94: Chapter 94 The Little Prince

Zhao Yi looked at Jiang Feng's relaxed face, momentarily at a loss for words.

"Three-star Michelin."

He had just been dancing on the edge of life and death, and now he was already thinking about the menu.

Zhao Yi shook his head, leaned back against the seat, and closed his eyes.

He needed rest, both physically and mentally.

Jiang Feng didn't speak again either; he turned his head and pressed his forehead against the porthole.

He was reviewing everything.

From the moment he boarded that broken fishing boat to watching the show in the surveillance room at the end.

The entire process was like a movie with a pace so fast that you had to press pause to see the details clearly.

He was the screenwriter, the lead actor, and also had to moonlight as a psychiatrist and tactical consultant.

Jiang Feng cursed inwardly.

"I'm just a fortune teller, for fuck's sake. Isn't my scope of business a bit too broad?"

【 Ding! 】

【 Main Quest: Find and crack the "Eye of the Deadlock," completed beyond expectations! 】

【 Mission Evaluation: You saw through human nature in a lawless land, slew the heart of an overlord in a trapped-dragon scenario, and outsmarted a traitor between life and death. You broke the deadlock twice and perfectly guided the trajectory of fate. 】

【 Comprehensive Evaluation: Epic! 】

【 Calculating rewards... 】

【 Congratulations to the host, brain cancer cell activity reduced by 40%! Remaining lifespan increased by 200 days! 】

【 Congratulations to the host, you have received a cash reward of 30 million! 】

Completing the three-divination mission on the boat had rewarded him with 120 days.

Now, another 200 days had been added.

All in all, this trip to the high seas not only covered his previous massive expenditures but also earned him a hefty profit.

If it didn't incur any unpredictable karmic backlash later, it was a massive win.

He just didn't know if a chain reaction would follow...

Eventually, the helicopter landed smoothly on a military helipad.

Jiang Feng was the first to jump off the helicopter; the feeling of his feet touching solid ground brought him a sense of relief.

A black lexus was parked quietly beside the cordon.

Old Chen was leaning against the car door. Seeing Jiang Feng and Zhao Yi walk out, he immediately straightened up and hurried over to meet them.

"Boss, Captain Zhao."

There was an uncontrollable excitement in Old Chen's voice.

Seeing that both of them were safe and sound, the heart he had been holding in his throat for a day and a night finally settled.

"You've worked hard, Old Chen."

Jiang Feng patted his shoulder.

"Let's go, let's go home."

"Captain Zhao, what about you? Do you need a ride?"

Zhao Yi shook his head.

"No thanks, there's a pile of things waiting for me to handle at the station. We caught such a big fish this time; I'm going to be busy."

"If there's nothing else, I'll get to work."

Jiang Feng shouted seriously, "There is something!"

"You still owe me a three-star Michelin meal."

Zhao Yi paused for a moment, then a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"Alright, it's a deal."

He extended his fist.

Jiang Feng also extended his fist and bumped it against his.

No extra words were needed.

Zhao Yi turned, got into a police car that had come to pick him up, and soon disappeared into the night.

Jiang Feng opened the car door and sat in the familiar backseat.

The soft leather seat enveloped his body, and the sandalwood scent inside the car allowed his tense nerves to relax completely.

It was still most comfortable to sit in his own car.

Jiang Feng closed his eyes, preparing to take a short nap.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

He opened his eyes and looked at the figure in the driver's seat.

"Oh right, Old Chen."

"That woman I asked you to investigate earlier, Lu Cheng."

"Is there any result?"

Old Chen's hands on the steering wheel were steady, his gaze fixed straight ahead on the road.

"Boss, I've checked."

"Just as the official conclusion stated, there are no issues with Dr. Lu Cheng's personal resume. Her educational background is clear, her mentors are well-known, and every paper she has published has a traceable source."

"The flow of funds is also entirely traceable to research grants and personal patent income; it's suspiciously clean."

Jiang Feng leaned against the seat, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the car window.

This result was within his expectations.

If the resume of someone who could be valued by that kind of mysterious department and granted such high authority could be easily checked for problems, that would be a huge joke.

"The only strange thing..." Old Chen paused.

Jiang Feng's fingertips stopped.

"Speak."

"There is a blank period of five years in her childhood resume, between the ages of six and eleven."

Old Chen's voice lowered slightly.

"There are no school records, no changes in home address, and no entry or exit information."

"It's as if she vanished into thin air for five years."

Jiang Feng's brows furrowed.

Five years.

For a child's development, these are the most critical five years.

"Based on some very vague clues, it's speculated that she might have spent that time in a private welfare institution."

"But that welfare institution had all its paper records destroyed in an accidental fire over a dozen years ago."

"Later, after changing hands several times, everything has long since changed, and nothing can be found."

Jiang Feng didn't speak after hearing this.

This was practically the standard trio used in spy movies when forging an identity for the protagonist.

He could even imagine the scene: a few guys in black suits carrying gasoline cans, expressionlessly setting a small building on fire, then turning and disappearing into the night, hiding their merit and fame.

"Nothing more to find?" Jiang Feng asked.

"Nothing more," Old Chen answered decisively. "I pulled some old connections from my time in the military and used some unconventional means, but this is as far as I could get. Any further, and the trail is completely broken."

"Alright, I understand."

Jiang Feng leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes.

"You've worked hard, Old Chen."

This woman was indeed even more troublesome than he had imagined.

A past that had been deliberately erased, and a present that was suspiciously clean to the point of being fake.

She was like a ghost wearing the skin of a top scientist, lingering next door, observing his every move with those emotionless eyes.

Jiang Feng even suspected that the moment he stepped onto that fishing boat to the high seas, she had already received the news.

He had to find a way to resolve this trouble.

Jiang Feng opened his eyes and glanced out the window; the familiar outline of his villa appeared in the night.

...

Meanwhile.

In the study on the second floor of the neighboring villa.

Lu Cheng stood in front of a row of bookshelves that reached the ceiling.

There were no extra decorations in the study, only books.

There were all kinds, from fairy tales, philosophy, and natural sciences, to applied technology.

The desk was equally spotless, with only a closed laptop and a turned-off desk lamp.

The entire room was quiet and tidy, without a trace of life.

Lu Cheng pulled one out.

"the little prince."

She opened the pages.

A black-and-white photo with yellowing edges was tucked inside as a bookmark.

She took the photo out.

In the photo, a young girl with two braids was facing the camera, smiling warmly and gently.

In her arms, she was affectionately hugging a child.

It was a little girl of five or six.

The little girl was wearing a dress, expressionless, looking coldly outside the camera lens.

That face without any emotion was the young Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng reached out a finger.

Her fingertip gently brushed across the young girl's cheek in the photo, brushing across her warm smile.

In those eyes without any emotional fluctuations, it seemed as if something was churning in the deepest depths.

She stood there for a long time.

Until the sound of a car engine came from downstairs, approaching from afar, and finally cutting off.

She walked to the window, pulled back a corner of the heavy curtain, and looked outside.

Lu Cheng's gaze pierced through the darkness between the two villas and fell upon that figure.

The corners of her mouth seemed to twitch upward.

That was not a smile.

It was more like a predator seeing its long-awaited prey finally return to the nest.

She shook the photo slightly; under the light, one could clearly see two words on the back of the photo.

Those two words were, Wan Qing.