However, the soldier had clearly underestimated the speed of the new dart. Although it wasn't very fast when it first left his hand, once it reached a certain trajectory, especially after the soldier reached for his gun... the dart, which had been flying steadily in the air, suddenly accelerated like a rocket that had just been ignited, more than doubling in speed in an instant. Before the soldier could even pull the trigger, the dart pierced through his wrist with a "crack," causing the gun in his hand to fall limply to the ground.
Zhou Ziwei's dart could have easily pierced the soldier's throat, but the soldier already had a gun in his hand. If he were shot dead at that moment, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't pull the trigger before he died.
Zhou Ziwei wasn't afraid of being hit by the opponent's dying shot; he just didn't want to completely expose himself so soon.
This is close to the edge of the villa area, where there should be many security guards. If a gunshot is fired, it could cause a lot of trouble.
So Zhou Ziwei quickly adjusted the target of his dart, deciding to take the gun from the opponent's hand first.
"Hmm—" The soldier who had been hit by the dart let out a low groan. Even at this point, he remained stubborn and refused to warn anyone, even trying his best to suppress his voice, because he didn't want his comrades to hear and laugh at him. He felt that he was confident he could handle the assassin in front of him.
Kill... I must kill this person in front of me.
A resolute, cold smile crept across the soldier's lips. His uninjured hand slipped from the handlebars, completely relinquishing control of the motorcycle. He reached for his waist... but a second later, he was startled when he suddenly felt a sharp whooshing sound approaching from behind. In his haste, he didn't have time to throw the dagger he had just grabbed. He glanced back and was instantly terrified... It was the same silver light that had just passed through his wrist—it... it had returned.
How could a hidden weapon that had already hit its target possibly make a 180-degree turn in mid-air? It's impossible... Could it be that... there was another assassin lurking behind him, working in cahoots with the person in front of him... and they were using the exact same hidden weapons? Hmm... that must be it.
The soldier's mind raced, and his movements were equally swift. He leaped from the motorcycle and bounded towards the roadside...
He is a special forces soldier who has undergone various rigorous training, including dodging projectiles. So he may not be able to react effectively to bullets, but he can usually dodge projectiles fired unarmed.
This time, however, the unfortunate soldier was startled again. Almost the instant he jumped off the motorcycle, the silver light suddenly changed direction, then drew a beautiful arc in the air, and finally pierced his young throat heavily just before his body hit the ground...
With a "plop," blood splattered everywhere. The soldier could no longer shout; he could only stare blankly into the endless void ahead, his eyes filled with doubt, fear, and resentment. He probably couldn't understand it even in death: that damned silver light was clearly a hidden weapon launched by someone's bare hands, but how could it turn in mid-air without any prior knowledge?
Zhou Ziwei let out a disdainful sneer. Now that he had killed the other party, he didn't care about devouring the other party's soul as well.
Since he'd already killed him, he might as well kill him twice. Otherwise, if the guy's soul might be preserved for some reason after he died, he might be reborn and come back to settle scores with him after a while... Although the possibility of this was so small that it was almost negligible, Zhou Ziwei still recited the Six-Syllable Mantra without hesitation.
However, when Zhou Ziwei began chanting the Six-Syllable Mantra, he suddenly felt an astonishing burning sensation emanating from a certain part of his face. He was startled and realized with horror that there was a bullet hanging on his chest, and inside that bullet was locked a powerful soul entity that had been captured from an ancient tomb…
Zhou Ziwei had no idea whether the bullet could block the effects of the Six-Syllable Mantra. If he recited the mantra and absorbed the entire soul inside the bullet, then... there would be no surprises. He would be burst apart instantly by the powerful soul.
