Night’s Nomenclature

Countdown 168:00:00.

The world was bright again.

There was silence at first in the square of Whale Island, followed by sobs from the crowd, and finally everyone burst into tears together.

Of the 4811 Time Travelers from the Academy, 419 remained. Because of their participation in the defense of Lower Zone Three, almost everyone was injured, except for the children.

Of the Guardians' Union's 20 City 10 members who landed on the island, 19 died, leaving only 11.

They were all injured as well.

All of Kunlun were killed.

Qing Chen stood silently in the square. He could hardly bear to look at the remains of the Kunlun members—61 bodies, only Dianfu's body was relatively intact.

But Dianfu's neck was devoid of flesh, only bone remained. His hands, mangled and bloody from bites, still tightly protected his abdomen.

"It looks like he's hiding something in his abdomen," Lu Yuan whispered.

Lu Yuan tried to pry Dianfu's hands open, but they remained firmly clasped, impossible to separate.

Lu Yuan knelt beside the body, wiping away tears, unable to speak through his sobs.

This was the first time Kunlun had suffered such heavy losses; it had never happened before.

Qing Chen walked over and whispered, "Let me try."

He bent down to lift Dianfu's arm. The arm, which had been tightly clasped, loosened the moment Qing Chen touched it.

Qing Chen was stunned.

He knew Dianfu was dead, yet his body still reacted in this way.

The single embedded hard drive in his abdomen was for Qing Chen; only Qing Chen could retrieve it.

Only when Qing Chen arrived did his body finally relax.

This violated medical common sense. Qing Chen had heard before that some people had to see their relatives before they would close their eyes after death, and he always thought it was just coincidence or a rumour.

Only today did he believe that such a thing was actually true.

Qing Chen struggled to maintain his composure. He took several deep breaths before steeling himself to gently open Dianfu's abdomen and remove the sealed bag.

Lu Yuan shouted to the Kunlun members on the island: "Come and help, let's collect and cremate our brothers' remains."

At this time, some Time Travelers from the Academy came to Qing Chen and said, "Thank you, Dean. Thank you. If you hadn't gone to pick us up, we might have died too."

"Thank you, Dean."

"Thank you, Dean!"

Groups of Time Travelers came to thank Qing Chen. In that chaotic situation, Qing Chen led the Time Travelers back to Lower Zone Three.

Sometimes, before the Time Travelers could even express their gratitude, he was already back deep in the city.

Those Time Travelers were not ungrateful; they knew very well what Qing Chen had done for them.

Qing Chen looked calmly at these people: "Go back and rest."

Zheng Yuandong asked: "Qing Chen, what happened in City 10 during the past seven days?"

"Xiao San, many people here don't know what happened in City 10. Tell them," Qing Chen said calmly, sitting aside, holding the sealed bag, staring at the ground.

Xiao San summarized the events of the past seven days in the square, compiling a battle report for review, to see where they could improve.

Zheng Yuandong listened quietly for a long time, then shared the outside intelligence he had obtained with Qing Chen: "The various armies fought in the north for six days. This war was larger than expected, and everyone fought to the death. There will be no rescue from City 10, so you still have to find a way to save yourselves."

"I understand," Qing Chen nodded.

"The number of surviving Time Travelers far exceeds my expectations. I originally thought that under such a disaster, it would be great if a thousand people survived," Zheng Yuandong said softly: "Thank you, Qing Chen, thank you and the Guardians' Union for the help you provided."

Qing Chen said softly: "Actually, if I had gone to find Dianfu and the others earlier, perhaps they would still be alive."

Zheng Yuandong shook his head: "If you hadn't gone to rescue the Academy's Time Travelers, Dianfu would have had an obligation to save them, or rather, he had to save them. That is Kunlun's responsibility. The Time Travelers should have saved themselves, but they didn't have the ability. It's like a fire where a victim runs back into the fire to save their puppy. Would the firefighters abandon the rescue because of the victim's foolishness? No, they have their mission, and Dianfu had his mission."

"If roles were reversed, perhaps it would be your turn to retrieve the hard drive from PCE or the Transportation Bureau, while Dianfu would lead people to leave the front lines time and again, and then try to bring back groups of Time Travelers to Lower Zone Three. But did they have this ability? No, they couldn't move through the city as easily as you, nor could they remember so many shelters."

Zheng Yuandong: "So, the final result is that you can still get the hard drive, and Dianfu would still die for those Time Travelers and children. This is Dianfu's responsibility and destiny. Of course, you both completed the tasks you should have completed well, and he was excellent."

Qing Chen remained silent.

"Don't think too much. Kunlun's responsibility is to protect these Time Travelers," Zheng Yuandong said: "If he knew you saved so many Time Travelers, he would be happy in the afterlife. No one in Kunlun will blame you. We are prepared for this, and we must believe in our conviction."

In the square, Nangong Yuanyu and other students from the Agricultural Academy kept moving among the crowd, distributing the Chicken Blood Bud they had saved.

