Card Room

Chapter 124 - Intelligence Bureau

Long Sen and Qu Wanyue couldn’t wait to turn to the fourth page to sign their names.

After signing, the two people turned the pages to see which of their teammates were great gods. The third page had ‘Liu Qiao’ signed. The second page was Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. The first page was Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

Long Sen asked, “Where is Old Han?”

Qu Wanyue also looked at Xiao Lou with confusion. “Brother, you aren’t called this?”

Xiao Lou smiled and explained, “That’s our pseudonyms. Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Xiao Lou and I’m a forensics professor at a medical university’s Department of Forensics.”

Qu Wanyue looked at Long Sen. “Why does this name sound familiar?”

Moments later, Long Sen hit his thighs. “I know! Previously, the floating boxes announced that Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang refreshed the world records of 3 of Hearts and 4 of Hearts. Are they the two of you?!”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Okay.”

Long Sen gave a thumbs up. “No wonder why you were so strong in Liuxi Village, gaining a perfect clearance. Wanyue and I are too lucky to meet such great gods!” Both of them were very excited. They felt like they had bought a drink by the roadside open to open the bottle cap and find they had won first place.

Qu Wanyue cheerfully handed the contract back to Xiao Lou. “Professor Xiao, thank you for not abandoning us and being willing to take us. In the future, we will absolutely follow your commands and not delay anyone”!

Long Sen nodded firmly. “Yes, if there is a need for us, Old Han... no, Officer Yu just needs to say it!”

Yu Hanjiang said, “You’re welcome. Everyone should cooperate to clear the instance and our purpose is the same. We’ll talk about it after this week’s World Weekly.”

Long Sen and Qu Wanyue obviously didn’t know about the World Weekly and their faces were full of doubts.

Xiao Lou patiently explained to them and Long Sen suddenly realized. “Then the elimination rate of the World Weekly is around 10% or so? Isn’t this lower than 4 of Hearts and 4 of Spades? I remember that the elimination rate of 4 of Spades was over 80%.”

Xiao Lou replied, “Theoretically, the average elimination rate of the World Weekly isn’t high. As long as you find a good time, the possibility of clearing the instance is quite large. The key is that there are two many uncertainties in the World Weekly. If you have an unlucky encounter with hunters then the difficulty will multiply. It is likely that all the players in the secret room will be killed.”

Yu Hanjiang agreed as he looked at Xiao Lou. “Strength and luck are very important.”

If they were lucky, it was possible to enter an ordinary secret room. If they were unlucky like Old Mo, they would have to rely on their own ability to survive when killing players. The luck factor was the most uncertain. Thus, they had to prepare fully to improve the team’s fighting power.

Long Sen and Qu Wanyue had previously cooperated with everyone. After 4 of Clubs, they copied the Chameleon and Long Jump cards. According to Yu Hanjiang’s idea, they were husband and wife and had a tacit agreement. They could be arranged as the most flexible mobile team for investigation and support.

Everyone ate lunch in a private room and went to the bank together. Shao Qingge planned to transfer the 30 million gold they just received into everyone’s account. Yu Hanjiang said, “My money can be kept by Professor Xiao. I’m not good at managing money.”

Ye Qi stated, “Chief Shao, please keep my money. I’m not very good at account management.”

Shao Qingge thought about it and simply divided the money into two. “In this way, I will keep half the money and Professor Xiao will keep the other half. In the future, everyone will act together. If we need to spend money, I will pay for it along with Professor Xiao. You can tell us what you need to buy.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Okay.”

If all the money was left with one person, they might become poor if there was an accident. Dividing it into two was more secure.

After leaving the bank, the group went to a nearby shopping mall and bought a smartphone for each person.

In the world of the Financial Crisis, they had bought mobile phones that could only send text messages and make phone calls. Internet access wasn’t possible. However, the technology level of the main city was close to the real world. The smartphones could use WeChat , video calls and the Internet.

The seven people bought sim cards and placed everyone’s number into the address book in turn. Xiao Lou built a WeChat group and pulled everyone in. Anything that happened could be announced in the WeChat group. Of course, these devices couldn’t be brought into the secret rooms and could only be used in the main city.

Passing by the computer area, Xiao Lou suddenly asked, “Do we need to buy a computer?”

Shao Qingge replied, “I need to have a computer. In the main city, I have to keep an eye on economic trends and earn some money.”

Ye Qi was eager. “If there is enough money, I also want to buy a laptop. I used to write lyrics and music on a computer. Recently, I’ve had some inspiration and want to write songs down.”

Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. “Both of us buying one is enough. We can use it together to check the information.”

Liu Qiao stated, “Then I want one too.”

