Book 3, Chapter 73: Operation

On the seventeenth of April, Chen Chuan left the Arcane Palace early in the morning and drove out of Central City. He headed north along the public road until he reached a checkpoint far away from the Fu-Mu Entity.

Once the biofields were no longer effective, his Realm Pass fell completely silent.

Chen Chuan didn’t go past the checkpoint. Once he parked his car, he went to a public phone booth by the road, where he picked up the phone receiver and inserted more than ten coins. Soon, the call went through. “How may I help you?”

“Is this Chang Hotel? I’d like to speak to Chang Ba.” After a brief pause, he added, “I’m Chen Chuan.”

“Oh, Chen Chuan? I remember you.” It seemed like the person who answered the phone had seen him before. “One second. I’ll call the owner.”

After a short while, someone shouted excitedly from the other side of the phone, and the voice was followed by quick but light footsteps rapidly approaching the phone. Chang Ba’s voice entered Chen Chuan’s ears the moment he picked up the phone.

“Is that you, Chen Chuan? Haha! You finally remembered to call me? You sent a letter last year saying that you’re in Central City now. Are you still there? How are things?”

Chen Chuan smiled. “I’m still in Central City. Life is great here.”

“That’s good.” Chang Ba sighed with emotion, but there was also a hint of longing in his voice. “Central City must be really good. I haven’t had the chance to go yet, but I heard that everything there is different from the world outside. What do you think? Is that true?”

“How should I put this? If I were to be honest, it feels like everyone here is living beside a demon. Sometimes, people turn into demons, and sometimes, it’s the other way around,” Chen Chuan said.

Chang Ba’s eyes went wide, and he gasped. “It’s that crazy? No way. It can’t be. If Central City was really as you said, why would everyone want to go there?”

“Maybe it’s because there’s a staircase here that leads to the sun,” Chen Chuan said cryptically.

Chang Ba mulled over his words for a bit before saying seriously, “Got it.”

“Besides, not everyone wants to come here. You don’t, for one, do you?”

“Exactly! I don’t want to! Hahaha!” Chang Ba laughed for a while before clearing his throat and asking, “Anyway, why’d you call?”

“Is Mr. He around?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Uncle He? He sure is. You’re looking for him? Let me give him a holler. Hang on.”

Chen Chuan waited patiently. A little over ten minutes later, He Xiaoxing picked up the phone receiver. “Chen Chuan?”

The moment he heard his voice, Chen Chuan could picture He Xiaoxing’s well-built body and mane-like hair. “It’s me, Mr. He. I intend to attack Zhao Qian very shortly.”

He Xiaoxing didn’t ask for a reason. “What’s your plan?” he said gravely.

Chen Chuan told him his idea and the general plan. Since some parts were quite complicated, he provided more explanations for those segments. At the end, he said, “I’m missing one crucial part for my plan to succeed now, Mr. He. I need a photo of Shen Zheng.”

“I’ll send it to you over the next few days. Once you’ve set a date, send it to me through a telegram,” He Xiaoxing said.

A flicker of emotion stirred in Chen Chuan’s heart.

“Okay,” he said and ended the call. He Xiaoxing’s request was obvious—he wanted to be part of the operation.

Out of all the people involved in Shen Zheng’s murder, Zhao Qian was the only one left a free man. It was time for them to put an end to the incident.

Chen Chuan walked out of the phone booth, returned to the car, and drove back to Central City. Fifteen minutes later, the fog-shrouded city became clearer, and his Realm Pass started functioning again, so he contacted Gao Ming. “We can begin now.”

***

On the twentieth of April, Zhao Qian was talking to a client in United Might when he received an emergency call from his assistant. Displeased, he apologized to the client before asking, “What?”

Nervous, his assistant said hurriedly, “Mr. Zhao, the internal audit team is heading to your office.”

Zhao Qian’s expression froze. Why were they coming this time?

The internal audit team was sent from the headquarters to Central City to record and monitor the employees, then report everything back. When necessary, they also delivered and carried out the headquarters’ decisions. However, they usually didn’t have much of a presence and didn’t show up unless...

Zhao Qian could hear his female assistant crying out anxiously for people to stop, but the footsteps did not halt, and the door opened. Two men and one woman in dark company uniforms strode in. There were clear embedded lines on their cheeks, but no expression could be detected on their faces.

One of the men went up to Zhao Qian and stood in front of his office desk with his legs spread slightly apart. Once Zhao Qian stood up, the man said in a business-like tone, “Mr. Zhao, this morning, we received a letter from the Resolution Department requesting you to come for an investigation. You’ve been accused of attempting to take the life of a backup law enforcer. We are here on behalf of the company. Please provide an explanation for the higher ups.”

Zhao Qian’s heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t show anything on his face. Instead, in a serious voice, he said, “I’m sorry for alarming the headquarters like this, but this is slander.”

The woman at the back recorded his answer and pushed her hand against her Realm pass, as if connecting with someone. This made Zhao Qian feel an invisible wave of pressure.

The man in the lead just stared at him and continued asking expressionlessly, “The Resolution Department has requested you to answer their summons within two days and cooperate with their investigation. Do you have anything to say to the company?”

