·
He waited until evening.
The school anniversary gala began right on schedule. Inside the grand auditorium, a thumping beat kicked in as Li Xiaoxiao, the head of the dance club, led a group of beautiful girls in a stunning performance that drew thunderous cheers and applause from the crowd.
At the very back of the auditorium, Zhou Chen watched the show intently. Every now and then, a few students would walk past him on their way to the restroom.
In the darkness, a group of seven or eight guys stood up and headed to the restroom together. As they passed Zhou Chen, he suddenly felt a slight stir in his jacket pocket.
He didnât check it right away. Instead, he waited for more than ten minutes. Only when he casually slipped his hands into his pockets did he feel a small slip of paper in the left one.
Puzzled, he pulled out the note. In the flickering, multicolored lights from the stage, he saw one side was printed with the question, "Do you want to complete your Soul?" The other side had a web address.
âThey finally took the bait...â
Zhou Chen felt a jolt of excitement, but he immediately furrowed his brow and put on a wary expression. He glanced around instinctively, as if he was afraid someone had discovered his dark little secret.
"Thatâs a special URL for the dark web," Jiang Che reminded him.
Zhou Chen got up and left the auditorium. After finding a bench in a nearby park, he sat down, pulled out his phone, and typed in the address. The page immediately loaded a simple chat window.
[Hello.]
There was no profile picture and no name. The other party had sent only a simple greeting.
"Who are you? What do you want? How do you know?" Zhou Chen typed.
[Who I am isnât important. Where I got my information isnât important, either. What matters is that I can help you repair your Soul. Zhou Chen, let me guess... you must be in agony right now, right? The void left by your fragmented Soul torments you constantly. That emptiness, doesnât it make you want to kill yourself every night? Donât you want to be free from it all?]
"You think Iâd believe that?"
[I know you wonât believe me, so I decided to send you something for free to show my sincerity. Go check the package station. Thereâs a delivery for you. Make sure no one else finds out about it, alright? Itâs a Treasure that can repair your Soul. Hereâs the tracking number...]
âFree? Nothing free is ever cheap. Iâve seen this sales pitch a million times,â Zhou Chen grumbled to himself. Outwardly, however, he pretended to hesitate for a long while before finally getting up and heading toward the campus package station.
And sure enough, there was a package waiting for him. The senderâs name, phone number, and return address were all gibberish; only the recipient field correctly listed his name.
Zhou Chen took the package to a secluded corner and tore it open. Inside was a crude glass bottle containing a single speck of azure dust. Looking closer, it appeared to be some kind of crystalline substance.
Just then, his phone vibrated. A new message had arrived.
[Thatâs a fragment of Canaan Blue. Canaan Blue is a crystal from the Endless Ocean, found in Restricted Area 013. It has the power to heal the Soul. Try it. Youâll see Iâm not lying.]
"Is that true?" Zhou Chen asked, seeking confirmation.
"It is indeed a fragment of Canaan Blue. It might be from their private collection, or it could be part of the contraband from Xi Fengâs last shipment."
Jiang Che paused for a second. "My analysis shows no toxins, Curses, or contamination. You can eat it."
Zhou Chen unscrewed the cap and tipped the single, azure fragment into his palm.
In a daze, he felt a whistling sea breeze wash over him, carrying the damp, salty scent of the ocean. It was as if he were standing before an endless, azure sea. Blue sky, white clouds, soaring gulls... The sound of the waves was exceptionally gentle, and he felt himself involuntarily relax.
The magnificent aura of nature!
He popped the fragment of Canaan Blue into his mouth and swallowed. Instantly, a cool sensation spread through him. It was like drinking ice water right after eating a mintâa chill that went straight to his core.
Amid the phantom sound of the waves, the cool Power seeped inward, nourishing his Soul. Zhou Chen couldnât help but let out a groan of relief, sinking back onto the bench, dazed for a long moment.
