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Chen Chuan turned his back to the headless corpse and slowly straightened, twisting his wrist to reverse his grip on the saber. Overhead, the violently swinging chandelier gradually steadied, and the light flickering across the room settled into a soft, steady glow. Treading across the creaking floorboards, he walked over to retrieve his scabbard and sheathed the long blade. But just then, a frantic sound of tearing and gnawing rose from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. The headless corpse still stood upright, but wounds with curled, ragged flesh suddenly tore open all over it, accompanied by the wet sounds of chewing and low, guttural hisses. Yet there was nothing to be seen—as though an invisible thing were at work. In mere moments, Youxing's corpse was reduced to bare bones. The outer skin and flesh, along with the internal organs and every scrap of mutated tissue, vanished entirely. Only the head resting before the stone carving had been spared, batted back and forth once as if it were a toy. Chen Chuan watched it all impassively. Once every sound had died down, he walked up to the civet stone carving, looked down at the head, and reached out. With a slight exertion of force, he shattered the bone and extracted the embedded boundary credential from the back of the skull. A section of this boundary credential had originally connected to the spine, which he had severed earlier. Though slightly damaged, as long as it remained largely intact, a technician should be able to extract clues from it and determine why this man had targeted him. Now he could be certain that this had absolutely nothing to do with Wei Wusheng. If that man wanted to deal with him, he would only come knocking personally, rather than resorting to such roundabout methods. He looked toward the adjacent stone carving. Dark residue still clung to the stone plate held in the civet's paws; a single glance told him what it was. To someone familiar with urban legends, this was a classic urban legend long bound by a containment ritual. Its activation likely required specific conditions, and the designated target was part of those conditions. If the requirements were not met, the practitioner had to pay the price in person. And because Chen Chuan—the designated target—had successfully withstood the assault, the man had to bear the consequences himself. That was likely how his prior injuries had come about. He circled the stone carving twice. If he wasn't mistaken, the statue served both as the anchor for the urban legend and as its binding restraint. If it were destroyed, the urban legend might run loose somewhere else or return to where it had first emerged. He needed to think carefully about how to handle it. Only now did he have time to survey and inspect the room. Most of this floor was overrun by countless tangled vines, suggesting something unusual, and the tendrils ultimately converged in a single spot. A bizarre object stood there, roughly two meters across. It appeared to be woven from countless rootlets and tendrils, though the fibers looked artificially braided, arranged in neat, orderly rows. In the center lay an oval hollow, sized just right for a person to sit inside. A faint light pulsed within it, brightening and dimming like a steady breath. He instinctively sensed that this thing was tied to biotechnology. Activating his boundary credential, he contacted Wu Bei first and asked, "Brother Wu, can you tell what this is?" Wu Bei took a look and suddenly gasped, "A Green Island resonance nest!" Even through the boundary credential, Chen Chuan could feel his excitement. He asked, "What is it used for?" Wu Bei explained rapidly, "It's a resonance bio-organism! Using it can expand a resonator's field radius and enhance their technical resonance capabilities. "Even the cheapest of these on the market costs hundreds of thousands. Aside from major factions and organized syndicates, you couldn't buy one even if you had the money. Every single one requires official approval and carries a serial number. Even when they wear out or get damaged, they have to be destroyed under the joint supervision of officials and corporate representatives to prevent the technology and tissue from leaking out." Understanding now, Chen Chuan asked, "Since only resonators can use it, Brother Wu, can you?" "I—of course I can! I have a level-two field certificate..." Sitting in his apartment, Wu Bei sounded both thrilled and helpless. "Users have to pass official background checks to gain operational qualifications, and you have to accept monitoring during use. But I've applied so many times and never gotten approved." In truth, the monitoring was fine; it was mostly to prevent resonance organisms from being transferred or sold under the table. But the operational qualifications were simply too difficult to obtain. Even though he met all the criteria, his numerous applications had led nowhere. Without authorization, he couldn't purchase a resonance nest. He wasn't short on money, but he genuinely had no way to acquire one. Chen Chuan considered this and said, "Since you can use it, I'll figure out a way regarding the authorities." "Really?" Wu Bei nearly leaped out of his seat, overwhelmed with excitement. "Thank you! Thank you, Brother Chen!" Chen Chuan said, "Don't celebrate just yet. I can only say I'll try." "Understood, understood!" "One more thing." Chen Chuan held up the boundary credential in his hand. "I've obtained this person's boundary credential. I want to access the information on it. Can you retrieve