17: Insightful acting skills

Inside the office of the top person in charge at Star Rail Headquarters, the air seemed to solidify.

Qin Qingxuan's showdown, which fused cold data, the greater good of civilization, and personal charisma, swept through like a cosmic storm, leaving behind a suffocating silence.

Lin Wei had long been crushed by the massive amount of information and heavy pressure; she could only helplessly grab her husband's arm, sobbing softly, her eyes filled with fear and bewilderment.

She didn't understand those complex probabilities, but she understood that this beautiful and powerful woman in front of them believed their family held something incredible and was demanding they hand it over.

Chen Jun's heart pounded frantically in his chest, nearly leaping out.

Cold sweat soaked his back, and his brain whirred at high speed amidst extreme fear.

Admit it?

Absolutely impossible!

The existence of the System was his greatest secret and the source of his fear.

Once exposed, what would he face?

Being dissected and studied as an experimental subject?

Being forced into infinite "reproduction" until his lifespan was exhausted?

He couldn't imagine it, nor did he dare to.

Moreover, behind the System's "Absolute Guarantee" rule was the cruel price of extracting his life force; this wasn't some gospel that could "produce Innate Martial Bodies in batches," but something bought with his life!

How could he explain it clearly?

And how could he hand it over?

Deny it!

He had to deny it!

No matter how unreasonable it was, he had to stick to his denial!

This was the only way to temporarily protect himself and his family.

He snapped his head up, forcing an expression onto his face that was uglier than crying—filled with shock, grievance, and disbelief—his voice trembling violently due to "agitation":

"President... President Qin! What... what do you mean by that? What secret? What key? I... I don't understand at all!"

He waved his hands forcefully, his eyes looking at the three floating reports in "panic," as if seeing them for the first time:

"Xi Xi, Yao Yao, Lu Lu... their Aptitude is good, we... we just have good luck! Heavenly luck! We're just the most ordinary Mortals; what secret could we have? If we had a secret, would we have lived such a hard life before? Would we still be living in the shanties of District Seven, eating relief nutritional paste?"

He turned to his sobbing wife as if finding corroboration, his tone becoming even more "urgent":

"Wei Wei! Tell her! Do we have any secrets? Don't we just work ordinary jobs, and then... then the heavens opened their eyes and gave us three wonderful daughters? Isn't that right?"

Lin Wei, shaken by his arm, nodded repeatedly in fear, crying even harder:

"No... we don't have any secrets... Brother Jun... I'm scared..."

Chen Jun looked back at Qin Qingxuan, his eyes filled with the indignation of "being wronged" and the "helplessness" of a lowly figure facing a giant:

"President Qin! You've investigated us! Our ancestors for eight generations were all ordinary people! If we really had some way, we would have made ourselves strong long ago; why would I... why would I exhaust myself into this premature aging?!"

He pointed at his graying hair and deep wrinkles; this performance was half-true, and his aged appearance now served as his best cover.

"I know the probability is unreasonably low! But... but the Universe is so big, miracles are bound to happen, right? Why can't they happen to us?"

"Someone is bound to live well, why can't it be me!"

He was almost roaring, carrying a sort of desperate abandon,

"Just because our luck is too good, we have to be suspected of hiding some secret? Is... is there no justice left?!"

Silence fell over the office once again.

Qin Qingxuan listened quietly to Chen Jun's shrill denials and performance; there was no ripple of expression on her exquisite face, and no trace of anger or disappointment in those eyes as deep as a sea of stars.

She just looked at Chen Jun as if appreciating a clumsy but interesting play.

It wasn't until Chen Jun paused to gasp for breath due to "agitation" that she slowly spoke, her voice still calm and waveless, yet carrying a power that could see through the human heart:

"Mr. Chen, your performance was brilliant, and your emotions were well-placed. Fear, grievance, helplessness, even a hint of indignation at being wronged... all very real."

She paced lightly, walking a circle around him, her gaze like a precision scanner passing over every subtle reaction of his body.

"However, you overlooked one point. Excessive denial itself is a disguised admission. If you truly believed you were just lucky, your first reaction when faced with this level of questioning should have been the same as mine: extreme shock and disbelief, rather than such a swift and intense... distancing."