Just a single fragment had repaired two percent of his Soul.
âNo, I have to find a way to squeeze more out of them...â
Just then, his phone vibrated again.
[How do you feel? Has your Soul been repaired a little? You believe me now, donât you?]
"I believe you. But are you watching me?"
Zhou Chenâs eyes immediately started scanning his surroundings.
[Donât bother looking; you wonât find me. Now, letâs talk about our deal.]
âHeh. Not only do I know there are six people secretly watching me nearby, but I also know someoneâs on the roof of the next building with binoculars, and another person is two hundred meters to my left under a tree with their phone camera on...â Zhou Chen reined in his thoughts and typed, "What do you want me to do? And who are you?"
[You are not yet worthy of knowing my identity. You need only know that I belong to a powerful organization that can easily grant your every desireâbe it Treasures to repair your Soul, money, Power, women, status... or even the chance to become an Ascender.]
[Everything. Everything you could ever want, you can get from me.]
[And the price... is merely doing a trivial little thing for me.]
[Think about what youâve suffered these past few days at the Star Association. First, a Corrupter devoured half your Soul. Then, as you languished in pain, they treated you like a lab rat, and they have shown zero intention of actually saving you. Do you know why that is?]
[Itâs because youâre not worth saving. You have no value for them to even exploit. At the end of the day, the Star Association is nothing but a hypocritical organization. Compared to them, we actually keep our promises. We are far more trustworthy.]
âMmm-hmm, yep, youâre absolutely right. Sure thing. Since youâve already got terminal cancer, Iâll just go along with whatever you say...â
Zhou Chen rolled his eyes internally. You couldnât trust a single word that came out of these Cultistsâ mouths, not even the punctuation.
These days, people fell for even the most obvious phone scams, and the Abyssal Cultistsâ tactics were clearly far more sophisticated. They knew how to skillfully exploit a victimâs immediate needs and stir up their inner resentment.
The moment you showed even a shred of trust, theyâd lead you into their trap, and youâd be in too deep to ever get out.
After a long silence, Zhou Chen typed, "What do you want me to do?"
[Kill someone. A simple enough task, right?]
Zhou Chenâs fingers paused before he typed, "I wonât do something like kill someone."
âIâm supposed to be an upstanding young man worthy of the Star Association, after all. If I agree to kill someone this easily, itâll definitely make them suspicious.â
[Iâm not asking you to kill an innocent. This man is a wicked criminal who deserves to die. By killing him, youâd even be doing the public a service. Think it over. If you can complete this task, I can give you two more fragments of Canaan Blue.]
âDeserves to die?â
âTwo more fragments?â
âWell, thatâs just perfect...â
âIf Iâm not going to take their freebies, whatâs the point of being a double agent?!â
After several minutes of silenceâprojecting the image of a man who had finally made up his mind after an intense internal struggleâZhou Chen typed a short reply:
"Okay."
[Remember, donât let the Star Association find out about this. Itâs for your own safety. You donât want to spend the second half of your life in prison, do you? Oh, my apologies. I forgot you donât have a second half of your life.]
Zhou Chenâs eyebrow twitched.
[Donât be angry. If you perform well, I can give you a whole Canaan Blue. It will let you completely restore your Soul, even become an Ascender, and secure your place within the Star Association. Then, you will wield Power and authority you canât even imagine right now.]
[Of course, you probably donât believe any of this right now. I can guess youâre scoffing at the very idea. But you have to understand, Zhou Chenâyouâre going to die!
How many choices do you have left? Seize this opportunity. Right now, Iâm the only one who can save you.]
Zhou Chen lowered his phone and leaned back on the bench, staring blankly into space. After a long time, he picked his phone back up and replied:
"Iâll trust you for now. Send me the details of the mission."
[Excellent. Youâve made a wise choice.]
Through the screen, Zhou Chen could almost see the other personâs smile.
But then again, the corners of his own mouth were turning up into a smile as well.