The Cyber Queen of Deception - Chapter 39

“We’re done for.”

As the identities of the victims were confirmed, Zhi Yi’s colleagues grew increasingly weak-kneed. The list included the chairman of the power company, the daughter of Cyber’s largest TV station, and the young master of the regeneration conglomerate… and many more.

It could be said that ninety percent of Cyber’s elite were gathered here, yet they died in a bizarre live broadcast room.

Oh no, it should be said that they were about to die here. The murder hadn’t happened yet!

For a moment, everyone was at a loss.

-The bodies found during the city-wide search turned out to be so high-profile that no one dared to make a move, except the government.

Soon after, Ran Bo arrived with the Judgment Department, surrounding the entire restaurant and prohibiting any bystanders or media from entering. He also borrowed an unprecedentedly large camera from a well-known director, which could project images live as it recorded.

“…I hope what Yao Na said is true.”

Ran Bo muttered to himself before turning on the camera.

Then, something miraculous happened. While the scene in front of them was one of bloodshed and silence, the camera showed a different picture, a different world.

They saw an exquisite cake being presented, pink and sitting on a sturdy base made of New Currency, worth hundreds of thousands.

Someone recognized the cake; its advertisement had been looping on the Superdream Website, and it was unmistakable.

It came from a centuries-old artisanal cake shop in Wisenbrook District, topped with pure animal cream rather than synthetic edible gel used by ordinary people.

The cake was also lit with candles, and the sparks that burst forth almost fell onto the New Currency base, but the wealthy didn’t care.

The bright firelight illuminated the dim, romantic restaurant, as well as the shimmering fabrics of the guests.

Such splendor and elegance led to a deadly silence in the large restaurant, leaving everyone speechless.

Not a single police officer could utter a word, nor knew what to say. A young officer, dazzled by the colorful light from the camera, suddenly spoke from the heart, “Wow, she’s celebrating with my annual salary…”

Indeed.

Such a grand birthday party, such beautiful clothes, something the rescue team couldn’t earn back in decades of work.

But why did it feel infuriating? They even had to see the corpses at the scene to calm the imbalance in their hearts.

Ran Bo was relatively calm, as everyone knew he was from the conglomerate assigned to the government. In other words, he was used to seeing the rich celebrate and wasn’t as affected by it.

He took his eyes off the camera, asking, “Did Yao Na say she was coming?”

“Yes, she said she’d be here soon.” Zhi Yi had been trying to contact Yao Na ever since the start, but couldn’t get through.

“Mm, I see her now.”

Zhi Yi was startled and followed Ran Bo’s gaze, only to see Yao Na among the affluent crowd, frequently looking back as if searching for someone, her actions, contrasted with the relaxed demeanor of the wealthy ladies, seemed quite furtive.

No, when did Yao Na enter the live broadcast room!

So, she’s now staying in the murder live broadcast room’s time, staying in everyone’s yet-to-die past!

…

“Damn, where did she go?”

Yao Na, with her communication device on, confirmed the location of the murder live broadcast room based on the live broadcast, weaving through the crowd-it was difficult because not enough people had been killed yet. Su Wu was still a non-physical digital entity, or perhaps he was playing some disguise tricks like in prison.

It was not easy to find him.

Yao Na needed to find Su Wu before he murdered the second person because she realized: Su Wu wanted to combine two live broadcasts to evolve while killing more people, taking two steps at once.

To leap upwards in class, becoming a future monster that could crush humanity.

Yao Na checked her screen and suddenly noticed her own back appearing in the murder live broadcast room, and without thinking, she immediately turned and kicked backward. The fierce movement created a strong wind that cut through the air there, but unfortunately, she only kicked the air, not hitting Su Wu himself.

The surrounding guests gave Yao Na puzzled looks, seemingly wondering if she had some sort of illness.

Yao Na couldn’t be bothered to explain to these soon-to-be-dead people.

She quickly looked down at the live broadcast room, her image no longer present on the screen.

Clearly, Su Wu had escaped-he was taking advantage of his invisibility to toy with her in the bustling restaurant.

“…Huh.”

Realizing this, Yao Na’s searching gaze became much more ferocious. She casually picked up a dessert fork from a nearby table and continued her search for Su Wu among the crowd.

