Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 157 I'm still too young and ignorant of my own limitations.
Jiang Jin still clung to a sliver of hope: "You just said that the lives and property of ordinary people..."

"Forgive my bluntness, but you yourselves pose a huge threat to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people." Old Master Li's eyes were piercing. "Guess how your little girlfriend got a pardon? It's because we didn't want to push a witch doctor to the limit. The number of Gu worms she had was already at a point where it would be difficult to control. So, many people are actually happy to see someone deal with you in the horror instance. We don't want a second Lady Pustules to appear."

Jiang Jin didn't expect Old Master Li to say that.

Have you seen X-Men?

"I've seen it... I never imagined you, sir, had seen Hollywood movies like this."

"While you are far from being comparable to those mutants inside, you are already terrifying enough to ordinary people. We must control the number and scale of LV5s in your group as much as possible, but we also need you to resist memetic contamination. So, my advice to you is... agree to their demands first."

"Promise...to them?"

"Yes. Even the cruelest order is better than no order at all. You are all outside the order, and the higher-ups' tolerance for you won't last long."

"Yes... even the cruelest order is still order..."

Would Old Master Li not know the character of those Liangs? Would he not know they exploited reincarnators for personal gain? He knew perfectly well. Did the Yanjing court not know? They knew perfectly well.

“Think about it,” the old man exhaled a smoke ring, “they dare to do so many dirty things here just because the emperor is far away. It’s precisely because the higher-ups tacitly allow them to use the Reincarnators to do some private work that they’re willing to risk their lives to come to a godforsaken place like Muxu City. You have to understand, this city has the most severe memetic contamination in the entire country. The higher-ups need them to manage the Reincarnators here and keep the memetic contamination under control so it doesn’t spread throughout the country. Do you really think you can expect these people to selflessly and fearlessly dedicate themselves here?”

Obviously not.

“I have considered intervening, but there is only so much I can do. Even if the entire imperial envoy group here is arrested and another group is sent, it will be the same,” Old Master Li continued. “Young man, at my age, I’ll teach you one thing: to live a long life, you have to learn to compromise.”

Jiang Jin took a deep breath.

The admiration and hope I had for Mr. Li just now have vanished.

In the end, it turns out the old man was from the same circle as them. All that righteous indignation at the banquet was just a show he put on for himself, playing the good cop and the bad cop with that Liang guy!

Think about it too.

How could someone who holds such a high position speak so bluntly and without reservation? He's oversimplified the ways of officialdom!

"Sir, it's a pity," Jiang Jin said coldly, "If I were willing to compromise on this kind of thing, I wouldn't have chosen to be a policeman in the first place. I swore an oath when I became a policeman!"

He recalled what Deputy Village Chief Huang had told him. If a mere small village could use ghost curses to create a completely bloodless industry chain, what about an entire city? Jiang Jin could easily imagine the countless heinous acts they had committed through the reincarnators!
“Young man,” Old Master Li sighed, “you are too young. Do you think that by refusing to compromise and being righteous right now, you can change the fate of your Nirvana team? Do you think that by sticking to what you believe to be the path of justice, Blood Lord will let you go? If you have any hatred, hate that you were born in this dark age of meme contamination. Being young and impetuous is bound to lead to your downfall! Preserve your life now so that you can survive and save more people in the future!”

"Old man, you're right. I'm too young, so I don't know anything about the world!"

Jiang Jin said, enunciating each word clearly, "The bottom line is always lowered step by step. Once a person accepts darkness, they can never return to the light. I may be an outsider when it comes to meme contamination, but when it comes to matters concerning the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people, I am an expert!"

"you……"

The old man never expected that he would actually use what he had just said to mock him!

Halfway through the banquet, Jiang Jin walked over to Liu Yan and whispered a few words to her. Then he came to Li Ruoxi and said, "Excuse me, Ruoxi, Liu Yan and I are a little drunk, so we have to go first."

Li Ruoxi was taken aback and said, "You're leaving already? I wanted to talk to Liu Yan a little longer!"

Liu Yan looked apologetic and said, "Ruoxi, I'm sorry, let's do it later..."

Li Ruoxi grabbed her hand and leaned closer to say, "Liu Yan, did you two have a fight? If you regret it, you can come to me anytime. I don't mind if you settle for second best!"

"Hey, hey, hey, big sister, are you trying to steal my boyfriend right in front of me? And what era are these lines from? They're straight out of a romance novel!" Jiang Jin pulled Liu Yan aside and said, "Ruoxi, see you at the police station tomorrow."

Liang Zhiyuan walked up to Old Master Li and asked, "What's wrong? Is he still out of touch with reality?"