Many Time Travelers were enjoying the peace after the disaster, their bodies so weak they could not even stand, but everyone knew they would have to go through another catastrophe seven days later.

Qing Chen suddenly said: "We must change this world."

"Hmm?" Zheng Yuandong looked at Qing Chen.

Qing Chen continued: "Shendai, for his own benefit, launched this war at all costs, completely ignoring the tens of millions of lives in a city. Although the other Conglomerates were tied up on the battlefield and unable to provide rescue, they only needed to launch a few long-range small missiles to open the city walls and allow the refugees in Lower Zone Three to evacuate, but they didn't do so, because they were worried that the Rat Tide would escape to the wilderness through those gaps. The problem of the Inner World is no longer the problem of any one Conglomerate, but the world is sick and needs treatment."

"You're already changing the world," Zheng Yuandong said.

"Not enough," Qing Chen seemed to have figured something out, stood up and said: "Please prepare equipment that can adapt to the Inner World hard drive, and I also need a large office, 640 LCD screens, and watch the recordings Dianfu brought back at four times the speed. I'm going to rest. Please wake me up when it's ready. Also, I will provide as much Purple Orchid Star produced on Whale Island to Kunlun as possible, because you deserve it."

After speaking, Qing Chen stood up and looked at Xiao San: "Go and rest, and count the death toll tomorrow. Build a monument for them on the island."

Xiao San said: "I can count it now."

Qing Chen shook his head: "No need to push yourselves; you've worked hard for seven days. Tomorrow, notify all Time Travelers from City 10 under the Guardians' Union to prepare to board the island. Use Chicken Blood Bud to heal everyone's wounds. There is another tough battle to be fought after returning. Remember, everyone must get enough sleep during these seven days; there will be no time to sleep during the next crossing."

After speaking, Qing Chen turned and walked towards the Agricultural Academy.

Zheng Yuandong pondered. He suddenly felt that Qing Chen had undergone another transformation.

If a person is only controlled by anger, sadness, and other emotions, they cannot become a truly strong person.

Just now, Zheng Yuandong was worried that Qing Chen would continue to torment himself frantically, but he didn't. He chose to rest.

So Zheng Yuandong knew that Qing Chen had understood something: a retracted fist is not for surrender, but for a better punch.

Countdown 157:00:00.

Qing Chen slept for 10 hours until he felt his energy was fully restored.

He sat up from the recliner, and Zard and Huan Yu were actually asleep on his left and right sides.

Zard was leaning his head, drool flowing into his collar, while Huan Yu was lying on Qing Chen's lap, also drooling.

This must be Xiaoyu.

Qing Chen couldn't imagine Dayu sleeping on his lap.

"Wake up," Qing Chen patted the two of them.

"Wow, Boss, you're awake!" Zard said: "Zheng Boss told me to tell you that he's ready, you can go anytime. Also, the cafeteria is open to all Time Travelers from City 10 for free; everyone can eat whatever they want. What do you want to eat? I can get it for you! By the way, order two garlic-flavored crayfish for Xiaoyu in your name; he likes them!"

Xiaoyu swallowed.

Qing Chen was amused; what was all this?

"Eat whatever you want. After you're done, send one to me in the main teaching building," Qing Chen stood up.

He came to the classroom prepared for him by Kunlun. The classroom had been modified. The blackboard wall and the walls on either side of the classroom were neatly hung with 0-inch LCD screens, not many, exactly 640.

Lu Yuan waited. He looked at Qing Chen doubtfully: "What do you need so many screens for?"

"You'll know in a minute," Qing Chen said: "Please number all the screens from 1 to 640 sequentially, and then give me eight people to control the fast forward, pause, and rewind functions. Thank you."

Then, Qing Chen walked to the last row of the classroom and sat down alone: "Let's begin."

All 640 screens lit up, each screen displaying surveillance footage playing continuously at four times the speed.

Qing Chen's pupils narrowed, constantly recording the images on each screen in his mind, and then analyzing them using his memory palace.

"Start playing from 15 days ago."

"Screen 611, adjust to eight times the speed."

"Screen 17, adjust to eight times the speed."

"Screen 51, rewind 48 hours."

"Screen 17, rewind 48 hours."

Time passed minute by minute.

Little Eagle said on the side: "There aren't any mice on these screens either? Aren't we looking for mice? I've watched the screens that Qing Chen rewound, and there are no mice in them."

Lu Yuan shook his head: "We can't tell yet. Let's wait. Perhaps Qing Chen has his own ideas."

At this moment, Qing Chen suddenly said: "Pause screen 17. The man in the brown jacket in the screen, he used to leave for work at exactly 7 a.m. every day, taking the Light rail in screen 19 to the factory in screen 61. However, he hasn't left his house since day 1. Mark it. He must have been killed by a mouse at home, which is why he didn't go to work."

The area where this man in the brown jacket lived was the first person whose behavioral trajectory Qing Chen found to be abnormal.

In the early stages, the Rat Tide would never swagger through the streets, let alone appear in road surveillance.

