Chapter 98: Reconnecting

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Reconnecting

Master Chang was driving through the streets of the Southeast City District.

His one good eye was bloodshot. It looked like he hadn’t slept all night.

The terminal on his dashboard suddenly rang. Master Chang glanced at the unfamiliar number and hung up without a second thought.

But the call came through again. Annoyed, Master Chang answered.

"It’s me. I’m still alive."

Xiang Yi’s voice came from the terminal.

Master Chang’s expression froze for a moment before instantly returning to normal.

He put on his earpiece and lowered the volume until he could barely hear Xiang Yi’s voice.

"Where are you?"

"Somewhere safe."

Xiang Yi didn’t elaborate, so Master Chang didn’t press the issue.

Right now, he felt only one thing about Xiang Yi being alive: relief.

He had only just agreed to protect Xiang Yi, even telling his old army buddies about him and striking an excellent cooperation agreement.

The next thing he knew, Xiang Yi had been killed.

The whiplash had left him on edge for the past twenty-four hours, wracking his brain for any legal means to retaliate against the perpetrators.

Obviously, there were none.

Thankfully, Xiang Yi wasn’t actually dead.

But the guilt of failing to keep his promise, and the desire to make amends, had already taken hold of Master Chang.

Then, he suddenly remembered the events of last night. ’If Xiang Yi is alive... then those theories about the killer...’

"A lot of people died in the city district last night... Did you kill them?"

Xiang Yi had actually called Master Chang to gauge the attitude of the higher-ups, which would determine whether he should be more cautious or more bold going forward.

Since Master Chang had brought it up himself, it saved him the trouble of asking.

"It was me. I wanted to, so I did."

"That’s not the reason. You wouldn’t do something like this for a reason like that."

"The higher-ups are in an uproar over this whole thing. A lot of people want to classify the killer as a dangerous individual, but my friends helped keep a lid on it."

"They could keep a lid on it even with three important figures dead?"

"Yes, because..." Master Chang trailed off, hesitating. He was still reluctant to discuss matters at this level with Xiang Yi.

Before Master Chang could finish hesitating, Xiang Yi spoke up. "Because the higher-ups are being infiltrated by the company? They don’t have the time to invest too much energy into investigating who the killer is? And it just so happens that the dead all had some problems of their own?"

Master Chang asked subconsciously, "How do you know that?"

"If you think about it enough, you’ll figure it out."

"Let me put it this way: the three people who died last night were all confirmed to have connections to the Iron Shell Company."

"I don’t care if I’m labeled a dangerous individual. But right now, anyone in the government who ignores the company and insists on taking me out is suspect."

"I have concrete evidence that many people have been bought by the company, including those three dead men."

"Really?" Master Chang was both shocked and delighted.

"But I can’t hand it over."

The way Xiang Yi drew it out left Master Chang momentarily breathless.

"It’s not that I don’t trust you, Master Chang. You’re a good person, and I’m willing to trust you."

"I just don’t trust the government. They’re too incompetent."

’If I handed over the intel I’ve gathered, it would definitely be leaked. It would give them a chance to cover their tracks and go into hiding.’

’Can the government launch a full-scale investigation based on mere suspicion? Can they kill someone without sufficient evidence?’

’No.’

’By the time the government finishes investigating all the leads, those people will have long since vanished into who-knows-what corner of the world.’

’Although the settlement on Anka Star is nominally just a small colony, it still has a population of tens of millions. Hiding would be ridiculously easy.’

’Coupled with the mutual protection provided by the colony’s existing networks, it would be absolutely impossible for the government to root out everyone who’s been compromised.’

’Worse, what if someone not on my list, but who has already been infiltrated by the company, is in a high-ranking government position? They could use the information I provide to eliminate their rivals, and the consequences would be even more disastrous.’

’Only I, acting alone, can bypass all the government’s procedural restrictions and solve the problem at its root.’

’This is the power I possess as a Spiritual Ability User.’

Still, after a moment’s thought, Xiang Yi decided to give the government a chance. "Master Chang, can you guarantee that the top brass in the government can all be trusted?"

"The government..." Master Chang let out a long sigh. He was well aware of the chaos within, so he didn’t try to make any excuses for them.

Then there was nothing more to be said.

"I’ll continue tonight."

"I’m going to follow their network and eliminate everyone connected to the Iron Shell Company."

"Just like you said before, Master Chang, hiding is useless. I have to take the initiative."

"What we agreed on before will have to be postponed a few days, Master Chang. If we don’t solve this problem with the company, I don’t think we’ll ever get a chance to do business properly."

"But Master Chang, I have another, more specific idea. I’ll tell you about it tonight."

Before Xiang Yi hung up, Master Chang couldn’t help but say, "If you need my help with anything, make sure you let me know."

"Okay."

Master Chang looked at the disconnected call and sighed.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something he’d said earlier had sent Xiang Yi down the wrong path.

But from Xiang Yi’s perspective—and from the perspective of the officials within the government who truly wanted a better future for Anka Star...

...what Xiang Yi was doing now was the right thing.

The daytime passed in the blink of an eye.

「Nightfall.」

Xiang Yi once again walked the streets of the Southeast City District.

He could sense that the number of patrol teams in the district had clearly increased.

It seemed the discovery of the former police chief’s body in the suburbs had indeed made a huge impact.

On top of that, with the collapse of Guo Long’s gang, several other gangs had already clashed multiple times during the day, fighting over territory and manpower. It was only natural for patrols to be heavier.

’It doesn’t affect me much. Avoiding the police won’t be difficult.’

Besides, Xiang Yi had already found his next target.

Although he had gotten information on many important people from the dead police chief, he had specifically chosen a minor official in the Southeast City District: the Deputy Director of the Department of Population.

Xiang Yi couldn’t help but laugh when he first saw the title.

He had been desperate for a legal identity, and this was the very department that issued them.

He never imagined that in just a few days, he’d be meeting someone from that department in person. Only this time, his goal wasn’t to get an identity, but to kill.

’Come to think of it, the robot mentioned he knew an official from the Department of Population, but he never said who.’

’Since he was willing to continue doing business during the day, the robot should be fine.’

The deputy director’s home address was also very clear.

Toward evening, Xiang Yi had already cased the place once and even left a micro-surveillance device he’d bought from the robot nearby.

’The surveillance just showed the deputy director has returned home. That makes the rest easy...’