Book 4, Chapter 34: Investigation

Chen Chuan shook hands with Chang Dong and sensed strength in his thick palm, which meant that the man possessed extraordinary power. He, too, greeted him. “Hello, Mr. Chang. Did you just say that you’re the new person-in-charge?”

“Ah... Let me explain. There are few members of the purity faction in Jibei Road, or rather, Jibei Road falls under the refined training faction’s and fusion faction’s spheres of influence.”

He sighed. “Things weren’t like this before. Fifteen years ago, the former person-in-charge needed to get rid of a really dangerous target. He summoned most of the members in Jibei Road for the operation.

“Unfortunately, we failed. Not only did the target escape, but we also suffered massive losses. Most people did not come back.

“This had a massive impact on Jibei Road, and some of our members were affected. After that, for more than a decade, the purity faction only had a symbolic base in Jibei Road’s Central City. The person-in-charge here wasn’t even a martial artist, but we did station some members in the peripheral cities the other two factions don’t pay much attention to.”

Chen Chuan immediately thought about Wen Tong and He Xiaoxing. It was no wonder why he felt that while he could sense that the purity faction had some degree of influence, he did not see its members around. This was the reason for it.

Chang Dong patted his SUV. “I’ve come not only to give you pure essence, but to also become your contact person with the faction and to rebuild our branch in Central City. I hope that we’ll have many chances of working together in the future.”

Chen Chuan nodded. Since he had joined the purity faction, he naturally had to contribute while enjoying its benefits. “I hope so too. What do you need me to do?”

“You don’t have to worry about the details. I’ll be in charge of finding new members and forming an administrative team. You just need to do your own thing and kill the existences from the other world, along with the people who are in cahoots with them.”

The last sentence was said with a stern expression.

“Even if they’re important politicians?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Even if!” Chang Dong stated firmly.

“But before we take action, we need proof. We can’t just attack based on suspicion. Usually, once we have proof and can go through the proper procedures to get the target eliminated, we will. If we can’t get it done quickly but the situation is urgent, we will kill first and deal with the paperwork after.

“If the existences from the other world manage to infiltrate our world, they will do great damage to us. That’s why we need to act in a timely manner sometimes. Otherwise, it might lead to a lot of unexpected consequences. You’re in the perfect position to do so, because this is within your jurisdiction.”

Chen Chuan nodded.

After their brief exchange, he asked Chang Dong to come into his house. Once he served some tea, Chen Chuan sat down. “Mr. Chang, I have a problem at hand that might involve the refined training faction. If you hadn’t come today, I would have contacted the faction myself. Now that you’re here, I’d like to tell you about it.”

The moment Chang Dong heard the faction’s name, he became serious and sat up straight, even though he looked like he had sunken into Chen Chuan’s armchair a moment ago. “What is it?”

Chen Chuan told him what had happened and how the group had tried to contact him through a lot of people around him.

Upon hearing this, Chang Dong asked, “Do you still have the radio with you?”

“Yes,” Chen Chuan answered. While he had deposited Ji Xinming’s group at the Resolution Department, he kept the radio with him, since it was the most important item in this situation. He went away and brought over the radio.

After checking it, Chang Dong’s expression grew stern.

He was talented in the use of mental energy and had a unique technique, but was unable to decipher anything from the radio. If Chen Chuan didn’t hide anything or didn’t feed him false information, it could only mean one thing.

“It looks like I need to take this radio with me. Don’t worry. They crossed the line this time. I’ll send a telegram back, and the faction will deal with it for you,” he said gravely.

He then picked up his briefcase and took out a receipt. “The two units of pure essence are here. I’ve delivered your training resources. Please verify them and sign on the receipt, so I can take it with me.”

Chen Chuan nodded and took the briefcase to check it with his mental energy. Once he was sure that there was nothing amiss, he took a pen, signed the receipt, and handed it back to Chang Dong.

The man packed his things up and gave Chen Chuan a telegram channel and number for contact purposes before standing up, shaking his hand, and leaving.

Once he was outside, he stared at the sun hanging high in the sky, along with the road wavering under the haze of the heat. Then, he stroked his soft belly with a troubled expression. He had only just come here, and he already needed to go back. This back and forth might just make him lose a few kilograms.

Chen Chuan walked him to his SUV and saw him off, then took the briefcase to his training room. There were two glass tubes inside it. They contained liquid light that resembled small fish swimming around.

Some texts described pure essence as a thing that had certain properties of living beings. Based on what he had seen so far, those words made sense.

There was a note in the briefcase. It had instructions on what he needed to pay attention to and what he needed to avoid doing while he took the pure essence.

After reading the instructions, Chen Chuan took a tube out, enveloped it with his mind, removed the cork, and downed it in one go.

