First, change the subject: "Why do you look at so many photos? What's the point of remembering them?"
"For the magic I mentioned," Qingchen explained with a smile, "you'll understand in a few days."
At this moment, Black Spider came out carrying three servings of pasta and two bowls of salad: "I don't know how to cook food from the Eastern Continent, so please make do with this for now. I'll learn as soon as possible."
Yi smiled and said, "I don't eat."
Black Spider glanced at her in surprise, which seemed to confirm some of his suspicions.
Yi asked from the side, "What's your real name?"
Black Spider paused, his previously relaxed expression quickly turning somber: "My name is..."
Qing Chen stopped her, smiling as he said, "She told me her real name. In the Western Continent, don't ask someone's real name casually, or she'll think you want to control her. Here, once you give your real name to someone, it means you're handing over the power of life and death to them. As far as I know, some of the forbidden items extracted by the Arbiters can be used to do things based on the real name."
Yi said apologetically, "Sorry, I forgot about that. I just thought calling you Black Spider didn't sound very nice. You're so beautiful, it's too scary to have such a name."
After a long silence, Black Spider smiled and said, "It's alright, I'm used to it. I'll change this codename someday, but not now."
"Please sit down, I have some questions for you. Can a real name be changed? And what are the criteria for determining a real name?" Qingchen asked while eating pasta and salad. "Is it the first name your parents gave you, the name registered in your household registration, what other people think your name is, or the name that most people believe you to be?"
The Arbiter's black magic curse is actually a very strange thing, because a person can have many names. For example, a person's real name is Chen Yu, but sometimes people call him Da Yu, sometimes Zhong Yu, and sometimes Xiao Yu. Does that mean it only works when the curse is applied to 'Chen Yu'?
Is one of them the standard?
Or should we take one of them as the standard?
Qingchen needs to know about this matter first in order to target it effectively.
"The basis for determining your real name is the name you used when you first introduced yourself to someone, and it cannot be changed," Black Spider said.
Qing Chen frowned. If this is how it's defined, then King Roosevelt's real name might not even be Roosevelt. He could very well be called "Texas Hold'em," "Big Mac," or "Red Underpants."
Because it's completely controllable. The other person only needs to introduce themselves to their closest parents, and then they'll have a "real name" that no one can guess.
Qingchen can encounter bugs, and so can others.
The only awkward situation is in the Eastern Continent, where most people use their real names when introducing themselves for the first time.
Kindergartens, primary schools, and middle schools all require self-introductions.
Of course, there are also people whose real names are strange names such as "Ultraman Tiga", "Saint Seiya", "Bear", "Pleasant Goat", or "Bald Qiang", but the probability of this is very small.
Black Spider said, "I'm sorry, I've tried to investigate other people's real names before, but I failed."
Qing Chen smiled and said, "It's alright."
Black Spider looked at him and asked, "No punishment needed?"
Qing Chen asked, "In the past, were you punished for failing to accomplish something?"
Black Spider nodded, her muscles tensing as if she were recalling some memories.
Qing Chen pondered for a moment: "So when you led the search for me and didn't find me, were you punished too?"
The black spider nodded again.
Qing Chen said, "I'm sorry, we were on different sides back then."
"Do you often apologize to your subordinates?" Black Spider asked, puzzled.
“Not often,” Qingchen shook his head. “Go and rest. There’s nothing to do here for now.”
Black Spider silently returned to his room, sat on the single bed he had used as a child, and continued to stare blankly out the window.
The next moment, she suddenly took off her black leather jacket and sat on the edge of the bed wearing only her underwear. Moonlight shone on her body from outside. If it weren't for those scars, it would be a perfect body.
Black Spider took a dagger, heated the blade with a lighter, and then pressed it against the skin on the inside of his thigh.
The hot knife pressed against her skin, making a slight burning sound, and she trembled with pain all over her body.
But today seemed different from usual; she felt like something was missing.
Black Spider remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, she took out her LCD screen, searched for Qing Chen's photos online, and while looking at them, she burned the blade and then stuck it to the inside of her thigh again.
This time, there was a morbid sense of satisfaction in her expression.
...
...
Return countdown 00:10:00.
Black Spider sat in the living room, watching Qing Chen who was still constantly looking at various photos and news, and asked with some doubt, "Boss, you've been in the Western Continent for two days, but you haven't even left the house. You've just been constantly searching the civilian network, looking at all the news and photos... What is it all for?"
"For the sake of a plan," Qing Chen looked up and let out a long sigh, "Actually, I didn't play a big role in this matter; it mainly relied on the girl next to me."
He looked up and smiled: "A very interesting plan. Maybe you'll know what happened next time you come."
Seeing that they didn't want to talk, Black Spider didn't ask any more questions: "Then I'll go back and rest first. You can call me anytime if you need anything."
“Okay,” Qingchen nodded, “Go ahead.”
