Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 298 Relationships of Change

clap clap clap...

Xiao Jiu, Li Xing, and Lin Jia also joined in the applause.

"The team leader is amazing!"

"As expected of the ace of the execution team!"

"Heh, so-so. I'll catch up with you sooner or later..." Han Yuhao said with his arms crossed and a proud look on his face.

Immediately afterwards, he received another slap on the back of the head from Jiang Siqi.

"you--"

"What, you want to try the Bone-Corroding Heart-Burning Curse again?" Jiang Siqi glared at her threateningly.

The man with the earring immediately calmed down a lot. Although he was not afraid of serious injury and was difficult to kill, he could feel pain very clearly. He still vividly remembered the experience of being in excruciating pain and rolling on the ground when he sparred with Jiang Siqi last time.

As Honglian listened to her teammates' congratulations and watched Xiao Kanong's impassioned speech on the screen, along with the constantly flashing cameras below, her mind went completely blank.

Did he already know he was coming here? And was he aware of the purpose of his leave request?
Did he know about his collaboration with Beitianyuan and the illegal wanderers?

If he knew, why didn't he arrest her and interrogate her properly, instead of promoting her as the hero who saved the city?

If he didn't know... why did he pretend to be a prophet?
Honglian couldn't understand it.

What exactly is the captain planning?
……

"Honglian and Wang Baihu have become heroes of Jiangcheng!"

Chen Xuan had just returned to his shop in Tianlu Community when he heard Lin Qing yelling at him.

"Huh?" Chen Xuan took out his phone and found that the news about Hongda Daily Chemical Factory had already topped the trending searches on various portal websites.

The photo of Honglian, the head of the executive group, has even become a background image on some websites.

It must be said... even when magnified, her features are flawless...

No, now is not the time to observe this. Chen Xuan frowned, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. They had anticipated that the organization might receive advance notice and intercept or detain Honglian and Wang Baihu... or even dismiss them. Whichever outcome occurred, it would accelerate the rift between Honglian and the organization.

But now... instead of investigating the details behind their leave requests, the authorities are praising them relentlessly?

After scrolling through the news reports of the on-site interviews, Chen Xuan asked, "Any new developments on Tian Zhenggang's side?"

After confirming that the smell came from Hongda Chemical Factory, the police launched a two-pronged operation: one side reinforced the factory area, preparing to seal it off and search it after nightfall; the other side investigated the person in charge of the chemical factory's parent company, Jiang Wenbin, the president of Gaosheng Group.

Lin Qing nodded and calmly replied, "They couldn't control Jiang Wenbin because he was already dead."

"Dead? Dead?" Chen Xuan was stunned.

Jiang Wenbin was a prominent figure in Jiangcheng. He was Jiang Wenbin's boss when Jiang Wenbin worked at a large factory. It was unexpected that he would suddenly disappear.

Even if this were taken out of context, it would be considered an earthquake on the internet.

"Died in his own villa, time of death around 7 a.m. this morning... The cause of death is still under investigation, but it's pretty close to it..." Lin Qing sneered, "I guess it was murder by ability."

Chen Xuan was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. So many people had died before, including historical figures like Gilderley, but none of them had the same impact on him as Boss Jiang. Perhaps this was the first person to die in his circle.
From the fire at the chemical factory to Jiang Wenbin's death at his home, it's clear that someone didn't want them to actually uncover anything.

“It seems a bit strange,” Chen Xuan pondered. “Jiang Wenbin’s past statements and his own stance don’t seem to be part of the same group as the government.”

He wanted to recruit a team of superhumans for Jiangcheng, and even sponsored a superpower program on TV for this purpose.

This approach itself is likely to anger the authorities.

Moreover, Lu Lixin interrupted the recording of that program. If Chen Xuan hadn't been there, the program that day would probably have turned into a massacre.

The more intense the strange feeling became, the more Lu Lixin was actually a pawn cultivated by Jiang Wenbin.

“At least the organization had good reason to get rid of Jiang Wenbin,” Lin Qing agreed. “In addition, the organization had collected Azure Dragon blood before, so it’s not surprising that they could use drugs to stimulate his abilities… If we can find out how the dragon blood flowed to Jiang Wenbin, we can probably figure out the details of this matter.”