However, now that the Six-Syllable Mantra has been recited, it's impossible to take it back. The six large and small light circles in the air have already taken shape. Even if Zhou Ziwei wanted to take off the pendant around his neck and throw it far away, it would be useless. The area within twenty meters is completely surrounded by the light circles formed by the Six-Syllable Mantra. Even if he throws the pendant away, it will inevitably be baptized by the six light circles. And once it has been baptized by the six light circles, can the soul inside the bullet head still remain safe and sound?
Zhou Ziwei felt a chill run down his spine...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 193: Fusion of Hacker Memories
There was no time to take any remedial measures. Zhou Ziwei could only smile bitterly, close his eyes, and wait for the sensation of that astonishing tide of soul power surging into his soul.
Who knows... if he were to collapse, he might have no choice but to unleash a series of soul roars into a relatively open area... or perhaps only in this way could he rapidly deplete the soul power within his body.
However, Zhou Ziwei didn't have much hope that this would actually work. After all, he had no idea how much soul energy was contained within that powerful, almost tangible soul entity. And right now, each time Zhou Ziwei unleashed a soul roar, it could only consume a few hundred units of soul power at most, and the soul roar couldn't be cast continuously, so...
If the amount of soul power he absorbs after this absorption exceeds the limit of his soul sea by only a little bit, it's fine. But if it exceeds five hundred soul powers, he will be in danger. If it exceeds one thousand soul powers, he will basically be dead.
But... could that powerful soul only bring him a few hundred or a few thousand units of soul power? It wouldn't be surprising if it brought him tens of thousands of units of soul power directly. If that's the case... then he's truly doomed...
"Buzz—" The soul that had just risen from the soldier's corpse hadn't even shaken off the bewilderment of a newly dead soul before it was swept into the pale red halo. In the blink of an eye, it was completely stripped of its original consciousness and transformed into pure soul power, which merged into Zhou Ziwei's sea of souls as the halo continued to shrink.
At the same time, the bullet in Zhou Ziwei's chest was so hot it was practically burning, like a branding iron pulled straight from a hot coal, incredibly scalding.
However, even after the six halos disappeared into Zhou Ziwei's sea of souls, the bullet-shaped object did not unleash any powerful soul surge. It simply generated heat for a while before gradually cooling down and quickly returning to calm.
No way! I... I'm fine now.
Zhou Ziwei could hardly believe it was true. He couldn't help but lower his head, tear open his shirt, and look at the small bullet on his chest. He was shocked to find that the originally bright yellow bullet was now faintly glowing with a faint red light.
"No way! This thing can even change color."
Zhou Ziwei was secretly startled. Then he vaguely sensed that the faint red layer on the bullet head seemed to be similar in color to the six halos formed by the Six-Syllable Mantra, and also similar in color to the soul power surging in his sea of souls.
The difference is that... whether it's the halo formed by the Six-Syllable Mantra or his soul power, that pale red color is ethereal and intangible. Unless it's him or some soul after death, ordinary people can't see that strange color at all. But the pale red on this bullet head is clearly visible to the naked eye.
Moreover, the reason why this bullet has a strange light red color is definitely not because there is overflowing soul power on the bullet. It is clearly the color released by the bullet itself, but it does not have any energy attribute.
It's alright, as long as this warhead can trap that soul and prevent it from bursting me apart.
Zhou Ziwei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and then breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although he didn't know what had happened to the bullet, he was extremely lucky that his life hadn't been blown up by his reckless actions.
Zhou Ziwei and seven others were searching everywhere on motorcycles. Zhou Ziwei didn't want to go on a killing spree again, so he reached out and the new-style cross dart that had been shot into the soldier's throat immediately flew out on its own with a "whoosh." It rubbed itself against the corpse's clothes a few times to wipe away all the bloodstains before flying into the air again and landing in Zhou Ziwei's palm with a "swish."
If anyone else had been there, they would have been scared half to death by this scene. A dart that could not only fly on its own, but also... knew how to wipe the blood off itself. This... is too monstrous!
