The Jiade car drove back along the highway and soon entered a bustling urban district. Vehicles and colorful advertising light screens gradually multiplied around it—but just then, Chen Chuan suddenly noticed something different from before.
He felt his senses had grown sharper than before. He seemed able to judge the paths of the vehicles on the road and the movements of pedestrians who had nothing to do with one another as though everything were within his grasp.
When he focused his attention on a certain point, the voices of two pedestrians by the roadside seemed to peel away from the noisy background and become clearly audible. He even seemed able to smell the anti-alienation drug the two had taken.
As he drove swiftly past, these sensations gradually faded, but whenever he concentrated his gaze on some place, every detail there would be clearly presented to his senses.
This situation...
He understood in his heart what it meant: he was gradually approaching the third limit.
The mutated tissue inside a fighter's body did not appear suddenly; it grew gradually over a long period, imperceptibly.
In a third-limit fighter, the brain would undergo a certain degree of mutation. This was a sign that appeared only after the body's mutated tissue had strengthened and reached a certain level—a very natural transition.
Since coming to Center City, he had invested so many resources in himself, and combined with long, unflagging training, he was about to approach this level.
It might not be long before a true breakthrough.
After returning to the Xuan Palace Building, he entered his dormitory, first set the Xuejun Saber in place, went to take a shower, and upon coming out, glanced first at the corner of the room.
There sat the incubation box the Secret Snake Cult had sent earlier, with a constant-temperature light above it. He had been away these past few days, but it looked unchanged.
He walked to the desk, took out the medicine box from Qingnang Jade Workshop, and took a Qing pill.
Because he had not known the exact circumstances of the snake molt service, it was hard to say whether the Qing pill would conflict with the molt's medicinal effects, so he had not taken it beforehand.
Although more than four days had passed in between, the interval was no problem. After all, it was normal for an ordinary test subject to take one every ten days or so; that was why Qingnang Jade Workshop had the rule of ten pills within three months.
Although this gap was somewhat longer than before, that was actually better—it made him seem a little unusual, but not too unusual.
After taking the medicine, he went to the training room for his daily training, which had been interrupted these past few days. When he finished, he sent a record of the medicine's effects to Qingnang Jade Workshop and went back to rest.
The physical exertion of the past few days was nothing much; the main drain had been mental. This time, in order to let his mutated tissue grow in every aspect, he had not simply resisted passively—he had used every part of his body to work with the resistance as much as possible. Now the taut string could gradually relax.
He rested from evening until late at night. When he opened his eyes again, his spirit was fully restored, and his dark eyes were bright with energy.
He rose, quickly tidied up, took the Xuejun Saber, and left, driving toward Shenwei District.
Zhao Qian's private residence in Xunfeng Garden was at the edge of Shenwei District, not far from Weiguang District. On the way, he contacted Lu Fang through his boundary credential, confirmed his location, and drove over to meet him successfully.
Lu Fang had not gone back these past few days; he had stayed outside the residential area watching. When he met Chen Chuan, he explained the situation.
“I've watched for several days. The lights in this house come on after six every day and go off after ten—the timing is very precise. No one inside has ever come out. It's already eleven now, so they should be asleep. We can go in and take a look.”
Chen Chuan contacted Wu Bei. “Brother Wu, have you dug up any more clues about this house?”
Wu Bei said, “Nothing more for now. Either this part is buried very deep, or it was deliberately deleted.”
Chen Chuan said, “Understood, Brother Wu. Can you mask the field alarms inside?”
Wu Bei said, “I can. One moment... Done. You can go in.” In less than a second, he had cracked the field signal, giving the two of them a field frequency that would not trigger a response once they entered.
Lu Fang said, “Junior brother, we need to leave someone outside. I'll go check the situation first.”
Chen Chuan said, “Be careful.”
Lu Fang responded seriously. He took out a short baton and walked over. He encountered nothing unusual along the way. When he reached the front door, he placed his hand on it and gave a gentle, soft-force shake; the inner lock was instantly broken, producing only a very faint sound.
In fact, an ordinary person would not have heard that sound, but to Chen Chuan it seemed to ring right by his ear. His attention had focused there, and his sensory feedback naturally became clear.
After Lu Fang entered, for a moment there seemed to be no movement, but after a while sounds of fighting came from inside.
Chen Chuan stood outside the door without entering. From the sounds of the fight alone, he could tell that Lu Fang's opponent was probably also a Second Limit fighter, but inferior to Lu Fang in rhythm and body movement. The weapon the opponent used was likely a long blade.
