The Omniscient

Chapter 5: Perception Range

“First, I need to become proficient in using my ability. Then comes learning—because the more knowledge I have, the more information I can understand.”

To Huang Ji, what people call a “superpower” is simply an extraordinary trait.

If no one in the world could speak except him, then speaking would be his superpower.

If no living creature had vision except him, then vision would be his superpower.

Huang Ji thought that his Information Sense might be the same. Information could naturally be perceived; it was just that no one else could see it yet. For now, he was the only one capable of perceiving it.

It was worth noting, though, that when he observed himself, he couldn’t find any information about the Information Sense ability itself.

“Maybe I haven’t fully understood the essence of my ability yet?”

“Never mind. Grandpa’s asleep. I should take this chance to rescue Dr. Liang.”

Dr. Liang had been kind to him, and now that she had been kidnapped, the situation seemed suspicious. No matter what, he had to save her.

Earlier, while everyone else was at a loss, Huang Ji had already deduced Dr. Liang’s abduction by observing the scene.

There were tire tracks left behind—very faint ones, but they were there. While others couldn’t see them, Huang Ji could.

His eyes were incredibly powerful. At the time, the tire marks on the road were shallow and had been there for over twelve hours, making them invisible to the human eye.

But Huang Ji didn’t need to "see" in the conventional sense.

All he had to do was stare at the ground and unfold the information contained in the faint markings.

Among the data revealed was: "Tire marks left by a Jinbei van braking."

From that, he deduced, "Oh, so these are tire marks!"

He then expanded on that piece of information, retrieving related content such as the time of the tire marks. He learned they were left at 7:05 AM, by a Jinbei van braking. Before the marks were made, the van carried four passengers; afterward, it had five.

“Just from the tire marks, I couldn’t tell who was in the van because I didn’t observe the van itself. Through the tire marks, I could only identify the driver.”

Since the driver created the tire marks, Huang Ji could learn the driver’s name—but that was the limit of what he could extract from the tire marks alone.

Reflecting on his process, Huang Ji concluded, “By examining the footprints of the five people present at 7:05 AM, I identified their names.”

Knowing the time, he could investigate any traces left at that moment.

This led him to the five sets of footprints that had been created in the area at 7:05 AM.

At that exact time, only those five footprints existed in the area.

Every piece of information has a creator. By querying the creators of the footprints, he was able to learn the names, heights, weights, and other basic details of the five individuals. ȐÁΝőʙЕṤ

It’s worth noting that because he hadn’t directly observed those five people, he couldn’t extract more detailed or historical information about them from their footprints.

He could only discern basic physical details at the time the footprints were made.

“For me, the best observation comes from direct interaction through any of the five senses—whether it’s seeing, hearing, or even smelling. I need to have some form of direct interaction. That way, the information I can access is the most comprehensive.”

“If there’s no direct opportunity, then I can only observe indirectly. It’s best if there’s something the person ‘created,’ like a footprint or an item they left behind. Through this, I can at least determine simple information about the creator.”

“Both mediums—the direct and the indirect—are more effective when they’re larger in scale. If there’s not even an indirect object, then the only option left is the brute-force method.”

Huang Ji reflected on this. The brute-force method was the most desperate approach.

Human capacity is limited, and the more he thought about his ability, the more he realized the inherent limitations of humanity.

The brute-force method is simple: as long as he knows where someone has been, he can examine everything in that area.

Unless too much time has passed, there would always be some trace left behind, such as a bit of dandruff, moisture from exhaled breath, or even the smallest fragment of cells.

The reason larger mediums work better is that smaller ones are easier to overlook.

The sheer volume of matter in the world is staggering. Looking at any spot reveals countless pieces of material, each with its own set of information to uncover.

In theory, if his thoughts could operate on a molecular level, he could analyze a single molecule and trace its origin to determine who it previously belonged to.

That’s the essence of the brute-force method—expanding and examining the information of every minute object, in hopes that one might have been left behind by someone who passed through.

For instance, when a person walks through a space, they leave behind scent molecules. If Huang Ji happens to analyze one of those molecules, he could obtain an extensive amount of information about that person.

But while the concept is simple, the execution is incredibly difficult.