As Yao Na and Su Wu engaged in a covert and thrilling chase through the restaurant, Wen Qingqiu, the birthday girl, seemed visibly upset. From the beginning, her communication device had been buzzing non-stop.

It seemed like something significant had happened.

Wen Qingqiu felt a crazy throbbing at her temples, as if an unbearable catastrophe was about to befall her.

She wanted to leave the restaurant midway, at least to escape this unsettling place, but her status as the birthday girl forced her to stay, offering fake smiles to the congratulatory guests.

“Thank you all for coming to my birthday party.”

Now standing before her was a classmate from high school, whose family, academic, and personal achievements were all quite ordinary. How dare he have a crush on her? Wen Qingqiu scorned him a thousand times inside, yet outwardly she continued to smile sweetly, even personally accepting his gift.

“I didn’t expect so many people to attend your birthday; they all look so sophisticated and elegant.”

“They are friends of my parents.” Wen Qingqiu pretended to shrug nonchalantly, “As children of conglomerates, we don’t really get to have our own birthday parties. Our birthdays often serve as an opportunity for our parents to socialize and discuss business.”

Another female classmate, whom Wen Qingqiu rather liked and who always spoke pleasantly, chimed in, “The Wen family belongs to the upper echelon of the conglomerate, and Qingqiu is an only child. Naturally, everyone is willing to attend her party to show their respect.”

“And it’s not fair to say that children’s birthdays are merely opportunities for parents to conduct business. I just saw that Wen’s Mother gave Qingqiu a diamond ornament weighing several thousand carats-it was truly eye-catching.”

Wen Qingqiu modestly smiled, “Not at all.”

After briefly mingling with classmates and guests, Wen Qingqiu, the busy birthday girl, finally found a moment to check her continuously buzzing communication device.

As she opened it, she saw messages from her best friend: [Qingqiu, Qingqiu, are you at the restaurant celebrating your birthday now?]

The second message, still from her best friend: [You need to leave the restaurant now; you’ve appeared in the Death Live Broadcast Room!]

The third, the fourth, all expressing concern for her situation.

…Death Live Broadcast Room?

Upon seeing this familiar term, Wen Qingqiu’s mind went blank, and she turned pale. How could she appear in the Death Live Broadcast Room?

Wasn’t that a place for shameless people like Wen Na?

Wen Qingqiu’s first impulse was to open the Death Live Broadcast Room to see what was happening, but she worried it might just be her friend playing a cruel joke.

If she rashly played the Death Live Broadcast in the restaurant, it could cause panic among the guests and ruin her rare birthday celebration.

That couldn’t happen!

The elegance of the Wen family must not fall!

So, suppressing her curiosity, Wen Qingqiu hurriedly walked into the nearest women’s restroom, made sure no one else was inside the stalls, and then turned on her Holographic Projector to search for “Death Live Broadcast Room.”

How long had it been since the Death Live Broadcast Room should have been permanently blocked online, yet it had been reopened? However, the search only returned one relevant link, marked with a LIVE icon.

It was actually broadcasting live!

Wen Qingqiu held her breath, her fingers trembling as she clicked on the live broadcast room, and what appeared on her screen was shockingly the scene of her own birthday party! She didn’t know who had brought the camera in, but it was brazenly moving through the crowd, capturing footage.

Strangely, in several shots, the camera was almost pressed against Wen’s Mother’s face, yet she seemed unaware.

Wen Qingqiu covered her mouth, astounded and speechless. She didn’t dare scream, fearing it might draw the Death Live Broadcast Room closer.

After a brief shock, Wen Qingqiu began to think she should end the birthday party early…

No, that wouldn’t work; ending it early might anger the Death Live Broadcast Room, possibly triggering an immediate massacre.

Instead, it would be better to quietly take her family away, leaving the rest of the people to live or die-it had nothing to do with her.

Although tonight was her birthday party, it was their own decision to attend; if they died, it was their own problem, not related to her in the slightest!

With this, Wen Qingqiu convinced herself.

She checked her appearance in the mirror, regaining her usual gentle demeanor, ready to leave when a girl pushed the door open.

With a click, Wen Qingqiu quickly turned off the live broadcast room, pretending nothing had happened.

Despite her calm and natural hand-washing actions, only Wen Qingqiu knew the storm raging inside her-oh my god, it was the person who replaced Wen Na.

How did she come in?

