Zhou Chen watched Jiang Che quietly, waiting for her explanation.
Jiang Che didn't keep him in suspense. She swiped on her tablet, scrolling to the last page of the document.
"Unfortunately, while Fina Blanch was a Steward in the Jinzhu Region, she wasn't involved in handling the cargo. In fact, she knew none of the details. She only knew that the Grand Steward had classified the matter as top-secret and handed it over entirely to a mysterious believer code-named 'Cyan Whale.'"
"She doesn't know Cyan Whale's true identity, but she does know someone who can get in contact with them."
Zhou Chen stared at the familiar photo in the document, stunned. "The dance club president, Li Xiaoxiao?"
The photo showed a beautiful girl with a youthful air about her. It was none other than Li Xiaoxiao, the famous dance club president of Jinzhu University.
She was a year below Zhou Chen. In her first year, she had been named the freshman belle of Jinzhu University. After joining the dance club, she quickly became a campus celebrity. Every year since, he'd see her leading the other pretty girls from the dance club in a performance at the year-end gala.
—The kind of performance where they wore short skirts and danced suggestively.
It was a perennial favorite among the male students, receiving rave reviews year after year.
"She's a believer of Eternal Fire, too?" Zhou Chen was incredulous. 'Just how many people has Eternal Fire secretly ensnared?'
"As you can see, she is."
Jiang Che said calmly, "And she's not a low-ranking member. She's one of the very few people who can contact Cyan Whale, which makes her our most critical target at the moment."
Zhou Chen mulled it over for a moment. "So, you want me to be a mole, get close to her, and find a trail to Cyan Whale?"
"Ideally, you'd truly infiltrate the inner circle of Eternal Fire. It would be even better if you could attend their ritual. Cyan Whale will definitely show up then."
"But... why not be more direct? Why not just send people to grab Li Xiaoxiao?" Zhou Chen asked, confused.
"Because the situation is much more complicated than I initially thought."
Jiang Che said, "You remember those pink worms Fina Blanch spat out, right? They're called Desire Worms. They're the Extraordinary Ability of the S-Level fugitive 'Lover.' They can influence the subconscious, subtly changing the host's habits. To put it bluntly, it's a form of mind control."
"Once infected by a Desire Worm, a person becomes just like Fina Blanch. Their biological instinct to mate is amplified infinitely. And because their subconscious is affected, even an Ascender won't notice anything wrong. They'll just think that everything they do is of their own free will."
"At the same time, the Desire Worm also gives the host the ability to manipulate desire. In truth, Fina Blanch's own Extraordinary Ability isn't 'Forced Love.' It's 'Air Cannon.' You should have a deep appreciation for that."
'A deep appreciation is right, I almost got killed...' Zhou Chen grumbled internally. He gathered his thoughts. "When you say the situation is complicated, are you referring to this fugitive nicknamed 'Lover'?"
"No, I'm referring to the organization behind him."
Jiang Che gave him a profound look. "The organization he belongs to is called 'Fallen Paradise.' It's an ancient, mysterious organization that has existed since the destruction of the old era. There's one member among them you're certainly no stranger to."
"Who?"
Jiang Che took the tablet and tapped it a few times, pulling up a classified document and turning the screen toward Zhou Chen.
"Durham Joyce, male, Tier Two Corrupter, former Operator for the North American Star Association. Extraordinary Ability: 'Shadow Pool.'"
"Five years ago, he went missing during a classified mission for the North American Star Association. When he reappeared, he had already become a Corrupter and joined Fallen Paradise. He is now listed as an A-Level fugitive. Nickname—"
"—Gentleman."
Gentleman.
Zhou Chen silently stared at the face on the screen, a face he would never forget, even in death. His mind involuntarily replayed the tragic memory, the fear and despair he felt as his soul was devoured piece by piece...
The feeling of emptiness and nothingness that now perpetually emanated from his soul was all thanks to him.
He didn't snap out of it until Jiang Che turned the screen back around. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "He's a member of Fallen Paradise, and so is 'Lover.' Does that mean Fallen Paradise is involved in this, too?"
Jiang Che nodded. "Fina's memory report indicates she reported to 'Lover' about the cargo. In other words, Fallen Paradise has its eyes on that shipment as well."
"Add Eternal Fire to the mix... There are too many things involved in this now. Even I could get overwhelmed."