He could immediately tell that the effects he got from taking this pure essence were much worse than the ones before. This was likely due to the fact that pure essence lost much of its purity after entering the world.

This was to be expected. Since the things from the other world could affect them, the physical world, too, could affect the other world. The appearance of the merged space was the greatest evidence.

Fortunately, what Chen Chuan received was pure essence, and he got a sufficient amount of it.

However, he had thought that the two units he would get would be of the same quality as what he had absorbed before. Judging from this situation, even after he took both glass tubes, it wouldn’t be enough for him. Luckily, the faction had said that if he didn’t have enough, they could give him more. Besides, pure essence still occasionally spilled out from the other world, so he didn’t have to worry about not having enough.

Over the next two days, Chen Chuan didn’t go anywhere and just absorbed pure essence, trained his mind, and went through his daily training at home. Even though his pace slowed down, he ended up absorbing all the pure essence within two days. So, he sent a telegram through the channel Chang Dong left for him requesting two more units of pure essence.

On the first of September, Chen Chuan put on his uniform in the morning and went to the Resolution Department. The day before, he had received a message from the department that he had to attend a senior-level meeting.

At 10 a.m., he stepped into the Resolution Department. On his way to the meeting room, all the officers stopped to salute him, and he nodded in response. Once Safe Shield led him to the meeting room, he saw that the supervisors of seven districts had already arrived.

There were eight districts in Central City. Aside from White Bird District, each district had a supervisor, though they usually didn’t have much of a presence and only attended meetings for appearances. They had to do whatever the higher-ups decided.

Lead investigators in charge of using force to enforce the law, like Chen Chuan, were the ones who had the right to make suggestions and decisions. Right now, there were only three lead investigators in the Resolution Department, including him. The other two came to the meeting room at about the same time. Once they met his gaze, one of them greeted Chen Chuan.

The other one, Lead Investigator Han, was neither cold nor friendly toward Chen Chuan. He just gave a cool nod.

After they sat down in their respective seats and waited for a while, Wu Quan entered the meeting room. They got up to salute him, then sat down once more, and the meeting officially began.

“Lead Investigator Chen, you’ve only just returned from your holiday, so you might not know certain things. Safe Shield, send a detailed report to Lead Investigator Chen,” Wu Quan said.

“Understood.”

Chen Chuan immediately received a large document. After giving it a quick read, he learned that the Union would send a team of representatives to Central City during the end of September. At the same time, the Linacrox Union was also going to send a diplomatic delegation, and their first stop was going to be Jibei Road’s Central City.

Clearly, both were coming with ill intentions.

Further down was information he had seen before. The Resolution Department was going to investigate and tighten monitoring over United Might, GreenSource Eco-Tech, and other companies.

United Might was a given. It was involved in the transportation of two propagated offspring, so the Resolution Department wasn’t going to let them slide. As for GreenSource Eco-Tech, they might be involved in producing some of the insects scattered in every nook and cranny of the city, so they needed to watch this company closely.

While Chen Chuan was reading through the information, Wu Quan gave a general rundown of the situation and assigned missions.

“Lead Investigator Han, you have good ties with the companies. I’ll leave all work related to the Union’s representative team to you.”

Lead Investigator Han nodded in reply.

Wu Quan then turned to the friendly lead investigator. “Lead Investigator Wen, I’ll put you in charge of the safety of the Linacrox Union’s diplomatic delegation.”

“Understood,” Lead Investigator Wen accepted the task.

Finally, Wu Quan turned to Chen Chuan. “Lead Investigator Chen, I’ll put you in charge of investigating United Might and GreenSource Eco-Tech. The investigation might take a long time, and you’re going to need to look into many things. If you lack manpower, you can bring it up to us.”

Chen Chuan considered it. “I need to expand my team.”

“Approved. I’ll increase the number by ten. If it’s not enough, you can bring it up to me again. I’ll get some additional funding for you,” Wu Quan stated.

“Then, there are no other problems on my side,” Chen Chuan said.

After that, Wu Quan started assigning missions to the lead investigators in charge of supervising operations and telling them what they needed to look out for. Around an hour later, the meeting ended, and they prepared to leave.

Once Chen Chuan stood up, Wu Quan called out to him. “One moment, Lead Investigator Chen. I need to discuss something with you.”

Chen Chuan immediately stopped. The other lead investigators turned around to give them a curious look before leaving.

When Wu Quan and Chen Chuan were the only ones left, Wu Quan stepped away from his seat and sat down near him.

“You were the one who brought those three in, weren’t you? A group of lawyers came right after. The municipal government also called us repeatedly to release them. After those three spoke to the lawyers, they started saying that you attacked them first, and they’re going to sue you.”