Chapter 17: Star Map Upgrade and the Mystery of Origins!

Chapter Seventeen: Star Chart Upgrade, The Mystery of Origins!

Inside the room within his mind.

Everything remained unchanged, as if time had ceased to flow here since Su Chen’s departure.

Su Chen stepped forward, circled around the desk piled with case files, picked up the token resting on it, and approached the star chart.

He glanced down at the vermilion characters inscribed on the token, which boldly read:

“Public Reputation Meter: 2,792 points.”

Ten thousand people per point.

“Has my reputation reached the threshold to light up another star?” Su Chen pondered silently.

As he leaned closer to examine the star chart, suddenly, the jade star chart emitted a low humming sound!

It seemed something had been triggered!

At the same time, the token in his hand burst forth with tassel-like golden light. Amidst the glow, the vermilion characters dispersed and reassembled rapidly, changing swiftly!

“Public reputation has matured; Star Chart Key unlocked.”

“The sun and stars shine together; peace reigns under heaven…”

With these vermilion words appearing, the thick black lacquer that once covered parts of the star chart began to peel away, revealing hidden patterns beneath.

One pattern was a crescent-shaped relief, reminiscent of the mark on Judge Bao’s forehead.

There were about a dozen of these, far fewer than the over a hundred star reliefs scattered across the chart.

The other pattern was a sun relief.

There were only four, positioned at the four corners of the star chart, large and striking.

Su Chen was slightly startled—this change was no small matter.

He touched one of the crescent moon reliefs, and information about the relief naturally flowed into his mind.

“Moon Chart, two to three stars arching… crimes recorded as stars, accumulated merits become the sun… with sun and stars emerging, the new moon is born…”

Su Chen studied the message carefully. Fortunately, the meaning entered his mind directly without requiring translation effort.

It turned out these moon carvings served two purposes.

First, they could record the extraordinary skills of criminals from solved cases, enabling the star chart’s owner to acquire those same abilities.

When this was done, the moon relief corresponding to the criminal would transform into a star relief.

Second, by accumulating merits to a certain extent, a sun relief could be formed.

Stunned by the information flooding his mind, Su Chen paused.

Then a possibility struck him: Could all those stars on the star chart have formed this way?

Perhaps the original star chart only bore moon reliefs. It was an ancient figure nicknamed “The Iron-Faced Judge” who recorded the unique skills of captured criminals on the reliefs, which eventually formed the over one hundred star reliefs.

And his own merits forged the four sun reliefs.

Wow, just how many extraordinary folk, demons, and monsters did this guy catch?

Su Chen was astounded.

He recalled the history he had mostly forgotten and found no mention of “The Iron-Faced Judge.” Instead, the only famous ancient adjudicator he knew was Judge Bao.

“It seems I still lack enough information. I should continue illuminating the star chart—perhaps even more secrets will be revealed.”

Su Chen thought to himself.

Combining the token’s and star chart’s new data, he understood that he needed to light a moon first before he could light stars and gain abilities.

“Hmm, only by contributing to the star chart’s construction can I continue to reap the benefits of my ancestors. That makes sense… what nonsense!” Su Chen muttered to himself, surprised by the star chart’s scientific and sustainable design.

He examined the foremost moon carving; the information entered his mind: to light this moon required a solved case file and 2,000 reputation points.

He had enough reputation…

Turning, Su Chen approached the sturdy wooden desk to inspect the piles of case files stacked atop.

Over the years, his focus had mostly been on unsolved cases, but he did have a few solved ones.

“Case File One: A man in Florida, USA, assaulted a peanut-allergic neighbor with fists smeared in peanut butter.”

“Case File Two: A group of robbers in Florida fell asleep during a heist.”

“Case File Three: A man in Florida kidnapped a federal scientist solely to grant his cat immortality…”

Snap!

Su Chen closed the case files, nearly wanting to punch himself. What kind of bizarre cases had he written about in his spare time?

Studying unsolved mysteries was mentally taxing, so he had sought odd cases as a distraction to lighten his mood.

As he moved aside the irrelevant files, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

On the desk lay an overseas case file:

“The Pentagon Hacker Attack Case, USA!”

Su Chen immediately recalled the case’s details and smiled faintly.

This was the story of a top-tier hacker from five years ago who orchestrated an incident that shook the world.

