Chapter 1020: Chapter 790: Contract
Two days later, Huai Shi finished his observation and was discharged.
The doctors of the Existence Institute lined up to applaud, giving him a warm send-off. The atmosphere was extremely weird. It felt like they were celebrating a prisoner’s release, hoping he would turn over a new leaf and become a decent person again.
But considering he hadn’t been thrown into one of those VIP booths in the Existence Institute, that was already more than good enough. Huai Shi didn’t dare be too picky.
He hadn’t even known how he got there on the way in, but on the way back he got a direct ride on the Rainbow Bridge.
In one step, he went straight from the Border medical chain under the Forever Group to the Border Reception Office of the Jurisdictional Bureau Yingzhou Branch.
In the bustling crowd, Huai Shi, a young man in a baseball cap with a saddlebag slung over his shoulder, stood out like a sore thumb, like he was yesterday’s courier dropping off takeout.
While waiting in line at the front desk, he was looking down at the messages on his phone. When his turn came, he looked up at the receptionist and said, "I have a one o’clock appointment today with your Minister Yusheng."
The polite smile on the receptionist’s face froze for a moment. She looked up at the message on her screen, then back at Huai Shi, and confirmed, "Sir, your name?"
"Huai Shi."
Huai Shi pushed his ID over.
For a moment, the mood changed, and yet it also seemed like nothing had changed.
As if someone had accidentally hit the pause button; then very quickly, the scene resumed, the noise was the same as ever, and even the footsteps on both sides grew a lot more hurried.
The clerk didn’t make Huai Shi wait too long. After swiftly arranging his pass, she returned his ID with both hands.
"Top floor, direct elevator on the left."
"Thank you."
Huai Shi said goodbye politely.
It wasn’t until the elevator doors closed that the clerk, curiosity piqued, leaned out to watch the direction he’d gone, her expression stunned and complicated.
"What’s up?" A coworker just back from lunch looked over curiously. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost."
The clerk pointed in the direction he’d gone. "That guy you all have been talking about nonstop these past two days just went up."
"No way?"
The coworker was incredulous and craned her neck to look with her, but saw nothing.
"You think they’ll start a fight?"
"Who knows?"
The clerk shrugged. "He is Tanbo’s Hero, after all..."
.
.
There was no "put-him-in-his-place" routine like he’d imagined, not even any fake posturing where they’d make Huai Shi wait on purpose.
When the elevator opened on the top floor, the secretary led him straight to the reception room and served him tea. Not long after, heavy footsteps sounded outside the door.
Le Ne pushed the door open in a hurry, holding a thick stack of files in his hands.
This was Huai Shi’s first time meeting Le Ne. He hadn’t expected him to be so thin, with eyes full of shadow, like a Night Owl. It was also Le Ne’s first time seeing him; he seemed surprised too, not expecting him to be this young.
Both sides were caught off guard to some extent, but the only thing that matched expectations perfectly was the oppressive, gloomy atmosphere.
Huai Shi didn’t get up, and Le Ne didn’t bother with greetings.
He just examined him closely.
"Well, well, look who it is. Our Hero has arrived!"
Huai Shi didn’t respond, just held his teacup.
Sluurp.
His face was expressionless.
Le Ne didn’t bother to hide his disgust and displeasure. He sat down on the chair opposite Huai Shi and tossed the file in his hands onto the table in front of him, asking bluntly:
"Liu DongLi is dead?"
"Yeah, didn’t they find the body on-site? Or was the report not clear enough?"
Huai Shi asked, "You’re this enthusiastic—are you in a rush to burn incense on the seventh day? Why don’t we all go together? We can even kneel before his grave, swear brotherhood, become sworn buddies for life."
And when you kneel, I’ll just bring an Axe down on your dog head, then kick you into the ditch, so you can share the same death anniversary forever.
He maliciously ran the scene in his head.
"Huai Shi, expecting you to show even a little bit of manners really is far too extravagant."
Le Ne shook his head indifferently. "Is Liu DongLi really dead? Doesn’t matter. Since the report’s been filed and the records erased, then he’s dead.
The Decision Room knows you’re hiding something, but the Decision Room no longer cares. The Talent you’ve displayed is enough to make up for the mistakes you’ve made—although you almost caused everything to fall apart at the last moment."
Huai Shi finally raised his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what you think I mean," Le Ne said. "Your actions almost ruined a year’s worth of our work.
"..."
In the silence, Huai Shi’s eyes widened bit by bit.
"Le Ne, what are you talking about?"
"You finally noticed, huh? That you’ve gotten yourself tangled up in the struggle between the Border Faction and the Sovereignty Faction..."
Le Ne sneered. "What did you think—a target as important as Liu DongLi just managed to break out on his own? If the Jurisdiction Bureau hadn’t turned a blind eye, how could someone still bearing a Resonant Physique possibly slip past surveillance?"
From the very start, this was a plan aimed at Green Day, using a Hybrid to interfere with the lockdown on Border·Canaan.
Liu DongLi’s jailbreak was just one link in the chain. The final goal was to use his death to spark a conflict between Green Day and Golden Dawn.
To keep the hidden danger outside the Current Circumstances.
The minimal objective was to prevent the two sides from joining forces in the upcoming War of Realms, and to ensure the safety of the Current Circumstances.
Even though under the Sovereignty Faction’s influence, variables like Ai Qing and Huai Shi entered the scene, the outcome still turned out as expected—
The Sovereignty Faction gained a voice, but the Border Faction also achieved its predetermined objective.
As early as a year ago, the mission Le Ne was burdened with was to ensure all of this came to pass.
In the long silence, Huai Shi stiffly raised his head and looked at the man in front of him. "Even if it meant sacrificing over a hundred thousand innocent people?"
