Chapter 117: Rules and Positions
Silence filled the room. Only the echo of a clock swinging back and forth could be heard.
Under Minerva’s gaze, Zhou Cheng quickly became drenched in sweat. He tried several times to open his mouth, but no words came out. No matter how hard he tried to mobilize his spirit matter or steady his mind, what he felt instead was layer upon layer of increasingly clear and overwhelming fear.
It wasn’t just because of Minerva. It was as if something even more violent, more feral, was lurking behind that shifting phantom, casting a contemptuous glance in his direction.
What White Deer followers hated most about Origin followers was this: Origin was like a lock. Everyone within it had their own position and chain. The meaning of an individual was endlessly diluted by the collective, and no one could exist beyond their assigned stance.
Chains and authority came from the same source, while order and restraint coexisted. Even those who were not followers of Origin, once inside it, would be subtly assimilated and turned into standardized beings without faces or individuality.
But now, the moment Wen Wen set those chains aside, or more precisely, when she acted as if she could rip those damn chains apart, what Zhou Cheng felt was the iron-like nature of the Ruins Path, the majesty and terror of something utterly merciless.
Even though they were both Chosen Ones, the gap between them could not be measured in the slightest. It was as insurmountable as the gap between heaven and abyss.
What realm is she in? Rebirth Realm, or... Transcendence Realm?
Because of Zhou Cheng’s increasingly muddled thoughts, his consciousness sank into nothingness. His expression stiffened, and he found it hard to pull himself back, as if even he was about to become part of that iron and stone.
Suddenly, a low voice spoke, followed by soft footsteps. The person walked in a series of low, steady steps, yet each one was distinctly different, making one instinctively want to listen closely. The moment the presence was detected, one would instinctively straighten up, step aside, and offer respectful greetings.
“Mr. Lei.”
“Mr. Lei, good afternoon.”
“Director Lei.”
“Hello everyone, good afternoon.” A figure slowly walked into the company, wearing a warm, gentle smile. His short hair was slightly streaked with gray, his beard neatly trimmed without a single stray hair. He waved casually and said, “Keep working. Don’t mind me.”
Then he walked straight toward the reception room.
Ignoring the suffocating pressure filling the room, he pushed the door open and stepped in, pausing slightly in surprise.
“Oh dear, what a mess this is. How did it end up like this?” Lei Yaoxing sighed in mild lament, looking at the furious woman with a smile. “Ms. Wen, don’t make things hard for the people below you.”
“Is that so?” Wen Wen replied coldly, glancing at Zhou Cheng, who was drenched in sweat. “Because from what I see, it looks more like he’s making things hard for me.”
Lei Yaoxing turned back in confusion and looked at Zhou Cheng. “Is that right?”
Zhou Cheng trembled. The moment that terrifying pressure vanished, he instinctively collapsed to his knees. Scrambling forward on hands and feet, he tried to approach, but once Lei Yaoxing glanced at him, he no longer dared to move closer. Instead, he lay flat on the ground, frantically kowtowing, speaking incoherently.
“Mr. Lei, I was doing it all for the society, Mr. Lei, I... I have absolutely no selfish intent...”
Lei Yaoxing sighed and waved his hand. Zhou Cheng no longer even dared to continue explaining.
“My apologies, Ms. Wen. The society has its own rules for how things are done. If I don’t state my decision, how would the people below dare to act on their own? Otherwise, if they get caught, they’ll be accused of betrayal and have to pay with three knives and six holes[1].”
Wen Wen laughed coldly. “So you find a scapegoat, let some expendable underling say all the ugly things, and only now step in to play the good cop. Isn’t that a bit cliché?”
“Can’t help it. When Minerva comes knocking to settle scores, who wouldn’t be afraid? We can only cling tightly to the Wasteland Assembly as our lifesaver.”
Under Wen Wen’s cold stare, Lei Yaoxing maintained his gentle smile, completely unfazed by the fierce pressure. His tone was calm and relaxed. Although he sounded as if he were yielding, when he mentioned Minerva, there was a subtle pause, as if deliberately reminding her of something.
Wen Wen bluntly asked, “About the White Pact Gang incident, was it your people who did it?”
“I have nothing to do with it,” Lei Yaoxing said decisively, shaking his head. “Am I crazy? Why would I hire a bunch of lunatics who don’t understand the rules to deal with someone like Chen Xingzhou? I’m afraid there’s some kind of misunderstanding here.”