The target was the Pentagon, the US national headquarters, guarded by layers of national cybersecurity experts.

Yet, this elite hacker effortlessly breached the Pentagon’s information firewall, reputedly the world’s most formidable, constructed by over a hundred top security specialists.

Like a ghost in the system, the hacker exposed thousands of classified documents belonging to the US leadership.

Su Chen had recorded the case in detail back when it was still unsolved.

But recently, it had been cracked.

Unable to counter the hacker’s attacks digitally, the US resorted to physical measures.

They deployed over ten thousand agents to conduct a citywide sweep in Fort Lauderdale, capturing the hacker and smashing his computer.

So very American.

“Top-level hacking skills are truly a universal ability in today’s information age.”

Su Chen picked up the case file reverently, then placed it against the crescent moon relief at the front of the star chart.

Buzz—

A trembling vibration sounded, and the text on the file floated out, absorbed by the crescent relief.

“Once upon a time, in America, there was a hacker…”

After absorbing the file’s contents, the moon relief slowly transformed into a star relief, its pattern a string of binary code symbolizing programming.

Simultaneously, a flood of knowledge surged into Su Chen’s mind, causing his temples to throb slightly!

Hacking offense and defense, network security, backend vulnerabilities…

Seconds later, he distinctly felt his hacking skills had reached an incredible new peak.

The chaos cleared.

Back in the real world, Su Chen rubbed his temples and murmured,

“So that American hacker back then was terrifying…”

He had once been an outsider who marveled at computer experts, but now as an insider, he realized he had vastly underestimated these masters.

They were nothing short of prodigies.

And now, his own hacking skills were the most formidable of all…

While Su Chen digested this flood of information, the interrogation room door opened, and Bai Su appeared gracefully.

Seeing Su Chen, she smiled apologetically:

“Sorry, Su Chen, for tricking you into coming here for questioning.”

Su Chen waved it off casually:

“We’re just trying to catch the culprit as soon as possible.”

“That’s the best way to look at it…”

Bai Su sat beside him, resting her delicate chin on her hand, thoughtfully saying:

“Officer Duan just discussed with me the plan to nominate the suspect behind the bombing case to the Long Kingdom’s bounty list.”

“The bounty list?”

Su Chen showed a puzzled expression, then seemed to recall related memories.

Previously, it was said this world differed from his original one only in that many unsolved cases existed here, and people were extremely passionate about them.

Hence, this world had corresponding lists.

One was the Bounty List, another the Detective List.

The Bounty List had variants like the Long Kingdom Bounty List, the Asia Continent Bounty List, and even the World Bounty List.

Those on the Bounty List were criminals guilty of major crimes, infamous and burdened with hefty rewards, drawing the attention of top detectives worldwide.

This world boasted many official and unofficial detective organizations.

Many renowned groups prided themselves on capturing criminals from the Bounty List!

“It seems Officer Duan truly values this suspect,” Su Chen remarked.

Bai Su nodded, leaning close to whisper:

“Su Chen, you don’t know yet—Officer Duan’s surveillance network was bombed, which is why he’s taking the suspect so seriously.”

“Ah?!” Su Chen exclaimed.

“When did that happen? Who did it?”

“No one knows,” Bai Su shrugged.

“So this suspect can only be listed as a mysterious figure on the bounty list, which is unprecedented…”

At that moment, the live chat exploded with comments.

“Hahaha, Su Chen, stop pretending to be an innocent bystander—you were the one who set off the bomb!”

“Su Chen’s so sly. If I hadn’t seen him pretending to plant the bomb with my own eyes, I’d have fallen for his acting.”

“To be fair, his acting is way more natural than those pretty boys.”

The audience buzzed, raising the stream’s excitement anew.

In the expert panel’s office, facing Bai Su, Su Chen suddenly shifted gears and asked:

“By the way, boss, I want to ask you something.”

“I heard Officer Duan is really skilled with computers. What level is he at?”

Bai Su hesitated briefly, then nodded:

“He is indeed very skilled—a network security expert.”

“Ten years ago, he took second place in the World Cybersecurity Attack and Defense Championship.”

“Who took first?”

Su Chen felt a strange premonition—could it be a coincidence?

Sure enough.

Bai Su lowered her voice:

“The first place was an American who got obsessed with hacking, attacked the Pentagon, and ended up in prison.”