Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 342: 264, Nightfall, Gunfire

The cause of this crisis was that the ‘Daytime’ boss, within He Xiaoxiao’s group chat, twice used “a little duck” and “Liu Dezhu” to act out scenarios, drawing huge hatred for the Devil’s Stamp holder Huan Yu.

Ultimately, this led to the exposure of Huan Yu’s ID and an increase in everyone’s guard against Huan Yu.

Although the outside world still didn’t know the name ‘Daytime’, it was already confirmed to be an organization.

Qing Chen thought repeatedly, if he were Huan Yu, what would he do?

Of course, he would kidnap a member of Daytime and then interrogate them to get information about the ‘Daytime’ boss.

For Huan Yu, directly striking a major blow to Daytime did not fit with his game rules and code of conduct. Finding this ‘Daytime’ boss and making the boss his slave was the most urgent matter.

Qing Chen calmly climbed over the school fence.

As expected, just two minutes after he left the school, he had already spotted the middle-aged man’s trace in his field of vision.

Counting this time, the man had inexplicably appeared four times.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, Qing Chen walked ahead in his school uniform, while the middle-aged man followed silently behind him, always maintaining a distance of over a hundred meters.

The middle-aged man wore a Bluetooth headset on his right ear, tracking Qing Chen while reporting his movements.

When Qing Chen entered his home at Xingshu Road No. 4, the middle-aged man whispered from outside, “The target has returned home, his place is on the first floor, both the front and back windows have security grilles, and he can only leave through the front door. The neighborhood is quite quiet, if someone tries to dismantle the security grilles, I’m sure to hear the noise.”

“Stand by nearby,” came a voice from the Bluetooth headset.

“Understood,” said the middle-aged man.

At this moment, Qing Chen leisurely changed into an outfit he had bought but never worn before.

When the last trace of sunlight in the distant west vanished from the sky, he gently opened the front door, and as his right foot stepped out, his face had already taken on a different appearance.

Qing Chen walked out, passing by the middle-aged man without him noticing or being on his guard.

The middle-aged man’s attention was entirely focused on the narrow exit of the corridor.

In the instant when their shadows crossed and the light faded from twilight to dusk, Qing Chen suddenly reached out, his right hand deftly removing the Bluetooth headset from the other’s ear, his thumb covering the headset’s microphone.

His left hand struck like thunder, hitting the middle-aged man’s carotid artery on the neck.

The middle-aged man’s body slowly collapsed, and as soon as he began to tilt, Qing Chen gently caught him and helped him back into the house.

Qing Chen closed the door slowly, alert to his surroundings.

No one noticed what had happened here; even if there were passersby, they wouldn’t have seen anything amiss because Qing Chen moved too quickly.

Qing Chen stood quietly in the dark, glancing at the Bluetooth headset which was now in call-ending mode.

He now needed to know this middle-aged man’s name.

Then, Yi’s voice came from his phone, “You didn’t kill him, are you planning to use the Puppeteer on him?”

“Yeah,” responded Qing Chen.

“But trying to get his name out so quickly might not be easy,” Yi said.

“It might not require interrogation,” Qing Chen said as he searched the middle-aged man’s body and found an ID card…

Just like the Inner World’s identity ID, without an ID card one would hardly get anywhere in the Outer World – unable to take long-distance buses, unable to stay in hotels. Qing Chen suspected that this middle-aged man was not a Los Angeles native, and also not a professional assassin.

The man didn’t carry firearms, only knives, which made Qing Chen think that he was just an ordinary Time Traveler controlled by Huan Yu.

So, the probability was high that the man’s ID card would be on him.

Of course, if the ID wasn’t found, they would have to resort to interrogation.

The prerequisite for using the Puppeteer was knowing the person’s name. Qing Chen muttered, while searching the middle-aged man’s other pockets, “Yi, is there any Taboo that can directly reveal someone’s name?”

“No, you’re overthinking it,” Yi replied.

Qing Chen examined the man’s ID card: Chen Siheng, 37 years old, household registered at Rongcheng Community, Wen Yi South Road, Xian City.

He indeed came from out of town.

Qing Chen silently speculated that Huan Yu might not be a resident of Los Angeles, and his influence in Los Angeles wasn’t strong, which was why he had to call people from other places.

It was unclear how many people were still out there.

He shook his wrist lightly and saw the Puppeteer’s transparent strings shoot out, tightly wrapping around Chen Siheng’s left wrist.

In the darkness, the middle-aged man slowly stood up, his eyes devoid of focus.

Qing Chen put the headset back on the man and then controlled the middle-aged man to leave the house and stand at the very spot he used to monitor Qing Chen from.

After 30 minutes, a voice came through the headset, “Chen Siheng, report your status.”

The middle-aged man said, “Nothing unusual, the target is still at home.”

“Continue to wait.”

Qing Chen discerned the voice on the phone through the Puppeteer.

Yes, it was a voice he had heard before on Laojun Mountain.

A young man with a effeminate voice, lacking in abdominal strength, sounding somewhat weak.

Huan Yu made an appearance.

This time, he was still hiding in the dark, remotely controlling everything.

However, Qing Chen wasn’t in a rush to find him. He now needed to wait patiently.

…

…

Los Angeles Foreign Language School let out at 9:40 p.m.

Liu Dezhu bade farewell to his classmates alone and then rode his old bike into the night.

He rode at an easy pace, his gaze constantly scanning around as if searching for something, being alert to something.

Not far behind him, there was also a taxi following from a distance.

Sitting in the car, Xiao Ying looked in the distance and said to the communication channel, “Strange, Liu Dezhu seems to have noticed something. He’s constantly looking around; what is he searching for?”

