Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Intelligence
"Oh, it’s you..." A sarcastic remark formed in Li Kang’s throat, but he forced himself to swallow it. He did, after all, have Zhang Hai’s contact information on his phone. Personal feelings were one thing, but work was another!
"Hold on. When you get the intel from Xue the Third’s interrogation, let me know through this phone," Chu Bamboo said calmly.
"Just for that...?" Li Kang was a bit baffled. ’Aren’t you coming to the Police Chief Bureau tomorrow? You could just look at the intelligence summary on-site then, right? Why insist on a phone call?’
’If the interrogation yields a ton of intel, are we supposed to stay on the phone for an hour?’
"Second, it’s about tomorrow’s civil service exam," Chu Bamboo said, still perfectly composed. "Tell me the detailed procedure..."
Li Kang: "..."
’Huh? You don’t even know the procedure? Wait, then what about those practice exams... Did you do them? Is there any way you can pass...’
Li Kang was floored. He subconsciously started explaining the procedure, but as he spoke, he gradually began to grasp the underlying meaning. After he finished, his expression shifted several times before he finally said with difficulty, "I understand! I’ll go have another drink with the district administrator later."
"But," Li Kang said, sounding desperate, "it’s not that your uncle won’t help you, but if you can’t even pass the exam, there’s nothing I can do to pull strings!"
"Don’t worry, it’s in the bag," Chu Bamboo replied with his usual confidence. "Now, let’s get down to business..."
Li Kang: "???"
’What the hell? We’re only just now getting to business? Then what was all that before?’
"Tonight, I will be targeted by an assassin," Chu Bamboo said unhurriedly. "The assassin targeting me is the same one who previously targeted the union’s upper echelons!"
A dead silence.
"I’m coming over right now!" Guan Fei’s urgent voice came through the phone. Apparently, Li Kang was with his team members, and the phone was on speaker.
"No need." Chu Bamboo shook his head. If they could apply for a Forbidden Artifact right now, it might be of some use. However, he had already confirmed in the previous timeline that the Forbidden Artifact would put a strain on Li Kang’s body and injure him—a situation he would naturally want to avoid if possible.
"Host Zhang has agreed to protect me, but there’s a small problem," Chu Bamboo said, his tone subtle. "If a fight breaks out and it gets a little loud, then nearby people might witness Extraordinary Power..."
This was another lesson Chu Bamboo had learned from the previous timeline!
Li Kang: "...You mean?"
"If that really happens, don’t forcibly arrest Zhang Hai. Don’t use it as a pretext to make a move on the God Worship Society," Chu Bamboo said frankly. "Do me this favor. Oh, and I’ll also have to trouble you to come over afterward and erase the memories of any ordinary people who saw the Extraordinary..."
Zhang Hai: "..."
’How could the other side possibly agree to such an outrageous condition?’
Zhang Hai barely managed to keep a straight face. ’Hmph! Who do you think you are, Li Kang’s own son? "Do me this favor"...’
"No problem," Li Kang replied without the slightest hesitation.
Zhang Hai: "?"
Holy shit, he actually agreed... Zhang Hai finally lost his composure. He stared, dumbfounded, at Chu Bamboo, who hung up and handed the phone back.
As he shakily took the phone, he pondered a very serious question. ’Wouldn’t a real son get chewed out a little?’
’You must be his real dad!’
"This way," Chu Bamboo said, staring into Zhang Hai’s eyes, "you don’t have any reservations, do you?"
"Since you’ve gone this far..." Zhang Hai pursed his lips, feeling a little eager. After all, if things got messy, the detestable Captain’s Office would be there to clean it up... ’Could it get any better than this?’
But in the end, he reined himself in. "Don’t worry," he said. "I’ll control the scale of my power as much as possible. I won’t cause too much trouble for you or for Captain Li and his team."
Chu Bamboo nodded. ’This is why honest people are so easy to deal with.’
...
「One hour later.」
Zhang Hai’s phone suddenly rang.
As expected, it was a call from Li Kang. Chu Bamboo immediately took the phone and began to listen. Li Kang was seriously explaining the intelligence he’d gotten from the interrogation... However, the more Chu Bamboo listened, the stranger his expression became.
"Uncle Li! Xue the Third is lying to you..." Chu Bamboo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This was the fundamental reason he had told Li Kang to contact him after getting the intel—he knew Xue the Third too well. He understood just how cunning the man was.
The only reason he’d been able to squeeze information out of him before was that Chu Bamboo knew his target, knew that smart people liked to overthink things, and had overloaded his brain with information... But even then, Xue the Third had recovered almost instantly.
"The mole isn’t Judge Yuan Hua of the Dali Bureau at all!" he said. "The real mole should be Judge Xu Sun, who was just transferred from the Dali Temple to the Jinghai City Dali Bureau..."
Li Kang: "...Huh?!"
"Oh, and Vice Captain Hai of the Second District definitely has some issues. He’s the power backing Joy Street... but he doesn’t know anything about the All-Powerful Association! The group he’s connected with is actually the Joyful Union Association... How to put it? He’s a little dirty, but Xue the Third probably ratted him out to get you to kill his enemy for him."
"My personal advice is, if you really want to take down Captain Qi in the future... you can work with Vice Captain Hai first. Vice Hai comes from a prominent local family! If you can really get a handle on this, taking down a guy with unstable footing like Captain Qi shouldn’t be a big problem. Once you’re done with Captain Qi, if you still don’t like Vice Hai, you can turn around and backstab him! Don’t worry, you can just ask me then... I have dirt on him."
Li Kang: "...Are you serious?"
"Also! Also! That thing you told me... about the old administrator’s daughter being involved! That’s fake too... The old administrator’s daughter only attended the masked ball. That’s right, she knows nothing about the All-Powerful Association! She was just dragged in to be a scapegoat..."
