Celestial Human Diagram

Chapter 369 - 100: Missing

Based on the recent fight and his prior period of preparation, Chen Chuan determined that he would need this kind of sparring session about once every three days.

Just as he was contemplating this, Hong Fu’s voice sounded in his ear again. "Privacy clause now in effect. Trainees may choose to delete all records from the sparring session after the service is complete. If you wish to review them later, please ensure you save the data yourself."

Chen Chuan asked for clarification and learned that with the privacy clause enabled, he could choose to delete the entire sparring session. This meant even Hong Fu herself wouldn’t remember what had happened.

However, he could personally retain the Domain information. If he deemed it necessary, he could provide it to Hong Fu again during their next sparring session or any other service, and she would then regain her memory of the event.

He mulled it over. ’Sparring is a continuous process. During this final sprint to the Third Limit, I absolutely must keep improving. Hong Fu will adapt to my progress during our fights, so this service is actually excellent. It lets me keep the data while preventing anyone from spying on me.’

Following Hong Fu’s guidance, he deleted the information record, keeping only a trace of the Domain for himself so that it could be restored during their next session.

After he finished, several messages popped up on the platform. He glanced over and saw they were all advertisements for arena matches, inviting official trainees to spectate. Official trainees didn’t have to pay; they simply needed to confirm the platform’s invitation to gain viewing access.

He scrolled down and saw a schedule for the arena matches. It also mentioned that trainees from other Central City Wuyi branches would be attending and there would be opportunities for exchanges. Interested trainees could participate and earn a few evaluation points.

Earning evaluation points was very appealing to many trainees, but the reward was small—one or two points at most. It was meaningless to him, so he dismissed the notifications.

After exiting the platform, he thought for a moment. ’Over the next month or two, I need to dedicate a significant amount of time to my training so I can break through to the Third Limit as soon as possible. I should check on my upcoming arrangements with the Department and try to postpone them. I can probably invoke some of our prior agreements.’

He immediately contacted Ni Qianqian to ask about any upcoming duties. He informed her that the growth of his Mutated Organization seemed to be entering a new phase, requiring a stable period for training. He then requested that the Department grant him some time off to adjust, as per their agreement.

Ni Qianqian was understanding. "In that case, according to standard protocol for our agreement, the Department can postpone your assignments. Is one month enough?" she said.

Chen Chuan replied, "I might need a bit more time."

Ni Qianqian hummed in thought. "Alright, I’ll see what I can do. The Department can make exceptions for a trainee with your potential. By the way, they were going to have me invite you to that exchange competition again. I’ll just turn it down on your behalf."

Chen Chuan thanked her, then asked, "Sister Ni, last time you mentioned the Department was taking action against Wei Wusheng’s junior brother. Have there been any breakthroughs?"

"We didn’t manage to catch Wei Wusheng this time," Ni Qianqian said, "but we’ve made progress with his junior brother. The two are definitely in contact, and the Department is following that lead. The higher-ups want him apprehended before July, since the official arena matches start at the end of June, but I don’t think it will be that easy."

"Alright, you just focus on your training and don’t worry about Department affairs for now. I’ll submit your request in a little while." With that, she ended the call.

Chen Chuan considered his options. It was now June. ’If Wei Wusheng really does attack me, even if he manages to retreat, I can use the Raccoon Cat Strange Talk to go after him.’

’But then again,’ he thought, ’with Wei Wusheng’s power, the Raccoon Cat Strange Talk in its current state probably can’t kill him. It could, at best, injure him severely. And with his level of Horizontal Training, he might recover in just a few days.’

’So for now, I should just focus on my breakthrough. Once my own power increases, even if he doesn’t come looking for me, I’ll go looking for him.’

It was now noon. He ate a few sticks of Nutrition Paste, rested for a bit, and browsed some fringe channels. Shortly after two in the afternoon, he lit the Incense Burner, took his medicine, and entered a meditative state.

「Ji Yang District」

Ancheng finished his all-night shift, handed things over to his replacement, and let out a long sigh of relief.

Lately, it felt like his workload was constantly increasing. Duty shifts, patrols, helping the Department deal with various violent incidents... he was constantly running from one place to another without a moment’s rest. He could barely squeeze in any time for his Fighter training.

He figured things would stay this way for a while. Wei Wusheng was still at large, forcing the Department to keep its personnel on high alert.

On top of that, a lot of people had come to Central City for the upcoming arena matches. Most of them were Fighters, which had led to a spike in violent incidents. He feared he wouldn’t have a moment’s peace for the next two months.

He walked into a restaurant whose specialty was Fisherman’s Chicken and Rice Balls, a famous dish from the Southeast Bali Islands. It consisted of rice balls simmered in chicken broth served with fragrant, sliced chicken—a delicious and convenient meal.

