Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 286 The Bait Plan and Profile Writing

"Intensive training area..."

Guan Tong looked at her phone; it displayed a message from Xu Xiaotian.

He said he has been extremely busy delivering food and other supplies to the officially designated training area every day.

Guan Tong saw the news about the establishment of the centralized training area online yesterday.

The official explanation is that they did not want these enthusiastic practitioners to affect others, so they designated separate practice areas for them.

However, this approach doesn't seem likely to improve the situation.

Especially when fervent practitioners gather together, wouldn't the "resonance" make them even more fanatical?
Guan Tong didn't try to guess the official's purpose in doing so, since it was none of his business and he had his own things to do.

"I've finished submitting the commissions," came Shangyuan Zi's voice from the side.

She was holding a phone, which displayed the website for the Ascended Home.

"Let's wait and see, we should have a result soon."

Guan Tong had previously said she would help Yuan Zi, and the way she would help was by having her post a request on the forum.

The request is to obtain the database information of Sakura Inori's official citizens, and the reward is 100,000 Ascension Coins.

The forum itself has many top-tier hacker users. The most skilled among them can even hack into the homeland security database of the Somali Empire, not to mention breaking through the official firewall of Sakura Invoke to obtain data.

The reason why the request was not made to find someone under the name "Uehara Yuki" was because they were worried that the official Sakura Inori team would see the request and make some urgent modifications or deletions to cause trouble.

Within fifteen minutes of the commission being posted, someone replied and accepted it.

Guan Tong glanced at the ID and realized it was someone she knew: the hacker "Masked".

When he first built this website, it was this guy who optimized the interface for him. Although his real purpose was to implant malware, in the end, after doing all the hard work, his goal was not achieved.

Masked Man sent a private message to Uehara Yuki: "Penetration testing plus data copying, 100,000 shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Shangyuan Zi replied: "Okay."

Mask: "I'll give you the data in an hour."

"Will this help us find them?" Shangyuan Zi wasn't sure.

Guan Tong said, "If there is no information in the database, then it will be very difficult. Perhaps we can only find another Ascended Being with the ability to find people or the tools... but I don't think the chances are high."

Modern countries have very sophisticated electronic data collection systems. Once a person is registered at birth, their information and that of their immediate family members are linked together in a database.

If it cannot be found in the database, it means that either the name "Shang Yuan Zi" is fake, or the data related to her has been specially processed.

Either way, it will make things very complicated.

Do you know where the Divine Child usually lives?

While waiting, Guan Tong inquired about the specifics of the Divine Child.

Shangyuan Zi shook her head: "After we moved to this land, I was placed under house arrest. I don't know where he usually is."

What is his personality like?

"character……"

Shang Yuanzi didn't expect Guan Tong to ask such a question, and thought for a moment before answering.

“It’s very hypocritical,” she said. “She actually has a terrible temper, but she likes to pretend to have a good one.”

"...I think I understand."

It has to be said that Shang Yuanzi's description was very apt; Guan Tong immediately pictured a hypocritical and righteous superior in her mind.

"Speaking of which, according to what you said before, there are two other members in the Chosen Ones besides you. How are they doing?"

Shangyuan Zi shook her head: "I only know that they are absolutely loyal to the Divine Child, so they should not be under house arrest."

What's your relationship with them like?

"It's probably alright."

"Hmm... Now that you've disappeared, the Divine Child must be very eager to find you. He'll most likely send your two teammates to help search for you. We might be able to use that to lure the Divine Child out."

Shang Yuanzi looked at Guan Tong, whose face was still hidden by a shadow and did not reveal her true appearance, which was undoubtedly a sign of distrust.

Guan Tong had already told her this before.

He will keep his true identity hidden until the cooperation ends. Both parties should simply act according to the agreed-upon pattern; there's no need to pretend to trust each other when they're not really familiar with each other.

An hour later, Masked Man promptly sent several documents to Uehara Yukari.

Masked: "I've got access to the databases of the Population Registration Department and the Public Security Bureau. Whoever you're looking for, you should be able to find the results. Nice to work with you."

