Chapter 147: Chapter 137: Heavy Blow and Important News
Once their coordinates were provided, these organizations’ strongholds would quickly find themselves bombarded by fighter jets, some even obliterated by several missiles.
In this sweeping blitz, Sponsor Organizations of all sizes were being wiped out at an astonishing rate, with dozens disappearing every day.
Although Guan Tong was busy traveling and trying to take first place in more challenges, he was still able to keep up with the government’s swift, precise, and ruthless campaign through the posts on his website.
He was naturally very supportive of the government’s heavy-handed crackdown on the sponsor system. In fact, he would have been surprised and confused if the government had remained indifferent, as that wasn’t in line with the North Star Country’s typical approach.
Just then, he saw a new post that had just been published.
*Can Anyone Save My Friend? She Seems to Be Trapped in a Sponsor Organization.*
Guan Tong clicked on the title to read more.
"My friend is being held in a highly secure facility and isn’t allowed to go online. We’re friends on our terminals, so she used a [Communication Secret Scroll] to contact me telepathically and asked me to post this for her."
"My friend said there might be a lot of people held captive at her facility, but she doesn’t know its location, only that it’s inside a mountain. The only information she could provide was the names of some custom-made challenges for her. The names of the challenges are..."
Guan Tong’s pupils constricted as soon as he saw the names of the challenges.
He immediately hid the post and sent a private message from the site’s admin panel to the user with the nickname ’Qing Jin’.
Admin: "Hello, may I ask your friend’s name?"
Qing Jin must have still been online, having just posted, because a reply came back quickly.
Qing Jin: "The Admin? Why are you sending me a private message?"
Admin: "I’d like to understand the situation better. Would you mind answering my previous question?"
Qing Jin: "Of course. My friend’s name is Chen Na, and she’s a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl."
’It really is Chen Na!’
When Guan Tong had seen the challenge mentioned in the post—*Tracking Changes in Personnel Count within a Closed Environment within a 500-Meter Radius of the Nanlin Village Activity Field*—he’d suspected it was tailor-made for Chen Na.
With her [Perception Realm] ability, she could easily take first place in such a challenge. Plus, she had indeed joined a mysterious organization. If that organization intended to train her, it wasn’t out of the question that they would make her one of their sponsored individuals.
But that had just been a guess on Guan Tong’s part; he never expected it to actually be her!
Qing Jin: "Admin, why did you ask for my friend’s name? Are you trying to help?"
Guan Tong stared at the private message, not replying immediately. He was debating whether he should tell Wang Yan; after all, Chen Na was her daughter.
But after a moment’s thought, he decided against it for now. Wang Yan had joined the Public Security Bureau, and if he told her, she would most likely turn to them for help, hoping to mount an official rescue for her daughter. A large-scale operation, however, could put Chen Na in even greater danger.
This was also why Guan Tong had hidden the post. If anyone from that organization saw it, they would know Chen Na was secretly using a [Communication Secret Scroll] to call for help. Her fate would be grim, and she would most likely be silenced for good.
Admin: "Do you happen to know Chen Na’s personal terminal ID number?"
Qing Jin: "Sorry, Admin... When we were at the hospital, I gave her my ID number, and she added me. So I don’t know what hers is."
’At the hospital... so this Qing Jin must be a friend Chen Na made while her mother was in the hospital...’
Guan Tong mused, then sent another message.
Admin: "Can you use another [Communication Secret Scroll] to contact her and ask for it?"
Qing Jin: "...I’m sorry, Admin. I... I’ve already used up all ten of my [Communication Secret Scrolls]..."
Guan Tong froze for a second when he saw the message. The seventh rule had ended just over a month ago, yet she had already used up all ten of her bound Secret Scrolls so quickly.
’She must have used them all during the Rule Stage...’
Guan Tong thought for a moment, then began to type.
Admin: "Okay, I’ll give you a tradable [Communication Secret Scroll]. Use it to contact Chen Na."
Qing Jin: "What?! But, Admin, aren’t the tradable ones really expensive?"
They were indeed expensive. Especially after the seventh rule ended and the supply dried up, a scroll that originally cost around 30,000 had now skyrocketed to 80,000 or even 90,000 on the market.
However, Guan Tong still had a few tradable ones himself. He hadn’t sold his entire stock, figuring he should keep some in case they came in handy later, which would save him the trouble of buying them back at a higher price.
Parting with one scroll to contact Chen Na was a small price to pay. Besides, Guan Tong was desperate to find out what kind of organization had taken her. An organization that conducted selection assessments and could freely enter and exit a major city like Yunhua during a period of wartime administration was definitely not some common gang of wasteland thugs.
Admin: "Send me your ID number, and I’ll initiate the trade. Then, use the scroll to contact Chen Na. Get her ID number, tell her what we’ve discussed, and then send her number to me in a private message."
Qing Jin: "Okay, Admin."
Qing Jin quickly sent her ID number. Guan Tong added her as a friend and traded her one [Communication Secret Scroll].
He wasn’t worried that Qing Jin would take the scroll, block him, and immediately sell it. It wasn’t that he had any particular trust in her, but he couldn’t imagine anyone with a shred of sense trying to scam the admin of Ascender’s Home, especially when he had her ID number.
About twenty minutes later, a message arrived from Qing Jin.
Qing Jin: "Admin, I used the Secret Scroll you gave me to contact Chen Na and explain everything. She gave me her ID number, I’m sending it to you now."
Admin: "Good."
After sending Chen Na’s ID number, Qing Jin sent another message: "Admin, you’re willing to spend so much just to contact my friend... Do you know her? I hope you can get my friend out of there..."
Admin: "I’ll do my best."
Guan Tong looked at Chen Na’s ID number, opened his terminal, and added her as a friend.
The friend request went through quickly. He took out one of the bound [Communication Secret Scrolls] he had purchased from the Sublimation Store. He’d bought ten of them originally but hadn’t used a single one yet.
Before using it, however, Guan Tong hesitated.
He knew that when using this item for telepathic communication, the voice the other person heard in their mind would be his own.
If he used it now, Chen Na would hear his voice and immediately know he was Guan Tong, which would in turn reveal that he was the admin of Ascender’s Home. Qing Jin had surely told Chen Na during their call that the admin had asked for her ID and would be adding her as a friend.
Guan Tong wasn’t worried about Chen Na intentionally revealing his identity, but she was still just a young girl. She might let it slip accidentally or be tricked into talking, and that would create a lot of trouble.
After some thought, Guan Tong took out the [Bystander Transformation Device]. The moment he used it, his appearance changed completely.
Looking down at his smooth hands, Guan Tong had a bad feeling. He pulled out his phone to check his reflection... and sure enough, he had turned into a young woman.
"...Alright, then."
When Guan Tong spoke, the voice that came out was also a woman’s.
He activated the [Communication Secret Scroll], targeting the only friend on his list: Chen Na.
