The System emitted a crackling, sizzling electric current within Ling Zhao's mind, flashing erratically as if overloaded.
[Warning! Target subject has left monitoring range! High-risk explosive device not disarmed! Mission 'Prevent Awards Ceremony Bombing' failure risk raised to 87%! Host! Should we immediately call the police? Or notify venue security?]
"No need." Ling Zhao's voice, issuing from this body's vocal cords, carried a calmness entirely unfitting for the urgent situation. He glanced one last time at the dark staircase where Gu Ying had vanished, turned, and walked unconcernedly toward the brightly lit backstage corridor. "At least, not now."
[No need?!] The System's light orb trembled violently in his consciousness. [But the bomb...]
"He won't detonate it," Ling Zhao interrupted, his footsteps steady. "At least, not now."
[Why? Because he ran?]
"Because 'Qin Jin' was here." Ling Zhao walked through the busy staff, his demeanor composed, as if the person who had just confronted a bomb-carrying mad villain and his main consciousness in a stairwell wasn't him. "The descent of the Main Consciousness consumes energy, and it also temporarily suppresses the fragment's own extreme emotions. Gu Ying is now more likely to be plunged into confusion and temporary retreat than to continue executing the plan."
He paused, then added, "Furthermore, the Main Consciousness wants to watch a show. A drama of redemption, starring me, which is inevitably doomed to fail. A direct detonation would be too boring."
The System was silent for a few seconds, seemingly processing the complex information, before finally asking weakly: [...So, what do we do now?]
Ling Zhao's gaze settled on Lin Zhe, who was basking in the adoration of a crowd and accepting congratulations not far away.
"We start by eliminating the obstacles."
The awards ceremony concluded smoothly. Lin Zhe, with the song plagiarized from Gu Ying, successfully lifted the "Best Composer" trophy, shining brilliantly. Pre-prepared press releases and trending topics, such as #LinZheWellDeserved# and #GeniusMusicianLinZhe#, quickly dominated the internet. Meanwhile, the occasional news report about Gu Ying's awkward exit from the ceremony was like a pebble tossed into the ocean, sinking without a ripple.
Ling Zhao returned to the residence the System had prepared for him—a top-floor duplex in a high-end apartment building, exquisitely decorated but severely lacking in human warmth. The income of a washed-up film star apparently hadn't impacted his living standards, but the vast space was as desolate as a show model room.
He ignored the expensive collection in the original body's wine cabinet and walked straight into the study, opening the computer. The Empire's information warfare was a compulsory course for him; even with this world's backward technology, its network system was in his eyes no more than an undefended playground.
His slender fingers flew across the keyboard, moving so fast they left afterimages. Lines of code scrolled across the screen like a green waterfall. He easily bypassed all firewalls and security protocols, infiltrating the internal servers of Lin Zhe's management company and several large entertainment marketing firms as if entering his own home.
[H-Host... what are you doing?] The System's core code felt a tremor as it watched the command streams it couldn't fully comprehend. [Randomly infiltrating others' networks is... against the rules...]
"Rules?" Ling Zhao's hands never stopped, his tone indifferent. "Do your rules explicitly forbid the Host from using unconventional means to complete the mission?"
[...Well, no. But...]
"No buts." Ling Zhao's gaze was fixed on a series of files and data being decrypted on the screen. "Efficiency is the priority."
Soon, he found what he was looking for. Not only the evidence of Lin Zhe plagiarizing Gu Ying's original manuscript (including different versions' modification logs, timestamps, and encrypted chat records between Lin Zhe and his music producer mentioning "cleaning up Gu Ying's situation"), but also an unexpected haul—traces of Lin Zhe's tax issues, several video clips of ambiguous encounters with different men and women, and a large number of transfer records and instruction files for hiring internet trolls to suppress competitors, including the long-term smear campaign against the original "Ling Zhao."
Ling Zhao separately packaged and encrypted the evidence concerning the plagiarism. As for the rest... he pondered for a moment, then anonymously forwarded the tax issues and some vague private life records to several known competitors and tax reporting emails. Using another's hand to kill was the lowest-cost method of cleanup.
After completing all of this, the first light of dawn was breaking outside the window.
He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. This body sent clear signals of exhaustion, yet his mind was in a strange state o