Xiao Lou glanced at Long Sen and Qu Wanyue. They had just joined the team but they had no money. They were really embarrassed to ask for computers. Unexpectedly, Xiao Lou smiled and said, “You two, do you want to buy one each or share it with each other?”

Long Sen waved his hand in a flattered manner. “No, I used to use computers to play games. In this way, there definitely won’t be enough leisurely time to play games...”

Xiao Lou stated, “Having a computer to check things on the Internet is more convenient. Shall we buy two?”

The two people glanced at each other and their eyes reddened. Qu Wanyue said, “Thank you, Professor Xiao. The mobile phone and computer money will be returned to you later...”

Xiao Lou smiled. “No, it will come from the team funds. We aren’t lacking money.”

The penniless couple and Liu Qiao, “......”

Suddenly, there the feeling of being kept by a local tyrant team.

Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge bought five laptops in one go. It felt good to have money.

Everyone bought things and on the way back, they saw the Intelligence Bureau branch that Old Mo said was disguised as a lottery store. They saw that the city centre really had a small store that was closed on Tuesday. The ‘closed’ sign hung on the door.

After returning to the New World Hotel, Xiao Lou opened a room to let Long Sen and Qu Wanyue stay there. The people had been busy all day and went back to their room to rest. In the WeChat group, they agreed on a time to meet the next day.

***

The next morning, their biological clock allowed them to wake on time. Xiao Lou wrote a sentence in the WeChat group. “Everyone, gather downstairs to eat breakfast.”

Downstairs, the group had arrived. They walked out of the hotel and had breakfast nearby. They took two cars to the lottery store in the city centre.

They were already several people in line at the store door. Xiao Lou was worried that too many people would attract attention and only took Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao inside to inquire. The others waited in a nearby coffee store for the results.

At 8:30, the lottery store opened on time.

The people in the line went in one by one. Xiao Lou couldn’t see what they were doing. He only knew that when they came out, some people looked happy while others looked depressed. Soon, it was Xiao Lou’s turn.

The three people entered the place together. An electric sliding door in front of them opened. After passing two doors, they entered an office. There were two computers behind the front desk and behind a computer was a young woman. She wore a pair of silver glasses and placed her short hair behind her ears. She looked cold and once she saw Xiao Lou, she dismissively asked in a blank voice, “Are you here to buy lottery tickets?”

Xiao Lou smiled. “We want to check two people. How much will you charge?”

The woman simply handed a form to Xiao Lou. “Fill in the information, the more detailed the better. We will base the price on the difficulty of the inquiry.”

Xiao Lou handed the form to Liu Qiao, who leaned over to fill in the information of the person they were inquiring about. Her sister Liu Ying was 23 years old, a graduate student of a medical university, 168cm tall, 55kg and her hair was normally in a high ponytail. She was wearing a white sweater, blue jeans and red woollen coat when she came into the Card World.

Liu Qiao wrote as much detail as possible. The woman took a look at the form and started to tap on the keyboard. Her tapping sound on the keyboard was especially clear in the quiet room. Liu Qiao couldn’t see what this person was entering and had to clench her firsts, anxiously waiting.

After half a minute, the woman raised her head. “There is no such person.”

Liu Qiao asked nervously. “What do you mean? How can you not find her? My sister clearly came to the Card World...”

The woman replied quietly, “We can only find information on challengers who entered the main city. The person you want to check might not have passed the first four levels and didn’t smoothly enter the main city.”

Liu Qiao was slightly stunned. “What if she went to the City of the Sun?”

The woman, “The information network of the Intelligence Bureau is connected to each other. My colleague in the City of the moon just gave me feedback. They also couldn’t find this person. This girl named Liu Ying hasn’t appeared in the main cities.”

Yu Hanjiang frowned. “Perhaps you don’t have her data.

Xiao Lou nodded. “Yes, how can you make sure that all the challengers’ data are added?”

The woman smiled softly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she looked at Xiao Lou. “Xiao Lou, ID number 89657741.” Then she looked at Yu Hanjiang. “Yu Hanjiang, ID number 89657701. Please don’t question the accuracy of the Intelligence Bureau’s information.”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were stunned and couldn’t help glancing at each other. The woman not only accurately reported their names but also their ID numbers. It seemed the Intelligence Bureau’s database was very complete. They had only entered the main city for three days and the Intelligence Bureau already had their information. Liu Qiao’s face became ugly. “You really can’t find Liu Ying?”

The woman replied, “All challengers who enter the main cities will automatically receive an identity card with an ID number. Unfortunately, there isn’t a woman called Liu Ying in the information base. I think it is likely that she was eliminated in the first four levels.”