However, Zhou Ziwei was quite dissatisfied with the intelligence of the independent souls within the dart. After all, these were independent souls created within non-living entities. Influenced by the carrier, these independent souls appeared somewhat dull, rigid, and inflexible from the very beginning, unlike the ladybug.
The independent souls created within these new cross-shaped darts were likely influenced by those simulated neural lines. The soul power consumed in their creation was countless times greater than that of ordinary cross-shaped darts. However, fortunately, the dissipation rate of these independent souls was also much slower than that of independent souls created within ordinary non-living bodies.
Although it can't quite reach the level of ladybugs and amoebas, it can still last for most of the day.
This is much longer than the lifespan of an independent soul created from an ordinary non-living entity. You should know that the lifespan of an independent soul created from an ordinary non-living entity is generally measured in minutes. So, although this new type of cross-shaped dart is more wasteful of soul power, a single replenishment can give it half a day of spirituality, which seems to be worthwhile.
Most importantly, the lifespan of the independent soul within this new type of cross-shaped dart can reach more than half a day, allowing Zhou Ziwei to continuously replenish its soul power and prevent the original independent soul from perishing over time.
The advantage of doing this is that the independent soul within the cross-shaped dart can continuously increase its intelligence by replenishing its soul power. The higher the intelligence of the independent soul within the cross-shaped dart, the more convenient it becomes to use.
Even when the independent souls within these cross-shaped darts grow to a certain level of intelligence, Zhou Ziwei can let them fly out of his control and kill people... In that case... these darts will no longer be just darts, they will be like flying swords in fantasy novels that can cut off people's heads from thousands of miles away.
However, the new cross-shaped darts in Zhou Ziwei's hands are far inferior. The independent souls within them are basically only as intelligent as newborn infants. Even if Zhou Ziwei conveys some complex meanings to them, they would have a hard time understanding them. If they are allowed to fly out of Zhou Ziwei's control range, who knows what terrible things might happen.
Imagine who would dare let their newborn baby play alone on the street? (Uh… let’s assume the newborn can walk on its own.) It would be a miracle if it didn’t get lost…
The new cross-shaped darts in Zhou Ziwei's hand have an intelligence level comparable to that of a newborn baby. They might not even remember the routes they have flown, and their loyalty to Zhou Ziwei is also very limited. Once they fly more than two hundred meters away and break away from Zhou Ziwei's consciousness and soul connection, they could easily lose control. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei can only control these new cross-shaped darts within the scope of his own consciousness and dares not let them do anything too complicated.
For example, sneaking into the villa to find Xiao Yundong... This kind of thing is easy for Ladybug to do, but if the new-style cross dart were to do it... that would be quite a sight. Who knows when the new-style cross dart might suddenly get excited and stab something twice, or even start dancing in the air.
Fortunately, after several days of continuous replenishment of soul power, the intelligence of these new cross darts has increased slightly, although the rate of increase is extremely slow. But as long as there is progress, there is hope.
However, it's probably hopeless to expect these new cross-shaped darts to grow to the level of intelligence that the ladybug has now reached.
After putting away the new cross-shaped darts, Zhou Ziwei quickened his pace once again, and before the people searching the other seven directions could discover him and come searching, he quickly escaped from this upscale villa community.
Zhou Ziwei returned to the hotel, took a hot shower, and lay in bed. Only then did he have time to slowly sort through the soul memories he had obtained from the soldier he had killed.
"No way! He's actually a red-hat hacker."
Upon reviewing the newly acquired soul memories, Zhou Ziwei discovered that the soldier he had killed was not only a top expert in the military's special forces, but also a highly skilled computer hacker.
Red hackers are the opposite of hackers. If hackers are like unlicensed businesses, then red hackers are like legitimate merchants.
Both involve hacking into other people's computers or networks, but while hacking is illegal, "red hackers" (or "red hackers") are legal because they serve the military.
