Chapter 907: The Sabotage Squad
My heart began to race again.
After following Brother Yang for so long, it seemed I was finally about to witness his plan reach its conclusion.
"Brother Yang... after I find you... what then?"
He lifted his head to look at me and said, "Wait for someone. When that person arrives, I'll tell you."
"Wait for someone...?"
He and I quietly waited in the office. Before long, a young man in a black leather jacket walked in through the door.
After entering, he gave a slight bow to Brother Yang and said, "Is this the business you arranged?"
"Yes."
"An Earth-grade 'Zodiac'—my apologies for not recognizing you sooner. Fifth Brother has already given instructions. We can begin now."
"Will you be staying nearby?" Brother Yang asked.
"Yes, I must remain nearby," the young man replied. "Otherwise, I won't be able to use my ability. I ask for your understanding. But nothing spoken here today will be leaked by even half a word; if it is, we’ll all come with our heads in hand."
"Alright." Brother Yang nodded. "Let's begin."
The young man closed his eyes slightly, and I instantly felt enveloped by a strange force. Everything around us fell into absolute silence.
So Brother Yang really does have other pawns after all...
That man's outfit looked somewhat familiar... Was he from the same organization as Zhoumo?
"Yan Zhichun, your first priority after finding me is to determine whether I've recovered my memories," Brother Yang stated bluntly. "If I have recovered them, then..."
Brother Yang actually paused.
"Then what...?"
"Then you will lead everyone to immediately dismantle all the 'Great Bells' and 'Display Screens' in the city."
"What...?"
I could vaguely sense the atmosphere of a "fight to the death."
To dismantle all the "Great Bells" and "Display Screens"... How would those less skilled "Resonators" even confirm whether they had obtained a "Resonance"?
"But it has to be fast," Brother Yang said. "Otherwise, the upper echelons will intervene while we're dismantling them."
"Upper echelons intervene?" I paused, as if I didn't quite understand. "Brother Yang... based on my guess... those 'Display Screens' were built by some former 'Participant,' right? Their main purpose is to help 'Participants.' Why would the upper echelons intervene? They should be more than happy to see all this stuff destroyed."
"Don't be naive," Brother Yang said. "If that thing were only meant to help 'Participants,' do you think Tianlong and Qinglong would just sit back and do nothing?"
"You mean... that thing is also useful to them?"
"Yes. It's a double-edged sword. Not only do we use the screens to find 'Resonators,' but they do too," Brother Yang said. "The Display Screens are not only our eyes and ears, but also theirs. If we're going to start the final battle with them, we have to destroy this thing."
This reasoning... it seemed we would be groping in the dark from now on. If we didn't succeed, this place would surely fall into utter chaos.
"But there are four Display Screens in total..." I said. "In theory, to prevent the upper echelons from intervening, we'd have to dismantle all four 'Great Bells' and 'Display Screens' at the same time. Otherwise, they'd definitely notice and kill all my people..."
Even if they didn't notice, and we managed to dismantle the Bells and Screens smoothly, there's no way we could escape afterward. This was a path of heavy casualties.
If Tianlong and Qinglong really relied on the Display Screens to find "Resonators"... I would undoubtedly be challenging their authority.
"You're overthinking it," Brother Yang said. "Regarding the Great Bells and Display Screens, there's a massive flaw right in front of us, yet no one has spotted it."
"A massive flaw...?"
"Yan Zhichun, if four massive copper bells weighing several tons, and four huge, fully functional Display Screens had to be built, would the city have enough ready materials?"
I blinked: "You mean..."
"Such things can't appear out of thin air. No matter how powerful a 'Resonator' is, they must use materials to build them. But a structure of this scale simply can't gather enough materials. Moreover, these four sets of equipment are bound by 'causality'—'when the screens light up, the bells ring.' Such an enormous engineering feat, such an incredible product of 'Resonance,' such a precise north-south layout... yet no one has found the flaw."
"I still don't quite understand... So what exactly is this massive flaw?" I asked.
"Yan Zhichun, the four Great Bells and four Display Screens look exactly alike, with no difference." Brother Yang turned to look at me. "That's because one set is the 'original,' and the other three are 'fakes.'"
"Huh?!"
"You don't need to dismantle all the Great Bells and Display Screens at the same time. Just find the Great Bell and Display Screen engraved with the number '87' and dismantle them. The other 'fakes' will vanish along with it, since the 'original' is gone."
Wait... My mind is all jumbled.
"What do you mean by 'fakes'?" I was stunned. "Is that a 'Resonance'?"
"Yes." Brother Yang nodded. "The Display Screens and Great Bells only need to be built in the due south direction. The other three directions rely on 'fakes' to create replicas. That way, a huge amount of work is saved."
A chill ran down my spine again. I suddenly felt immense admiration for the person who built the Great Bells and Display Screens. How had they come up with such a construction method back then?
The 'Resonance' embedded in those Great Bells and Display Screens must be more than what Brother Yang was describing... What kind of person had organized these powerful 'Resonators' to build a device that could benefit everyone?
"And what does '87' mean?" I asked further.
"This is a mark left by an 'Explorer.' He's been recording the landing positions of each group of 'Participants' and leaving numerical marks in the order he discovered them. The group born near the Great Bell he called 'No. 87.'"
Brother Yang explained it very clearly, but I was still confused.
"Brother Yang... How do you know all this?" I asked.
"Don't ask," Brother Yang said. "Remember: when you find me again, and discover that I've started to recover my memories, you must organize the 'Sabotage Squad' immediately. That's the first task I'm giving you."
"Alright..." I nodded solemnly.
"The first task is very simple. Next is the second task. Even just hearing it, you'll know it's a one-way road." Brother Yang said.
I stared at Brother Yang, waiting for him to speak. But the young man in the leather jacket spoke up instead.
"Wait, wait..." His face turned a bit pale as he looked at Brother Yang. "I'm terribly sorry... but the content of your conversation is simply too mind-boggling... I'm just here to risk my life for money. I don't want to get involved."