Although Lu Fang held only a short baton, he was still able to steadily suppress the opponent. His strikes were very controlled, and his strategy was clearly to make sure he did not slip up first, then wait for the opponent to relax or grow impatient before launching a counterattack.
From the ongoing fight and exchange of moves, just by standing there he could roughly sketch out the opponent's height and weight, and could even accurately judge the breathing rhythm of both fighters.
Just then, he suddenly felt a faint static from his boundary credential.
Wu Bei said, “Brother Chen, someone is attacking your boundary credentials. There should be a resonator in the room. I've already blocked the field interference for you.”
Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment. Resonators could not only attack boundary credentials but also interfere with implants; however, Lu Fang had no implants at all, so the interference against him was very limited.
After another dozen seconds or so, Lu Fang found an opening and suddenly struck.
Chen Chuan could tell that his baton struck the enemy squarely in the chest and abdomen, after which a punch lightly struck the side of the opponent's head, making him quickly lose consciousness. The movements were brisk and clean, and he avoided vital points.
The sounds of fighting finally stopped, followed by faint voices. After a while, the lights in the room came on, and Lu Fang's voice came through the boundary credential: “Junior brother, all clear.”
Chen Chuan walked over. After entering the main gate, he saw a masked man lying on the ground, carrying a long saber of foreign style.
Ahead, a young girl stood there, looking thirteen or fourteen, petite, with delicate features. It was clear she was the girl shown in the scene display.
It seemed the target they were looking for was here after all, which saved them a great deal of effort, though her identity still needed confirmation.
Lu Fang lowered his voice. “She says she is Zhao Qian's servant. I told her Zhao Qian is dead, but she doesn't seem to believe it.”
Chen Chuan observed the girl through his boundary credential. Immediately, dense implant information popped up on it, but no name.
He could scan her so easily not only because his boundary credential was issued by the Disposal Bureau, but also because she had no official Center City citizen status.
He tapped his boundary credential. “I'll send you proof that Zhao Qian is dead.”
The girl glanced at him, then added him as a contact. A message then appeared on it: the Disposal Bureau's internal confirmation of Zhao Qian's death, with an attached photograph of his head.
The girl was silent for a moment, then raised her head. “Then you are my new masters?”
Lu Fang was taken aback. He sighed. “No one is your master. Zhao Qian wasn't, and no one else will be. You are your own master.”
There seemed to be a moment of bewilderment in the girl's eyes.
Lu Fang could not bear to see it, and softened his voice. “What is your name?”
“Number Thirteen.”
Lu Fang said, “Not a code name. Your original name.”
The girl said, “That is my name.”
Lu Fang asked, puzzled, “Has that always been your name? What about before this name?”
“I don't remember. Mr. Zhao gave me this name.”
Lu Fang began to understand. He drew a breath. “Then... what is the earliest thing you remember?”
The girl answered with certainty, “Three years ago, when Mr. Zhao brought me here.”
Chen Chuan said nothing. When the girl spoke, her emotional response was slight, so she was probably telling the truth. Just then Wu Bei's voice came through: “Brother Chen, I think I know what's going on with her...”
Lu Fang quickly asked, “What happened to her?”
Wu Bei hesitated. “She might be a doll.”
“A doll?” Lu Fang was startled. The word immediately made him think of many unpleasant things.
Wu Bei said in a low voice, “‘Dolls’ are slaves and servants made through brainwashing, hypnosis, and implant modification, to satisfy customers' various fetishes and needs. There are companies that specialize in this business... My family used to have one.” From his tone, it was clear he greatly disliked such things.
Some material on doll production was then transmitted to Chen Chuan's and Lu Fang's boundary credentials.
Within the country, the company most involved in this business was Paper Doll Corporation, while internationally the most advanced in this technology was Origin Corporation. These companies all had their own human stock warehouses, and mid- to high-end dolls were raised and brainwashed from childhood.
Apart from the large companies, some small workshops also engaged in this business. Their methods were very crude: they bought implants from certain companies, then wiped the memories of unregistered people or criminals whose lives had been forfeited and remade them into dolls.
When Chen Chuan saw Origin Corporation mentioned, he could not help paying special attention. After thinking for a moment, he said, “If she really was remade into a doll, is there any way to prove it?”
Wu Bei said, “Anyone modified by a company will definitely have the company's mark on their body, but if they were modified by a small workshop, there won't be one. However, her face seems to have undergone some adjustment and reshaping. Her implants aren't especially expensive, but they aren't low-end either. This kind of work was probably done by a company.”
Chapter 316