The soldier killed by Zhou Ziwei and the other seven were all elite personnel belonging to a special operations unit of the military. Not only did everyone in that special operations unit have excellent military skills, but each of them also had an additional remarkable specialty.
Some are good with computers, some are good at swimming, some are good at driving, and some are fluent in various languages. In short, without a special skill, no matter how outstanding your military skills are, you can forget about getting into their special operations unit.
Although that soldier's hacking skills might not rank among the top computer hackers in the world, they are certainly astonishing among ordinary people.
After Zhou Ziwei absorbed the soldier's memories about military affairs and computers, he became extremely excited. In his previous life, he had always envied hackers who could freely intrude into other people's computers and view their privacy. What an amazing thing that was... He never imagined that he could do it now, and he seemed to be much more capable than those guys in school who had only learned some computer operation skills that ordinary students didn't know and then called themselves hackers.
Suddenly having mastered a skill he had longed for, Zhou Ziwei felt an urge to put it to the test immediately. However, just then, the hotel police came to check the rooms…
Xiao Yundong was already one of the wealthiest men in Yongfeng, and with a powerful father who had influence in both military and political circles, the news of his sudden murder threw the entire Yongfeng police force into a panic. Within half an hour, all the city's police officers were woken from their beds by their superiors and began a comprehensive, all-encompassing search.
The fact that one of the military personnel sent to protect Xiao Yundong had also died enraged the commander of the special operations force. He made a phone call in return, ordering all the troops stationed in Yongfeng City to fully cooperate with the police in the search for the murderer, which alleviated the police's manpower shortage crisis.
However, none of this had anything to do with Zhou Ziwei. Although he was investigated by the police as usual, after the police checked his ID card and confirmed by reviewing the hotel lobby's surveillance footage that he had not left the hotel all night, no one bothered him anymore.
As for the guy Zhou Ziwei impersonated, he fared much worse. The police saw from the lobby's surveillance footage that he went out for about two hours in the early morning before returning to the hotel. The guy denied it, insisting that he had been sleeping the whole time and had never left the hotel. The result was predictable... he was taken to the police station as a major suspect.
Zhou Ziwei had long anticipated this outcome, but he didn't feel much guilt, because he had already discovered that the guy's bag contained a lot of fake ID cards, fake house photos, and even a fake marriage certificate when he scanned the rooms.
It was obvious without asking that this guy was a professional forger, someone Zhou Ziwei utterly despised. So, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't feel any guilt about making him suffer a little. After all, anyone with a brain could see that this guy couldn't possibly be the kind of expert who could silently kill Xiao Yundong hiding in the secret room, much less fight an elite member of a military special operations force head-on.
So, at most, that guy will just be locked up for a while and sentenced to a few years for manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods. Well... he deserves it so that he won't go around cheating and harming people anymore.
After being harassed by the police, Zhou Ziwei lay down on the bed and slept soundly until noon before getting up to wash his face and then wandering the streets alone.
In this day and age, the power of public opinion is quite formidable. Therefore, although the police and military took the murder case that occurred last night very seriously, they could not restrict the freedom of the public. As a result, during the day, apart from the fact that there were still police officers and soldiers in plainclothes everywhere in places such as train stations and airports, everything on the streets was normal, and there was no sign of anything unusual.
Zhou Ziwei knew that if he left Yongfeng immediately today, it would definitely arouse some suspicion and attention from the police. Moreover, he had not yet determined his next move, so he was not in a hurry for a day or two. He wandered around the streets, bought a set of clothes, and then bought a high-performance laptop and signed up for wireless internet service before excitedly returning to the hotel.
After turning on his computer and getting used to the keyboard, Zhou Ziwei began his first hacking journey.
Although Zhou Ziwei had incorporated the soldier's knowledge and experience in computer hacking, he was still unsure of the soldier's skill level in this area. Therefore, he did not dare to easily intrude into the internal networks of important departments. Since he had nothing better to do, he first tried to intrude into the internal network of the hotel where he was staying.
