CHAPTER 326: CHAPTER 204: PLAYING THE ANCHOR, KING’S FLASH, HIDDEN RULES

"By the way, did the hacker investigate the origin of those children?"

"I don’t know, ask him yourself."

Night was deep, and the distant sound of "dong dong" from Big Ben echoed. Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami walked side by side through the streets of London.

The evening breeze swept from above the city as they navigated through the bustling crowd.

Watching the diverse figures, Ayase Origami walked ahead with her hands folded behind her back, aimlessly.

Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment and asked, "Weren’t you quite concerned about those two kids in hospital gowns in the underground bar?"

The kimono-clad girl beside him shook her head.

"Concerned, so I don’t want to ask."

"Makes sense."

Xia Pingzhou waited silently for a few seconds, then took out his phone from his black jacket, the electronic pet arriving as expected.

[Hacker: I checked the surveillance. Those five brats in hospital gowns came to London from a cargo ship.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Brats calling others brats, huh?]

[Hacker: Hmph, they clearly aren’t as mature as the great hacker adult.]

[Xia Pingzhou: How old are you?]

[Hacker: 13 years old.]

Okay, we are indeed younger than you, Xia Pingzhou thought, the Salvation Society squad was wiped out.

He typed in the chat box, changing the topic.

[Xia Pingzhou: What’s next?]

[Hacker: Then the moment the cargo ship docked, that mythical-level kid used Somersault Cloud to whisk them into the sky, briefly escaping surveillance, and the next second, they appeared at the "Eden" underground bar.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Somersault Cloud is really fast, which makes sense. Can you say something useful, like where did the cargo ship go afterward? Or where did it enter London from?]

[Hacker: Didn’t find out, that cargo ship left the surveillance range of London; there wasn’t any detectable electronic device on board for me to hack into.]

[Hacker: The last place I tracked the cargo ship was on the south bank of London, after which it vanished into thin air.]

The lines on the phone reflected in Xia Pingzhou’s pupils as he pondered:

"Are the metal collars on Sun Changkong and our bodies not considered electronic devices, or is it that the hacker can’t hack into them? After all, it’s Salvation Society stuff..."

He had been hoping to rely on the talent of this child prodigy to locate the Salvation Society base, negating the need for his older brother to enter Rainbow Wings and risk his life.

Simply let a few machines develop for a while, gather contacts, and kick down Salvation Society’s doors, bringing people for checks would suffice.

But now it seems this idea is indeed unrealistic.

Xia Pingzhou wasn’t surprised; if Salvation Society could be tracked by a hacker, it would truly be disappointing.

However, this means that starting with Rainbow Wing Members led by "Urushibara Ryuri" is still the most promising, albeit the most challenging, clue.

Follow the clues, and it’s certain the Salvation Society’s headquarters can be found.

Thinking about this, Xia Pingzhou expressionlessly typed two words on the screen to vent his frustration.

[Xia Pingzhou: Useless.]

If Unit 1 dies, it’s all your fault, he added in his mind.

[Hacker: What about manners?]

[Hacker: Do you have some misunderstanding about me? I’m not almighty, do you expect me to hack into satellites or something?]

[Xia Pingzhou: Would that be possible?]

[Hacker: Just say you want me dead, I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to see Rainbow Wing members coming for checks.]

[Hacker: No wonder you, our little cat Casanova, appear so emotionally intelligent when talking with women, yet with brothers, you show your true color—it’s all about suppression.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Don’t be jealous, dress up as a girl one day, and I can acknowledge you as my goddaughter.]

[Hacker: Get lost, I’ll screenshot the chat of you claiming to be gay and send it to other team members.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Have you arranged our tickets to Norway? Didn’t Jack the Ripper say the next mission is on August 1st? There’s not much time left.]

[Hacker: Stop changing the subject.]

[Xia Pingzhou: In-game, do not disturb (auto-reply).]

[Hacker: ?]

[Xia Pingzhou: Someone went to play games right after messing up, next team gathering, just say if you want to be caught between the old lady and the young mistress.]

[Hacker: It’s arranged. Tomorrow afternoon at three, tickets from London’s Heathrow Airport. You, Jack the Ripper, and the young mistress will be sitting in first-class.]

Xia Pingzhou shrugged, thinking that at this moment, the hacker was as efficient as a real electronic pet, becoming increasingly trained.

[Hacker: The team leader asks you to be careful on the way, don’t attract attention.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Got it. I’ve fought people from that organization before. I’m more aware of how dangerous they are than you all.]

He shifted his gaze away from the screen and closed his phone.

Ayase Origami turned her head sideways, with her hands behind her back, her dark eyes fixed on a black-and-white teddy bear inside the mall.

Her pace slowed down.

Xia Pingzhou also stopped, turning to look at her, then following her gaze to the glittering mall.

"This bear is quite unlucky, it’s from the anime called ’Danganronpa,’" he said.

"I haven’t watched it."

"You wouldn’t like it if you did."

Despite his words, Xia Pingzhou stepped into the store, picked up the black and white bear plush from the shelf, and then, expressionless, scanned it at the cashier to pay.

He walked back out onto the street and handed the plush to Ayase Origami.

The kimono-clad girl took the palm-sized plush with one hand and then patted it on the head.

"Buying a plush for your owner, good cat."

After this, just to be safe, the two did not return directly to the hotel in Westminster District but temporarily stayed at a different hidden location.

This residence was next to the underground clinic where Xia Pingzhou had woken up.

In that overly long underground corridor, there wasn’t just one small clinic; there were also several empty rooms available for use. It’s said that this was once a hideout used by an underground superpower criminal organization known as "Dragonfinch."