Old Master Li said with great regret, "Alas, he was an outstanding young man! I really don't want to see him die."

"It's not like we haven't given him a chance. Since he insists on taking this dead end, there's nothing we can do."

"What a pity, what a pity."

……

"That's what he said?"

"Yes." On the subway, Liu Yan had already heard everything from Jiang Jin.

They wanted to use someone else's name to make a big deal out of it, but it turns out they were all in cahoots.

"I was too naive. I really thought that officialdom was so simple, just a matter of honest officials and corrupt officials. Little did I know that in the real officialdom, you are often intertwined with me and I am intertwined with you."

“That’s normal. Lü Wende and Zhang Juzheng could be considered good officials, but they still embezzled money.” Liu Yan had already anticipated this outcome. “However, I admire what you said to him.”

"Thank you for the compliment, my dear wife."

Do you remember how my parents died?

"Hmm...they're all war correspondents..."

"Back then, when everyone was hesitant and afraid of danger, my parents stepped forward and decided to go to the front lines overseas to report. They wanted to use their cameras to record and capture the horrifying atrocities committed by the army that claimed to be a benevolent force. At that time, meme contamination had already broken out, but countries were still only thinking about competing for resources, and even deliberately throwing meme-contaminated civilians into war zones, hoping to use memes to annihilate the enemy. My parents felt horrified at that time; the unfathomable malice of humanity was more evil and terrifying than memes."

“Liu Yan, you…” Jiang Jin was actually a little worried, after all, this was a very painful memory.

“My parents told me from a young age that as human beings, we must uphold the bottom line of being human. As journalists, we must report the truth no matter what. As a result, they angered that group of so-called benevolent and righteous troops and died in the war. As for how they died, everyone knows the truth, but there is no evidence. I also know who killed my parents, but I have no way to take revenge. Their bodies were incomplete and were sent back to China, and even the best morticians could not restore them.”

A young child, facing the remains of his parents, whose faces were mangled beyond recognition by a bomb, became the chief mourner and presided over their funeral.

But that's not the most painful thing.

“There have been a lot of voices on the Chinese internet saying that my parents made false reports, arguing that the righteous army was the army of a civilized country and could not possibly commit the crime of sending civilians infected with memes to the battlefield. Even if they died, the endless online violence continues.”

It's unimaginable how a child could endure such pain.

“Many people thought I would commit suicide, but I didn’t. Because I am proud of my parents.” Liu Yan looked at Jiang Jin with an extremely firm gaze. “Although I can’t punish those beasts, I will never punish myself for their evil deeds.”

Jiang Jin gripped Liu Yan's hand tightly.

“I really like the Nirvana Team,” Liu Yan continued in a resolute tone, “Therefore, I will never let the Nirvana Team perish! Moreover, one day, I will make the Nirvana Team one of the top teams among the Reincarnators! At that time, we will be the elders of Nirvana!”

……

"Ignorant and arrogant...did he really say that?"

"That's right. I heard it from Imperial Envoy Liang himself."

"okay, I get it."

Blood Lord was actually quite unexpected.

He had thought that Jiang Jin was likely to compromise.

Although Long Cang was determined to kill Jiang Jin for revenge, ultimately, the various mysteries surrounding Jiang Jin were what truly concerned the Blood Lord. If only he could recruit such a person into his ranks…

"It really reminds me of Zhiping..."

Although a long time has passed, even today, Blood Lord still feels heartbroken when he thinks of Wu Zhiping.

He was his true and most trusted friend, not one of those subordinates whom he could only trust by controlling them with his soul imprint.

If it weren't for Wu Zhiping, Blood Lord knows he would never be alive today. Now, he's rich and powerful, the leader of a top-tier team, while Zhiping is dead.

The only thing he could do was to adopt Zhiping's son as his godson, give him the best education, and make him the young master of the Bloodthirsty Gang.

"Zhiping, if you saw me now, would you blame me for being a lackey of the imperial court?"

Blood Lord knew very well that it was those corrupt officials in the imperial court who had killed his friend Zhiping!
As an expert in meme pollution research, he was framed and turned into a death row inmate. He knew very well who was behind it!
Every time he saw those corrupt officials, he wished he could kill them all!
But there's no way around it... the reality is, it's impossible. Even though he's a Level 4 Reincarnator, he can't fight against the government. If he dares to kill any of the court officials, he'll face complete annihilation. No matter how strong a Reincarnator is, they can't fight against an army.

"We need to find a way to force their entire group to move and enter the terrifying instance as soon as possible... Then we can take them down in one fell swoop! All thirty-odd resentment crystals will be mine!"

(End of this chapter)