"Yue Zhao!"
"Yue Zhao!"
"Yue Zhao!"
On the Tianhe Sky Platform, east side of the Central Park in Bayflow District, a crowd of one hundred thousand filled the area, passionately shouting Yue Zhao's name.
Such a scene was indeed exhilarating.
The Tianhe Sky Platform is a standalone viewing platform, towering 1,200 meters high. From here, all the skyscrapers in Valley City appeared shorter. The city's dense neon lights turned into distant stars beneath them.
During large events, the platform would also illuminate with holographic light art.
This was a masterpiece created by several renowned artists a century ago—a shimmering river of light projected across the city through a holographic projection system, forming a gleaming river in the skies of Valley City.
Legend has it that the river's shape inspired the name of Valley City—after the river that flowed through the valley a thousand years ago.
Amidst the intricate stage lights on the Tianhe Sky Platform, performers and the audience were caught between the neon below and the galaxy above, as if immersed in an extravagant dream.
No one expected Yue Zhao to suddenly hold a concert.
There were no press releases, no action from the Fifth Family, and the terrifying video of the thermite suicide had not been released. Aside from internal investigation teams and the intelligence circles in the underground world, the existence of "several Yue Zhaos" was merely wild speculation among fans.
For the average person and casual fans, a new concert was just another chance for revelry.
As for murder, replicants, and clones? Just casual gossip.
At 8 PM, a bright ring of light shone from the bottom of the Tianhe Sky Platform's support, ascending rapidly and illuminating the entire structure.
It resembled a torch burning in the night, momentarily overshadowing the lights of the surrounding buildings.
As the ring reached the top, dozens of holographic projections of Yue Zhao suddenly appeared on the once-empty outdoor stage.
Under the dazzling display of lasers, they became increasingly lifelike.
The prelude music reached its climax, and all the Yue Zhaos raised their arms simultaneously, while the other projections vanished, leaving only one real Yue Zhao.
With a captivating smile, he sang the powerful first line, causing the audience's cheers to resonate as if shaking the entire Valley City.
It was indeed a grand event.
Standing behind the stage, Qin Xuezhong silently reflected.
An incredible concert has this kind of magic; no matter how complex the world is or how many troubling things one encounters, when immersed in such an experience, it's easy to forget everything else.
Though she was present at the scene, feeling the deafening roar, Qin Xuezhong herself wasn't actually there.
After agreeing with Kase in the simulator yesterday, she returned home after work, connecting directly through the chip to inhabit the body of a woman at the concert venue.
According to Kase, this woman was a seasoned puppet.
Due to her long-term involvement in such work, she had even implanted a complete consciousness reception system within her body, undetectable on the surface.
Her primary job was as a stage manager for an entertainment company, allowing her freedom of movement at the concert, making it easier for Qin Xuezhong to make different judgments based on the situation.
When Qin Xuezhong first took control of this body, she surprised Kase's people.
Even the most skilled individuals usually experience a brief period of sluggishness when suddenly controlling someone else's body.
However, Qin Xuezhong's consciousness void entirely eliminated the interference of others' consciousness, allowing her to instantly master this new body with ease.
This left Kase and the team at the venue secretly astonished.
—Which secret brain-control unit or elite operative from a family is this big shot?
As Qin Xuezhong observed the map in her vision, she listened to Kase's explanations through her earpiece:
"There are three ways to leave the platform: by vehicle from above, the elevator below the platform, or the maintenance escape passage beside the elevator."
"If Yue Zhao needs to leave later, he will either go by air or take the elevator; the escape passage is unlikely due to the height."
"There are always two five-member teams protecting him, continuously conducting counter-tracking. We've tried to get close several times but almost got discovered, so we gave up."
"It's strange that Yue Zhao suddenly holds a concert today because regardless of the secrets he possesses, the Fifth Family shouldn't allow him to appear like this, especially after the death of Fifth Ningyi. We suspect there's a conspiracy."
"Yue Zhao might have some special operation planned or might be trying to lure us somewhere."
"Now it's time for your performance, big shot."
