Chapter 9: Sea Without Light 09
“You are a bit different from the rumors,” Silverface said, crossing his arms and leaning against the closet.
“Is that so?” Kui Xin replied with a noncommittal expression.
It was not a conversation to continue; any response could easily reveal flaws. Responding with ambiguity was the right approach.
Silverface said, “They say you are as cold as a machine and as precise as a computer, a harsh executor. Although you haven’t awakened extraordinary abilities, you’re an indispensable brain for the organization.”
“Heh,” Kui Xin let out a laugh from her throat.
But her laugh held little joy or sense of pride.
Silverface’s pale pink eyes met her deep black ones for a moment before he boredly said, “No reaction at all.”
“What kind of reaction do you want?” Kui Xin asked, “I can give any reaction fitting the role I’m currently playing.”
“Are all undercover agents as dedicated as you?” Silverface furrowed his brow, “Not even revealing your true self in front of your companions?”
Kui Xin calmly looked at Silverface until he averted his gaze.
“What are the next instructions?” Silverface’s pale fingertips created a small splash as he tossed a ball of water up and down in boredom, adding, “Don’t forget, we only have less than half a month.”
From his brief words, it became clear that in this small task force of two, Kui Xin held the decision-making and controlling position while Silverface acted as the executor. Kui Xin’s status in Mechanized Dawn was also higher than that of Silverface, with the organization members valuing her highly.
“You should head to the port to investigate the site of the bombing incident,” Kui Xin delivered the “instruction.”
After careful consideration, she felt this instruction was appropriate.
According to the materials she had read and the intelligence she had gathered, the port was a chaotic place dominated by gangs, where bombing incidents had occurred more than once. The reasons for these bombings could be gang conflicts or something else… For instance, Mechanized Dawn might have chosen to destroy the port to prevent the Kraken from docking, making it impossible for cargo ships to anchor.
Understanding some basic information before carrying out the port bombing task was necessary, so Kui Xin needed to give this instruction to Silverface.
Silverface raised no objections to Kui Xin’s instruction and meticulously asked, “What should I investigate? Personnel movement, bomb site inspection, or tracking and monitoring suspicious individuals? There have been more than one bombing incident at the port.”
“Investigate everything,” Kui Xin replied.
“You really are overly cautious,” Silverface murmured, “Alright, I’ll head out. Contact me through the wristband if there are any temporary orders.”
He placed the silver mask on his face and adjusted his hood, walking to the balcony to open the window. His body silently transformed into a transparent flow of water, merging with the pouring rain outside, disappearing into the night.
Kui Xin walked over to close the window to prevent rain from splashing inside.
With Silverface out of the way, she could quietly think about some things.
Kui Xin was very good at formulating study plans and managing her study time. Her senior year homeroom teacher praised her for organizing her study tasks neatly.
Now, she needed to use the planning skills honed during her grueling three years of high school to map out her future.
Kui Xin entered the bedroom, took out a blank sheet of paper, and a pen with only half a tube of ink left.
It was her habit to write things down on paper to clarify her thoughts; the sound of the pen scratching on paper helped her focus better.
Currently, Kui Xin’s main crises were derived from two aspects.
“First, Mechanized Dawn. Second, the Investigation Bureau,” she wrote on the paper.
Being an undercover agent in the Investigation Bureau was highly dangerous, but Kui Xin had the backing of materials provided by the organization. She planned to stay up late to finish reading the lengthy hundreds of pages of documentation to fully understand the Investigation Bureau, a federal official department. The documents related to “Security Officer Kui Xin” needed to be memorized in detail—her background, her network of relationships, her daily habits—all of which must be flawless. Pretending to have amnesia was a temporary measure at best and certainly not a long-term solution.
As a trainee security officer, Kui Xin hadn’t been in the Investigation Bureau for long, so it was normal not to be familiar with her colleagues; she didn’t need to act overly friendly with her team leader—just maintaining appropriate relationships was sufficient.
Compared to the Investigation Bureau, Mechanized Dawn made Kui Xin feel more uneasy.
At least the Investigation Bureau had hundreds of pages of materials for her to reference and familiarize herself with, but Mechanized Dawn? There was nothing at all. She was extremely unfamiliar with this organization; she didn’t know the purpose behind its establishment, who the leader was, or even her own role within it, which she would have to figure out slowly.