A random cluster of air contains trillions of molecules. Investigating them one by one? That’s a recipe for insanity. Even analyzing them in batches would produce chaotic and inconclusive results unless the majority belonged to the same source.

What’s more, Huang Ji couldn’t yet analyze a single molecule or even an individual cell.

Though he’d envisioned this approach, he knew it was currently beyond his capabilities—merely a theoretical possibility.

In practice, Huang Ji could only derive meaningful information from objects visible to the naked eye left behind by the other party.

Even then, the smallest trace he could analyze was a single strand of hair, and even that required incredible focus and patience.

“These people were extremely cautious—they left no visible traces. No one but me could have discerned those footprints.”

Because the countryside roads were uneven, the kidnappers had likely stepped out of the car beforehand. Their shoes had picked up some mud, leaving faint, long-lasting footprints on the concrete when they exited the vehicle.

The footprints were heavily damaged, reduced to mere specks of mud. Even the most skilled forensic expert wouldn’t have been able to gather anything useful.

But to Huang Ji, even “damaged footprints” were still footprints, unless they were completely obliterated by overlapping traces.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

For him, as long as there was a visible mark left by a shoe, he could unfold the information labeled “footprint.”

Long before anyone else realized Dr. Liang had been kidnapped, Huang Ji already knew the names of the five perpetrators.

By observing the traces under an old tree, he even discovered there had been a witness at the scene.

Later, when Wang Meng dispersed the villagers to prevent them from gathering, Huang Ji silently left, following the van’s tire tracks alone to trace its path.

The van had taken the national highway, and Huang Ji followed its trail for a while.

Logically, there was no way someone on foot could catch up to a vehicle—especially after twelve hours had passed. By now, the van could have reached Zhengzhou.

However, Huang Ji knew some of Dr. Liang’s secrets, which allowed him to deduce the kidnappers’ motive.

The kidnappers were after something. Since they hadn’t obtained it, there was no way they would flee far.

Sure enough, following the trail didn’t take long before Huang Ji discovered from the information on the ground that the van had stopped at 7:15 AM.

It had stopped right on the national highway. Marks on the guardrail confirmed that four people had gotten out and climbed over it.

Without a doubt, three men had stayed behind with Dr. Liang while the driver continued onward alone.

“I see. Based on the witness account from Li Fan, even if the police checked the highway surveillance for the van’s route, they would at most trace the ‘decoy.’”

“They would think the kidnappers had headed into the county, unaware that they were still within Huazhuang Village’s territory.”

When Wang Meng dispersed the villagers, Huang Ji had already traced the situation to this point and then returned to the village.

Back home, to give the police a hint, Huang Ji wrote a ransom note.

Yes, a ransom note. He "impersonated" the kidnappers to write it. While Wang Meng was taking pictures at the health clinic, Huang Ji quietly slipped the note onto the police car’s windshield under the wiper.

The note read:

“Liang Yuan is in our hands. Exchange her parents for her, or she dies.”

Signed: Lü Zongmin.

This brazen message was deliberately written by Huang Ji to alert the police that the kidnappers hadn’t left the area.

Not only that, but Huang Ji signed it with the real name of one of the kidnappers.

The name he retrieved through information queries was the person’s “true name,” which might not necessarily be their commonly used name.

The person’s usual name could be a nickname or alias. A "true name" referred to the first name the person was ever given.

Huang Ji had verified this with his own information. While his official name was Huang Ji, and most people called him that, the information still listed his true name as “Huang Xu.”

This was the name his grandfather had decided on before registering his official name.

This indicated that a person’s true name is the first widely recognized name they were given, rather than just a suggested name. For example, before naming him Huang Xu, his family had floated several other names. However, those were merely suggestions, not officially accepted, until his grandfather finalized “Huang Xu.”

“For most people, unless their situation is unusual like mine, their true name should match their registered name.”

“Lü Zongmin—perhaps the police can uncover something with this name.”

With this in mind, Huang Ji signed the ransom note with Lü Zongmin’s name.

The other three kidnappers had names that were too common, with many people sharing them, so he chose the most unique name among the four.

After completing this, Huang Ji returned home to take care of his grandfather. Once his grandfather had fallen asleep, he slipped out again.

Having provided so many hints, if the police still couldn’t locate Dr. Liang, Huang Ji knew he would have to take matters into his own hands.

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