Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 226 A leader of that level has no right to investigate me!
"What happens next is none of your business for now. Go and get some rest."

Zhang Shanfeng gently rubbed his slightly throbbing temples. In Jin Yong's martial arts novels, prominent temples are a sign of a master of internal energy, because in traditional Chinese medicine's meridian theory, the temples are "extraordinary points outside the meridians." It is traditionally believed that practitioners of internal energy, through long-term practice of breathing exercises and guiding internal energy, will have abundant qi and blood, which will manifest in certain external physical characteristics...

But it's clear that Zhang Shanfeng isn't about to become a master of internal energy due to a significant increase in his skill; he's just feeling overwhelmed by the huge amount of things that are right in front of him.

Each and every one of these matters is extremely important. It is no exaggeration to say that, theoretically, the Foreign Cooperation Division does not have the authority to handle these matters. They should be reported to the headquarters of the National Bureau of Anomalies and would require a meeting and discussion, and would take an unknown amount of time... And now, there are so many matters of this level that you can't even count them on one hand!
The good news is that Zhang Shanfeng is a highly influential figure even at headquarters, and he has the ability to handle these incidents. The bad news is that these matters naturally fall on his shoulders.

This is bad news for him, at least.

Nobody likes to do things that are tiring and troublesome, so why not fight?

But it's impossible for him to simply hand the matter over to the National Bureau of Abnormal Investigations... Everything else is fine, but all of these things are related to Lu Mingfei. He is indispensable; without him, these things simply wouldn't connect.

That's the problem.

An organization cannot be a one-man show; there will always be factions and differing opinions. While it's fine for Zhang Shanfeng to handle Lu Mingfei's matter himself, decisions about him going higher up are no longer something one person can decide. It's not that Zhang Shanfeng doesn't trust the organization's decision-making ability, nor that he believes his own strength is insufficient to play a decisive role; rather, he feels there's no need to create unnecessary trouble.

His biggest worry is that these unnecessary disputes will have a negative impact and ruin the current favorable situation! History has proven countless times that sometimes what we should fear most is not a powerful enemy, but a teammate who is as good as a pig... or a "one of our own" with ulterior motives.

Fortunately, with his level of "protection," he can still cover up these things. He only needs to "add bricks and tiles" and "patch things up" in some reports, or simply conceal some things.

To ensure a flawless execution of this entire process, expert assistance is essential...

Zhang Shanfeng's gaze wandered, and this long thought actually took very little time. After hearing this, everyone stood up, except for Lu Mingfei, who remained seated.

This was quite a self-aware act on his part. One would think that Zhang Shanfeng must have something to say to him or ask him in private, right? The others thought so too.

But the next second he saw Zhang Shanfeng glare at him and ask irritably, "What are you still doing here?"

"what?"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback. "Me?"

"Go, go, go!"

Zhang Shanfeng waved his hand, as if shooing away buzzing flies, and said in a harsh tone, "I'm annoyed just looking at you. Students should go back and study properly!"

"oh oh……"

Lu Mingfei stood up with great joy. He had been waiting anxiously for the "judgment," but it turned out that he had nothing to do with it at all!

However, it was clear that Teacher Zhang didn't intend to delve into certain matters. Realizing this, he completely disregarded the other party's impatient tone. Putting himself in their shoes, such a tone was perfectly normal.

Just as the group was about to leave, Zhang Shanfeng suddenly spoke up again: "Why are you leaving? Stay a moment!"

This wasn't said to Lu Mingfei, of course. Even with both hemispheres of the brain working in tandem, one's mind wouldn't change so quickly, so it must be directed at someone else...

Ye Sheng reluctantly stopped, his last shred of hope instantly shattered. Who understands that feeling when the boss says they'll keep a key employee on leave for overtime, and everyone's eyes turn to one person—and that person is you!

"Good luck!" Nono waved and left first, followed by Susie, Chu Zihang, and Lu Mingfei. Everyone repeated the same thing. Lu Mingfei even gave him a look that said, "Good brother, good luck! I believe in you. I'll definitely go to great lengths for you if you ever need anything."

Finally, it was Sake Aki's turn. The girl smiled gently, left with the words "I'll wait for you outside," and departed.

The temporary command center fell silent, but not for long. Zhang Shanfeng spoke up: "Stop looking so long-faced. The capable should do more. Get this sorted out quickly and I'll approve leave for you and your girlfriend!"