After the black spider left, Yi whispered, "Qingchen, how far have things progressed between you and Yangyang?"
Qing Chen was both amused and exasperated: "Why are you being so nosy? Children shouldn't ask these kinds of questions."
"So it's gotten to the point where children can't listen to this anymore!" Yi exclaimed in surprise.
The countdown has reached zero.
return.
When the world lit up again, Qingchen bid farewell to Yangyang and, guided by the Key Gate, returned to Whale Island.
As he was about to enter the key gate before parting, Yangyang hugged him from behind.
Qing Chen froze.
He smiled and said, "What's wrong?"
Yangyang leaned against his back and whispered, "I know you're planning to risk your life, otherwise you wouldn't have retraced your steps through Luocheng. But you promised me you wouldn't leave me alone."
"Don't worry, I'll be back," Qingchen said.
Yangyang: "You don't understand. Since I advanced to A-level, my world has been filled with only force fields. You are the only one who is still the same as before. Perhaps this is the anchor of a force field awakener. You are my anchor. If you die, then my world will only have force fields left. There will be no color, no shape, no sky, and no ocean."
Qing Chen's pupils contracted: "Is this how it is after advancing to A-level?"
Yangyang nodded slightly: "Yes."
"I will come back," Qingchen said, much more seriously this time.
Yangyang let go of her hand: "I'll wait for you."
Qing Chen stepped through the key gate, carrying a small black hard drive to the command room, where rows of computers and a waiting parents' meeting were set up.
Qingchen inserted the hard drive into the computer, and the 'programs' inside were quickly distributed to hundreds of hard drives.
Qing Chen looked at everyone and said, "This is the personnel information comparison data from the Inner World. Everyone, disperse around the world to find the remaining potential Time Travelers, bring them back, and accurately replace the important figures in the Roosevelt Kingdom! Triumphant return!"
The next moment, tens of thousands of parents' association members split into more than a hundred teams, each taking their own hard drive and entering the secret passage one by one.
They marched through the tunnel in a grand procession and arrived at the 'Anywhere Door' base in Kunlun.
In the empty base, spiral staircases and key doors were embedded in the surrounding walls.
Xiao Qi, Xiao Wu, and Xiao San each led their own teams up the spiral staircase, finding their own key door on each floor to go to their destination.
The Kunlun members were waiting there early, opening the door for them and ready to assist them at any time.
When members of the parent-teacher association pass by members of the Kunlun group, the Kunlun members will quietly remind them, "Be careful."
Qingchen and Zheng Yuandong stood side by side in the "courtyard," watching the members of the parents' meeting walk into the key gate and disappear one by one, just like watching soldiers rush to the battlefield and go to all parts of the world!
"The line at the parents' meeting is really impressive... Do you think this plan is useful?" Zheng Yuandong asked.
Qing Chen shook his head: "Not sure."
...
...
London.
Xiaoqi led over a hundred family members out. He stood at the door holding a tablet connected to the external hard drive they had just received.
A map popped up on the tablet, marked the route, and reminded them in Chinese to follow the navigation to the Metropolitan Police Department.
"Is this the place?" Xiao Qi asked.
“Following the navigation should be the right way,” a family member said.
The Metropolitan Police Department in London was very quiet at night; there wasn't even a guard standing at the entrance.
Xiaoqi thought for a moment and said, "The boss told us before we came that we can't be too rude, so we should try to be as polite as possible."
“We don’t understand English either,” someone said.
Xiaoqi scratched his head: "Damn it, doesn't any of you speak English?"
"You can't do it yourself, so why are you looking at us with that accusing expression..."
At that moment, a line of text popped up on Xiaoqi's tablet: "I'll help you communicate."
Xiaoqi laughed: "The tablet the boss gave me is quite smart. Is there someone at Whale Island headquarters helping to keep track of the mission in real time?"
They walked into the Metropolitan Police Department, where the London police officers were taken aback when they saw a large group of people burst in.
Xiao Qi smiled broadly, raised the tablet, and said in a very gentle tone, "Brother, put your hands up and stand against the wall. Don't force us to do anything. Thank you for your cooperation."
A string of English words appeared on the tablet, and the London police officers immediately drew their guns, but before they could react, they were subdued.
Signal jamming and entrance/exit blockade were completed within just 10 minutes, effectively sealing off the parents' meeting from the inside out.
Xiaoqi connected the hard drive on her tablet to the Metropolitan Police Department's registration computer, which automatically redirected her to the login screen, and the password was cracked in just one second.
Photos flashed by on the computer screen, and household registration documents were quickly compared.
London police officers lay on the ground watching this scene, completely baffled as to what they were doing.
However, at that moment, a notification suddenly appeared on the computer.
The match failed!
After Xiaoqi confirmed that she had everyone under control, she turned off the jammer and contacted Qingchen: "Boss, not a single one was matched. Britain is so big, are there really no potential time travelers?"
Qing Chen frowned. Was the plan going to fail?