Chapter 105

Zhao Jianguo pushed open the Siheyuan's door, still holding half a bottle of unfinished baijiu in his hand. That meal wasn't particularly enjoyable, but it wasn't unpleasant either; at least the necessary matters had been taken care of.

He stood under the doorway's streetlamp, rubbing his face, as if trying to wipe away all the thoughts hidden in that meal. Actually, from the moment he lifted the wine pot to pour Chen Jianguo a drink, this meal was no longer about eating but a bout of sparring. On the surface it was lively, but underneath nobody had relaxed a bit.

The dinner was arranged by him himself. Just after shouting in the factory that the Shanghai cooperation was going smoothly, he booked a private room on the second floor of the state-run restaurant, inviting only the core members. The news spread faster than the wind, even the cafeteria master chef inquired whether to add a dish of braised pork. With many people came noise, which conveniently covered the real purpose.

When he passed the wine cup over, he deliberately slowed his motion by a beat. His fingertip lightly brushed the rim, unnoticed by anyone—the almost invisible tiny black dot—a nano-adhesor was already in place. Chen Jianguo took the cup without protest or extra words, and drank it down. Zhao Jianguo watched the vein on the back of his hand twitch once, silently counting in his mind: one, two, three...

Just as he lowered his head pretending to pick up his chopsticks, the System Prompt arrived.

【DNA match rate 99.7%】

He almost laughed out loud.

Turns out he really wasn't the only unlucky one who had come over. This Old Chen, ID CN-1042, Permission B+, sounded fairly legitimate. But before he could catch his breath, the system popped another line: 'Detected same-source consciousness entity, activating defense protocol.'

The sound was as faint as tinnitus, yet Chen Jianguo sitting opposite suddenly froze his finger.

At that moment, neither moved, but their gazes locked.

Zhao Jianguo's heart skipped a beat; he thought, 'Damn, this shouldn't have sounded.' He had designed an isolation layer—bone conduction only worked for him, others couldn't hear it. Yet Chen Jianguo not only heard it, but reacted so quickly.

Sure enough, the next second the other's hand clamped onto his wrist, the force not great but steady.

'Don't make a sound.' Chen Jianguo lowered his voice, 'Your system... is it also being monitored?'

Zhao Jianguo didn't answer, but his heartbeat quickened by a half-beat.

That question was asked skillfully. Not 'Do you also have a system?' but jumping straight to 'Is it being monitored?' shows he already knew this thing wasn't clean. Even more frightening, his tone wasn't a question but a confirmation.

Neither spoke again, but their feet under the table had quietly shifted, ready to withdraw at any moment.

Zhao Jianguo casually picked up the teapot, pouring water while glancing out the window. Across the way, in the old residential building, the third window from the left on the second floor had its curtains half-drawn, and something flashed in the gap.

It wasn't a reflection; it was a lens.

Someone was watching them.

He remained expressionless, then his hand slipped and the whole pot of hot water splashed onto the table corner. Below happened to be a wall socket; with a sizzle, the light flickered twice, and the room instantly fell into chaos.

'Ow! It burned me!'

'Who turned off the lights?'

'Is the Electric Wire short-circuited?'

Taking advantage of everyone looking up for the circuit breaker, Zhao Jianguo and Chen Jianguo rose simultaneously, one on each side, and together flipped the whole table. Plates and bowls clattered to the floor, meatballs rolled to the wall corner, and the crowd screamed as they retreated.

The two retreated to the back kitchen amid the chaos, their steps unhurried, still wearing apologetic smiles. Only when they turned into the narrow passage of the dishwashing room did they suddenly quicken their pace.

The back kitchen was empty, only the steamer baskets still venting steam. Zhao Jianguo flung open the side door; cold wind rushed in, making him shiver. Outside was a narrow alley piled with a few empty vegetable baskets, the streetlamp's light didn't reach here, it was as dark as a well.

Chen Jianguo followed him out, casually pulling the door to a gentle close.

'When did you notice?' he asked.

'When I invited you to dinner today.' Zhao Jianguo caught his breath, 'But I didn't expect you to be one too.'

'I didn't expect it either.' Chen Jianguo gave a wry smile, 'I thought I'd hidden it well for all these years, but the moment you opened your mouth to say "let's treat," I knew something was off. Normally one would hide and investigate clues at this point; who would throw a big banquet? Unless... you're not baiting outsiders.'

Zhao Jianguo nodded: 'You became alert too quickly. Most people, hearing "cooperation successful," would at most suspect I was cheating, not immediately guard against system exposure.'

'Because I know that system isn't secure.' Chen Jianguo pulled a Metal Sheet from his pocket, palm-sized, its edges polished bright, 'Every time I call it, the usage log is automatically uploaded—not to the backend, but to a third party.'

