Chapter 181: Young Master Wei, You Know Too Much

Chu Wei was the eldest young master of the Chu Family’s third branch.

But Star Map Group was so massive that even as a member of the third branch, the resources he could command dwarfed those of a mere general manager in West River City.

Moreover, his long tenure in a high-ranking position meant he was nothing like the timid Mo Zhihong.

Within half a day of arriving in West River City, Chu Wei had investigated the Shadow Guild from top to bottom and even had a technical expert restore the surveillance footage Mo Zhihong had deleted.

He even pulled up the surveillance from every intersection in West River City, trying to find Li Ye’s hiding place.

But West River City’s surveillance network wasn’t very dense.

Li Ye’s perception allowed him to easily avoid every surveillance camera on the streets.

Even after piecing together all the surveillance footage, the only clue he managed to find was that Li Ye had appeared out of thin air at the Shadow Guild’s entrance. Then, right in front of everyone, he had swaggered inside, interrogated Mo Zhihong, and left via the roof.

While Chu Wei was doing all this, Li Ye was watching him from not far away.

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated. The better he understood Chu Wei’s temperament, the easier it would be to manipulate him.

…

“He’s at least a Ninth-Order master, and his Main Life Star is likely related to Sirius or the Celestial Serpent.” Beside Chu Wei, a hale and hearty old man pointed at Li Ye on the monitor and spoke with confidence. “He’s no older than thirty, and his appearance is probably a disguise…”

“A Ninth-Order master under thirty?” Chu Wei crossed his arms, watching with amusement as Li Ye gave the surveillance camera a mocking smile. “For Shiyao Group to deploy such a powerful piece, they must be in some serious trouble. That guy never trusted Mo Zhihong for a second. The identity documents he requested were probably just a smokescreen. With Shiyao Group’s capabilities, it would have been trivially easy for them to forge a few identity documents for him. There was no need for this pointless extra step of asking Mo Zhihong. He was trying to stir the pot…”

“Young Master Wei is absolutely right,” the old man said. “This man is extremely suspicious. He didn’t trust Mo Zhihong, so of course he won’t trust Zhu Zhenghao. He used Zhu Zhenghao to lure you here, Young Master Wei. His offer of cooperation is a sham. It’s likely he wants to use you to force an opening.”

“Ruins… nutrient fluid?” Chu Wei’s fingers tapped lightly on the desk. “Lei, what kind of trouble do you think Shiyao Group has run into? And who is trying to pin the blame on Star Map?”

“It must be something they want to keep under wraps,” said the old man, Lei. “Otherwise, why send only one person to investigate?”

“Interesting,” Chu Wei mused with a smile. “Lei, are you confident you can take him?”

“Young Master Wei, even Ninth-Order masters vary in strength. So what if he has lit up three hundred Life Stars? Without abundant Star Power to back it up, the title of ‘Ninth-Order master’ is just an empty frame. He’s all for show. The world only has one War God Qin Tian.” Lei shook his head in disdain. “Mo Zhihong was just scared out of his wits. Otherwise, as an Eighth-Order master, he was more than qualified to take that kid on.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you then, Lei,” Chu Wei said. “That kid is arrogant as hell. He probably won’t tell us the truth until we beat him into submission. Our time is valuable; we can’t afford to run in circles with him.”

CLAP!

CLAP!

CLAP!

Li Ye clapped softly as he walked in through the main entrance. “Eldest Young Master Wei, you certainly talk a big game.”

A grim look flashed across Lei’s face.

Blue Star Power erupted from his body, forming a net that descended upon Li Ye.

In the next instant, Li Ye vanished from his sight.

‘This is bad!’ Just as Lei thought to turn, an immense force slammed into his lower back.

He was sent flying. But just as he was airborne, another heavy blow struck his back, smashing him face-first into the floor.

A deafening BOOM echoed as the entire floor shuddered as if from an earthquake.

PUH!

A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from Lei’s mouth. His head lolled to the side, and he was already unconscious…

In a single clash, Lei was down for the count, his condition unknown.

Chu Wei’s face went pale. He tried to bolt, but he had barely gotten to his feet when Li Ye—who had been standing over Lei just a moment ago—was suddenly at his side, a single hand clamped on his shoulder.

Immense force pressed down on his shoulder, forcing Chu Wei back into his chair. In that instant, all color drained from his face.

At this moment, the other bodyguards in the room finally came to their senses and rushed forward to rescue their master.

“Don’t anyone move, or I’ll twist his head off.” Li Ye smiled slightly, his eyes scanning the room before finally landing on the ashen-faced Zhu Zhenghao. “Old Zhu, calm your colleagues down. Tell them not to approach.”

Zhu Zhenghao glanced at Chu Wei.

Chu Wei nodded. “Do as he says.”

Zhu Zhenghao sighed inwardly and went out to calm the secretaries and security personnel who had been alarmed by the loud commotion.

“Young Master Wei was right, things are much easier to discuss after a good beating.” Li Ye chuckled, releasing his grip on Chu Wei. He walked over to the wine cabinet, pulled out a bottle of red wine, poured two glasses, and slid one in front of Chu Wei. “It seems our business has nothing to do with Star Map, but since the other party tried to frame you, I imagine Young Master Wei won’t just let this slide!”