Her tone held no heat, yet it was like a cold scalpel, precisely cutting open Chen Jun's disguised shell.

"You're right, I've investigated you—very thoroughly. It's precisely because I've investigated thoroughly enough that I'm even more certain this is by no means luck."

She stopped and stood before Chen Jun, leaning down slightly; a faint, cold, and elegant fragrance entered Chen Jun's nose, but it made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

"Your fatigue, your aging—it's not all caused by overwork. Your life Origin... has a peculiar, unnatural trace of depletion. It doesn't match any known disease or injury in my knowledge. It's more like a... price."

Chen Jun's pupils shrank suddenly, and his heart nearly stopped!

She could even see that?!

Qin Qingxuan keenly captured that fleeting shock, a very faint, knowing curve forming at the corner of her mouth, but she didn't continue to press him on that point.

She straightened up and walked back to the window, her tone becoming somewhat distant:

"I can understand why you're unwilling to speak. Everyone has their own secrets, especially earth-shattering secrets that can change one's fate. Vigilance, fear, self-preservation—these are biological instincts."

"I can also tell you clearly, Mr. Chen,"

She turned around, her gaze no longer burning as before, but becoming a bottomless calm,

"I won't torture you, nor will I use your wife and daughters to threaten you—at least not at this stage. That's not my style, and it would easily destroy the thing I want most."

Her honesty made Chen Jun's skin crawl even more.

This meant she had absolute confidence and patience!

"I will wait."

Qin Qingxuan's voice was soft, yet it carried the weight of a thousand catties,

"I have plenty of time. A Planetary Level's lifespan is very long, long enough for me to observe and wait patiently. You will stay at the headquarters and enjoy the best life; your daughters will receive the top-tier cultivation. I will give you enough space and... a sense of security."

"But,"

Her tone shifted, her gaze becoming sharp again,

"Please also remember my words today. This secret doesn't belong to you personally; it concerns the survival of the Federation. My patience is not infinite, and the threat of the Empire won't give us much time."

"I hope that one day, you can figure it out yourself, or... a certain opportunity arises that makes you willing to cooperate with me proactively. For your daughters to grow up freely in a peaceful and powerful Federation, rather than struggling to survive under the iron heels of the Empire."

She waved her hand as if her patience had run out, or as if she had completed another test:

"Alright, you may go back. Don't mention today's events to anyone. Continue to enjoy your 'family reunion' life."

The order to leave was sudden.

Chen Jun felt as if he had been granted a great pardon, yet he also felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He supported the nearly collapsing Lin Wei and stumbled out of the suffocating office.

Back in the luxurious apartment, Lin Wei was still crying in fear, repeatedly asking:

"Brother Jun, what's going on? Will we be okay?"

Chen Jun could only comfort her tiredly:

"fine，fine了...It might be...We were so lucky!，It's unbelievable, isn't it?..."

But in his heart, there was a tempest.

Qin Qingxuan was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

She was powerful, smart, and sharp, and she possessed a vision and patience that transcended personal desires.

She wasn't like a bandit eager to snatch a Treasure Trove, but more like a steady hunter who had laid an inescapable net, waiting for the prey to reveal a flaw itself, or... to get used to the cage.

Inside the office, Qin Qingxuan was alone, watching the direction where Chen Jun and his wife had disappeared, her fingertips lightly tapping on the windowsill.

"A price..."

She murmured to herself, her eyes flashing with the light of wisdom,

"Strong resistance to reproduction... unnatural life depletion... and absolutely anomalous reproductive results..."

She seemed to have captured some key point, yet she couldn't connect them.

"It seems I need to adjust the research direction."

She pressed the communication button,

"Notify the Biological and Psychological Analysis Department to suspend routine gene sequencing and focus on analyzing the fluctuations in Chen Jun's physiological data over the years, especially the potential correlation between his vital signs and his spouse's reproductive cycles. I want the most detailed analysis report."

Having issued the command, she looked at the starry sky again, her gaze seemingly penetrating the endless distance to see the front line of the confrontation with the Empire.

"Chen Jun... how much longer can you deny it? I hope you can understand that some things are far more important than personal secrets."