“Please tell the directors that I will settle this issue and won’t let it affect the company’s business,” Zhao Qian promised earnestly.

“We will pass along your message verbatim, and the company will evaluate your capabilities and your handling of the matter. We will send the review back to you within two days.”

“Whatever the company’s decision is, I will accept it,” Zhao Qian said.

“That’s the end of our questions. Director Xing is asking for you. Please contact him later. Good day,” the man said, and the three left without turning back.

Zhao Qian’s expression sank. He didn’t know what had gone wrong. How did he end up exposing himself? How much evidence did the Resolution Department have?

Since he had made his request through the Secret Python Cult’s platform, there should not have been any tracks leading to him.

But thinking about that was pointless now. What he needed to do was think of a way to solve this problem.

Immediately, he contacted Director Xing. He was the managing director of the branch company in Central City, but he came here quite rarely. Instead, he spent most of his time at the headquarters.

Once the call went through, the director’s annoyed voice welcomed him. “Zhao Qian, I don’t care whether you did it or not. Deal with the problem as soon as possible. The escort mission is right around the corner. I don’t want to hear about anything like this popping up before or after it.”

The moment the message ended, the call cut off on its own.

Extremely sullen, Zhao Qian pondered over his situation for a while before going to the window and making a call. When it went through, he asked, “How’s the investigation?”

“I haven’t noticed anything unusual. He keeps a regular routine and hasn’t met anyone special. The only thing I would peg as out of place would be him going to Motie Mountain once every month.

“I checked and he’s visiting the person the Resolution Department assigned as his teacher, but Motie Mountain’s security is really tight. I don’t know who he is just yet.”

“Since you can’t find anything, stop looking into it for now. Be on standby until I tell you otherwise,” Zhao Qian said grimly.

“Looks like you’re caught up in something. Sure, I’ll stop.”

Zhao Qian sucked in a deep breath. For the time being, he couldn’t attack Chen Chuan again. Since the Resolution Department had brought this matter to the table, they were bound to continue keeping their eyes on him. If he stepped out of line even a bit, it would lead to bigger trouble.

He had only just dealt with the trouble from Black Orchid Co.’s collapse, and the Resolution Department had their eyes on him again. This would make the people vying for his position restless once more.

He had to settle this issue right away.

After taking his time thinking about it, he made a call, and it went through immediately, but he didn’t hear any sound. Still, he knew that she was listening, so he said, “Help me one more time.”

A moment later, a delicate voice of a girl came through. “What do you want?”

“The company’s seasonal review is just around the corner, and I need to complete the final escort mission of the season. After this, I’m going to apply to leave the branch company in Jibei Road and step down from my position,” Zhao Qian said calmly.

When the girl said nothing, he continued, “I know that you hate me, but I’m important to you. You don’t have anyone you can trust outside. So, no matter how much you hate me, I’m the only one who can help you and be your eyes and ears in the world outside.”

After a moment, the girl said, “Fine.”

Once the call ended, Zhao Qian looked ahead coldly. He wasn’t going to allow this matter to end like that.

Two days later, it was the twenty-second of April. Zhao Qian left United Might and went to the Resolution Department with his lawyer to be questioned.

He had come here a few times since Black Orchid Co.’s downfall. Just like last time, the Resolution Department showed no cordiality toward him. During the questioning, they even asked him to hand over his Realm Pass so that they could look into it.

His lawyer rejected it on the grounds that letting them do so might lead to company secrets being leaked. He also asked the Resolution Department to provide real, concrete proof instead of trying to intimidate Zhao Qian.

The Resolution Department showed some seemingly convincing evidence but hinted that as long as Zhao Qian cooperated, they wouldn’t cause him trouble again in the near future.

At this point, Zhao Qian understood what the Resolution Department wanted him to do, but saying yes would be a very bad decision. The moment he was stripped of his position as a head of the department, he would no longer be of any value to the Resolution Department, and they could control him even easier than before. The only way he could protect himself was by standing his ground, so he didn’t give any response.

But the Resolution Department wasn’t expecting him to cow after just one interrogation. After detaining him for a full twelve hours, they let him go and asked him to come back tomorrow for further questioning.

***

Chen Chuan got the results from Ni Qianqian, and he told Gao Ming, “The Resolution Department doesn’t intend to take down Zhao Qian, just as you said.”

“That’s to be expected. A middle-level manager in charge of main business operations is really valuable. The Resolution Department won’t give up on him that easily. If they took out Zhao Qian, they’d lose a good chance to control United Might. Fortunately, since he has been shoved into the spotlight, he won’t attack you for the time being.

“Even if he wants to, he could only do it when he’s outside the city. If someone killed you during that time, he could use his presence outside the city as an alibi to prove himself innocent. He could also make sure that the government would not be able to hold him accountable for it for a time.”

“He won’t have that chance,” Chen Chuan declared calmly.

Just then, Wu Bei’s excited but nervous voice came through the Realm Pass. “He left the Resolution Department, Chen Chuan.”

“Got it. I’ll leave the rest to you,” Chen Chuan said.