Chapter 207

Chapter 207

As the night grew deeper, Ji Xinghai lay in bed, holding a newly purchased tablet that contained today's recorded audio. Beside him, the ink snake obediently rested its head on the blanket, lying quietly.

The institution ranked 13th is called White Whale Academy. The reason for this name is unclear; Hungry Academy enjoys food, while White Whale Academy... perhaps they like white whales?

Students at White Whale Academy also have an inexplicable dread and loathing for their dean, whom they've only heard of but never seen. Because of being 'disobedient,' many promising students who could have competed for first place ended up 'dying' at his hands, leading to mental breakdowns and becoming truly incapacitated.

This person is indeed a despicable individual, despised by others, yet he possesses terrifying innate abilities.

The more powerful the innate ability, the more difficult it is to develop in the early stages. No one knows how this person's abilities were cultivated, but when he became famous, many names were already written on his puppet list.

Without any warning, seemingly without needing any sacrifice, as long as he wanted to, he could control those on the list, even making them commit suicide.

Once on the list, if you want to live and ensure your family and friends live well, you must obey him.

When White Whale Academy appeared, just like Hungry Academy, it destroyed the already struggling civilization with ease. They brought in this despicable individual, allowing him to climb to high positions, first harming their own people before moving on to others.

In the previous joint exam, he controlled students from other academies, soaring to the top of the rankings.

Originally, the abilities of rank 13 were not limited within the academy, but in this joint exam, which involved entering consciousness without real bodies, rank 13's control abilities couldn't extend to other academies, leaving him stuck at position 13.

If possible, he would turn the top few ranks into his puppets.

Rank 13 once boasted that if the format of the holographic game was different, he would make rank one his dog.

Ji Xinghai lay in bed, listening calmly, extracting clues from these simple questions and answers.

The hypnotized student, named Kada, joined after the start of the academy competition but participated in many group activities. In a hypnotic state, he ranted endlessly, spilling everything out once prompted, even chasing after more details, cursing vehemently as he spoke.

Kada had a significant point of frustration: whenever they encountered trouble during group activities—be it an attack or even a fire during a gathering—rank 13 would vanish at lightning speed.

Even though the death of a puppet wouldn't kill him, his first reaction upon encountering trouble was always to flee immediately, without hesitation.

So sometimes, those who were 'puppets' found him incredibly annoying and would create chaos themselves.

Hearing this, Ji Xinghai raised an eyebrow. They hadn't suspected that rank 13 might be nearby when controlling them, which is why he would abandon control and protect himself at the first sign of conflict.

The hypnotized student also considered this possibility and asked Kada about it.

"It's impossible. We've thought about it too..." Kada slurred, explaining that they had tried. Controlled individuals could travel hundreds of kilometers by private jet, and other activities requiring movement didn't show any skill failure either.

During social gatherings, they were unable to conduct investigations in the vicinity, as the copy lacked surveillance capabilities. However, several intentional experiments confirmed that the control was not compromised by increasing the distance.

Kada continued to rant and reveal information, making Ji Xinghai suspect he was deliberately venting through hypnosis.

Among fellow students, rank 13 was known as someone who cherished life excessively. Some students had innate abilities that could find him, such as the one who used tarot cards like Hungry Academy, or those who could curse from afar. If discovered, these individuals either voluntarily went on the list to be controlled or faced relentless pursuit until death.

Rank 13 dealt with anyone who posed a threat to him in this manner.

Why, then, would the cowardly rank 13 continuously provoke and kill top-ranked students? It turned out he obtained a 'Legacy Inheritance Card' that could be used three times. By writing a name on the card and killing that person, he could inherit 30% of their attribute points.

Rank 13 chose solo players among the top ranks; Ji Xinghai was the third person on his list.

Number 101 (Ji Xinghai) held the top rank firmly and could pilot mechs, indicating his attribute points must exceed or approach 200. Thus, 30% of three such attribute values would be 180 points, equivalent to freely obtained attribute points from killing three A-level monsters.

Hearing this, Ji Xinghai silently checked his attributes, which, including S-level monster bonuses, averaged around 330.

The audio file progressed slowly, finally reaching its end. Ji Xinghai didn't listen to it again; he remembered every word.

Rank 13 was a cowardly, fearful, and arrogant individual, combining timidity with overconfidence. This contradictory behavior stemmed from his lack of courage despite possessing extraordinary innate abilities, forcing capable students to work for him due to being on the list.