However, the trip was not in vain. Chen Xuan finally resolved the threat of illegal ability users, and the Beitian Academy and the police were quite satisfied with the result—at least in the short term, all parties believed that Jiangcheng would not experience another serious incident like the cursed plague.

The news of Jiang Wenbin's death was not released until two days later.

As Chen Xuan had predicted, this incident once again ignited the internet, and along with topics such as the "daily chemical factory incident" and "superpower safety," it became the top trending topic on various forums. Since the Weixian Agency was the main force openly responsible for solving the case, it received a chorus of praise, and Honglian even became the de facto representative of the execution team.

"Putting everything else aside, this marketing move is already at the level of a major company in later generations," Lin Qing commented. "If Xiao Kanong's reason for not punishing Honglian is to boost his reputation, then he's quite successful."

Chen Xuan had to admit that.

Honglian is now practically an idol; she has not only opened her own blog account but has also gained a huge number of fans.

Despite the fact that the other party privately complained to Lin Qing that the blog was actually handled by the government and that not a single word was posted by her, and that she had to cooperate with the logistics team to take several photos every day in order to "prove" to her fans that she was always on the front line of protecting Jiangcheng.

Indeed, Honglian and Lin Qing's relationship has progressed rapidly.

Previously, the two were nominally "enemies," but now they could be considered half-comrades-in-arms. With the help of that futuristic, technologically advanced phone that would never reveal secrets, she could chat with Lin Qing for hours every night.

Although she hasn't broken ties with the organization yet, her suspicion and disgust towards the chief commander have reached a new high. Especially when the other party congratulated her while pretending to be nonchalant, Honglian directly said in a text message that she felt like she had swallowed a fly.

She'd rather Xiao Kanong were furious, berating her for pretending to take leave while actually investigating the chemical factory. That way, she could yell back and demand an explanation about the ability-awakening potion. Instead, it was like this now, with both sides wearing masks and acting, working in the same office yet feeling like they were stuck in a quagmire.

She is also investigating the source of the leak, but has no leads yet.

The only thing that is certain at present is that the Weixian agency is still unaware of the matter concerning the wanderer Lin Qing.

Lin Qing was already satisfied with the operation, having successfully established contact with Honglian. Once the Demon Conference in March convened, the other side would be able to fully see the true nature of the organization.

She has something else to do today.

"I'm ready." Lin Qing came down from the second floor. Her outfit today was very business-like, a blazer and long skirt combination, her hair was blonde, and she only wore a string of silver earrings. "How is it?"

"Very beautiful," Chen Xuan praised, "It's like she's a completely different person."

She smiled sweetly, "I have indeed made some adjustments to my facial contours. It seems you've been observing quite a bit."

It's not illegal to look at more.

Chen Xuan coughed twice. "The branch has been set up. You can go there anytime."

Lin Qing took two steps, then suddenly stopped. "Do you really agree to my plan to hand over the strange object to someone else?"

"Me? Give it to whom?" A voice suddenly came from below the bar.

Immediately afterwards, a head of dazzling silver hair rose up from behind the bar; it was N21 Ruri, who had come from another world.

"I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about N959," Chen Xuan looked at her suspiciously, "What are you doing lying there like that?"

"I'm looking for a mouse."

"Sorry, I probably don't have any rats in my shop... Wait, why are you looking for something like that?"

Liuli said in a serious tone, "To appease myself."

Chen Xuan was stunned for a moment before realizing what she was talking about—N21 is like a knife, and it needs to be used to draw blood to maintain stability. The problem is that they just caused a huge disturbance at the demon's Paris headquarters, and now they need to "recharge" again?

“No… I’m quite stable right now, around 80% or more.” Liuli seemed to see his surprise. “However, this is a gradual process of accumulation, so stability doesn’t mean complete rest. Finding rats and eagles in the temple’s treasury is also one of my daily entertainments.”

"Can killing rats really increase stability?"

"No... we can only slow down its decline." Liuli blinked. "What kind of swordsman would pick a fight with small animals every day?"

That makes a lot of sense.

But why does it look like there's a hint of rose red around her lips?

(End of this chapter)