Fallen Paradise, Eternal Fire... two of the world's most infamous organizations, both showing up in Jinzhu at the same time, all for a shipment of cargo.
'If it were just a single Star Mango, there's no way it would attract both Fallen Paradise and Eternal Fire at the same time.'
'What exactly is in that shipment?'
'What did Xi Feng find in the Restricted Area?'
Jiang Che felt a headache coming on. She had been transferred to Jinzhu for less than a month and was already running into this kind of trouble. It was truly unpleasant.
She sighed softly, bringing the conversation back on track. "Fallen Paradise is also watching Li Xiaoxiao right now. If we send people to capture her directly, Fallen Paradise will definitely interfere. That would lead to a battle between Ascenders. Setting aside the potential losses and casualties, Eternal Fire would certainly be alerted immediately."
Zhou Chen considered it and sighed in resignation. "I get it. A mole it is, then. As long as I can find the Star Mango in the end."
"You should lower your expectations and prepare for the worst. It's possible the Star Mango is the very reason they're making such a big move," Jiang Che reminded him.
Zhou Chen froze. "Then what if I can't find the Star Mango?"
'My life depends on this!'
"I told you, I'll help you find another way," Jiang Che said.
Zhou Chen stared into her calm, almost cold eyes and said earnestly, "I hope you're not just stringing me along with empty promises."
Jiang Che's eyebrow twitched slightly, but she said nothing, simply turning back to her work on the tablet.
'What was that... Is she mad, or did I hit a nerve?' Zhou Chen couldn't tell. Jiang Che always had that cold expression, making it impossible to know what she was thinking.
Seeing that Jiang Che wasn't speaking and showed no sign of leaving, Zhou Chen took out his phone to check his messages. While cleaning out his texts, among a pile of ads and spam, he saw a message from his bank.
He froze completely.
[Deposit to savings account ending in 9861: 400,000 yuan. Current balance: 402,943.30 yuan.]
[Deposit to savings account ending in 9861: 2,500,000 yuan. Current balance: 2,902,943.30 yuan]
He was floored!
'The 400,000 must be the payment for the Fire Slave Crystals, but where did the 2.5 million come from?'
'Did money just fall from the sky? A bank error? A rich, beautiful girl made a mistaken transfer?'
Completely baffled, he opened the Star Association app and saw several notifications.
[Your subsidies for two field missions have been disbursed. Please check your account.]
[Your bounty mission has been completed. The reward has been disbursed. Please check your account.]
[Your application for Alchemy Laboratory use has been approved. Permissions have been configured. You have unlimited use of Laboratory 503 for one month. We wish you a pleasant learning experience.]
[Your enrollment for the Basic Practical Combat Skill has been completed. You may go to the training department to begin your studies at any time.]
[Your enrollment for the Intermediate Practical Combat Skill has been completed... ]
[Your enrollment for the Advanced Practical Combat Skill has been completed... ]
[Your enrollment for the Basic Alchemy course has been completed... ]
Zhou Chen's jaw dropped. He was completely lost.
'When did I ever apply for access to an Alchemy Laboratory? When did I enroll in Practical Combat Skills? When did I sign up for an Alchemy course?'
'Where would I get that kind of money?'
He clicked on each message to check the details. The subsidy for his first field mission was 500,000 yuan. The second one, the most recent mission, had a subsidy that shot up to one million yuan.
The other million was bounty money. The message stated that the standard bounty for capturing an Eternal Fire Steward was 500,000 yuan. But due to his excellent performance and the immense value of the captured Steward, an additional 500,000 yuan was added to the bounty.
As for the Alchemy Laboratory access, the Practical Combat Skills, and the Alchemy course—those were even more incredible. Each one cost at least a million yuan, with the price increasing with the level, yet not a single cent had been deducted from his account.
Most importantly, with his current clearance Level, he couldn't have even applied for these things in the first place.
Even an idiot would have figured it out by now. Zhou Chen's expression changed in a flash, a fawning smile spreading across his face. "Jiang Che, I admit I was a bit out of line earlier. Please don't hold it against me. From now on, your wish is my command. You tell me to go east, I won't dare go west. You tell me to climb a mountain of knives, and I'll stay clear of any sea of fire..."
Jiang Che looked up at him, nodded in satisfaction, put the tablet in her bag, and stood up to leave.
"In that case, work hard for me."