it, Brother Wu?" Wu Bei thought about it and said, "I can't make guarantees until I hold it in my hands. I might need to come to the scene. But... if this person was using a resonance nest, there might be residual information inside the nest as well." Chen Chuan nodded. "Wait a moment, Brother Wu." He immediately called Ni Xixi. Once connected, he said, "Sister Ni, the matter here is resolved. There's another favor I'd like to ask of you." Ni Xixi said, "That was fast. What else is there? Tell me." She had assumed Chen Chuan was merely dealing with a somewhat capable resonator. The main difficulty with such people was finding their location; once found, they were easy to deal with, so she hadn't taken it too seriously. Chen Chuan said, "I discovered a resonance nest here." "Oh? Even a resonance nest? He had quite some background, then." Hearing that, Ni Xixi grew more serious. After asking a few questions, she grasped Chen Chuan's intention. "You want to let the resonator supporting you use it? Well, it's not out of the question. He just needs to be registered under the Disposal Bureau. It'll only be temporary, though—as long as you remain an academy student funded by the bureau, there won't be any issue. If that works for you, I can take care of it for you on the side." Chen Chuan understood. If the day came when he no longer received investment from the Disposal Bureau or severed ties with them, the authorization would naturally lapse. Even so, it was more than enough for now. He said, "Thank you, Sister Ni." "No need to thank me. Instead, you two need to think about how you're going to maintain that thing. Resonance nests are living organisms; keeping them operational requires high-energy nutrient solution. That's not something you can just buy anywhere, and the price isn't cheap." Chen Chuan wasn't worried about that. Wu Bei had plenty of money. From the looks of it, he had simply lacked the channel to obtain the equipment legally. Securing high-energy nutrient solution was far simpler than acquiring a resonance nest, with comparatively fewer restrictions. After ending the call with Ni Xixi, he immediately contacted Wu Bei again and told him the news. Overcome with excitement, Wu Bei stammered, "B-Brother Chen, c-can I come over right now? I'll drive!" Chen Chuan considered the matter. Shenwei District was hardly peaceful at night, and the uphill path was riddled with traps; it would be better to meet him. "Sure. Be careful on the road. Let me know when you reach the park, and I'll come pick you up." "Right away!" Wu Bei agreed eagerly, then hurried to disconnect, clearly rushing to head out. Chen Chuan understood the feeling completely. It was just like a martial artist learning they could acquire an exceptional weapon they had coveted for ages; they would naturally be impatient to hold it at the earliest possible moment. He looked around. There wasn't much else on the first floor and nothing left to inspect, so he headed upstairs to the second floor. Though the first floor had been messy and damp, looking like a mere temporary staging ground, the second floor was remarkably well-appointed. The moment he stepped up, he caught the crisp scent of a desiccant. The corridor walls were lined with moisture-proof fabric and thick acoustic panels, the lighting was bright, and a carpet lined the floor. He also spotted several fist-sized wall-clinging spiders with colorful patterns on their backs, which looked like a row of decorations from a distance. He recognized them; they were frequently featured in advertisements. Because Center City had extensive green coverage, these custom modified organisms served as pets while also devouring various small creatures in corners and crevices, keeping insects and pests from breeding. There were four doors along the corridor, facing each other in pairs. He checked the rooms on the left first; both were ordinary guest rooms, furnished only with spare daily necessities. After a quick search turned up nothing of value, he stepped out and entered the first room on the opposite side. He found that this was likely the master bedroom, combining a study and sleeping quarters separated by a partition. In the bookcase, he discovered numerous volumes, mostly concerning biological field technology. Flipping through them, he found the content highly specialized. Interestingly, there was not a single martial arts manual among them. Whether the man believed his techniques could not be shared, felt he no longer needed them, or simply hadn't kept them here remained unknown. Returning the books to their places, he turned toward the bedroom area. After checking around, he found a cash drawer in the nightstand filled with a thick stack of large-denomination banknotes. Counting them, he found roughly ten thousand. Beside the cash were two gold drafts and some loose coins. The drawer also held a key ring, various odds and ends, and a simple notebook stuffed with an assortment of identification documents. Pulling them out, he found several identity credentials, all bearing the man's photograph and appearing authentic. It was impossible to tell which one represented his true identity. None of the documents included a weapons license or an armor license, which ruled out the man being a Wuyi graduate. His martial arts skills had likely been learned from a gang or a fighting sect. There were also several very unusual cards bearing only serial numbers and no names, their purpose unknown. Finally, he discovered a patterned card belonging to the Secret Snake Cult. At the sight of it, his hand froze. "The Secret Snake Cult?"