He then discovered that with his current skill level, hacking into the hotel's internal network was incredibly easy. He didn't need to use many of his special techniques; he only made two probing attacks before successfully gaining access to the hotel's network management backend and obtaining maximum privileges.
It's not challenging at all!
Zhou Ziwei was far from satisfied. They just casually edited two ordinary programs, sent them over, and... they successfully hacked in? That was way too easy! Did the hotel management really have absolutely no cybersecurity awareness? Couldn't they have installed a more robust firewall?
But it's understandable, really. It's just an ordinary hotel, not some important business company, and there are no trade secrets that would attract theft. It's probably only someone as bored as Zhou Ziwei who would bother to hack into the internal network of such a run-down hotel. And even if he did hack in, as long as he didn't cause any major damage, the hotel probably wouldn't suffer any losses.
So... hotels really don't need to waste money on cybersecurity.
Although Zhou Ziwei was only hacking for the sake of hacking, there was no information he needed to find in the hotel's intranet. Of course, he wouldn't just sit idly by and wantonly destroy someone else's intranet.
But now that we've infiltrated, if we were to retreat so quickly, it seems... a bit of a pain in the ass...
Since he had nothing better to do, Zhou Ziwei started browsing the hotel's website, clicking around and looking at things. First, he pulled up photos and profiles of all the hotel staff and commented on each one. And you know what... although the hotel wasn't very high-end, the staff were all quite pretty.
Although she can't compare to Wang Xuewei and Liu Xiaofei, she is considered to be above average in terms of appearance among ordinary people.
This made Zhou Ziwei suspect that the hotel owner was using the recruitment of waitresses as an opportunity to hold a beauty pageant for his harem...
After looking at the employee photos, Zhou Ziwei pulled up the surveillance footage from last night and watched it again. He thought to himself that if something like last night happened again, he wouldn't need to waste his soul power to capture the cameras in the corridor. He could just hack into the hotel's network and delete the video files he didn't want anyone to see, and everything would be fine.
After watching a bunch of random videos and finding them uninteresting, Zhou Ziwei was about to exit when he suddenly saw a very familiar face in one of the videos…
"Wang Xuewei, my... my wife? She... how did she end up here?"
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 194: My Wife Needs to Drink with Someone
Zhou Ziwei had been dealing with matters concerning the Zhou Group for some time, so he often stayed at the Zhou family compound. Even when he returned to his small villa in the New Century Community, it was only for a brief visit. He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he had last met Wang Xuewei.
Wang Xuewei probably knew that Zhou Ziwei had to deal with assassins and the affairs of the Zhou Group, so he was too busy to have any time for anything else. Or perhaps... she didn't care about this husband in name only at all. In any case, Wang Xuewei hadn't called Zhou Ziwei once during this period.
On the contrary, Zhou Ziwei's nominal father-in-law called twice to inquire about Zhou Ziwei's recent situation and to "report" on the progress of Xinda Daily Chemical's new project...
Because Zhou Ziwei had promised to only receive dividends and not participate in the management of Xinda Daily Chemicals, Wang Guohui only gave Zhou Ziwei a brief overview of the situation without going into too much detail. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei naturally had no idea why Wang Xuewei had suddenly come to Yongfeng City at this time.
Moreover, the surveillance footage showed more than just Wang Xuewei herself; there was also a slick-haired man following her around, his demeanor suggesting they were quite familiar with each other.
Zhou Ziwei doubted whether this person was really Wang Xuewei, or just another woman who looked very similar to Wang Xuewei, so he opened the hotel's guest registration file again.
Sure enough... he quickly found Wang Xuewei's name in the file, along with a photocopy of her ID card. The ID card indicated that Wang Xuewei was from Dangyang City, so there was no way he could have mistaken her for someone else.
Wang Xuewei checked into the hotel the night before last, and she was with a man named Fang Jiawei.