuing, "You know about the security department capturing that celebrity, right? Everyone knows there are several Yue Zhaos; we've discovered some issues."
"Are you interested in capturing one?"