…

Yao Na, chasing the murder live broadcast room, arrived at the women’s restroom. She clearly saw the camera briefly pass by the entrance of the restroom and followed, but the scene changed again. Now, she didn’t know where he was hiding.

What a slippery character.

But since she was here, she might as well wash her hands.

Yao Na pushed the door and entered the restroom.

There was no one else in the women’s restroom, just a delicately dressed rich girl washing her hands. She was surrounded by a sweet scent of cake, likely the hostess of the banquet, the owner of the birthday cake.

But Yao Na keenly sensed: although she was washing her hands, the countdown on the faucet was five seconds.

Five seconds?

If she remembered correctly…

Yao Na stretched out her hand under the sensor faucet. The LED screen on the faucet immediately displayed a countdown: five seconds.

…As expected, the faucet’s sensor output time was five seconds.

Yao Na glanced at the rich girl next to her-her clothes in front of her had already been wet by the water on the sink, corroborating that she had been standing in front of the sink for at least five minutes, with no splashes indicating the faucet had been turned on and off.

That meant this rich girl had only started washing her hands after seeing her come in.

What was this strange coincidence and discomfort about? After five seconds, Yao Na silently withdrew her curious gaze.

Without wasting time on suspicion, she turned directly to Wen Qingqiu: “Do you know me?”

Wen Qingqiu visibly jumped, scared because Yao Na’s direct question caught her off guard.

Wen Qingqiu thought, was it because she was caught spying?

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” she hurriedly denied. “I’m the birthday girl tonight, just curiously looking a bit longer at someone I don’t recognize.”

A good explanation, but Yao Na wasn’t willing to ignore her instincts. She focused her suspicions entirely on Wen Qingqiu, her mind racing: “No, I’m sure you know me. A few days ago, at the cafe in front of Cyber Technology University, you looked at me with a very shocked and puzzled expression. I just had more important things to do at the time, so I didn’t get a chance to approach you.”

What a joke, to be discovered so early?

Wen Qingqiu opened her mouth, uncertain what to say for a moment, as the two stood facing each other in the restroom.

The quiet and tense atmosphere spread in the small restroom, with the air freshener’s high-quality fragrance acting as an accelerant, ready to be ignited by the conflict at any moment.

Just when Wen Qingqiu thought no one would look away first, Yao Na unexpectedly broke the mutual gaze first.

She looked down at her communication device and cursed fiercely: “I give up.”

What situation?

Wen Qingqiu was confused, but a creeping sensation of dread slowly climbed up her back before she could react, only to hear Yao Na shouting in her direction: “Get out of the way!”

Along with Yao Na’s shout, she pulled a dessert fork from her sleeve.

The sharp three-pronged steel prong thrust fiercely towards Wen Qingqiu’s brow. Out of a biological survival instinct, she ducked down just in time to avoid the fork’s attack but watched helplessly as her hair was uniformly chopped off.

What was going on?!!!

Wen Qingqiu caught the falling hair in mid-air, her waist-length curls now only reaching her ears.

Why did her hair suddenly all break? Wen Qingqiu couldn’t believe it, instinctively reaching for her neck.

“Hisss.”

A sharp pain came unbidden.

A deep, unexplained cut had appeared on her well-maintained neck, looking like the mark of a hanging, abruptly appearing on her neck.

She then looked straight up.

The sharp fork’s target was not her, but the empty air. Strangely, although Yao Na thrust the fork into the void, hitting nothing, she seemed to exert all her strength to pull it out.

“Pop!”

A bizarre bursting sound echoed in the restroom air, and dark red blood splattered on the glass.

Both Wen Qingqiu and Yao Na watched as the fork’s tip suddenly revealed a shattered eyeball, half of the round object squashed, the tiny bursting sound having emanated from this eyeball.

She had hit the mark!

Yao Na rarely showed a smile, but her struggle with Su Wu was far from over.

In the blink of an eye, she realized she could no longer sense the man hiding in the air and immediately looked down at the live broadcast room.

The fork piercing Su Wu’s eye must have caused quite a bit of blood to flow, the monster’s dark red coagulated blood clots covering the lens. The viewers outside the screen couldn’t see anything, forced to flood the chat with countless 【？？？】.

Several seconds later, the screen cleared again.

Yao Na looked closely, and this time, the live broadcast room showed her slender and fair neck exposed above her collar.

…The person was behind her.