After receiving the data file, Shang Yuanzi immediately searched for it using the computer provided by Guan Tong.

She searched her own name and got dozens of results, all of whom were people with the same name.

After entering more detailed data such as place of origin and age for filtering, only one result remains.

After selecting to open the page, she discovered that her data had stopped updating in May of last year, and her list of contacts had completely changed to "none".

“It seems someone has tampered with your data,” Guan Tong said, standing to the side.

"...I joined the Chosen Ones group last May, and the data stopped updating around that time. It must have been the God's order."

"Check the records of your two team members."

Shangyuan Zi nodded, entered the names of two group members, and found that their situation was the same as hers. Their data stopped updating after joining the group, and their related persons also became "none".

"The relationships of everyone who joined the 'group' have been wiped clean. Your god's desire for control is really strong."

"...Can deleted data be recovered?"

"It's been too long, I don't know either. You can ask Mask."

After Shangyuan Zi inquired, Masked quickly replied that it was impossible. However, Masked told her that such deleted data is usually valuable, and the relevant personnel would most likely keep it on their local machines.

If the local machine can be found, the data might still be available.

“I need to know who my parents are,” Shang Yuanzi said to Guan Tong, her vertical pupils revealing a hint of obsession. “Just do as you plan, use me as bait to lure out the Divine Child.”

“Sure.” Guan Tong had already thought about it. “I know a place that would be perfect for us to use as a battlefield.”

……

Room 109, Public Security Bureau.

The task force members haven't been home for a day and a night, and they're all exhausted from the case in the administrative building.

Several groups of people came to give speeches throughout the day, ranging from high-ranking officials in the General Administration to ministers in administration.

"The director said that even the Divine Child might come to our task force. Is that true?"

"That's unlikely..."

"I think we should focus on investigating the case and find that guy as soon as possible."

Have you checked all the surveillance footage? Still no sign of them?

"No. That's really strange. We didn't capture any footage of the building's entrances or exits. It's like that guy just appeared out of thin air inside the building. Could he have used a teleportation device?"

"How did he leave? And he took someone with him. That must have required a group teleportation. These kinds of items take time to take effect, but the guards arrived at the solitary confinement room very quickly, yet they didn't see anything."

The task force was completely stumped and could only turn to the investigators sitting in the corner.

The woman named Suzuki, who came from the Antu Police Station, had hundreds of blueprints piled up on her desk, each with a portrait of a man on it.

Some of these portraits were too realistic, some were blurry, and some were even a jumbled mess, making it impossible to distinguish between a human and a ghost. This caused those who had initially placed high hopes on her abilities to become somewhat disappointed. They felt that her "profile" skills weren't as impressive as they had imagined.

However, with no progress made in surveillance and population screening, the case seems to have reached a dead end.

The task force leader walked over and asked, "Suzuki, you've been drawing all day. Any new developments?"

Suzuki held a pencil, his brow furrowed.

The task force leader called her several times before she came to her senses.

"Ah... team leader."

"Suzuki, have you profiled your target?"

The team leader picked up a drawing at random, and his expression turned strange when he saw what it contained.

On the drawing, there were lines that looked like tentacles, spreading out from the darkness.

This is less of a profile and more like an illustration from a horror novel.

"Cough, Suzuki, is this what you've profiled?"

Suzuki took the drawing and said, "This is indeed a scene I 'saw' after using my [Profiling] ability."

Just then, another young man came over, saw the drawing, and chuckled, "So our target is actually a tentacle spirit?"

"Shut up." The team leader snapped, looking at the woman. "Suzuki, you're probably too tired. Take a few hours to rest."

"Okay, thank you, Team Leader."

Suzuki got up and went to the window outside the room, taking a few deep breaths.

She wasn't stupid; she knew what the looks in the eyes of those people in the task force meant. Those mocking gazes clearly carried a hint of contempt and ridicule.

Although she didn't show it, she was very resentful inside.

only……

"Could there really be something wrong with my abilities?" Suzuki muttered. "Otherwise, how could I keep creating such a strange profile..."

