I, Lord of Prayer

Early morning. ♙♜ ❻9丂ʰ𝔲𝓧.𝓒Ⓞ𝐦 🐙👽 Google search and reading

Zhou Chen returned from the cafeteria with breakfast, handed Jiang Che her portion, then turned and sat on the sofa, sipping his freshly squeezed vegetable juice and opening a dark web chat page to send a message.

I heard there was an incident at sea last night, a Level 5 curse pollution outbreak. The Star Council is taking it very seriously, and I've been assigned an investigation mission. Do you know the specifics?

After sending the message, Birdman didn't reply for a while, but Zhou Chen wasn't in a hurry. He ate breakfast while watching videos.

During this time, Li Xiaoxiao sent a good morning greeting and a video of last night's activities.

Click on the video, and you'll see a stage with flashing lights, filled with stunningly beautiful people with great figures, dancing boldly to energetic music, eliciting cheers and screams from the audience.

Zhou Chen thought for a moment and replied, "Not bad."

Thank you for the compliment! Sending you love! I have another event tonight, could you come and watch?

I have some things to do tonight, so I probably won't be able to go.

"Well, how about we grab a bite to eat together? It won't take long."

Li Xiaoxiao then sent a tearful emoji.

After deliberately remaining silent for more than ten seconds, Zhou Chen typed:

Let me see. I'll contact you in advance if I have time.

Okay, okay, I'll be waiting for your message~

Zhou Chen let out a breath, looked up, and said, "Li Xiaoxiao has taken the bait. (New 69 Bookstore)"

"As expected."

Jiang Che was eating a sandwich and scrolling through his phone, enjoying a rare moment of leisure: "How's Birdman over there?"

  

"He hasn't replied yet. I think he's very likely been called in for a talk by Fu Qing," Zhou Chen guessed.

Right now is a crucial time for Fu Qing to unify the black market in Jinzhu City. In order to avoid being targeted by the Stars Society, he has done a lot of things in secret, erasing many traces and leaving no clues. However, Eternal Flame suddenly pulled a nasty trick on everyone, giving the Stars Society a reason to intervene in the investigation...

Fu Qing must have already started cursing, right?

As his trusted lieutenant who manages a large number of smuggling operations, Birdman will definitely be in trouble and may be severely held accountable.

But for the Birdmen, being punished by Fu Qing was definitely not a big deal. The real big deal was that they failed to transport the goods out and accidentally caused too much of a commotion, attracting the attention of the Star Society.

Of course, as Jiang Che said before, this may not be the real action of the Eternal Flame. It could be a smokescreen to deceive everyone. But we must be vigilant. Even if it is just bait, a high-level source of pollution should not be underestimated.

As Zhou Chen was lost in thought, his phone suddenly vibrated; Birdman had sent him a message.

You'd better not get involved in this. I can find a few low-level thugs to smack off, but don't investigate further; it won't do you any good.

He handed his phone to Jiang Che: "What do you think?"

In his view, this was a warning: there's more to this than meets the eye, and you can't control it. 😲♞ ❻➈şнù𝐗.Ćᗝ𝓶 ✋♖

Jiang Che stared at the screen for a few seconds and pondered: "It's hard to say, there are two possibilities."

First, this matter truly involves "that thing," which is why that idiot said that, trying to discourage you from pursuing it further.

Second, this matter has nothing to do with "that thing". Birdman's words are like a smokescreen. If you tell the Star Council, they will achieve their goal of diverting attention. If you don't tell the Star Council, they won't lose anything.

Both possibilities exist; we cannot jump to conclusions.

"Isn't that still just standing still..." Zhou Chen sighed.

"At least we can be certain that this matter is related to the Eternal Flame."

At this moment, Jiang Che stood up from his office chair, picked up his suit jacket from the coat rack, and put it on: "There will be an investigation into Fu Qing next. I need to go to the scene to preside over it. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to get back before you start."

"Can your body handle it?" Zhou Chen couldn't help but frown.

She worked all day yesterday and then stayed up all night dealing with work, only getting less than two hours of sleep. Now she has to go and oversee the investigation. It's unimaginable how many troublesome things she'll have to deal with. And after the investigation is over, she'll have to rush back to direct the undercover mission...

Just thinking about it makes Zhou Chen realize how arduous it is. Few ordinary people can withstand such high-pressure work conditions; it's easy to die suddenly.

"The Stars Club provides medication and nutritional supplements, so there shouldn't be any major problems." Jiang Che took out a small bottle of medicine from his suit pocket and showed it to him: "Just one pill will guarantee eight hours of mental clarity and ten minutes of sleep, which is enough to regulate all bodily functions."

"That amazing?" Zhou Chen exclaimed in surprise.

"One pill, 500,000," Jiang Che added.

Zhou Chen was speechless. It was the power of money. He couldn't help but sigh.

"You're really dedicated."

"Yes, it would be great if you could learn even a little bit." Jiang Che gave him a deep look.

"...I'll go get to work now."

·

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In order not to make his boss too disgusted with him for being a lazy bum, Zhou Chen agreed to the birdman's conditions to catch a few scapegoats to cover his tracks, and indicated that he would not investigate the matter further.

Birdman was quite generous; though called a small fry, he was actually a minor leader in several smuggling gangs.

Based on intelligence and clues, Zhou Chen arrested them all and brought them back to the Star Society for interrogation. Not only were these small-time leaders unlucky, but their smuggling gangs also suffered the same fate, and were wiped out by the Star Society within a few hours.

Another great achievement, boosting my resume.

As for the interrogation results, naturally not a single clue was obtained—the scapegoats only knew that the ship had been secretly handling smuggling business, and knew nothing else.

In the evening, when the time was right, Zhou Chen accepted Li Xiaoxiao's invitation to have dinner together.

The location is the "Whale Song Restaurant," which has only recently opened.

Although the restaurant's name sounds somewhat related to "Blue Whale," Jiang Che had previously investigated and confirmed that the restaurant had nothing to do with Eternal Flame; it was simply a coincidence of the same characters.

In the private room of Whale Song Restaurant, elegant and melodious music played. The two sat facing each other, and the table was filled with various luxurious ingredients, including a bottle of red wine from 82—the 182nd year of the Gregorian calendar.

"Senior, I saw the news. That murderer has been sentenced to death. Was it you who caught him?" Li Xiaoxiao blinked her big eyes and asked curiously.

"Mm." Zhou Chen nodded. "It's all in the past now, so you don't need to worry about him targeting you anymore."

"But I heard that a lot of illegal immigrants have come to Jinzhu these past two days. What if, what if I get targeted again?" Li Xiaoxiao's face was full of lingering fear when she mentioned this. "If it weren't for my senior being there, I'm afraid, I'm afraid something would have happened to me..."

"If this happens again, just give me a call, and I'll get there as soon as possible."

Although ordinary people would be unlikely to pull out their phones to call for help in the face of an attack by an Ascended Being, when it comes to acting, you have to go all the way.

"I knew my senior would protect me." Li Xiaoxiao smiled sweetly.

After dinner.

At the entrance of Whale Song Restaurant, Li Xiaoxiao suddenly grabbed Zhou Chen's arm and started to act coquettishly:

"Senior, please come for a walk with me after dinner, I'm begging you, I don't have anything else to do anyway..."

Zhou Chen's heart skipped a beat. Just as Jiang Che had predicted, his final assessment was probably about to begin.