Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 245 Disregarding human life
Yu Tianlun put on a professional smile, shook hands with Bernadette briefly, and said, "Vice Commander Bernadette, you flatter me. Commander Blood Owl is too kind. It's too kind of you three to come and greet me personally."

At this moment, the hotel doorman had already respectfully stepped forward to open the car door for them and skillfully parked the car for them.

Guided by three beautiful women, the group passed through the extremely luxurious lobby, took a private elevator, and went directly to the highest rooftop revolving restaurant of the Genting Hotel.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a bright and open view appeared.

The entire restaurant features a 360-degree panoramic glass curtain wall design, offering an unobstructed view of the dazzling nightscape of Muxu City. Most striking of all is the magnificent meme monitoring tower standing in the distance in the city center square.

This tower has a unique shape, unlike traditional towers. Instead, it is composed of countless slowly rotating and nested silver-white geometric cubes. The top of the tower is not a spire, but a huge, eye-like spherical structure that is currently emitting a soft, ever-changing glow, monitoring the invisible "meme pollution" that may be spreading.

The restaurant has been cleared out in preparation for tonight's banquet.

The waiters moved silently, preparing everything.

Leading them to a private room at the very back, Bernadette personally pushed open the heavy door.

The scene inside the private room was even more unexpected.

At the head of the huge round table, Blood Lord was dressed in a well-tailored black suit.

And sitting right next to him was none other than Shen Mohan, the Grand Master of the Black Sparrow Pavilion!

"Hahaha, Commander Yu, Deputy Commander Jiang, and everyone from the Nirvana Team, you've finally arrived!" Blood Lord rarely stood up and let out a hearty laugh. "Come, come, please take a seat! There are no outsiders tonight, so please don't be shy."

He greeted them warmly, then pointed to the refined-looking man beside him: "By the way, you gentlemen should already know Pavilion Master Shen, so I don't need to introduce you, right?"

Yu Tianlun and Jiang Jin were not surprised by Shen Mohan's arrival.

The Black Sparrow Pavilion is the most renowned and mysterious intelligence organization and intermediary force in the underworld of the Samsara Realm. Its tentacles extend throughout the country, and it is said that there is no intelligence they cannot obtain, and no business they dare not engage in.

Even someone of Minister Long Mingzhang's caliber would show deference to the Black Sparrow Pavilion. The reason is simple: everyone in the industry knows that behind the Black Sparrow Pavilion stands a behemoth—the Duncan Club—a top global group of reincarnators that can even influence White House decisions! As for Shen Mohan himself, he is even more mysterious and unpredictable, with unfathomable strength. It is said that he rarely handles specific matters personally.

His intervention carried significant weight. It demonstrated the Blood Lord's "sincerity" while also subtly hinting at a deeper, more underlying force.

"Pavilion Master Shen, it's a pleasure to meet you." Yu Tianlun stepped forward and shook hands with Shen Mohan, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.

Jiang Jin shook hands with him as well. When his eyes met Shen Mohan's, the other man smiled and nodded slightly at him. His eyes were gentle, yet they seemed to see right through people.

"Commander Yu, Deputy Commander Jiang, you are both outstanding individuals, and your reputations are well-deserved." Shen Mohan's voice was gentle, like a spring breeze.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone took their seats in turn. On the Blood Owl's side, Wu Ge grinned at Jiang Jin. He couldn't say much, as his godfather was in the wrong this time, and he knew he couldn't say too much and put Jiang Jin in a difficult position.

The waiters began serving appetizers, all of which were top-notch delicacies.

Blood Lord personally picked up a bottle of wine that had already been decanted and gestured to the waiter to pour it for everyone.

The wine had a deep ruby ​​red color and a rich aroma; one whiff was enough to tell it was a top-quality product.

"This is a Romanée-Conti from 1990," Blood Lord raised his glass, his tone sincere. "It's just a small token of my appreciation. And once again, I'll punish myself for my previous recklessness and shortsightedness. I shouldn't have listened to the rumors spread by Han Wei, and I especially shouldn't have sent the Shadow Blade and Crimson divisions to bother you all, causing losses and trouble for the Nirvana team. It's all my fault, Blood Lord! Cheers!"