“Could it be related to the dangerous incident that He Xiaoxiao mentioned?” someone responded in the communication channel.

Over the earpiece, Lu Yuan’s voice rang out, “High probability it is related.”

“But,” Xiao Ying expressed his confusion, “didn’t He Xiaoxiao warn of tomorrow? Isn’t their plan for tomorrow? Moreover, it’s not even certain who they’re targeting.”

“Plans can change, especially those that have been exposed,” said Lu Yuan. “Perhaps Liu Dezhu has found out something in advance, or maybe his boss has. Xiao Ying, keep a close eye on Liu Dezhu; there might be a catch tonight.”

“Roger that,” Xiao Ying responded.

However, at that moment, Xiao Ying suddenly saw Liu Dezhu stop his bicycle and glance at his phone.

Then, Liu Dezhu turned his head and rode towards the taxi where Xiao Ying was.

Xiao Ying hit the brakes hard, only to see Liu Dezhu stopping beside his car and peering inside through the window, “You’re from Kunlun, right? We’ve seen each other several times, haven’t we?”

“Ah? What? What Kunlun,” Xiao Ying, even after being exposed, still acted as if nothing happened.

“Stop dawdling, follow me, call for backup!” Liu Dezhu pedaled off at a brisk pace, darting into the Los Angeles City night.

“Road Team, Road Team,” Xiao Ying spoke while shifting gears, “There’s a situation with Liu Dezhu; the target seems not to be him, but someone else! Requesting reinforcements!”

Indeed, the holder of the Devil’s Stamp had never intended to target Liu Dezhu from the beginning.

Although Huan Yu did not know that Liu Dezhu had been promoted to C-Class, the problem was, the known members of Liu Dezhu’s organization were not limited to Liu Dezhu himself, so why go after Liu Dezhu, who was protected by Kunlun around the clock?

He had a better target.

At this very moment, on Xingshu Road, Nan Gengchen was about to cross the street and head home with his backpack on his back.

He was leaving school alone tonight and therefore appeared particularly lonely.

Fortunately, his home was close to the school; just across Xingshu Road was his residential area.

Nan Gengchen checked his phone; Qing Chen hadn’t sent any messages all night, nor had he replied to the ones sent by Nan Gengchen.

Something dangerous must be about to happen; otherwise, why would there be such an anomaly?

In the next moment, a black business car, as if oblivious to its surroundings, sped over and stopped harshly next to Nan Gengchen.

In an instant, everyone on Xingshu Road could hear the screech of tires gripping the ground, shrill and oppressive.

With a whoosh, the rear door of the car opened and two thugs wearing black masks coldly gazed at him.

Nan Gengchen stared at the two men, then turned and ran toward the school behind him.

But he had only been exercising for a few days; how could he outrun these well-trained thugs?

“Damn,” Nan Gengchen shouted, calling to his classmates who were also leaving school not far away, “Call the police for me!”

As he spoke, his arms were already firmly grasped by the thugs.

A darkness settled in Nan Gengchen’s heart, he thought to himself, it’s over, where are you, Bro Chen? Why aren’t you by my side at such a critical moment!

No, that’s not right!

Suddenly, Nan Gengchen felt a certain confidence; at such a critical moment, how could Qing Chen possibly not be around?

These thugs were going to die.

It was an inexplicable intuition.

In an instant, Nan Gengchen saw a spray of blood bloom to his left rear, staining his face with a layer of red.

Stunned, he stood there, and at the same time, a booming sound traveled from afar.

The gunshot was slower than the bullet, indicating that the sniper who pulled the trigger was positioned hundreds of meters away.

This sensation of the bullet having arrived before the sound of the gun created a peculiar sense of dissonance.

The thug in the driver’s seat of the black business car roared, “Sniper! Damn, get him in the car, it’s a sni—”

The thug’s voice cut off abruptly, along with the sound of shattering glass.

Nan Gengchen turned his head to see the driver already dead in the vehicle, similarly struck by a sniper’s bullet.

Within two shots, the three thugs who had come to kidnap Nan Gengchen were reduced to just one.

People on Xingshu Road began to scream and scatter.

The last thug reached for a weapon at his waist and pulled Nan Gengchen’s arm hard, using him as a human shield to block the sniper’s line of fire.

He couldn’t understand how there could be a sniper lying in wait for them in a place like Los Angeles City.

And this distant gunfire, what was the difference between it and the sound of cannon fire?!

But before he had time to ponder any further, the thug was startled to see something pass between Nan Gengchen’s legs and strike his calf.

The thick calf broke at the impact, and he fell sideways, suddenly off balance.

The next sniper bullet arrived as promised, piercing the chest that was no longer shielded by Nan Gengchen’s body!

The sniper bullet, carrying immense deflection force and inertia, directly blasted the thug away.

These two shots were extremely risky, given the distance of several hundred meters, the slightest deviation could have hit Nan Gengchen directly, but the sniper seemed to have absolute confidence, not believing that the bullets would veer off even by a centimeter!

At this moment, Nan Gengchen’s mind was somewhat muddled, but remembering Qing Chen’s words, he didn’t hesitate to look for cover and wait for rescue.

In the darkness, he noticed that some people in the crowd on Xingshu Road had sprung into action, running in the direction from which the sniper shots had come.

…

There will be another chapter tonight, coming later.

Thanks to fleeing locusts, Chinese soul, cheungwa2002, misslsq4ever, the cat that can’t code, and Nangong Yuanyu for becoming the hierarchs of this book. Thank you, dear patrons, may you have peace all life long!

Although I took a leave of absence yesterday, the comments everyone left were touching. I will work hard on writing to repay everyone.