Chu Bamboo spoke with great confidence, "Her lifestyle is indeed quite decadent, but considering she was widowed at forty and is getting on in years... it’s understandable! Don’t worry too much. Besides her private life, her biggest problem is just dabbling in Five Poison Powder. It’s serious, sure, but compared to being deeply embedded in an organization like the Shoe Sect, it’s really not on the same level!"
"Also, the old administrator isn’t really aware of these things... he’s getting a little senile... Don’t worry! The old administrator isn’t that spineless. I’d say this even to his face. With what his daughter has done, he has no ground to argue on this matter... Relax, it won’t get to the point where the old administrator has to tearfully disown his daughter. Just report it directly. This is a solvable problem; you don’t need to worry about making him lose face."
"In fact, if you could be a little ruthless, you might even be able to get a favor from the old administrator... Okay, okay, okay, I knew you didn’t have the guts! We’ll drop it."
"Oh, right, and one more thing..."
Chu Bamboo held forth, critiquing the state of affairs with stirring words. He had just debunked eighty percent of the intelligence Li Kang had interrogated... As for the remaining twenty percent, well, that part was actually true.
But that was to be expected. If it was all lies, who would believe it?
Even that eighty percent was a mix of truth and lies... For example, the aforementioned Judge Yuan Hua was definitely not clean. If Li Kang really went to question him, the man’s first reaction would certainly be to cover things up.
And in that case, Li Kang wouldn’t doubt the intel was false; he’d just think the guy was good at hiding things and would proceed to lock horns with him...
"..." To be honest, Zhang Hai had been listening with great interest at first, but as he continued, he sensed something was off. By the end, he was breaking out in a cold sweat.
’Hey, big bro, am I even supposed to be hearing this? When you’re discussing confidential intelligence... can’t you avoid an outsider like me? Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were trying to forcibly recruit him into your gang!’
At the same time, Zhang Hai’s emotions, for once, were in perfect sync with Li Kang on the other end of the line—a man he didn’t exactly get along with...
Both were thinking almost the exact same thing—
’How do you know everything?’
’And if you know everything, why did you have to make Li Kang go through the trouble of an interrogation?’
「Police Chief Bureau Interrogation Room.」
After hanging up the phone, Li Kang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He flexed his wrists, staring at Xue the Third, who was trembling, drenched in cold sweat, and looking utterly dazed.
Because the phone had been on speaker, Xue the Third had heard everything too. Right now, his heart was ice-cold.
He felt like he’d seen a ghost! ’The guy on the other end doesn’t have a memory-reading Divine Technique, does he? No, that’s impossible. Under the Lord’s protection, I should be immune to that kind of thing—hypnosis, control, memory-reading Divine Techniques...’
What’s more, the thing Xue the Third couldn’t understand was that he had made up some of that intel, yet the person on the phone was able to take his nonsense and supply the correct information... ’What does that even mean?!’
Xue the Third felt like a complete rookie in front of Chu Bamboo... No, he was even starting to wonder—was the guy on the phone from the All-Powerful Association, or was *he*?
Li Kang took several deep breaths, barely managing to regain his composure, but his voice still sounded as if it were being squeezed through gritted teeth.
"Guan Fei... bring out the ’special package’ from before! Let’s treat our Mr. Xue Zuqiang to another meal..."
"...Until he’s stuffed!!!"
"...Yes, sir!"
...
「Chu Bamboo’s Home.」
Time ticked by.
Finally, Chu Bamboo’s gaze sharpened. The time of the previous day’s assassination had arrived.
Zhang Hai clearly noticed the change in Chu Bamboo’s demeanor, and his body tensed in response. Then, one minute, twenty minutes, one hour, two hours passed...
Zhang Hai: "...?"
"I’m going to bed," Chu Bamboo said, standing up, stretching, and yawning. "I’ll leave the night watch to you!"
"?" Zhang Hai’s face twisted. ’You look dead serious for hours, and then you just tell me you’re going to sleep?’
’Are you even human?’
’He’s just messing with me!’
In reality, however, a thousand thoughts were racing through Chu Bamboo’s mind. ’The time of the assassination has changed—’
’Is it because the enemy sensed Zhang Hai’s strength and is now unwilling to make a move?’
’That would be a problem!’
’I can’t keep Zhang Hai tied to my side forever.’
However...
’Things being as they are, I might as well get some sleep first!’
Chu Bamboo had no intention of sleeping in the guest room. He planned to make do on the sofa for the night, so Zhang Hai could keep watch nearby.
Just before sleeping, Chu Bamboo remembered something. "Also, if I’m not mistaken, the enemy should be within a one-kilometer radius of us right now. You’re a Cultivator, right? Can you sense them?"
Zhang Hai pondered for a moment. A faint white light bloomed from his body, spreading outward in thin wisps. It was extremely faint, like a layer of Light Gauze.
As the Light Gauze passed through the walls, it transformed into something like scattered, twinkling fireflies. Though quite eye-catching in the night, it looked perfectly normal.
"...I can’t sense anything for now," Zhang Hai said. "That’s normal. Cultivators from the Dark Domain, especially assassins, are masters of concealment."
"...Mm." Chu Bamboo said no more. After washing up, he lay down on the sofa and closed his eyes.
...
It was the same familiar apartment room.
It was the same familiar six o’clock in the morning.
Chu Bamboo stretched lazily and opened the screen window. "Good morning, world!"
On the street below, all the visible breakfast stalls were already open.
After washing up, Chu Bamboo left the apartment to go out for some exercise. On the way, he bought two steamed buns for breakfast...
’Yesterday... I don’t think I felt that reset sensation... Does that mean I wasn’t assassinated last night?’