After saying that, he actually drank the top-quality wine in his glass, which was worth as much as gold, in one gulp, as if he were drinking plain water.

This gesture of "generosity" and "apology" was executed flawlessly.

Yu Tianlun's sneer inwardly deepened. They were all seasoned foxes, what were they pretending to be?

He raised his glass in acknowledgment, took a sip, and smiled, "Blood Lord, you flatter me. It's good that the misunderstanding has been cleared up. This wine... is indeed fine. You've gone to so much trouble, Lord."

What he was really thinking was: Anyone can act, right? But think you can just let it go with a few apologies and a bottle of good wine? No way! The most important thing is, let's see how much we can squeeze out of this tightwad!

The ensuing banquet, on the surface, was filled with toasts and laughter as people chatted about interesting anecdotes from horror dungeons and meme strategies, creating a seemingly harmonious atmosphere.

But behind the scenes, Yu Tianlun and Jiang Jin were engaged in a silent battle of wits with the Blood Owl's team.

Yu Tianlun is an expert in speaking, sometimes hinting indirectly, sometimes using a retreat-to-advance strategy, and constantly mentioning the "losses" and "consumptions" of the Nirvana team in the last conflict.

Blood Lord was a seasoned veteran, so he naturally understood the unspoken meaning. His smile remained unchanged, but his heart was bleeding: Damn it, all my men are dead, and you guys have all the keys to open them, while none of you are dead. And you're talking to me about losses? Yu Tianlun, you've channeled all your resentment into your face!
He knew that without a real fight, this matter wouldn't be over. Amidst Shen Mohan's seemingly conciliatory but actually "unintentional" attempts to smooth things over, the Blood Lord finally gritted his teeth and said, "It was my fault. It's just a small token of my appreciation, please accept it."

Then, he took out several items that were extremely valuable to the reincarnators as "compensation":
A bottle of "Primordial Spirit Spring Essence" that can raise your SAN value to 100% with just one sip;
Three "Mind Barrier" rings, imprinted with powerful protective runes, capable of withstanding one instance of fatal memetic contamination;
Four precious return-to-town runes (unbound), which can force you to leave the horror dungeon after being triggered, but can only be used by a specific reincarnator (which is why he couldn't give the runes to Georgia Aurora last time).
And a valuable intelligence documenting the core areas of several terrifying dungeons and the distribution of ghosts.

Each of these items is priceless, especially the intelligence, which is often obtained by large teams at the cost of their lives.

When Blood Lord gave it up, the muscles on his face twitched slightly, clearly indicating that he was in extreme pain.

"How could I possibly accept this..." Yu Tianlun said, but his hands betrayed him as he took all the items. "Actually, our two teams became friends after a bit of a fight. Once we've talked things out, everything's fine. Come on, cheers!"

Jiang Jin also picked up the foreign liquor and said, "Come on, Blood Captain, cheers!"

Blood Lord cursed Yu Tianlun inwardly for getting a good deal and then acting innocent. But then he thought about it again. Although it hurt, he could use these material possessions to get Jiang Jin, who could control the Yongmeng team, was gaining momentum, and had Ye Xiu's support, to reconcile with him and avoid being punished later. So it didn't seem like a bad deal.

At least, the situation has been stabilized for the time being.

The lively dinner party finally came to an end in an atmosphere that seemed to be a pleasant affair for both host and guests, but in reality, everyone had their own agenda.

Everyone stood up and prepared to leave.

Just then, Shen Mohan's phone vibrated and emitted a faint light.

He glanced at the number, frowned slightly, made an apologetic gesture to everyone, and walked aside to answer the call.

"Hello? It's me. Speak." Shen Mohan's voice remained calm.

But as he listened, his expression changed slightly. Although it was extremely subtle, all the reincarnators present, who were all highly perceptive, noticed it.

"What? What did you say? The exact location?" he repeated, a hint of seriousness creeping into his voice. A moment later, he hung up the phone, strode over to Jiang Jin, his face displaying a perfectly measured apology and a touch of pleading: "Deputy Commander Jiang, I apologize for bothering you. I heard you're currently also serving as the police chief of the Jinlin District?"

Jiang Jin was taken aback, then nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Shen..."

