Lord of Prayer

Chapter 40: Chapter 316: Snow White

“Are you threatening me?”

Zhou Chen glanced expressionlessly toward the source of the voice. “Do you think a threat like that works on me?”

“Angry? Is it because of this loser, or because of my little warning that wasn’t even much of a threat? Or both?”

“To be honest, I never planned on threatening you. You’re about to die anyway, so what’s there to be afraid of?”

The mechanical, electronic voice said with a laugh, “I just wanted to test your determination and ability. I also took a little video, just in case you take the benefits and then turn on me… Has anyone ever told you that you’re very photogenic?”

“A video?” Zhou Chen pretended to look grim. “A crude tactic.”

“Crude or not, it works. You should know, plenty of big shots have been taken down by a short little video like this.”

The electronic voice said playfully, “Guess what would happen to you if I sent this video to the Star Association? They might not be able to find me, but they could definitely make sure you wait for death peacefully in a prison cell.”

“But don’t worry. I’ve already unilaterally approved of you, so I won’t push you into a pit of fire for no reason. Therefore, you’d better think this through carefully…”

Even through the electronic sound, the profound implications were clear.

’Think it through?’

Zhou Chen sneered internally. ’What is there to think about? With them holding something like this over my head, what choice do I have besides working for them?’

’This is… exactly what I wanted!’

“—A friendly reminder, you should get going. The Star Association’s detection instruments have already scanned the contamination fluctuations. You have about one minute and forty-three seconds… forty-two, forty-one…”

Zhou Chen turned and left. The next second, a series of CRACKLING explosions echoed through the house as all the surveillance equipment blew up into irreparable fragments.

One minute later, fully armed Star Association Operators arrived on the scene.

Two and a half minutes later, a detailed report made its way up the chain of command and was finally placed in front of Jiang Che. Without even looking at it, she tossed the file aside and ordered, “Secure the scene. I’ll assign someone to investigate this matter personally.”

And so, a certain senior Operator with the surname Yang was woken up by an urgent call in the middle of the night. He dragged himself out of bed to work overtime, cursing the troublemaker in his heart—’Just don’t let me be the one to find you!’

·

“Achoo!”

Out on the street, Zhou Chen sneezed. ’Can Ascenders catch a cold?’ he wondered. ’Or is this a detoxification reaction as my body heals its corruptive tendencies?’

Just then, his phone vibrated. He had a message from the dark web.

[Your payment is in a locker on the second floor of the Wanrun Shopping Center on Top Ten Street. The code is 4354.]

Zhou Chen saw the message but didn’t reply. He turned off the screen, slipped the phone into his pocket, and headed toward the city center.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the Wanrun Shopping Center, retrieved a small bag from the locker, and went to a quiet park late at night. Only after confirming no one was around did he unzip the bag.

Inside the bag was a single small vial containing two crystalline fragments of Canaan Blue, as transparent and azure as the ocean.

Zhou Chen studied them for a moment. He couldn’t help but feel these two fragments were a bit smaller than the previous one.

’Stingy… They couldn’t even give a little more as a sweetener…’ He inwardly scorned Eternal Fire’s cheapness, then asked, “Can I eat this?”

Only after a scan confirmed there was no potent poison, Curse, or any other strange substance did Jiang Che reply, “You can eat it.”

Relieved, Zhou Chen swallowed the two crystalline fragments. Nourished by the Ocean Power, the feeling of emptiness from the depths of his Soul was once again infinitesimally satisfied.

By his estimation, these two pieces of Canaan Blue helped him recover 3% of his Soul. Combined with the 1% restored by his previous wish and the 2% recovered from taking one fragment of Canaan Blue, his Soul was now restored to about 53%. A cause for celebration, indeed.

“What are you going to do next?” Jiang Che asked.

“Uhh…”

Zhou Chen thought for a moment. “Get forced to cooperate, get a taste of the benefits, abandon the light for the dark, become an undercover mole, lay low and build up my strength, gain their trust, go deep behind enemy lines, seize an opportunity, betray the organization, welcome my allies, destroy the Cult, and make a cool comeback?”

A long silence came from the other end of the communication channel.

After a long while, Jiang Che sighed. “Am I to understand that you’re ready?”

“I guess so?” Zhou Chen scratched his head. For some reason, despite having no experience as a double agent, he was actually a little eager to give it a try.

Can’t be helped. The life of a double agent is just too good.

’Besides playing both sides, I might even get a chance to have the crooks take each other out!’

Back in his Star Association dorm, Zhou Chen took out his phone, entered the URL for the dark web chat, and typed with his finger.

[I’ve thought it over. I’ll join you.]

He waited nearly an hour before replying, long enough for the other party to think he was hesitant, but not so long as to arouse suspicion.

The other party replied a few minutes later.

[Well then, congratulations, Zhou Chen. You are now officially one of us. A new mission will be assigned to you soon.]

[Don’t make it something like stealing intel from the Star Association. I don’t have the clearance, and I’d get caught easily.] Zhou Chen replied.

[Of course not. We just need you to act as muscle. After all, you’re a good fighter.]

[I had training when I joined.] Zhou Chen mentioned.

Thanks to the information blackout deliberately maintained by Jiang Che, Eternal Fire still thought he was just an ordinary person who was a decent fighter.

The other party didn’t dwell on the issue. [Tomorrow night, there will be a deal at the lumber mill on the outskirts of town. I need you to go as muscle. If the other side turns hostile, kill them all. I’ll send you the details later tomorrow.]

[Okay.]

“Didn’t expect to get an assignment so quickly.”

After ending the conversation, Zhou Chen fiddled with his phone. “Sir, any advice?”

“No advice. You’re free to handle it as you see fit.”

“Alright… I’m going to bed then.”

No reply came from the communication channel.

·

·

The next evening, Zhou Chen was in his dorm slurping snail noodles and binge-watching a show when he suddenly received a message from the dark web.

He opened it. As expected, it was the mission details.

“They want me to go with ’Birdman’s’ men to make a deal with ’Snow White’s’ men?”

Zhou Chen stared at the mission content with a baffled expression and couldn’t help but scratch his head.

’Who even has a nickname like Snow White these days? Don’t tell me she’s some kind of femme fatale?’

A few minutes later, Jiang Che had looked up the relevant intel.

“The guy nicknamed ’Birdman’ is a smuggler in Jinzhu. He secretly runs a lot of black market businesses, selling weapons, ammunition, illegal drugs, and is even involved in human trafficking. He’s extremely cautious. The Field Department has tried to capture him multiple times without success.

“As for ’Snow White,’ very few people have ever seen her real face. She became active in Jinzhu’s black market three years ago and is now the largest supplier of illegal drugs in the Jinzhu Region and several surrounding cities. I suspect she has a powerful figure backing her from the shadows.

“On the black market, they say her heart is blacker than charcoal, but her product is as white as snow. That’s why her customers call her ’Snow White’.”

“Amazing… So she’s a powder pusher.”

Zhou Chen stroked his chin and mused for a moment. “This mission doesn’t sound too hard. I’ll be back in a flash.”