“Misunderstanding?” Wen Wen was almost amused. “It seems everyone says that. But up until now, over a hundred people have already died in these ‘misunderstandings.’ I’m starting to not even know who I can believe anymore.”
“If I wanted to deal with Chen Xingzhou, there’d be no need to hire anyone.”
Lei Yaoxing took off his jacket and hung it up, then walked straight to the corner wine cabinet. He poured himself half a glass of whiskey, tilted his head back and drank it in one gulp.
“Ms. Wen, you’re an honest person. I trust you. So I’ll give you some inside information. These past few days, the situation has escalated to the point that one can’t stand it anymore. Several elders from other parts of Haizhou have already stepped in to mediate. Tonight we’re meeting at the Lunar Tower to talk things through and settle it. Both sides will stop here. Why keep escalating things?”
Wen Wen looked at him in slight shock, her gaze growing stranger and stranger. An accountant handling black accounts and a driver doing errands, two illegitimate sons, and four or five trusted henchmen and top enforcers had all been killed by Chen Xingzhou. And yet Lei Yaoxing was now agreeing to negotiate and call a truce? He could actually tolerate this?
But, at this critical moment, he had no choice but to endure it. As the eldest adopted son personally raised by Lei Wuye, he ranked first.
In terms of status, he was Lei Wuye’s most trusted right-hand man, while Chen Xingzhou was merely an accountant and subordinate on paper, a tool used to launder money. In terms of strength, among the entire underworld of Cliff City, now unified under many of Lei Wuye’s former subordinates, he was undeniably the strongest. Even if all the younger brothers and sisters joined forces, they could barely hold their own against him.
Once this crisis passed and all opponents were subdued, he wouldn’t even need to wait for Lei Wuye to die. He would naturally become the rightful speaker, the born heir apparent. Taking a step back only opened up a wider horizon. At worst, he could simply wipe out Chen Xingzhou’s entire family afterward.
In fact, he could even show some magnanimity and keep Chen Xingzhou working for him, just as he had once worked under Lei Wuye to generate money, still valuing him as a useful asset. Without the White Pact Gang doing the dirty work, Chen Xingzhou’s Spring City fellowship would effectively lose an arm. Once his wings were clipped and he was properly disciplined, what waves could he possibly stir?
“Please, Ms. Wen.” Lei Yaoxing placed a glass of whiskey in front of her, his smile calm and steady. “We’ll be relying on your continued cooperation in the future.”
There was no response. Wen Wen didn’t even glance at him. She simply stood up slowly, adjusted her cuffs, and brushed the dust off her clothes.
“Very well. Since this has nothing to do with internal affairs of the Wasteland Assembly, then Team North Mount can also get to work.”
Whether this was Lei Yaoxing’s doing or not no longer mattered to her. Whether he said it was unrelated had nothing to do with her. She didn’t believe him in the slightest. All she wanted was to hear him say it. Once those scumbags were wiped out, no one would be able to use the relationship between the Security Bureau and the Wasteland Assembly as leverage anymore.
Lei Yaoxing’s smile stiffened for a brief moment. Whether this was caused by Wen Wen’s attitude or her decisiveness was unclear. In the end, he said nothing. He only reminded her, “Ms. Wen, you forgot something.”
“It’s a photocopy. You can have it, tear it up for fun.”
Without turning back, Wen Wen waved her hand, pushed the door open, and strode out.
In the reception room, now returned to silence, Lei Yaoxing sat down, holding his glass as he slowly sipped the strong liquor. With a casual flick of his hand, the crumpled envelope unfolded itself, revealing the paper inside.
It was blank. Not a single word was written on it.
He couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh, followed by a faint sigh. “The Security Bureau really is full of hidden talent.”
Finishing the last of the liquor, Lei Yaoxing stood up and left. Neither he nor Wen Wen spared another glance at the unfortunate man in the corner, who was still frantically kowtowing in terror. He didn’t dare to stop either.
Heavy, dull sounds echoed rhythmically. Thickening blood spread across the gray concrete floor. From that spreading crimson, it almost looked like a ferocious deer turned back to gaze upon the scene, bearing witness to this slaughter offered up in the name of Supreme Benevolence.
***
Three minutes later, Tong Hua, who had been waiting for some time, received a call from Wen Wen.