"Right now, you're in the role of a site supervisor, free to move around and assess the situation."
Qin Xuezhong glanced around and softly remarked, "You all have quite the guts."
Kase chuckled nonchalantly, "Big shot, it's all about making money. Who knows, we might uncover some secret technological data."
"What do you think Yue Zhao really is?" With time to spare, Qin Xuezhong asked out of curiosity.
"Our initial suspicion was that it involved a more advanced brain control technology. Perhaps the real Yue Zhao had an accident, and they simply found a bunch of people for cosmetic surgery. During the concert, they could have Yue Zhao controlling them to sing and dance." Kase sighed, "But we scanned during both concerts, and there were no brain control devices on Yue Zhao."
"So that rules out replicants—his body consists of normal skeletal muscles, with no electrical or hydraulic systems."
"What about cosmetic surgery?" Qin Xuezhong inquired—this was actually the simplest explanation.
Just got denied," Kase said. "We compared the remains left by the security department with the samples just obtained today, and the DNA matches. I even suspect that the Fifth House may have cultivated countless clones of Yue Zhao during the embryonic stage for experiments; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many."
Qin Xuezhong remained silent. As a time traveler, the first thing that came to her mind when she heard about multiple Yue Zhaos was the possibility of clones. Someone had cloned many versions of him using his DNA.
However, she also found out online that all cloning experiments in this cyber world had ultimately failed. Even wealthy tycoons and adults, desperate for immortality, had spent countless resources on this research, only to stumble at the final hurdle: consciousness transfer.
It was possible to temporarily control another person's body like Qin Xuezhong was doing now. But once her consciousness was transferred into another brain, the nerves would immediately malfunction, leading to a rapid death. No one could pinpoint the reason.
The most widespread theory was that humans possess a soul, and an individual's soul is rooted in their original body. Even attempts to transfer it to a clone would result in death. It was as if some unseen force was, on various levels, preventing humanity from achieving immortality.
Suddenly, she understood why so many people were interested in Yue Zhao. He was neither a bionic being, nor was he surgically altered or controlled by a switched brain. Perhaps, just perhaps, someone had successfully conducted a consciousness transfer experiment on him—and succeeded?
Qin Xuezhong pondered silently.
In her earpiece, Kase said, "Boss, if you've confirmed the situation, you can put your body in one of these places to rest for a while; after all, the concert is still four hours away."
"Okay."
The entire concert was fantastic, and there were no unexpected incidents. Both the security department and the Fifth House had people lurking around. Yue Zhao on stage hardly took a break; even when he did, it was in the transparent room beside the stage, leaving his back to the audience.
Every minute movement elicited wild cheers from the crowd. Everything seemed perfect.
At the end of the last song, Yue Zhao took a deep bow all around before the stage slowly lowered as he left.
Through the live surveillance footage sent by Kase, Qin Xuezhong saw Yue Zhao and the surrounding bodyguards walking toward the elevator.
"Attention at the ground elevator entrance; Yue Zhao is about to take the elevator, Yue Zhao is about to take the elevator!" Kase shouted in the communication channel. "Boss, should you get in the car first? We can continue tracking once we're down there?"
"No."
Qin Xuezhong firmly refused.
In the training simulator, she had witnessed too many instances where people changed identities as soon as they entered a confined space; she had used that trick herself. The essence of tracking and counter-tracking lay in who could successfully confuse the enemy in the short time they were out of sight.
"Keep the cameras on; we must follow him even into the elevator. I'll wait in the elevator passage."
Qin Xuezhong quickly sprinted to the elevator passage. There were many staff members around, so she blended in easily.
At that moment, she keenly noticed someone wearing a low hat heading toward the parking platform.
Her instincts told her something was off.
She quickly scanned the monitoring footage; Yue Zhao had just entered the elevator, looking relaxed and seemingly unaware of the many eyes on him.
Qin Xuezhong hesitated for only a moment before whispering urgently, "Who's in the parking lot?"
Kase replied, "I am."
"I'm on my way over; be ready to take off." Qin Xuezhong didn't explain further.