He himself felt that this appointment was too frivolous. Given his age and seniority, how could his subordinates possibly obey him? In the end, it still depended on Long Mingzhang's prestige to completely bind him to the position of minister.

"That's great." Shen Mohan's tone was slightly urgent. "Could you do me a favor now? Can you come with me to Jinlin District to handle an urgent matter? It might require your identity to coordinate."

Jiang Jin and Yu Tianlun exchanged a glance.

Yu Tianlun nodded slightly, indicating that he could go and take a look. Jiang Jin agreed: "No problem, it's my duty to help Mr. Shen."

So, Yu Tianlun led the team back first, while Jiang Jin got into Shen Mohan's luxury car and sped off to Jinlin District.

Inside the car, Shen Mohan's expression was calm, but his fingers unconsciously tapped the handrail, revealing that he was not at peace inside.

"Mr. Shen, what exactly happened?" Jiang Jin couldn't help but ask.

Shen Mohan paused for a moment before slowly saying, "It's like this. This time, an important member of the Duncan Club, Mr. Tali, has come to Muxu City as an envoy. Oh, you also saw him in Commander Ye's hospital room last time. He is crucial to some of the upcoming... cooperation plans between the two countries' reincarnators. He absolutely cannot be allowed to have an accident here."

He was vague and did not specify what had happened.

Soon, the car stopped outside a five-star hotel. To Jiang Jin's surprise, the hotel entrance was cordoned off, and several police cars were parked there, their flashing lights breaking the silence of the night.

"This is it." Shen Mohan got out of the car, his expression grave.

Jiang Jin, filled with doubts, quickly followed Shen Mohan into the hotel. The police officers were quite surprised and taken aback to see Jiang Jin, the newly appointed trusted director who had hardly ever visited the station, suddenly appear.

“Jiang Jin… no, Director Jiang?” An old detective leading the team recognized him, his face full of astonishment.

The staff at the bureau were already struggling to understand Jiang Jin's rapid promotion. It was hard for them to accept that a young man with no police experience, who supposedly got the position through connections, had suddenly become their leader.

"Who's in charge here? What's going on?" Jiang Jin suppressed his discomfort, adopted the demeanor of a bureau chief, and asked in a deep voice.

The veteran detective reported with a grim expression, "Chief Jiang, it's like this... We received a report from the hotel saying... that a murder has occurred here. Two female college students... were... murdered in their hotel room. And the suspect... is a foreigner."

He pointed upstairs: "It's on the fifth floor. The suspect is very arrogant, and we...we're starting to lose control of the situation."

Jiang Jin and Shen Mohan immediately took the elevator upstairs.

The atmosphere in the fifth-floor corridor grew even more tense. Several police officers, as if facing a formidable enemy, held their guns and aimed them at the door of a guest room.

At the guest room door, a tall, blond, blue-eyed foreign man in a bathrobe leaned impatiently against the doorframe, a cigar dangling from his mouth, shouting something in English with an extremely arrogant and domineering attitude. Scattered around him were broken bottles of liquor and a torn piece of women's underwear.

Upon seeing Shen Mohan and Jiang Jin arrive, the foreign man, far from being afraid, seemed to have seen a savior and shouted at Shen Mohan, "Shen! You've finally arrived! Tell these rude police officers to let me leave immediately! Otherwise, they'll face the consequences!"

Shen Mohan strode to Jiang Jin's side and explained in a very low voice, "Vice Commander Jiang, things are a bit complicated. Mr. Tully... he had two female companions tonight, and he might have gone a little too far... he used some... um... tricks, and later a dispute broke out. In the heat of the moment, someone died... But please understand, Mr. Tully's identity is special. His father is Alan Tully, a senior member of the Duncan Club's decision-making team! Now the Old Core Organization is spreading memes wildly in the Edo Special Zone, and the global situation is tense. Cooperation between the high-level reincarnators of the two countries is of paramount importance! He absolutely, absolutely cannot be tried and imprisoned in Muxu City! Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"Someone died, and you call that going too far?" Jiang Jin's face immediately turned cold: "Reincarnators who use their professional skills to commit crimes should be tried!"

Shen Mohan was inwardly groaning. After all, he couldn't use his Reincarnator skills here.