“Alright, that bastard Lei Yaoxing clearly doesn’t dare admit he has anything to do with those people. Start the operation. If you catch them, beat them to death!” Wen Wen said in a cold voice. “If you catch them at the station, crush them on the tracks. If you catch them at the docks, drown them in the sea. I want none of them to make it out of Cliff City alive. Understand?!”
“Huh?” Tong Hua froze for a moment, not surprised by Wen Wen’s determination, but by something else. “Ms. Wen, you’re not showing up in person?”
Wen Wen let out a helpless sigh. “I wish I could. But guess who’s sitting across from me right now?”
“Ah...” Tong Hua immediately understood and erupted in anger, yelling into the phone, “Tong Shan, what the hell are you doing?!”
Another voice came through, calm to the point of being mechanical. “Since you received instructions, just carry out Ms. Wen’s orders and don’t act on your own or cause unnecessary complications. Please use proper titles during work hours, Ms. Tong. As the head of Division One and acting director representative, I have some matters regarding the Security Bureau’s stance to discuss with Ms. Wen.”
“Oh, of course. ‘Please use proper titles during work hours.’” Tong Hua repeated her brother’s words in an exaggerated, almost mocking tone of frustration, clearly irritated and about to say more, but the call was already cut off, making her even angrier.
Enraged, she threw a tantrum several more times. Her stamina was clearly excellent.
Completely helpless, she rolled her eyes and cursed. “You’re definitely going to end up marrying someone just as rigid as you are. I bet you’ll even write a report about the sex on your wedding night!”
She had known since childhood that her older brother was different from her. Not just different from her, but different from everyone in the family. While the rest of the family were lively, gossiping, and enjoyed drama, he never once lifted his head to join in. Even within the vast Tong family, he never grew close to anyone.
He chose his own school, his own major, his own job, his own life. He had his own ideas, and he was self-sufficient, living like he was playing a single-player game. Ever since joining Division One, that deadpan face of his had only become more and more naturally gloomy by the day.
At a glance, you could tell that he was someone shaped entirely by Origin. A perfectly fine person, just like that, had been utterly ruined by Origin.
“Forget it. Time to get back to work.”
After hanging up the phone, she waved at Mr. Zhang, who was lazily resting in the shade with his legs crossed, and rubbed her hands together as she headed toward the scene.
“Come on, let me take a look, just which damn fearless bastard had the guts to cause trouble in the North Mount District?”
Under the tracing of the spirit matter records, everything that had happened was supposed to be fully reconstructed before her eyes. Unfortunately, it was all blurry. Like trying to stream 120P surveillance footage on a 120KB/s connection, the image stuttered, flickered, and came in and out of focus. The footage was sometimes reversed, sometimes completely unintelligible.
By the time she traced it to the complex shantytown area near the scene, the trail had already become impossible to follow.
Cold sweat dripped down from Tong Hua’s forehead as she began to panic.
This is bad. We’ve run into a pro!
After wandering around the shantytown like headless chicken for several rounds under Tong Hua’s lead, Mr. Zhang remained as calm as ever. An Ran, who was careful with his prosthetic leg and didn’t like stepping in the mud too often, finally couldn’t help but sigh. “Ms. Tong, you’re kind of weak.”
“How am I weak?! How am I weak?! Us from the Aether Path have always been strong!” Tong Hua immediately broke down, jumping in frustration. She rattled off excuses like “they’re using professional interference tools,” “there are too many frame drops,” “there are too many people in the shantytown causing signal disruption,” and so on, turning the atmosphere rather lively.
She ranted on and on until she exhausted herself chasing the trail and lost it again, and she looked like she was about to cry.
Mr. Zhang, leisurely strolling with a big palm-leaf fan, slowly raised a hand and pointed at the chaotic overhead wiring, the dense tangle of cables, and even the scattered surveillance cameras.
“Why not just ask someone around here?” he said curiously.
Tong Hua tensed up instantly, anger flashing across her face. “No! Even if I have to drag someone down with me today, even if I jump from here, I—”
Half an hour later, before Ji Jue’s little ride had even come to a full stop, he heard an ear-splitting chorus of greetings.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Ji!”
1. “Three blades and six holes” was a highly brutal form of self-punishment or oath of loyalty used in old underworld gangs. It refers to piercing one’s own body, usually the calves or thighs, with sharp blades three times, creating six puncture wounds.
It was used when members committed serious mistakes as a way to atone, to prevent defectors from leaking secrets, or as a form of punishment. It carried an implication of either death or permanent disability. ☜
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