'Who?'

'I don't know. But the route bypasses official nodes, linking directly to an offline server. I tried cutting the signal, and the next day my home was ransacked—nothing stolen, but the spare Terminal under the bed was missing a data cable.'

Zhao Jianguo narrowed his eyes: 'So you've been acting all along?'

'What else would I do?' Chen Jianguo stowed the Metal Sheet, 'You think I keep showing up at critical moments for no reason? I warned Xu Da Mao about the warehouse, and remotely accessed the surveillance. If I were really sent by the higher-ups, I'd have already controlled you. But I've been helping you, even at the risk of being monitored.'

The alley fell silent for a few seconds.

From afar came the ring of a bicycle bell, someone humming a model opera as they walked past the intersection.

Zhao Jianguo suddenly laughed: 'You say our situation now—doesn't it resemble a movie where two agents, originally hunting each other, discover they're on the same team?'

'Not far off.' Chen Jianguo also curled the corner of his mouth, 'It's this team, probably already mixed with sand.'

'So what are you planning to do now?' Zhao Jianguo asked.

'First, scatter.' Chen Jianguo glanced at his watch, 'We can't go back to our lodgings tonight; since they can monitor the system, they can locate our movements. If you go back now, it's like leading them to our door.'

'And you?'

'I have a temporary stop.' He paused, 'Tomorrow morning at six, at the western suburbs' abandoned electric vehicle factory, behind the Metal Sheet shed. Bring your system's main control module; we need to set up a two-way firewall, at least to cut off the monitoring.'

Zhao Jianguo nodded: 'All right. The rendezvous code?'

'I'll say "The weather's nice today," and you reply "Yeah, good for fixing radios."'

'Too fake.' Zhao Jianguo pursed his lips, 'Change it.'

'Then how about "Is your black-and-white TV fixed?"'

'That's about right.' Zhao Jianguo smiled, 'After all, we both work in tech—talking about the weather would be odd.'

As they were talking, Footsteps suddenly came from the alley entrance, drawing near.

They both fell silent, pressing themselves against the wall.

That figure walked to the alley mouth, paused a moment, as if looking at something or listening. Then a hand reached out, slipped a note into the crack of the nearby trash bin, and turned and left.

Zhao Jianguo waited until the Footsteps faded, then peeked out to take a look.

The note was folded, with a line of text: '**Do not trust the fingerprint verification result. **'

He stared for a moment, then turned his head to look at Chen Jianguo.

The other's expression also changed.

'I didn't write this.' Chen Jianguo said quietly.

'I know.' Zhao Jianguo gripped the note tightly, 'The person who wrote this knows we're investigating identities.'

The two fell silent for a moment.

'It seems there are more than just us two.' Chen Jianguo spoke slowly, 'There's a third transmigrator watching us.'

Zhao Jianguo stuffed the note into his pocket, snorted coldly: "Good partners, one play, three leads—no one knows who's real and who's fake."

"What now?" Chen Jianguo asked.

"According to the original plan." Zhao Jianguo patted the system terminal in his trouser pocket, "Meet up, build a firewall. But this time, we all have to keep an extra eye out."

"You go this way." Chen Jianguo pointed to the other end of the alley, "I'll go out the front separately—don't walk together."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, just stepped forward, then stopped again: "Wait."

"How come?"

"You just said your system logs will be uploaded." Zhao Jianguo stared at him, "So they might also know that you just met with me?"

Chen Jianguo's gaze darkened: "Quite possible."

"Then that means…" Zhao Jianguo slowly lifted his head, "From the moment we walked out of the restaurant, we've already been in their sight?"

Chen Jianguo didn't speak, but his expression said it all.

Zhao Jianguo took a deep breath, then suddenly laughed: "And you still dare to meet me at the abandoned tram factory?"

"I'm not going." Chen Jianguo said, "I'm going to the Nanhu Park Pavilion at seven sharp; an old man in a gray coat will hand me a copy of Reference News. That's the new meetup spot."

"Then the tram factory you mentioned earlier…"

"It's a trap for them." Chen Jianguo looked at him, "You shouldn't go either."

Zhao Jianguo blinked: "So what you're telling me now is the truth?"

"What I'm telling you now could also be fake." Chen Jianguo said lightly, "You decide for yourself."

Having said that, he turned and walked toward the other end of the alley, his figure quickly merging into the night.

Zhao Jianguo stood where he was, gripping the note in his hand, his mind racing.

Truth and falsehood intertwined, information layered, even identities couldn't be trusted—this game was dirtier than he'd imagined.

He was about to lift his foot to leave when suddenly he heard a soft "click" from the trash bin behind him.

He lowered his head to look, and the note that read "Don't trust the fingerprint verification results" was slowly changing color.