“They tried to divert the trouble onto us, so naturally, they should be prepared for Star Map’s retaliation,” Chu Wei nodded. “I can work with you, but on one condition: I need to know what’s going on.”

Li Ye looked at the remaining bodyguards with a faint smile.

“All of you, out.” Chu Wei waved them away, picking up his glass of red wine. “Bar the door. Don’t let anyone in.”

Unlike Lei, these bodyguards didn’t question their master’s orders. Without so much as a second glance at Li Ye, they filed out obediently.

“Alright, talk,” Chu Wei said.

“What do you think of my skills, Young Master Wei?” Li Ye asked.

“Very strong,” Chu Wei said, looking at him and nodding.

“I’m twenty-one years old. Five years ago, I lit up all three hundred and sixty-five of my Life Stars.” Li Ye swirled the wine in his glass. “The Group has more than twenty people like me.”

Chu Wei’s pupils contracted, and his heart began to race. “What are you trying to say?”

“Genetic Transformation Liquid,” Li Ye said. “Shiyao Group successfully developed the Genetic Transformation Liquid eleven years ago. It allows a person to rapidly light up all three hundred and sixty-five of their Life Stars.”

Chu Wei’s hand froze, the red wine sloshing in his glass. “Are you telling the truth?”

“You have an example standing right in front of you, and you still don’t believe me?” Li Ye raised his wine glass. Frost spread from his fingertips, and in the blink of an eye, the glass and its contents froze into a solid block of red ice. “My Main Life Star is the Taiyin.”

Chu Wei’s eyes flew wide. “Fuck!”

“Don’t be so tense. The Genetic Transformation Liquid has major side effects. Out of more than a thousand test subjects, I was the only one who succeeded,” Li Ye said.

“You just said there were more than twenty people like you,” Chu Wei said.

“They’re all just semi-finished products, aside from me,” Li Ye said with a small smile. “A ‘perfect’ specimen is one who successfully awakens the Lunar Star. And to be frank, our experiments are on the verge of success.”

He placed the frozen wine glass on the table in front of Chu Wei. “The advent of this liquid will change the entire era. We can mass-produce War Gods. A single War God like Qin Tian can explore down to the thirteenth level of the Ruins. What about ten of them? Or a hundred? With enough of the liquid, the Ruins will become our personal treasury, ours for the taking. We could finally uncover the true secrets of the Ruins…”

Chu Wei’s mouth was dry. “Why are you telling me all this? Do you have any idea what will happen if this information gets out?”

“It’s already leaked,” Li Ye said. “Someone stole a sample of the liquid and a file of experimental data from the base.”

Chu Wei asked in astonishment, “You suspect Star Map was behind it?”

“I’m investigating, and I’ve already cleared Star Map of suspicion,” Li Ye said. “The culprits are well hidden. Qiu Feipeng was just a disposable pawn on the periphery. I suspect they used him as a smokescreen to mislead us.”

“Why did you come to me?” Chu Wei asked, suppressing the shock in his heart.

“We’ve kept the leak under wraps; the higher-ups don’t know yet,” Li Ye said after a moment of silence. “We want to contain this before it gets out of hand. And since Star Map is already involved, cooperating with you is our best option, Young Master Wei.”

Chu Wei frowned. “Whose idea was this?”

“That’s not for you to ask, Young Master Wei,” Li Ye smiled. “If you can help us find the mastermind, I can pull some strings and get you into our project. Your position in Star Map is a bit awkward, isn’t it?”

“This research on the transformation liquid… it’s not just that you’ve kept the leak quiet. The big boss at Shiyao has no idea this project even exists, does he?” Chu Wei asked, a new possibility dawning on him.

‘I love it when they connect the dots for me.’

Li Ye gave Chu Wei a thumbs-up. “Some things are best left understood without being said, Young Master Wei.”

“What’s the success rate of the Genetic Transformation Liquid?” Chu Wei asked.

“Very low,” Li Ye said. “Besides the twenty-odd of us, all the other test subjects died.”

“They all died?” Chu Wei was stunned.

“Mhm,” Li Ye said. “In fact, the research is nearly complete; we’re just one step away. Once we solve that final piece, the liquid could even allow someone like you, Young Master Wei, to do a complete ‘respec.'”

“What do you mean?” Chu Wei asked.

“Literally what it sounds like,” Li Ye smiled. “It means erasing all the Life Stars a person has lit, then lighting them up again, giving you the chance to choose again. For example, you could awaken the Lunar Star as your Main Star.”

Chu Wei swallowed. “I don’t trust you. I want to talk to the person behind you.”

“Impossible.” Li Ye shook his head. “He won’t reveal himself until the project is a success. Young Master Wei, my own status should be sufficient. I am the first ‘perfect’ subject, and I hold considerable authority at the base.”

“I’m afraid you’ll just get rid of me once I’ve served my purpose,” Chu Wei said, shaking his head as he glanced at the still-unconscious Lei.

“Young Master Wei, the base needs Star Beads to replenish its Star Power,” Li Ye said, giving him a meaningful look. “Star Map is the perfect partner for that. Besides, Young Master Wei, you know far too much. Refusing to cooperate… now *that* would be dangerous…”