Celestial Human Diagram

Chapter 327 - 58: You Xing

After getting on the tram, Chen Chuan found a seat and sat down. The car was mostly empty at this hour, and the other passengers glanced at him a few times before deliberately keeping their distance.

Although he was only in casual clothes, the fact that he could openly carry a weapon in public, combined with the faint oppressive aura he emanated, made it clear he was a Fighter.

The doors closed and the tram began to move. On the screens inside the car, a news program started to play.

"Hello, everyone. This is the Rocky Show. Yesterday on Cesu Street, there was another violent assault by a Fighter—the twelfth this month.

That’s right, only twelve *officially recorded* incidents. This data comes straight from the Administrative Affairs Department, so it’s definitely accurate!"

The screen showed a convoy of patrol cars speeding toward a building, forcing vehicles on both sides to scramble out of the way. One car couldn’t evade in time and crashed head-on into a street guardrail. Someone leaned out of their window, shouting curses.

"Look at that! Our city Patrol Officers, on their way to the scene of the crime. Again."

Behind him, clip after clip of vehicles racing through the city appeared, layering one on top of the other until they formed a dense, countless stack. Then, a hand slapped down on them with a THWACK.

The screen quickly cut back to Rocky’s face, crowned with a mohawk that was, surprisingly, not hard on the eyes.

"You know? This suddenly reminds me of the rats in the city sewers. When they see a corpse, they swarm it like it’s a grand feast. Once the body’s gone, they just wait for the next one."

"Of course, I’m not talking about our diligent and dedicated Patrol Officers. Do you remember what our esteemed Director Bao said?"

His voice dropped, becoming low and somber. "’Central City is vast, and there are many areas we must cover. After handling one incident, our Patrol Officers often have to rush immediately to the next. Most of them only manage to eat two meals a day at most...’"

Then, in a comically tragic voice, he added, "Oh~ You only lose your safety, but we... we lose a meal..."

’Crimes committed by Fighters happen every day. On the fringe channels, the daily count is sometimes higher than twelve. It just never makes it to the mainstream news.’

’Of course, security is much tighter in the more prosperous districts, so these incidents are indeed rarer. The people there don’t feel a thing. But in the peripheral zones and forgotten corners, who knows how many clashes break out each day.’

’In reality, the city patrol can only handle minor public security incidents. Gang conflicts, crimes by Fighters, individuals suffering from functional-disorder syndrome—none of these are things the patrol can resolve. They’re just scapegoats, pushed forward for the public to vent their anger on and blame.’

As he was watching, the tram arrived at the next station. A moment later, he sensed something was off. Someone had boarded the tram and sat down right next to him.

The car was full of empty seats, and no one else had dared to come near him, yet this person had deliberately sat down beside him. What’s more, after sitting, the man just stared blankly ahead, muttering something unintelligible.

Wubei’s somewhat nervous voice sounded in his ear. "Brother Chen, this person’s Biological Domain is in chaos. He’s also got a lot of Implants. He’s probably suffering from the daze..."

Chen Chuan glanced over. The man wasn’t sitting normally; his back was turned to him.

As if sensing his gaze, the man abruptly twisted his head around. His body remained still as his head rotated almost 180 degrees, a clear sign of skeletal modification. His pupils were mismatched, one large and one small, and their sizes flickered, swapping between his eyes several times.

Chen Chuan watched him calmly. Though the man’s pupils constantly dilated and contracted, his gaze was utterly vacant and numb. The muscles in his cheeks twitched uncontrollably beneath the skin. His mumbling never stopped, and Chen Chuan could faintly make out the words, "Give me... give it back to me..."

After a moment, the man began to convulse. His face contorted into a savage snarl, and his mouth flew open as if he was about to lunge and bite Chen Chuan.

A hand gently pressed down on his shoulder. A surge of Power seeped into him, instantly immobilizing him. Only his jaw continued to work, opening and closing with an audible grinding sound as drool trickled from the corner of his mouth.

In a car filled with the blare of advertisements and news reports, the small commotion went completely unnoticed. Outside, the city scrolled past, while inside, the other passengers were all staring at their Realm Tokens.

It seemed as if no one saw what was happening.

Chen Chuan used his Realm Token to contact the tram’s dispatch and report the incident. At the next stop, the doors opened, and a station Patrol Officer and the stationmaster hurried aboard.

They were clearly experienced in handling such situations. The Patrol Officer skillfully fastened the man with restraint cables while medical personnel administered an injection. The man immediately went limp.

The stationmaster couldn’t help but curse, "These damn maggots. They’ll install any secondhand Implant they can get their hands on, undergo any crazy surgery. They deserve to rot in the mud of the shantytowns." He then turned to Chen Chuan gratefully. "Thank you for reporting this, sir."

