42: Chapter 42 Good news: Forgiveness; Bad news: Everyone's going to die!

Linhai City Investigation Bureau, Director's Office.

The atmosphere in the room was tense.

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo stood next to the desk, rubbing his hands against his pant seams, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Sitting behind the desk was a young man.

He wore a pristine white long trench coat, his figure slender.

He was picking up the scattered files on the desk one by one, lining them up in a perfectly straight line along the edge of the table.

The spacing between the two files, by visual estimation, didn't even have a millimeter of error.

Executive Jiang Xu finished arranging the last file, pulled out a disinfecting wet wipe, and began to wipe his fingers in a leisurely manner.

"Investigator Su."

Executive Jiang Xu looked up, a gentle smile on his face.

"After High Command received your top-secret report, they transferred me and Ye Zhiwei directly from the front lines. I've always only cared about efficiency. Now that we're here, you can tell me: where is the basis for your claim that this must be handled by an S-Class Executive?"

Su Yao stood straight, meeting Executive Jiang Xu's gaze.

She knew very well that when facing such a top-tier powerhouse who was rational to the point of being pathological, any vague explanation would be treated as a lie.

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo had no idea what the specific content of her report was; High Command had applied the highest level of encryption.

Su Yao took half a step forward, lowering her voice to ensure only Executive Jiang Xu could hear.

"Executive Jiang, the basis is that you are currently wearing a blocking strap on your left wrist. That is to suppress the backlash from the Spear of the Firmament. You inject a special inhibitor containing 'Silver Blood' components every month."

Executive Jiang Xu stopped wiping his hands.

The smile on his face remained, but the gravitational field around them suddenly sank at that instant.

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo suddenly felt his knees go weak, nearly kneeling on the ground.

"But that kind of inhibitor only treats the symptoms, not the root cause."

Su Yao, bearing the immense pressure, continued to speak.

"According to your current injection frequency, in three months, your entire left arm will undergo irreversible carbonization and be completely ruined. As long as you stop the medication now and switch to the withered vine extract produced in the Southern Territory, that arm can still be saved."

The man behind the desk looked at her for a long time.

The formula for this inhibitor was known only to him and an old monster in High Command's underground research institute in all of Great Xia.

Even his inseparable partner, Ye Zhiwei, didn't know about it.

The deadly gravitational pressure around them dissipated into thin air.

Executive Jiang Xu folded the used wet wipe into a perfect square and dropped it accurately into the trash can beside his feet.

"I believe you."

Executive Jiang Xu crossed his hands under his chin, his tone returning to a gentle and elegant state.

"Then, regarding the monster you mentioned in your report that can devour sequence weapons during its infancy, do you have any specific directions for investigation?"

Su Yao breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

The information gap from her Rebirth was extremely useful in gaining the trust of the higher-ups.

She was just about to throw out the characteristics of that world-destroying monster from her past life to guide Executive Jiang Xu to conduct high-precision investigations around the abandoned factory in the south of the city.

Just then, the communicator at Branch Chief Wang Weiguo's waist suddenly vibrated.

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo hurriedly took out his tablet to take a look, his expression becoming extremely strange, looking at Executive Jiang Xu and Su Yao with hesitation.

"What is it?"

Executive Jiang Xu didn't even lift his head.

"That... Executive Jiang." Branch Chief Wang Weiguo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Ye Qingqiu, the person in charge of The Watchers' Linhai branch, just sent over a document. It's said to be a follow-up to yesterday's high-altitude hijacking incident."

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo handed the tablet to the desk with both hands.

Executive Jiang Xu glanced at the title on the screen, his eyebrows raised slightly, and he slid the tablet toward Su Yao.

Su Yao looked down, and after just one glance, her temples began to throb.

The screen clearly displayed a photo of a handwritten paper document.

"Statement of Forgiveness Regarding the Short-Stature Dark Blade"

Su Yao could recognize this crooked handwriting even if she were burned to ashes; it was definitely written by her own dim-witted younger brother.

Looking down at the main text, Su Yao's face grew darker and darker.

"In the spirit of humanitarianism to care for the disabled..."

"Forgiving that hot-tempered Dark Blade whose brainstem development might have some kind of defect..."

"An extremely boring farce..."

In the bottom right corner, Su Yun's name was neatly signed, and there was even a glaring red thumbprint.

Su Yao felt like her cerebral blood vessels were about to explode.

What on earth was Xiao Yun doing?

Is this a letter of forgiveness?

The condescending mockery between the lines was like frantically slapping Dark Blade in the face with the sole of a shoe.

Could that arrogant and domineering Dark Blade swallow this?

What's even worse is that The Watchers organization actually took the initiative to contact Xiao Yun?

He was just an ordinary high school student who hadn't even had an Awakening of spirit energy. The Watchers branch not only gritted their teeth and accepted this treaty containing personal attacks but also sent it to the official authorities to calm the situation?

Su Yao's mind was a mess.

She always felt that there had been some secret transaction between Xiao Yun and Dark Blade that even she, his own sister, didn't know about.

Could these two have known each other for a long time?

"Since it is a statement of forgiveness issued unilaterally by the victim."