Ye Sheng scratched his head, knowing that even Chu Zihang and the others could see it, let alone an old fox like Teacher Zhang. So he didn't refute it, but took a deep breath, adjusted his mindset, and quickly got into work mode.

"Teacher, what should I do?" Ye Sheng asked.

"First clarify the situation, classify the levels, and then decide how to handle it."

Once Zhang Shanfeng got into work mode, he was very efficient: "The current issues are—the existence of the Nibelungen, Lu Mingfei's ability to 'requisition' your Word of Power: Vacuum Serpent, the suspected immortal hybrid elder, the first-generation Jormungandr, Lu Mingfei and her battle..."

"According to Lu Mingfei himself, there was no fighting. He just took a hot spring bath on the way and his clothes were accidentally swept away..." Ye Sheng's eyes twitched slightly as he said this.

Could there be a more absurd reason than this? It's blatant deception, but it seems like the only way is to do it this way.

“Children’s tricks, it’s meaningless. The Gattuso family might not expose him for the sake of their reputation and would choose to keep it a secret, but what about others?” Zhang Shanfeng shook his head.

"Then... what should we do?" Ye Sheng asked cautiously, his attitude showing a willingness to seek advice.

Old ginger is spicier; Zhang Shanfeng, who is almost seventy, is definitely more experienced in handling this kind of thing. As he is preparing to switch to an office job, he should take this opportunity to learn more.

"It's very simple. If you don't report it to your superiors, it's as if nothing happened."

Zhang Shanfeng waved his hand arrogantly, his tone and demeanor befitting an arrogant and domineering 'local emperor'.

"As long as the work leaves no trace and the documents are not archived, there will be no loopholes!"

"Isn't that a bit too rough?"

Ye Sheng broke out in a cold sweat. The most reasonable and audacious thing he could think of was falsifying documents and reports. The only problem was how to make it seem reasonable, just like how falsifying accounts has become an industry consensus... But he didn't expect Zhang Shanfeng's way of handling it to be so ruthless!
That's true; as long as it's not reported, there's no possibility of any problems being discovered.

"What if the State Administration sends a leader down to investigate?"

Ye Sheng asked with some concern. He inexplicably felt as if he had boarded a pirate ship that was about to capsize, and it seemed that he was so tightly bound that he couldn't even jump ship if he wanted to.

"It doesn't matter. You don't know my position in the General Administration. Let me put it this way, no matter what level of leader comes down, they have no right to investigate me."

Zhang Shanfeng laughed and said, "Unless the bureau chief comes in person!"

"What if the bureau chief really comes?"

Ye Sheng wasn't trying to be a contrarian; he genuinely believed it was highly likely. After all, these matters were of paramount importance. Putting everything else aside, the mere fact that the land of the dead, Nibelungen, truly existed was enough to attract the attention of all the world's top alchemists!
For alchemists who learn and master alchemy, Nibelungen, where "dead" matter is everywhere, is equivalent to "gold everywhere." They no longer need to study so many refining techniques, nor do they need to go through the step of refining "life" into "dead" to obtain the purest things on the spot.

And so many "spiritual" elements! This is the key to creating the "Philosopher's Stone," which is the most powerful weapon against dragons to date. If it hits the "core," it can truly and completely kill pure-blooded dragons.

It's perfectly normal for the bureau chief to be present in person for such matters, in case he discovers anything suspicious...

"It doesn't matter if the bureau chief comes in person."

Zhang Shanfeng chuckled, a sinister and cunning smile, smug and confident.

"Why?" Ye Sheng was taken aback, a terrifying thought flashing through his mind...

"Because the bureau chief is one of us! He's my brother, we're brothers who'd risk our lives for each other!" Zhang Shanfeng laughed and patted Ye Sheng on the shoulder. "To give you an example, it's like the kind of relationship between Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang, you know?"

Ye Sheng stared at him blankly for a long time before finally managing a wry smile.

"Teacher, you understand? Then I really understand it very well."

So everything is not a problem at all!

The strongest fighting force and the highest leader are all our own people. In ancient times, that would be equivalent to a centralized emperor and the general in charge of the army working together... What more can be said? Brother, I'll surrender, you can do whatever you want!
Ye Sheng then realized that he hadn't boarded a pirate ship at all; it was a perfectly stable dragon boat.

"So what do we need to do now?"