The surveillance footage clearly shows the target as a normal young man. However, her profile footage contains a large number of strange and unusual objects.

What exactly is...

As she was thinking, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching.

Turning my head, I saw several people walking towards me. The one in the lead was wearing a traditional Sakuragi robe with exquisite makeup; she was the most noble person in the country, the Divine Child.

She had heard from the task force that the Divine Child might come, but she never expected to actually see him in person, and she was stunned.

It wasn't until the priest and the others approached that they came to their senses and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Priest, greetings..."

The goddess glanced at her and smiled, "You must be Suzuki, who was transferred to the special task force. You've worked hard."

The Divine Child actually knows me?!

Suzuki was overjoyed, but when he looked up again, he only caught a glimpse of Shinko's exquisite profile as she entered room 109.

Suzuki was incredibly excited; his heart was pounding.

She never expected that the divine child would know someone as insignificant as her and even smile at her, which made her feel extremely honored.

Suddenly, a sentence Yoshino had said before she came from Antu came to her mind.

"In order to live up to the trust placed in us by our superiors, we should be aware of this."

That's right! The Divine Child came in person, he must want to urge the case to be solved as soon as possible.

To help, I...

"Take a deep breath...inhale..."

Suzuki turned his head and took a deep breath of the fresh air outside the window, with only one thought in his mind: to absorb the alien spores as quickly as possible.

She had previously been reluctant to use the power of the spores. But now, because of the Divine Child's friendly smile, she was determined to use her own abilities to successfully profile her target!

Her feelings seemed to be sensed by the invisible spores, and she soon felt changes in her body.

Light and airy, all the stress and fatigue are swept away.

So this is what spores feel like...

After his initial surprise, Suzuki immediately pressed his advantage, activating his ability again based on the hundreds of profiles he had previously accumulated.

As if by divine intervention, an image quickly took shape in her mind, and she was quite certain that the image was very accurate.

The moment this image took shape, she immediately understood why there were so many paintings with vastly different content among the hundreds she had previously drawn.

"I see!"

Suzuki's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran into the investigation room.

At this moment, upon the arrival of the Divine Child, all members of the task force stood up straight with reverence on their faces.

“I know this case is very complicated and everyone has worked very hard,” the priest said. “Compensation will definitely be provided, but the most important thing is to find the target and protect national security.”

"Your Highness, please rest assured!" the task force leader said solemnly. "My entire team and I will do everything in our power to find the target's identity and solve this case!"

The prince nodded, about to say something more, when Suzuki, who rushed in, interrupted him.

"Suzuki! Can't you see Lady Miko is here?!" The team leader immediately shouted a reminder upon seeing this.

Suzuki, however, seemed not to hear, rushed to his desk, grabbed a piece of white paper, and quickly started drawing with a pencil.

"Suzuki, you—"

"Wait." The goddess raised her hand to interrupt the group leader. "Don't disturb her. She seems to have come up with something."

"Yes……"

Shortly after, Suzuki finished drawing and turned the drawing over to show everyone.

"This is the target image I've profiled! I'm confident that this is at least one aspect of him!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over and showed expressions of surprise.

The image depicts a person completely enveloped in darkness, with numerous black shadows spreading outwards from his side and feet.

Upon seeing this, the team leader couldn't help but feel that presenting such a target image in front of the Divine Child was a completely shameful act.

"Suzuki, you're overworked. How could your goal possibly be this—"

Before he could finish speaking, the Divine Child stepped forward and took the painting from Suzuki's hand.

“You drew very well.” He looked at the drawing, his eyes gradually becoming very sharp.

"Lord Son of God?"

The team leader and other team members couldn't understand why the Divine Child would approve of Suzuki. The figure in the painting didn't look like a normal human at all; it looked more like some kind of monster.

"Have you all forgotten someone?" The Divine Child held up the drawing. "Is it strange that the Northern Starman who can manipulate shadows would have such an image?"

"Ah! You mean...!"

Everyone suddenly realized and uttered a name in unison.

"shadow!"

(End of this chapter)