If I were him... Ji Xinghai's eyes dimmed slightly as he imagined himself in such a situation.

Fragments of information from Kada floated in his mind, gradually forming a labeled figure.

"He boasts that nothing escapes his ears," "Turns out a fire broke out next door, we didn't know, but he left first."

"Hmph, he's always afraid someone will take advantage of him, never trusting anyone," "Using someone else's body to set up a date, humiliating them by revealing the entire process..."

Stalking.

This word suddenly emerged.

It was clear now: this person trusted no one, harbored malice towards everyone, stalked, spied, and stood in safe corners, believing himself invincible.

In this replica, where would he stealthily watch?

Without formal training in criminal profiling, Ji Xinghai learned to think from another's perspective through countless practices, achieving accuracy most of the time.

He spent ten thousand contribution points to ask a certain intelligence head among the students: "Times, locations, and identities of those controlled during White Whale Academy's group monster hunts."

"Of course, dear customer." The request was promptly accepted; Ji Xinghai was known for his generosity.

Ji Xinghai knew who backed this intelligence network, and they knew the order came from rank one Ji Xinghai. As long as there was no conflict of interest, everyone could sit down and dine together.

This was the normal way relationships between academies worked.

Conflicts of interest were another matter, like the former rank five, who made sexist remarks and was killed twice by rank three, leading to tensions between the two academies.

These topics were hotly discussed in groups, especially since six of the top ten were women, causing the former rank five to drop to rank ten, with an unstable position.

Thinking of his mother, Ji Xinghai wondered about the former rank five's intelligence: turns out rankings don't mean much, and being rank one isn't something to be proud of.

Let's get back on track. Ji Xinghai has now listened to the recording and found a lead. Perhaps there will be news tomorrow, so before the clock struck twelve, he lay down with peace of mind, both working hard and taking care of his health.

Thinking it wasn't quite right,

he opened his eyes to meet the gleaming eyes of the black snake: "Good night."

Now he could close his eyes and sleep soundly.

The next day, nothing happened.

The day after that, nothing happened either.

On the fourth day, information about White Whale Academy's recent group activities appeared on Ji Xinghai's phone, detailing who had possessed the Rank 13, how long it took, and how much loot was taken afterward.

That ten thousand contribution points were well spent.

Ji Xinghai immediately set out. He arrived at the first city indicated in the message and, using his status as a high-ranking member of the Special Operations Group, requested the local government's cooperation to review surveillance footage.

"Can you keep up watching four fast-forwarded videos at once?"

Government employees watched the handsome young man intently, not blinking as he watched the four fast-forwarded screens. These were recordings from a monster incident, showing civilians frantically fleeing to safety zones.

"Pause."

The four video feeds froze. Ji Xinghai pointed to a spot: "Zoom in here a bit."

The staff quickly zoomed in on the corner and enhanced the originally blurry image. A short woman wearing advanced protective gear appeared. Her face was unremarkable, but her expression was intriguing, like a ghost peeking from under the bed in a midnight legend.

"Continue."

The video resumed, but it didn't always capture the corner where this woman was. However, every time, when everyone else had left, even the students who came to fight monsters had gone, she remained, lurking and peering sinisterly.

Ji Xinghai remained expressionless, while many of the government employees watching alongside him wore indescribable looks: How creepy, truly creepy.

He then visited six cities in succession, requesting access to surveillance footage captured by drones before and after the monster incidents.

Without exception, the creepy-looking short woman appeared in all of them.

Now he was certain: this person had disguised themselves as a woman and was fully armed, hiding in a safe corner to spy.

In other scenarios, finding him would have been more challenging, but here, the surveillance footage provided a clear trail.

The omnipresent surveillance was indeed the nemesis of any case. The previously invincible Rank 13 hadn't considered the unique nature of this scenario and had exposed himself completely.

If viewing the footage weren't a privilege reserved for high-ranking members, he would have been exposed even sooner.

Ji Xinghai sent a clear portrait to the student who could use tarot cards for divination and location tracking: "Can you find this person's location?"

The response came swiftly: "This guy will move in five minutes. Hurry!"

Ji Xinghai immediately teleported and caught him in a club playing a selection game with escorts. The moment the ordinary-looking man saw him, his eyes widened in terror.

This expression said it all.

Anyone who could write Ji Xinghai's name on the list wouldn't fail to recognize his face.

"Hi~" Ji Xinghai smiled amiably, then slammed the man's head into an ice bucket in the next second.