Therefore, if Qing Chen wanted to analyze where the Rat Tide first appeared, he had to infer the Rat Tide's movements through the analysis of people's behavior.

He wasn't looking for mice in the surveillance, but for people who suddenly disappeared from the city.

"Number 141, rewind to 6 hours and 1 second ago. Please mark the person on the screen. He also commuted normally 48 hours ago, as did his wife, but suddenly, neither of them went out anymore."

"Number 16, rewind 47 hours, 10 minutes, and 1 second ago. The woman in the video used to work at a strip club in District 4 every night, but she hasn't gone out for two days."

"Number 151"

"Number 15"

The expressions of the Kunlun members gradually became dull. It turned out that even without seeing mice, it was possible to find them.

They looked incredulously at the young man in the back row of the classroom. The other party just sat calmly in the back row, as if everything was a matter of course.

"Little Eagle, mark the screens I've marked on the City 10 map. I need to know where these people live."

Qing Chen commanded emotionlessly. Gradually, he alone was commanding eight operators, and the eight operators were struggling to keep up. They were in a flurry.

Little Eagle frantically checked the map. Sometimes, his speed of marking the map was not as fast as Qing Chen's speed of finding information.

All the Kunlun members present felt a strong sense of oppression. They felt that this kind of thinking ability was extremely terrifying.

Lu Yuan and Ni Ergou exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

This was the first time Qing Chen had shown the full extent of his brain's capabilities to outsiders.

When Qing Chen was directing the rewind of the recording, he could be precise to the second.

The operators only needed to enter the time Qing Chen needed to rewind, and the picture could accurately be fixed on the person Qing Chen was looking for.

Lu Yuan and Ni Ergou simply couldn't understand how anyone could watch 640 surveillance videos simultaneously and still accurately find information within them.

Moreover, what Qing Chen had to do was to remember everyone who had ever appeared on the screen.

Analyze the behavior patterns of the other party.

Discriminate against abnormal behavior of the other party.

It was easy for Qing Chen to say the information, but the amount of information hidden behind the behavioral trajectory analysis was enormous!

As Qing Chen spoke thousands of pieces of information, the City 10 map in front of Little Eagle was marked with countless red dots.

As time passed in the surveillance video, the number of deaths in the city increased, and Lu Yuan and Ni Ergou could even feel the fear of the Rat Tide becoming increasingly frequent.

It was as if Qing Chen, along with everyone, was experiencing the breeding and invasion process of the Rat Tide through the surveillance footage brought back by Dianfu.

The time of watching the surveillance continued from morning to afternoon.

After Qing Chen simply ate a few bites of food, it continued from afternoon to midnight.

Everyone felt the disappearance of human beings one by one, and felt the harm brought by the Rat Tide.

Immersive experience!

The Kunlun members responsible for operating for Qing Chen changed shifts, but only Qing Chen remained seated in the back of the classroom, working with the highest intensity, as if without emotion.

Lu Yuan suddenly felt a pang in his nose and said: "If Dianfu knew that the footage he brought back could work wonders in Qing Chen's hands, he would definitely feel that he died without regret. They did not die in vain."

Qing Chen would not let them die in vain.

"Stop," Qing Chen looked at the screens and said: "Little Eagle, put the City 10 map upright for me."

"Yes, alright," Little Eagle said excitedly.

He and three other Kunlun members each pulled a corner of the map and held it upright in front of Qing Chen.

Everyone could see the countless red dots on the city map, each representing a dead human being, or more.

On that map, the rat plague was scattered throughout the city, spreading outward from Zone Five as its center.

Zone Five was the densest, so dense that Zone Five on the map was almost dyed red.

Only Lower Zone Three was still blank.

Now, it would be clear where the rat plague originated.

"It started from Zone Five. They continuously devoured the entire Zone Five, turning it into the first granary. The Rat King must be there," Qing Chen said.

"Will it move later?" Lu Yuan asked.

"80% probability it's still there, after all, yesterday's City 10 still had the most rats in Zone Five. Now I think this Rat Tide has a clear division of labor, and it's more like it has evolved a power structure like worker ants, soldier ants, and ant queens," Qing Chen said: "This kind of queen ant is most likely to lose many other physical functions because it needs to evolve reproductive ability. Its existence is to become the wisdom center of the group, and then continuously breed new rat populations."

Qing Chen: "Of course, it also has a probability to move to other places, so I still need to continue observing the monitoring and find more clues."

What Qing Chen didn't say was that he also saw Qing Wen, Qing Shi, and Qing Xing on the screen.

He also saw some people with strange behavior on the screen.

However, the first three had little to do with the Rat Tide, so he did not mention them to Kunlun, but Qing Chen planned to find them all tomorrow.

Perhaps, he could also find some useful information through these people.

Qing Chen stood up and walked out: "It's not too early. Everyone should rest early. Tomorrow, we will find the location of the Rat King. Thank you for your cooperation, see you tomorrow."

Then, Qing Chen left the classroom without looking back, without any hesitation.