Autophagy

After getting up and slightly pulling on the white blinds that were attached to the windows to peek out of it, a creepy grin appeared on the department head's face.

"Keep entertaining me..."

...

Song Lei and Aston returned to the base without any problems. This was the second day of the week-long war and they had five more days to go. Aston wanted to make sure that he was able to gather as much information as possible on the neural spiders. For that, they would have to depart from the base as soon as possible and act on their own.

"What should we tell Clark?" Song Lei asked. "Even if we find a way to deal with neural spiders, we can't let it be known by Clark, or anyone other than our allies to be precise."

"Indeed," Aston said as he held his chin. "If Clark learns that we were able to find a way to take care of neural spiders, he would become much warier of us."

Song Lei and Aston entered the main tent. They were met with the curious gazes of the higher-ups of Section A. They all looked at Song Lei and Aston curiously.

"What brings you here?" Clark who was sitting in the furthest chair to them. Song Lei and Aston looked at each other briefly before Song Lei stepped forward.

"We'll be leaving to survey the forest on our own. We want to figure out the surrounding area and try to locate some enemy bases," Song Lei said. Hearing his words, Clark raised one of his brows.

"What? That would actually be very nice..." He muttered. However, from his expression, it was easy to understand that he didn't know what they were trying to do. Obviously, he didn't believe in their excuse. In the end, he decided that nothing bad would come out of it. "Nevermind. I hope you guys can help us. Thank you."

"No problem," Song Lei said. Even though he knew he didn't manage to deceive Clark, it was enough for them to do whatever they wanted.

After leaving the tent, Song Lei and Aston headed off into the distance...

...

(A/N: Okay... Leaving author's notes is not really my cup of tea. However, it has been more than a hundred episodes since this event transpired so I'll kindly direct you towards the start of chapter 12. Which goes by 'A Monk?! | Chapter 12'. )

"Then tell me why you're here and I won't pursue it further," demanded Jia Feng. Jia Feng had been Song Lei's caretaker since Song Lei got into a fight with his father and started living in the house his mother left to his aunt. He didn't want a suspicious person just casually strolling around the place.

Liu Kun pressed his cigarette onto a wall and put it out before throwing it aside. He sighed deeply before blowing into his hands to warm them up. He seemed to be cold.

"Have you ever heard about the New World?" He said. Jia Feng raised one of his brows and stared at him confusedly.

"Wasn't there a game that goes by that name? I remember Lei talking about it..." Jia Feng muttered while holding his chin. "Wait wait! Why did you start talking about games all of a sudden?"

"Haha! No no! You got me wrong. I'm not talking about a game," Liu Kun explained himself. He wiped the tears that came out of his eyes because of laughing and rubbed his hands together to warm them up. "The New World isn't a game."

"Then what is it?" Jia Feng asked. His patience was running out. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he kept tapping on his arm with his finger.

"Let's say... It's a place. And Lei might be in that place right now," Liu Kun said. As soon as Jia Feng heard his words, his face soured up. One could see veins popping up on his forehead because of anger.

"Did you come here to make fun of a deceased person?" He asked. He was trying his best to not start a fight against Liu Kun.

"No no! I'm not lying. I'm just telling you some confidential information!" Liu Kun said with a malevolent grin on his face. Seeing him grin, Jia Feng lost the last bit of his patience and charged towards Liu Kun. He raised his fist and threw it towards Liu Kun's face. Jia Feng had grown up in the ghetto. He was used to fighting and he had a pretty strong build. There weren't many people that could beat him in a fistfight. Especially the frail-looking Liu Kun wouldn't be able to do so.

"Now now... There's no need to get violent," Liu Kun said with a wide smile on his face. Suddenly, that smile turned into a cold-blooded expression. Although his expression would be able to make anyone freeze on their steps, Jia Feng had already launched his attack. He wasn't able to stop.

As Jia Feng's fist was about to connect with his face, Liu Kun's hands disappeared and turned into shadows. Instantly, Jia Feng was thrown into the air without being able to do anything. As he fell down to the ground, all the air in his lungs was ejected out of his body.

After falling on the ground, Jia Feng laid down without being able to get up. He turned his head towards Liu Kun that was looking at him with his smile plastered back onto his face.

"What do you want..?" Jia Feng asked with hardship. After hearing his words, Liu Kun walked to his side and crouched on the ground before taking out a few documents from his briefcase.

"I just want you to sign this confidentiality agreement first before we can continue our talk elsewhere," Liu Kun said. Jia Feng did his best to gather his energy and sit straight. When he finally managed to do so, he took the paper from Liu Kun's hand and read it carefully.

"Heh. Do I even have the right to refuse?" Jia Feng asked defeatedly. Liu Kun didn't even answer. Jia Feng could understand what he was trying to say by this silence. He picked up the pen Liu Kun handed to him and carefully signed the agreement. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any clauses that looked harmful to him.

As soon as he signed the agreement, Liu Kun took the paper from his hand and stuffed it into his briefcase. He then proceeded to poke Jia Feng's chest with his finger. When his finger touched him, Jia Feng felt all the pain from being thrown on the ground disappear.

"How..?" He muttered, not being able to understand how Liu Kun did such a thing.

"You'll learn. Now come with me. I have another offer for you that you'll like a lot," Liu Kun said. He helped Jia Feng get up.

"Little Ai is still in the house. I need to take her to my house and make sure she is fine..." Jia Feng said. Liu Kun smiled at him.

"Bring her here then. I'll be giving you a ride," he said. Hearing his words, Jia Feng went back into the house. He talked one last time with Song Lei's relatives and took Ai with him. Ai had spent a lot of time with Jia Feng and knew he was a trustable person. So she followed him without complaining. She was currently in a state of shock. She had lost her only family and was left all alone in this world. Any person remotely trustable would look like an angel to her.

"Oh, you're back. It took a lot less than I thought," Liu Kun said. He put off his cigarette and threw it aside before getting in his car. Jia Feng and Ai followed him along and got in the car. "Tell me your address."

Jia Feng told his address to Liu Kun. After entering the address into his navigation, Liu Kun started driving.

After they left Ai in the house, Jia Feng promised that he would come back quickly and left together with Liu Kun.

"Where are we going now?" Jia Feng asked. He was curious.

"We're going to the facility," Liu Kun said. "You'll be offered a contract there."

"What contract..?" Asked Jia Feng. He couldn't help but feel that he was getting scammed.

"You'll see once we arrive," Liu Kun cut him off vaguely. Jia Feng sighed at his vague answer. Although he wasn't sure what was going to happen, he was mildly interested in what this person was talking about.

'He told me that Lei might be in this place called New World. He is a lunatic right..?' Jia Feng thought while looking at Liu Kun's emotionless expression. Although he was ninety percent sure that he was dealing with a lunatic, that ten percent doubt was pecking away at his mind. The possibility of Song Lei being alive was impossible after all. He had seen his corpse with his own eyes.

'There should be no harm in just taking a look....'