Now he understood why this ancestor hadn't stayed at the hotel he'd arranged beforehand, but instead stayed here, and hadn't allowed him to send any guards. It was to facilitate this kind of thing! He'd hypnotized two female college students to play an alphabet game here, and it resulted in a death!
If this matter is not handled properly, how will Shen Mohan explain it to the big shot, Allen Tully?

"Deputy Commander Jiang, the bigger picture is at stake! We will find a way to compensate the deceased..."

"As far as I know, no reincarnator can bring the dead back to life, right?"

As Jiang Jin listened to Shen Mohan's words and saw Resai Tali's arrogant and fearless attitude, which treated human life as worthless, an uncontrollable anger suddenly erupted from the deepest part of his heart like a volcano!

His fist clenched suddenly, his knuckles turning white from the force, his eyes instantly turning icy cold, and his aura even made the surrounding temperature drop a few degrees!

This is not the Qing Dynasty in 1840!

He hadn't forgotten that he... was a policeman!
As Jiang Jin listened to Shen Mohan's seemingly explanatory but actually cover-up excuses, looked at Resai Tali's arrogant and disregard-human-life-values ​​face, and thought of the two innocent young lives that had just withered in the guest room...

He took a sudden step forward, directly bypassing the somewhat bewildered policeman in front of him, his icy gaze piercing like a tangible object as he looked at Resai Tali: "This is Chinese soil. If you kill someone, you must face Chinese law! No one is exempt!"

His resounding words immediately invigorated the somewhat discouraged police officers around him, who straightened their backs and gripped their guns even tighter.

Rexy Tully was momentarily stunned by Jiang Jin's imposing aura, but quickly became even more arrogant. He glanced contemptuously at the police officers present, finally fixing his gaze on Jiang Jin, and shouted in broken Chinese mixed with English, "Fuck you! Judge me? Do you know who I am? I'm the special envoy of the Duncan Club! My father is Alan Tully! Even if your Minister Long Mingzhang came, he wouldn't dare to speak to me like that! When did our affairs become the business of your ordinary people's laws? Get out of my way!"

Just as Jiang Jin was enraged and ready to disregard everything to subdue this madman—

"Director Jiang, why get so angry?"

Five or six figures appeared there at some unknown time. The leader was a man of about thirty-five or thirty-six years old with a cold face and sharp eyes. Jiang Jin recognized him. He was a Level 4 Reincarnator, Zhao Gang, the leader of the Xuanhuang Team of the Holy Temple!
They had obviously received the news and came specifically to show the police officers their work permits from the Meme Contamination Monitoring Department.

Zhao Gang walked forward slowly, glanced at the scene casually, and said in a low voice, "Deputy Commander Jiang, it's an honor to meet you. I am Zhao Gang, the commander of the Xuanhuang branch of the Temple team. We are preparing to take Mr. Tali back to the monitoring department."

He paused, his tone becoming earnest: "Deputy Director Jiang, you've only been in this circle for a short time, so you may not yet understand some of the rules. Mr. Tali is an international friend and an important reincarnator. Criminal cases between reincarnators, as well as cases involving important foreign reincarnators, are prioritized for coordination and handling by our Temple team. The ordinary police system... has no right to directly interfere. This is also for the sake of overall stability."

His words, seemingly explaining the rules, were actually a blatant message to Jiang Jin: This person is protected by our temple, you have no right to interfere, get out of here!

Jiang Jin was trembling with rage. He could see all too clearly that the Xuanhuang branch of the Holy Temple team was just like Shen Mohan, or even more blatantly trying to protect this murderer!
"Internal coordination and handling?" Jiang Jin's voice was as cold as the Siberian wind. "How to handle it? Is it like this, respectfully asking him to leave and then acting as if nothing happened?"

If Lei Sai were taken back to the Membrane Contamination Monitoring Department, how could he possibly be put on trial? On the other hand, Liu Yan was wanted for killing a scumbag!

Zhao Gang's face darkened, and his tone became less polite: "Jiang Jin! Watch your place and your words! Don't think that just because Commander Ye is protecting you, you can disregard our Holy Temple team. For Commander Ye's sake, I'll give you one last piece of advice: get out of the way! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

(End of this chapter)