Liu Qiao clenched her fists and his body started to tremble slightly. Her eyes were slightly red and filled with tears, but she couldn’t cry.

Xiao Lou had actually expected this result for a long time. He had met Liu Qiao’s sister in 2 of Clubs. At the end, she formed a team with a thin girl. Such a combination had a very low probability of survival. 3 &4 of Hearts and 3 & 4 of Spades were all very difficult. If they didn’t meet a powerful god to lie down to win, this was the most likely result. He didn’t expect that the hurried glance in 3 of Clubs had actually become a farewell.

The girl with a soft voice and hair in a long ponytail had long disappeared from the Card World.

Xiao Lou’s heart was sore. He gently held Liu Qiao’s shoulder and didn’t know what to say. Liu Qiao had always been very calm but once she heard that there was no such person, she was unable to control her emotions. Tears kept rolling from her eyes. She took a deep breath and said, “Maybe my sister lost time in other secret rooms. She might come to the main city in a few days. Can I check again next week?”

This statement was just for self-comfort. The death of a relative was too difficult to accept. Liu Qiao needed psychological adjustment and Xiao Lou had to say, “Yes, we will come back next week to check. Perhaps your sister is just late.”

Yu Hanjiang stepped forward and filled out another form with Mo Xuemin’s information.

The efficiency of the Intelligence Bureau was very high. They soon printed a stack of information and handed it to Yu Hanjiang—Mo Xuemin, 40 years old, 180cm tall, 70kg, a designer of the Xinxin Decorating Company who came to the Card World three months ago.

The data sheet even contained all the information of his teammates. His former teammates had died in the last World Weekly.

Xiao Lou was more and more alarmed. The Intelligence Bureau’s data checking was too terrible and they could pull a radish out of the mud. They could actually find all the information of a person in the Card World’s main cities.

Yu Hanjiang looked at the woman behind his desk. “How much do we need to pay?”

The woman gave him a number. Liu Ying was relatively simple. Since her information wasn’t found, the charge was only 100,000 gold coins. Mo Xuemin’s had several pages of information and the charge was increased by 10 times.

Xiao Lou happily paid. The three people left the Intelligence Bureau and returned to the coffee store.

Seeing Liu Qiao’s pale face, they knew that the results of the inquiry weren’t optimistic. Ye Qi hurriedly tried to comfort her awkwardly. “Little Qiao, don’t be sad. The information from the Intelligence Bureau isn’t necessarily accurate. Your sister must be okay and we will try to find her again.”

Liu Qiao quickly adjusted her expression. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We still have to prepare to survive the World Weekly.”

Shao Qingge changed the topic. “Did you carefully check Old Mo?”

Yu Hanjiang sat down and put the stack of Old Mo’s information on the table for everyone to see with a frown. “The Intelligence Bureau can actually check a person’s resume so clearly. There should be powerful hackers among their members.”

Xiao Lou glanced at him. “Group Leader Yu means that they broke into the Card World’s official database and stole information?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “The Population Administration Bureau should have all of our ID cards. The Police Archives Centre should also have the records of missing people. Foreigners who go missing almost definitely died in the World Weekly or other secret rooms. Through the comparison of portraits and ID cards, the Intelligence Bureau can quickly lock onto a person. Just now, there was something wrong with that woman’s glasses.”

Xiao Lou carefully recalled that the woman had been wearing silver-rimmed glasses. He squinted and wondered, “Is there a camera installed in her glasses? Or a device that scans our facial data?”

Yu Hanjiang stated, “Yes, she took our facial features and compared them to the database. It allowed her to lock onto our identity and discover our ID numbers.”

Shao Qingge couldn’t help feeling admiration. “This Intelligence Bureau is very strong to have gathered so many hackers.”

Xiao Lou stated, “I remember the president of the Distant Guild mentioned that the boss of the Intelligence Bureau has the surname Tang and is mysterious. This President Tang must be an expert. We can try to contact him in the future. If he can really invade the official database of the Card World’s main city then he was too powerful. Maybe he knows many secrets about the world.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement. “I think so as well but today is Wednesday. We only have two days to prepare for this week’s World Weekly. Let’s talk to Old Mo first and confirm the team.”

Shao Qingge stated, “Including Old Mo, we have eight people. This is barely enough for the minimum of the senior contract.”

Yu Hanjiang simply said, “Eight people is enough. As long as we are united and listen to commands, an elite team of fewer people will be more flexible than the big guilds.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Everyone go back. We will have a good discussion about what to do for this week’s World Weekly.”

TL: I’ll be going to a work conference for a week and will be busy for the next few days clearing up some work and packing. There will be no releases until the 5th February.

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