Chapter Seventy-Seven: Rules and Similarities

“You are…” Jiang Wan looked at the woman who had appeared out of nowhere, her expression full of confusion. But when she saw Chen Qing’s calm demeanor, she realized the two must know each other.

“Bu Zhaozhao,” the woman said with a nod, as a form of greeting.

Chen Qing added, “A chief researcher from the Foundation, heaven knows how many generations ago. Also the most brilliant scholar. Of course, that was limited to two hundred years ago.”

Jiang Wan understood, though she was a bit surprised. “So she’s…”

“Dead. It’s related to the Foundation. But let’s set that aside for now.”

Their introduction was brief, and everyone’s attention quickly returned to the screen.

On the monitor, the victim appeared again. They heard the sound of meat roasting coming from the man’s mouth. They listened as, behind the camera, the girl’s sobbing could be heard. Perhaps she understood that these four people in front of her could save her father with the mere lift of a finger. Yet she dared not speak. She glanced at the looks the others cast her way, only daring to stifle her cries.

After those four picked up the recording equipment, the girl’s silhouette appeared on the screen.

“You don’t want to die either, right?”

She nodded, trembling.

“Then you have two options. One: after we leave, get your hands on one of these.”

“W-what is it?”

“None of your business. The second option is that if you can’t get it, you die.”

The man grinned and pointed at the photo on the screen. “If you can’t get this image to someone else to watch within a day, you die. If you pass it on, you must ensure the recipient dies after viewing it, track down whom they send the video to, and retrieve it. If you fail, you still die. If you manage to do both…”

The lead man laughed, prompting the others to do the same. “Then our oxygen fees for the week are covered.”

...

“So this is why she pointed you out? To get a second copy of the Progeny document?” Jiang Wan frowned, somewhat perplexed.

Chen Qing was puzzled as well. From the perspective of spreading the Progeny document, it would be far faster for them to disseminate it themselves. Why did they insist on having this girl do it? This behavior was rather like… a task.

“It’s a mission assigned to newcomers by the Foundation,” Bu Zhaozhao explained from midair. “When the Foundation discovers a promising candidate, they try to bring them into the fold and have set up a rewards system. Whoever draws in a new member gets half the points from that member’s first mission, along with the recruitment bonus.”

Chen Qing nodded in understanding and lowered his head. “Then we’re left with only one question. What are the rules for the Progeny’s spread? I no longer believe it’s random.”

Bu Zhaozhao was about to refute him when Chen Qing looked up and met her gaze. “Have you ever heard of the ‘Five Person Principle’?”

She let out a puzzled sound. “What’s that?”

“The Five Person Principle means that you can reach any stranger through a network of five acquaintances, and so on. In other words, if the Progeny can control or influence five people, it could make itself known to the entire world. But look at the Foundation’s people—they’re clearly not afraid of that happening. If the Five Person Principle applied, all the Foundation would need to do is wait a few days and the entire world would be infected with the Progeny’s document. Why are they in such a hurry? Why are they spreading it themselves? In other words, they don’t know the rules either, but they’ve realized that the Progeny’s spread isn’t fast enough to benefit them.”

So they need help with the dissemination. In conclusion, its rules are definitely not random transmission or drawing nourishment from random corpses.

Bu Zhaozhao listened, pressing her index finger to her chin in deep thought. As a researcher, she had always respected the opinions of investigators. That was the professional conduct of two comrades who had braved life and death together; she was no different.

“Could it be related to the victims’ identities or characteristics?” Jiang Wan asked.

“Unlikely. Among the current victims, there’s almost no key point they all share. A child from Chen Qing’s school, four officers from the police station, a waiter from a restaurant, two rats bred in that restaurant, and a young girl’s father.”

She shook her head. “Among these people, the girl’s father shares virtually nothing with the others. The Progeny’s spread follows a basic rule; there’s no reason for exceptions.”

“So if you take the girl’s father out of the equation, the rest have something in common, right?” Jiang Wan frowned, catching the implication.

“If you exclude the girl’s father, they share only one thing.” Bu Zhaozhao looked at Chen Qing, her expression grave.

“They’ve all met me, haven’t they?” Chen Qing chuckled, as if he already knew what she was going to say.

“But that’s the problem. If everyone I’ve met is doomed, Boss Su was stopped by me, as was his henchman. And after that, they never received another message from the Progeny. There’s no reason for that, is there? According to the rules, if anyone who’s met me becomes a target, then even though I stopped them, they should still be within the rule’s scope.”

A silence fell. Just then, the phone in Jiang Wan’s pocket rang.