Her teammate “Silverface” was bound to her, and fortunately, he hadn’t had dealings with the original owner. Judging from his performance, he seemed somewhat inexperienced, like a naïve youth, making him easier to deceive, allowing Kui Xin to navigate smoothly.
But with another person, things might not be so easy.
The pen tip tapped gently against the paper as Kui Xin pondered deeply.
In her upcoming undercover career in the Investigation Bureau, Kui Xin aimed for caution. She established six major principles: no competition, no aggression, no conspicuousness, listen more, observe more, and learn more.
However, the Mechanized Dawn organization posed a tougher challenge; with a task at hand and being an undercover agent, opportunities to interact with other members of the organization were likely to be minimal, the main trouble stemming from Silverface being close to her. If she could keep him in check, she wouldn’t have to worry for the time being.
After planning solutions for the crises, Kui Xin crossed out the words “Mechanized Dawn” and “Investigation Bureau” with her pen.
Next, she needed to plan her “missions.”
Currently, she had two tasks.
Task one: Investigate the origins of the port bombing incident. This task was assigned by the game system.
Task two: Prevent the Kraken from docking in Hei Hai City. This was a mission from the Mechanized Dawn organization.
Kui Xin marked an “X” on task two.
Investigating the bombing might yield clues through her work in the Investigation Bureau, but bombing the port to sink the cargo ships… that was purely suicidal.
This was a real game, a game without save functions; losing her life could very well mean she was lost forever. She couldn’t gamble with her life. Even a hundred save slots might not be enough for such a dangerous task.
Kui Xin bit the end of her pen, her brows furrowed, and began analyzing task one.
The reasons for the port bombing incident clearly weren’t as simple as gang conflicts; it was very likely related to the arrival of the Kraken.
Did the Investigation Bureau notice the unusual nature of this bombing incident?
Additionally, Kui Xin suspected there might be a “third party” involved.
More than one organization or force might want to blow up the port.
She created a relationship map.
First party: Investigation Bureau. Objective: Protect the port, capture the criminals.
Second party: Mechanized Dawn. Objective: Blow up the port.
The task Mechanized Dawn assigned to Kui Xin was “bomb the port,” a task she had just received tonight, along with the assignment of “Silverface” as her teammate. However, before accepting the task and before she officially crossed into the Second World, the port had already faced a wave of bombings.
Who executed this wave of bombings?
Gang conflicts were relatively common in the simply-minded Hei Hai City; a typical gang conflict wouldn’t trigger a specific task from the game system. This particular bombing must have had something special compared to previous incidents, triggering the task.
Kui Xin noted down on her paper—
Third party: To be determined. The cause of the bombing incident is suspected to be related to the Kraken.
But this was just one speculation; there was a second one.
Her second guess was that Mechanized Dawn had sent out more than one task execution team, and the previous bombing incident was carried out by another team belonging to Mechanized Dawn that had failed.
Silverface had said, “It doesn’t matter if we die; our comrades will continue to complete the mission before August 11.”
When it came to tasks like bombing the port and sinking cargo ships, Mechanized Dawn wouldn’t put all their hopes on a single team; deploying multiple teams was the correct choice. Thus, it was still possible that the perpetrators of the earlier bombing incident were also from Mechanized Dawn.
Kui Xin wrote beneath “Third party: To be determined”: “The third party is suspected to still be Mechanized Dawn.”
She stared at the few brief lines on the paper, contemplating for a long time.
The turbulent waves in Hei Hai City, the frequent bombings at the port, the orders from Mechanized Dawn, the tasks issued by the game system… everything pointed to one core element, which was the Kraken, the enormous cargo ship set to dock in Hei Hai City.
The Kraken was a storm eye, engulfing conspiracies and mist, gradually approaching.
Kui Xin grabbed the paper from her desk, tore it into incomprehensible small pieces, and walked to the restroom to flush the scraps down the toilet.
This paper had to be destroyed; it couldn’t be seen by anyone.
She now knew where the breakthrough for completing her tasks lay.
—The Kraken.
Understanding what cargo the Kraken carried and why Mechanized Dawn feared its docking in Hei Hai City would resolve everything.