Chen Chuan gave a slight nod, watching the man being led away. Once the tram was moving again, he asked Wubei, "Brother Wu, did our guy make an appearance just now?"

Wubei replied, "No, nothing at all."

Chen Chuan considered it. ’Was it just a coincidence?’

It truly seemed to have been a coincidence. The rest of his journey back to the Profound Palace Building was uneventful.

However, from a shadowed corner in a building across the street, a figure watched him, their gaze fixed on him until he walked into the skyscraper. Only after a few more moments did the figure turn and leave.

「The next day」

Because it was his scheduled day for Radiant Light irradiation at the Sea Realm Arena, Chen Chuan left home early in the morning.

Perhaps because of his improved evaluation score, the academy had not only given him his slot for last month’s irradiation quota, but they also hadn’t pushed this month’s quota back.

So this time, he decided to schedule the quotas from the Processing Bureau and the one from Cao Guiqi all together, aiming for a single, extended session.

Mindful of yesterday’s incident, he maintained contact with Wubei the entire way there.

The trip was uneventful. He only disconnected from Wubei upon entering the restricted zone of the Sea Realm Arena, as Realm Tokens did not function there. Of course, that also meant no one could track him using Domain Technology.

’As for whether someone might choose to ambush him here...’

’Although the Sea Realm Arena looked desolate, the surrounding area was crawling with security patrols and dotted with watchtowers. If trouble started, there would be nowhere to run in the vast, open terrain. He concluded that even if someone meant him harm, they probably wouldn’t choose to make their move here.’

As he had predicted, the half-hour walk after getting off the tram was completely uneventful. He ended up spending a total of seven Hours in the Sea Realm Arena, finally emerging at seven in the evening.

The sky had grown completely dark. There were no streetlights, only the blinking red lights of distant watchtowers. Occasionally, a patrol car would pass, stopping to question him from afar.

Chen Chuan reached the station without incident and, after a short wait, boarded a tram. The car was still nearly empty at this hour. The few people who did get on soon got off again.

After just two stops, the tram left the Sea Realm Arena zone. He tried to reestablish contact with Wubei, but for some reason, there was no response.

Just then, he noticed the lights in the car begin to flicker. The tram seemed to have entered a gloomy tunnel; the scenery outside grew blurry and dim, leaving only the sound of the moving train. At the same time, a faint, illusory shadow began to form over his Second Self.

’A ghost story?’

’Or...’

His eyes shifted. He reached out and switched off his Realm Token, but the strange phenomena persisted. This didn’t seem to be an illusion created by a Domain.

Still, he sensed a subtle dissonance in the effect. Ignoring the Realm Token, he had his Second Self directly absorb the invading Biological Domain.

In an instant, his surroundings vanished.

’So the Realm Token was the problem after all.’

But that faint sense of intrusion still lingered.

He mulled it over. ’This isn’t Wei Wusheng’s style. Someone else has targeted me. And they wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble for just this. There has to be a follow-up.’

’If this attack is aimed at me, then I’m very interested to see what else they have in store.’

After some consideration, he stopped resisting the Domain’s intrusion and let it in. In an instant, the strange scenery from before returned.

Abruptly, as if in the span of a single flicker of the lights, a person in a skull mask appeared at the other end of the car. Its empty eye sockets stared in his direction. It took a step, then another, walking toward him. Its pace quickened, step by step, until the last few feet were a full-blown sprint.

Chen Chuan could see that as the figure approached, his Second Self was becoming more and more illusory. He didn’t allow it to reach him. Calmly, he raised the Snow Monarch Blade and flicked it forward. The very instant the blade touched the figure, the skull-masked person vanished.

Everything returned to normal. The tram continued to speed along, and the scenery outside, colored by the neon lights of the night, washed into the car.

’Did they retreat on their own?’

Chen Chuan glanced at his Second Self. The signs of its fading remained.

In a dim structure somewhere in the Deep Unexplored District, a hunched figure was sitting. The walls were riddled with holes, and long, vine-like tendrils reached in from outside, coiling around its body.

At the very moment Chen Chuan’s blade dispersed the skull-masked figure, the hunched being’s eyes snapped open. The whites were completely bloodshot. Its eyes darted back and forth before a hoarse voice rasped, "Success."

It slowly stood up and came to a stone niche before it. Inside was a strange statuette resembling an upright Raccoon Cat. Its mouth and eyes bulged outward, and its claws held up a stone tray. The whole thing was exceptionally bizarre.

The figure picked up a small knife and slowly sliced open its own chest. When the gash was wide enough, it reached inside, carved out a piece of its Mutated Organization, and sprinkled the fragments onto the stone tray. Then, it took a few steps back and prostrated itself deeply.

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