58. Conspiring (Monthly Votes Appreciated~)

"What did you say?" Huang Qingfeng looked at him with dissatisfaction, slightly lifting his torso out of the sofa's backrest.

Ren Shizhi bent his waist and said:

"I cannot handle Marn. He is not someone easy to deal with. If we truly want to bribe him, it might take a dozen times longer than expected..."

Huang Qingfeng narrowed his eyes.

Not only had Lü Hucai, whom he had recently approached, died inexplicably, but even Ren Shizhi had hit a brick wall with Marn. It was as if the world was intentionally conspiring against him.

Ren Shizhi continued:

"Furthermore, Qin Luan has already personally approved his contract. If we continue to cause trouble for him, she will definitely be displeased with us, and by then, the matter will no longer be worth it.

"If you wish to utilize his abilities for something, perhaps you could offer him a price he cannot refuse, or even reach an agreement with him through Qin Lan."

If Huang Qingfeng genuinely wanted to accomplish something, his advice would have been the most logical, but his current objective was to find the remaining second-generation mimetic bacteria and eliminate Marn.

Lü Hucai's sudden death forced him to intervene personally—even if it meant risking exposure.

The Supreme Will must never fall.

"No," Huang Qingfeng said with a cold and harsh voice. "You don't need to worry about the Director either. Qin Qianfeng is already dead, and quite a few people are eyeing her position with hostility. Qin Luan is barely able to protect herself right now, let alone care about a minor employee."

This statement was half-true. In a short while, Qin Luan indeed would not have the energy to care about such issues, but it also encompassed complex political shifts, and it did not mean she would truly stand by and watch them recklessly disrupt things for her.

However, he had long prepared himself to be sacrificed in the eventual fallout.

Huang Qingfeng thought for a moment and said:

"You do not need to try to win him over anymore."

Ren Shizhi instantly breathed a sigh of relief, but then he heard the other's next sentence.

"We will resort to other means. To be frank," Huang Qingfeng said, "do you really think I care about some worthless memory eraser? Someone high up approached me; they want something from Marn.

"But he will not hand it over easily, so we must use forceful methods."

Ren Shizhi asked reflexively:

"What thing?"

Huang Qingfeng glanced at him with suspicion:

"You usually do not have this many questions."

He quickly closed his mouth.

Huang Qingfeng said emotionlessly:

"It is something he handed over to the Coordination Bureau, but I do not know precisely what it is either. Nor does it matter, because the superiors above do not wish to leave any living witnesses."

He froze.

What?

Ren Shizhi had committed plenty of dirty work himself and witnessed countless more, yet he was still startled by Huang Qingfeng's words because it seemed entirely unnecessary.

That a certain politician desired some precious object—that he could completely understand. But to actually kill an employee of the Federal Government after taking the item? After all, such matters could usually be easily resolved simply by applying political pressure from above. This was...

"Are you afraid?" Huang Qingfeng looked at him, failing to understand why this usually obedient, good dog was suddenly so hesitant.

Hearing Huang Qingfeng's words, Ren Shizhi belatedly realized that his overthinking had nothing to do with reasonableness. After all, whatever politicians wanted to do was entirely normal; holding such lofty positions, they must have long been accustomed to acting without restraint.

This was also what he aspired to.

What he was truly resisting was his lingering fear of Marn.

He was instinctively unwilling to stand in opposition to Marn.

Yet he had no choice.

As long as he still desired power and status.

"What should I do?" Ren Shizhi instantly cast the fear in the depths of his mind behind him, once again wearing a look of reverence and submission, resembling a hound waiting for its master's commands.

Huang Qingfeng smiled and leaned back into the backrest:

"Very good. You know the Coordination Bureau is currently dealing with the demon cultists, right?"

Ren Shizhi nodded. Headquarters had even dispatched the Yin-Yang Twins.

That pair of gloomy, terrifying monsters were notorious when they joined the Coordination Bureau, their hands stained with the blood of hundreds of innocents, and they delighted in cruelly torturing their "enemies." Consequently, quite a few politicians were quite terrified of the two, which was perhaps the reason Qin Luan kept them around.

However, ever since they submitted to Qin Luan, they had never harmed any innocents again, nor had they committed any out-of-line actions.

In Ren Shizhi's view, the Yin-Yang Twins were not merely useful thugs; they were more like a medal, an honor, used to prove just how powerful and dangerous Shenxiao Qin Luan truly was.

Huang Qingfeng said:

"This afternoon, relying on the intelligence interrogated from Marn and Hu Weifeng, the Yin-Yang Twins captured quite a few key members. They certainly never expected the Coordination Bureau to acquire intelligence so swiftly, because they did not know that the Bureau recently welcomed a new member with formidable psychic abilities."

Ren Shizhi instantly understood the implication behind those words, but he still found it hard to believe:

"But they are demon worshippers."

Huang Qingfeng shook his head:

"The Coordination Bureau's job is not to stop these factions from mutually exhausting one another. On the contrary, as long as those hellish cultists keep the turmoil contained around the church, it remains beneficial to us.

"And do you think we have no connections with these hellish cultists? Although the Coordination Bureau is openly hostile to them, the Special Operations Department actually maintains clandestine channels of communication with quite a few cultists behind the scenes.

"I have already spoken to a member of a secret society. They will dispatch two Tier-III ability users to sever all four of Marn's limbs, then use magic to restrain him. All you need to do is bring him to me once he is unable to resist."

Ren Shizhi immediately thought of the threats Marn had made to him.

Huang Qingfeng underestimated his dangerousness.

Therefore, he immediately stated:

"No.

"Based on my investigations over these past few days, Marn is far more dangerous than he appears. It is very likely that some Tier-III ability users have already suffered setbacks and defeats at his hands.

"We should recruit several more ability users, and ideally make extensive preparations, so as not to give him any chance at all."

Since they were going to deal with Marn, they had to do it thoroughly.

Otherwise, if he were given the chance to survive, he and Huang Qingfeng might genuinely lose their lives, exactly as Marn had predicted.

He was quite afraid of death.

Huang Qingfeng asked in astonishment:

"Do you truly believe so?"

Ren Shizhi nodded with a solemn expression:

"He is a dangerously ruthless character. If he discovers that we intend to deal with him, you and I might both inexplicably die within half a day."

He exaggerated slightly in order to make Huang Qingfeng realize the severity of the situation.

Huang Qingfeng nodded slightly:

"Then we shall do as you say."

He still did not believe Marn possessed any notable skills; no matter how one looked at it, a mere memory eraser could not possibly be dangerous, let alone capable of simultaneously handling two battle-hardened Tier-III ability users.

However, Huang Qingfeng would not question the judgment of his capable subordinate.