Now they have relocated their base, leaving this place empty, with only a few logistic staff remaining. One of the doctors among them helped Xia Pingzhou alleviate his injuries.

Because Jack the Ripper knew the manager of this organization, she told Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami, "You can use these rooms as you please, just don’t do anything inappropriate."

Xia Pingzhou expressed to the young lady that he wanted to sleep alone tonight, so he and Ayase Origami each took a room. She slept next door, making it easy for them to look out for each other if anything happened.

Taking a deep breath after closing the door, he thought he could finally have some peace alone.

To prevent harassment by hackers, he transferred his phone to Ayase Origami for safekeeping. At this moment, there were no electronic devices in this cramped basement, leaving hackers with no opportunity.

"Finally free from the state of being watched 24/7,"

Thinking this, Xia Pingzhou silently leaned against the bed, shrugged his shoulders, then contentedly opened the character panel of Machine No. 2 to allocate his only attribute point.

[Your Machine No. 2 "Chess Player"’s "Speed" attribute has changed: B++ Grade → A Grade (Your "Chess Species" speed will also increase accordingly)]

[Attribute points have been allocated. You currently have 3 skill points. Would you like to proceed to the "Skill Tree Panel" for development?]

He raised his hand and tapped the prompt box.

Soon, the skill tree panel, with a black and white chessboard as the base, appeared before his eyes.

[Branch One (Group): Recruit Soldier (Learned) → Soldier Training (Learned) → Build Cannon Carriage (Learned) → Cavalry Training (Learned) → Puppet King (Learned) → King’s Flash (Requires 3 Skill Points to learn) ...]

[Branch Two (Courage): Chess Species Evolution (Learned) → Chess Species Secondary Evolution (Condition: Requires a total of 10 Skill Points spent on other branches before learning this skill) (This skill requires 2 Skill Points to learn) ...]

[Branch Three (Soul): Demon Hunter (Learned) → Bridge of Humans and Demons (Requires 2 Skill Points) → Unknown ...]

[King’s Flash ("Group" Branch): After learning, unlock the King’s ultimate authority.]

[Bridge of Humans and Demons ("Soul" Branch): Temporarily fuse one of your International Chess Species with a Demon Chess Species (Fusion duration depends on your "Spirit Attribute").]

"No matter how you look at it, the King’s second authority should be unlocked first, although its effect is still unknown."

"The learning conditions for the secondary chess species evolution are a bit harsh.... After learning ’King’s Flash,’ I still need to spend one more skill point to learn ’Chess Species Evolution.’

During his time in Venice, Xia Pingzhou had left one skill point unused.

Adding to the 2 skill points gained from the last mission in the ’Red Lantern’ main storyline, the total skill points available for allocation stood at 3, perfectly meeting the requirement to learn [King’s Flash].

He then raised his hand, long-pressed the skill icon for "King’s Flash," and watched as the words on the panel shifted from dark to light, finally illuminating his pitch-black pupils.

[3 Skill Points consumed, successfully learned the "Group" branch skill—"King’s Flash." (This authority requires sacrificing three chess species on the board to be used)]

"How strict, must sacrifice three pieces to use?" Xia Pingzhou suddenly thought, "Come to think of it, if I use Cloning Demon to clone the King, wouldn’t I be able to use ’King’s Flash’ twice?"

[Hint: The next skill in the "Group" branch is now open for learning—"Final Recruitment" (2 skill points) (Obtain one Knight Chess Species, and three Soldier Chess Species)]

He glanced at the effects of the new skill, then silently closed a series of panels.

The world suddenly quieted down, leaving only the buzzing sound of the ventilation fan on the ceiling.

"Now, Machine No. 2 should be infinitely close to or even reaching ’Quasi-Calamity Level’ strength, right?"

Xia Pingzhou pressed the back of his head against the side of the bed, tilting his head to stare at the ceiling, lost in a cascade of thoughts.

"Seems about right... Machine No. 2’s setting does not allow him to forgive Jack the Ripper, so unless Yanmo Lin is killed, Machine No. 2 will break through the ’anchoring act point’ limit, lose control, and then self-destruct."

He glanced at the acting anchor point.

[Current acting anchor point deviation of Machine No. 2: 40% (When the deviation exceeds 70%, there’s a probability that the character will enter a runaway state)]

"Is this considered an original setting of the machine? Then other machines should have similar hidden rules. For instance... if I used Machine No. 1 to kill all of my family, would Black Cocoon also lose control and self-destruct?"

A sudden chill ran through Xia Pingzhou’s heart.

Simultaneously, an enormous prompt panel abruptly appeared before his eyes.

His pupils contracted slightly, and he slowly raised his gaze to see that the panel didn’t display anything particularly bizarre.

[Detected that the player has stayed in the same city (United Kingdom Li Jing) for three days, unlocking the city’s "Event Card": Every so often, a ’Card Event’ might occur in some part of the city. Completing the Card Event will reward you with an "Event Card."]

Staring at the text on the panel, Xia Pingzhou remained dazed for quite a while, then sighed with a subtle release of tension while lowering his head.

"London is still quite dangerous now, I’m not sure if the Salvation Society’s people are still around. Should I go out for a walk?"

Then, reconsidering, he thought, "But I have to go to Norway tomorrow, and missing out on a Card Event would be a shame. After all, my superpower system wouldn’t trick me; if there was an unmanageable risk nearby, it wouldn’t give me an event notification."

With this thought, Xia Pingzhou slowly rose from the floor.

With a gentle twist of the doorknob, he opened the door without waking the kimono-clad girl in the adjacent room.

"A good time to test the new abilities."

Xia Pingzhou walked step by step down the dark corridor toward the end.