Once Ye Shengwen came to his senses, he thought the matter was now easily resolved. "You brothers can discuss it yourselves. What do you need someone like me to do?"
"We still need to put on a show, but we also need to do real work, so as not to give others a reason to criticize us."

Zhang Shanfeng seemed to have guessed what Ye Sheng was thinking. He patted Ye Sheng on the shoulder and spoke slowly in the tone of a senior instructing a junior.

"After all, we've mobilized so many resources and made such a big commotion. It would be too much to cut everything off at once. So we need to pick out some things that won't have a far-reaching impact and report them. These are the things that can be made public... Do you understand?"

"I understand, teacher."

Ye Shengtian's reputation as a master of paperwork was well-deserved. In an instant, he understood the true meaning behind Zhang Shanfeng's words—to eliminate any points that might expose Lu Mingfei's abnormality, and report the rest as major achievements.

Actually, it's quite understandable. Just treat Lu Mingfei as a strategic weapon. And the secrecy of strategies and weapons has always been selective. Some unqualified or wavering "insiders" naturally have no right to know!
"If you understand, let's begin." Zhang Shanfeng nodded in satisfaction.

"What about you, teacher?"

Ye Sheng couldn't help but ask, "You can't just bring in a bunch of laborers and then have the teacher slack off and do nothing, can you?"
“Of course I’m in charge of reporting things that can’t be made public… How about we switch?” Zhang Shanfeng looked at him with a smile, his gaze enigmatic.

Ye Sheng shuddered and refused repeatedly.

"No, no, no..."

……

"Brother! We meet again!"

"Old Tang?"

Lu Mingfei looked at Lao Tang with a mixture of surprise and delight. Too many things were weighing and thinking in his mind, so he didn't react for a moment and only remembered half of his question.

"What are you doing here... Oh, right, you were an undercover agent. Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Haha, there's really no need to make such a big deal out of my undercover work... cough cough." Old Tang glanced at the man next to him with a slightly embarrassed look and coughed twice.

"Who is this……"

"Hello, my name is Tang Wei!"

Tang Wei shook hands with Lu Mingfei with an upright expression, and added in a low voice, "The former hunter is now going through the process of abandoning darkness and joining the light..."

"Great news! Great news!"

Lu Mingfei was at a loss for words. Of course, with his god-level ability to spout nonsense, he wouldn't be useless in such a situation. The three people standing here were a human suspected of being a dragon spy, a former hunter spy, and a hunter who was defecting and seemed likely to become a spy in the future. What was this, a spy gathering?

These kinds of thoughts should only be considered in one's mind; saying them aloud would be too embarrassing.

"Lu Mingfei, come find me when you're done talking. I have something to tell you. I'm going to change my clothes first." Nuonuo walked past him.

"..."

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow. What was this senior sister up to now? Completely unpredictable, he inexplicably felt that getting entangled with this somewhat strange little witch was a troublesome matter, after all, his secret seemed very likely to be exposed... But Nuonuo didn't linger at all, so she didn't give him a chance to refuse.

"Brother, your sister's got guts!" Old Tang praised in a low voice. "They're a perfect match, a handsome man and a beautiful woman!"

"You've misunderstood. That's not my girlfriend, she's the girlfriend of my brother's mortal enemy," Lu Mingfei corrected.

"Brilliant!"

Old Tang immediately became respectful and looked Lu Mingfei up and down. "That's right, you do have the ability to do so. Poaching talent is indeed a very effective way to strike the enemy!"

“I have no intention of poaching her, and I don’t have any feelings for her…” Lu Mingfei’s lips twitched slightly.

"So you attracted her with just your charm? That's even more impressive!"

No way, how could this misunderstanding escalate any further?! Dude, is there something slightly off about your thought process?

"By the way, after this is over, you shouldn't have to continue being an undercover agent, right? What kind of work are you planning to do in the future?"

Lu Mingfei abruptly changed the subject.

"I can ask around for you."

"Oh, I do have an idea about that!"

Old Tang's eyes lit up, clearly indicating that he had already considered this.

"I want a safe and easy job. Your world is too scary. I feel like I'm going to die a horrible death someday if I, an ordinary person, get involved..."

……

"So, that's the plan for the second phase."

Pompeii said, "Did you remember?"

"remember."

Percy remained calm and composed, speaking succinctly.

"Target: Hunter Old Tang."

(End of this chapter)