After ordering at the counter, he was waiting for his food when Sun Rao walked in and sat down across from him. "You’re a little late," Ancheng said.

"Had some things to take care of," Sun Rao replied.

Ancheng scoffed. "There’s always something to deal with. I heard you were partnered with that rookie a few days ago. How was he?"

Sun Rao looked at Ancheng. "He’s very polite. Not unpleasant to be around, and not at all arrogant."

Ancheng shot him an annoyed look. "If you’re trying to say something about me, just say it. Why beat around the bush?"

He picked up a rice ball and took a vicious bite, then grabbed a piece of chicken to go with it. After chewing and swallowing, he asked, "By the way, isn’t he with you this time?"

Just then, Sun Rao’s order of chicken and rice balls arrived. He picked up his chopsticks and said, "I heard he has other arrangements. He probably wouldn’t have been assigned to me if not for the special circumstances. It’s hard to say what will happen in the future, either. After all, his potential is far greater than ours. The Department isn’t going to treat him like a regular backup enforcement officer."

"Is that so?"

Ancheng snorted. He was clearly still holding a grudge, simmering with a competitive spirit.

Sun Rao took a bite and nodded. "Not bad. I’d come here again. Have you been keeping up with your daily training?"

"Of course," said Ancheng. "No matter how late I get home, I make time to train every day. If I didn’t, how could I possibly keep up with that rookie?" He glanced at Sun Rao. "And you’d better not be the one among us who gets washed out."

Sun Rao said with certainty, "I won’t be!"

"You won’t?"

Ancheng stared at him. "So sure of yourself?"

Sun Rao said calmly, "Because my marksmanship is better than most people in the Department. There are plenty of Second Limit Fighters, but very few with my level of skill with a firearm."

Ancheng had to admit he was right. A marksman like that, enhanced by drugs and equipped with a high-powered weapon, could pose a threat even to a Third Limit Fighter. The Department would never let someone like that go.

Back when Sun Rao was practicing his marksmanship, Ancheng had scoffed. Now, it seemed he was the one most likely to be eliminated, and a sense of urgency began to prick at him.

Just then, a call came through on his Realm Token. It was a notification about an incident in their district, requiring them to go and handle it.

The two of them had no choice but to quickly finish their food, then they hurried into their armored patrol vehicle and sped toward the scene of the incident.

「More than ten days passed in a flash, and soon it was late June.」

Not long after Chen Chuan finished a sparring session with Hong Fu, the contact signal for Old Qi’s profile lit up on his Realm Token. He accepted the call. "Old Qi, what’s up?"

"Brother Chen," Old Qi said, "you told me to keep an eye out for anything unusual. I’ve found something that I think you should take a look at."

Chen Chuan knew Old Qi wouldn’t contact him unless it was something particularly significant. "Take your time, Old Qi," he said. "Tell me everything."

Old Qi sent over a photograph. "This hotel..."

Chen Chuan glanced at the picture. It showed an old-fashioned hotel, about ten stories tall. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from the outside. "The anomaly is in this hotel?" he asked.

"This hotel has always been a problem," Old Qi said. "People who check in sometimes just disappear. There was even a family who checked in, and when they came out, one of them was inexplicably missing. But after that person was gone, their family and friends completely forgot about them, as if they had never existed..."

"If that’s the case," Chen Chuan asked, "then how did anyone find out about it?"

"The story goes that a photographer needed to shoot a series of pictures of an old-fashioned hotel, and this place was a perfect match. But due to weather and other factors, he ended up shooting there for over ten days. It was only when he was organizing his photos that he realized the number of people entering and leaving didn’t add up."

"After he noticed this, he deliberately observed the hotel for another month and confirmed his suspicions. Then he went inside and compared the numbers with the guest registry, finding that many people were missing. Over the past three years, no fewer than three hundred people have disappeared from that hotel—an average of one every three days. And every single one of them has vanished completely from the world, with no one left to remember them."

Chen Chuan grew thoughtful. ’From the sound of it, the missing people are only erased from memory, not from existence entirely. Based on that alone, it’s impossible to tell if this is an anomaly or an Esoteric Ritual.’

Old Qi continued, "Later, the photographer posted about it on various platforms, which sparked a lot of interest, but the case was never solved."

"Then, last month, things changed. Now, anyone who goes inside never comes out. Even when people post warnings nearby telling others not to enter, most who pass by are unconsciously drawn inside. A colleague I know from my company disappeared after walking past it."

"Now the whole street is deserted. But since it’s in Hongsheng District, and a Lower City District populated by non-citizens at that, no one is bothering to do anything about it."

Chen Chuan’s expression grew serious. "I’ll make time to go check it out."

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