Executive Jiang Xu tapped his fingers on the desktop, his tone light.

"From a legal procedure standpoint, the Investigation Bureau has indeed lost the basis to continue filing a case and issuing a wanted order for Dark Blade."

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo let out a long sigh of relief.

Great, no need to fight the lawless civilian Monster Hunters in Linhai City.

"Then I'll go process the paperwork now and withdraw the A-Class wanted order..."

"However."

Executive Jiang Xu interrupted him and reached out to straighten the tablet that was tilted about five degrees on the edge of the desk. "I don't intend to revoke it."

Branch Chief Wang Weiguo froze.

"Rules are rules."

Executive Jiang Xu leaned back in his chair, his long legs crossed, as naturally as if he were chatting about what to eat for lunch.

"In the hinterland of Great Xia, throwing people from the sky in the city center. Today, she can throw an ordinary person off a building because of a boring farce, and tomorrow she can treat the whole city as a playground."

Executive Jiang Xu rotated the blocking strap on his left wrist and looked up at Branch Chief Wang Weiguo.

"Since I've come to Linhai, I'll do you all a favor and do some spring cleaning. Notify everyone, add one more target to the operation. Find Dark Blade, execute on the spot, to serve as a warning to others."

An extreme thug-style iron-blooded logic.

He didn't care at all whether the victim forgave or not. In his eyes, there was only absolute order, and the only end for anyone who crossed that red line was physical erasure.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

A fit of violent coughing came from the sofa in the corner of the office.

A girl wearing an oversized white hoodie was pounding her chest desperately.

The collar of the hoodie was pulled high, blocking half of her face.

Her eyes were covered by a black silk ribbon embroidered with ancient runes, which was trembling slightly because of the coughing.

Ye Zhiwei managed to swallow the potato chip stuck in her throat and shouted at an extremely fast speed.

"Captain Jiang! Captain Jiang, please don't be impulsive!"

The girl hugged the half-bag of potato chips in her arms, shrinking into the sofa, her voice soft and timid, as if she had been frightened.

"Those old bones at The Watchers headquarters are extremely protective of their own. If we really kill the pillar of their Linhai branch, we will definitely be ambushed and beaten with sacks when we go out for fieldwork in the future! I just eat some snacks and don't provoke anyone; what if they retaliate and throw me into a sewer? I'm afraid of pain and I'm afraid of the dark, please don't kill her, okay..."

Although Ye Zhiwei was blind, her ability had long since clearly mapped out the flow of spirit energy in Executive Jiang Xu's body.

Just a moment ago, Executive Jiang Xu's killing intent was real.

He really intended to take advantage of the city-wide lockdown to wipe out The Watchers' stronghold in Linhai.

Su Yao immediately followed up on Ye Zhiwei's words.

"Executive Jiang, I agree with Ye Zhiwei's opinion."

Su Yao's tone was exceptionally firm.

"The current top priority is to find that monster. If we start a war with the local Awakened forces in Linhai because of one Dark Blade, or even cause street conflicts, it will seriously distract our energy for the search."

She looked directly at Executive Jiang Xu: "Once that thing gets through its growth phase, we will all die."

Executive Jiang Xu looked at the two women, one big and one small, both opposing him, and shrugged indifferently.

"Fine. Then let her live for a few more days."

Executive Jiang Xu stood up and tugged at the hem of his white trench coat. "She can't run away anyway."

He looked down at the girl on the sofa.

"Had enough to eat? Get to work. At nine o'clock sharp, start scanning. Within two hours, I want the precise coordinates of all abnormal spirit energy fluctuations."

Ye Zhiwei hurriedly stuffed the remaining half-bag of potato chips into her hoodie pocket and patted the residue off her hands.

She fished out an extremely dilapidated wooden music box from her small satchel, her fingers resting on the winding key on the side.

"Time to work, time to work."

Ye Zhiwei muttered, turning the winding key.

Extremely eerie mechanical notes echoed in the office.

On the black silk ribbon covering the girl's eyes, those ancient runes instantly lit up with a piercing crimson glow.

Advanced Forbidden Item, [Blind Girl's Music Box].

Omni-dimensional Vision, activated.

With this Investigation Bureau building as the center, a probing wave with no physical destructive power, but capable of piercing through all concealment and disguises, spread out in all directions like a tsunami.

The underground pipe networks, high-rise buildings, and air-raid shelters of the entire Linhai City, all spirit energy reactions were outlined in Ye Zhiwei's mind into a dense 3D star map.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Ye Zhiwei stopped her movements, her mouth slightly open, and her originally rosy cheeks turned pale at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Captain Jiang..." Ye Zhiwei's voice trembled incessantly. "Something happened."

Executive Jiang Xu turned his head abruptly.

"In the direction of the port lighthouse." Ye Zhiwei raised her hand, trembling, pointing out the window. "Three S-Class spirit energy reactions erupted simultaneously, and they are in a fierce firefight! And the fluctuation curve is still skyrocketing!"

"There's more!" Ye Zhiwei's speaking speed was so fast she almost bit her tongue. "Over at the Northern Reservoir... there's something that just ate the probing wave I sent over!"