Kui Xin returned to her room, sat in her chair and thought for a moment, then opened the wristband to connect to the encrypted network and searched for information on the “Kraken.”
The page popped up.
“The Kraken, a giant bulk carrier, was completed in 2086, and this year marks its first year of service. The Kraken has a maximum deadweight tonnage of 800,000 tons, making it the largest bulk carrier in the world.”
Bulk carriers generally transport goods that cannot be loaded into containers, such as sand, oil, and coal.
What might the Kraken be transporting?
Kui Xin searched several times, but information on this cargo ship was scarce; unable to find useful intelligence, she opened the task chip provided by the organization, which had some parts left unread.
She clicked through the information, reading from beginning to end, only to find as expected, that there was no specific information about the cargo the Kraken carried.
Things were tricky.
Suddenly, a thought crossed Kui Xin’s mind, and the game system triggered a popup.
She blinked and was pleasantly surprised to see that the investigation progress of the port bombing incident had risen unbeknownst to her.
“[Task Progress]: 5%.”
The slight increase in the number at least proved that her investigation direction was correct; she should continue following this lead.
Kui Xin sighed in relief.
Seeing progress in her task brought her a sense of achievement akin to solving a challenging math problem… no, it felt even more satisfying than overcoming a math problem; this satisfaction was second only to earning money from working.
Kui Xin leaned back in her rather firm bed, fatigued as she rubbed her eyes. She didn’t sleep but switched to browse the content displayed on her wristband, channeling the enthusiasm she had for memorizing texts and interpreting classical poetry into reviewing the living documents on “Kui Xin” assigned by the organization and the intelligence related to the Investigation Bureau.
She kept at it from dusk till dawn, during which the rain outside did not cease.
At nine in the morning, the balcony window was pushed open.
Silverface clumsily crawled in through the window, soaking wet, with a blood mark on his cheek, appearing to be injured.
Silverface looked at Kui Xin walking out of the bedroom and started to say, “Hey! You…”
“I don’t go by ‘Hey.’ You’d better call me by my codename.” Kui Xin appraised his wet footprints. “You’ve made the floor dirty.”
“Lady Fortune… you…” Silverface’s expression twisted as he shouted the codename, but he quickly shut his mouth and with self-pity said, “It doesn’t matter what I call you; I’m hurt. Do you have a first aid kit?”
Kui Xin went to the bedroom and retrieved the first aid kit from beside the bed.
Silverface carelessly removed his mask; his pure white hair was soaked and stuck to his forehead, and his already pale lips appeared even more ashen. He casually tossed his outer coat on the floor, revealing three large gashes on his chest that were quite deep. Yet, in this situation, he hadn’t lost too much blood and was still alive and well.
Kui Xin glanced at the floor; the transparent traces he left from the balcony held no blood mixed in, and the torn fabric on his chest only had a small spot of blood.
“The number of monsters lurking in the dark has increased,” Silverface gritted his teeth as he took off his shirt, skillfully poured a bottle of hydrogen peroxide for disinfection from the first aid kit, and treated his wounds with bandages.
Kui Xin subtly repeated, “Increased?”
“Yes, more than before. I encountered three last night,” Silverface huffed after binding his wounds, and spoke gravely, “They came ashore during the heavy rain, wandering around the container-filled dock in search of hosts…”
Monsters? What monsters?
Kui Xin anxiously wanted to bite her lip.
The Second World contained far too many things beyond her understanding. Last night, she had been learning how to properly use facial recognition payment, how to enter public places, how to shop online, how to use portable devices… She also crammed knowledge of this world’s history, from the establishment of the Federation to the technological advancements that allowed humans to venture out into space to attempt colonization, as well as the names and general descriptions of significant historical events.
The appearance of player Xi Liang reminded Kui Xin to be particularly cautious. She could not afford to make the same low-level mistakes as Xi Liang.
Kui Xin was already overwhelmed, but what Silverface referred to as “monsters” once again exceeded her comprehension.
To disguise her anxiety and unease, Kui Xin said to Silverface, “You brought in too much water; clean up the balcony and the living room.”
Silverface: “…”
“If it weren’t for my ability being liquid control, I’d have died from blood loss a long time ago. You won’t help me bandage up and then blame me for dirtying the floor.” He indignantly tossed a water ball formed from the puddles on the floor into the kitchen sink.