She scrutinized what vehicle the person in the low hat got into and immediately jumped into Kase's car, instructing him to follow that specific vehicle.
Under the pressure of the boss's aura, Kase wasted no time. He silently took off, skillfully following the car using various driving techniques.
Once he stabilized, he asked, "The one in the elevator was a fake? Is this one real?"
"Not sure; just a feeling," Qin Xuezhong replied nonchalantly.
Though Kase was somewhat bewildered, he instinctively trusted the boss's intuition.
The communication system relayed a message from Kase's teammate: "Yue Zhao has gotten into a car. Following the route, it seems he's headed home. We'll keep tailing him."
The car in front quickly came to a stop, and its occupant exited, heading toward the nearby subway station.
Qin Xuezhong followed closely behind.
Meanwhile, Kase stayed in the vehicle, ensuring he didn't stray too far from Qin Xuezhong. The car was equipped with a consciousness transfer intermediary, and if they got too far apart, she would disconnect.
The person in front was sharp, clearly employing counter-surveillance tactics—often using turns or reflections to check if anyone was following him.
He switched subway lines several times, timing his exits to the last second before the doors closed.
Yet, for someone like Qin Xuezhong, who had been trained rigorously in the simulator, all this felt trivial. She effortlessly trailed behind like a ghost.
Even though she still hadn't seen the face of the person in front, everyone knew there was something suspicious about him.
Qin Xuezhong was now on Line 6, heading east.
This subway line led directly to the eastern suburbs of Xigu City, where a vast area of abandoned warehouses lay.
Countless rusting warehouses and containers had been left there for a hundred years. Rumor had it that the area contained remnants of chemical weapons from the last century's wars and some high-concentration waste that major corporations could not dispose of.
Since no one was managing the area, they had simply dumped the waste there for convenience.
Over time, with the leaking of some pollutants, the old warehouse area had become nearly a dead zone. Only desperate scavengers dared to sift through the trash there.
Once they exited the subway, the hat-wearing man seemed to relax considerably.
He mounted a glide motorcycle that had been waiting on the roadside and sped toward the warehouse district.
Worried about being detected, Kase turned off the headlights and refrained from activating the flight engine, gliding quietly on the electric motor, using the shadows between warehouses to sneak along.
He was well-prepared, equipped with night vision goggles, scanners, weapons, and even gas masks.
He pulled out two gas masks and handed one to Qin Xuezhong, as they had entered the core area of the warehouse district where the air was highly toxic.
The warehouses here were taller, densely packed, reaching dozens of stories, and the eerie quiet, combined with the acrid air, felt like a forest in hell.
Navigating such an environment made tracking more challenging.
While the vehicle was still in motion, Qin Xuezhong suddenly shouted, "Stop!"
She had noticed the appearance of sensors and cameras ahead, and their vehicle was too large to avoid detection.
She decisively exited, planning to walk about a kilometer to scout—this was the maximum distance for the consciousness transfer intermediary.
The ground was slick and filthy with pollutants, and she occasionally spotted bones corroded by strange liquids, belonging to both animals and humans.
Everywhere she looked, there were patrolling guards and surveillance devices; in a few instances, Qin Xuezhong only had a few seconds to slip through.
This was her first real experience using her skills under such high intensity outside.
Perhaps due to the recent suppression of her abilities, or perhaps out of curiosity for the unknown, she felt a sense of exhilaration, eager to see what other surprises lay ahead.
After walking for a while and turning a couple of corners, she suddenly spotted a large area of cleverly concealed lights.
The view ahead opened up—there stood a clean, six-story circular building.
Armed guards and automated turrets lined the upper floors, and at the entrance, a large crowd gathered to greet the hat-wearing man, breaking into applause as if welcoming a hero.
It seemed to be quite a gathering.
Qin Xuezhong took out her binoculars to get a better look.
At the forefront were two figures; in the bright light in front of the building, she could see them clearly.
One was a woman, and the other an old man with white hair.
The old man looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't place him immediately.
As for the woman, she recognized her as the already deceased Fifth Ning Yi.