Chapter 14: Lin Ziwei

In his panic, it took Zhang Ze quite a while to clearly describe the location of the incident. As soon as he hung up, he tossed the sticky phone aside. Though his legs still trembled a little, he had managed to calm himself somewhat. For a moment, it seemed to him that the world had truly gone mad.

A couple of minutes passed. A vehicle marked for the Investigation Bureau pulled up at the street corner. Several middle-aged men got out, striding over to Zhang Ze.

"Did you make the call?"

"Where’s the body?"

Although his face was still pale as wax, Zhang Ze had recovered by this point. "Over there," he said, raising his hand to indicate the spot at the corner.

The man in charge initially assumed Zhang Ze was just an ordinary citizen. But as he signaled to his men to deal with the body, he looked at Zhang Ze with a hint of surprise. "Are you a martial artist?"

Zhang Ze nodded.

"Heh," the man laughed, "didn’t expect you to be a rookie."

As a regular young man, Zhang Ze was still rattled by the corpse he’d just seen. The man’s comment stung. "What does being a rookie have to do with this? Who the hell could stay calm in a situation like that…" His voice trailed off, growing quieter.

The man was momentarily taken aback by Zhang Ze’s words, then gave a mocking chuckle. "That’s not what I meant by rookie…" He gestured meaningfully toward Zhang Ze’s lower half.

Zhang Ze flushed with embarrassment, but before he could retort, the others had already finished dealing with the body.

"Captain, it’s done."

"Let’s go."

With that reminder from his subordinate, the man didn’t hesitate. He turned and left. Yet the look he gave Zhang Ze as he departed was one the latter would long remember.

After a while, Zhang Ze finally came back to his senses. As he made his way back to the inn, he couldn’t help but replay the incident in his mind.

"Did I see some data about that man before he died?" With that thought, Zhang Ze hesitated no more.

Wealth: 1,190,000
Cell Strength: 169S
Cell Spirit: 120
Skills: Concealment (Proficiency 11%), Investigation

Although he hadn’t received any notification from the system, seeing "Investigation" there, Zhang Ze could more or less guess what the skill did.

He tried to cast aside the recent events, but a wave of complaints rose in his heart. "I thought I’d get some legendary skill—like the chosen one, or immortality… What’s the point of getting Investigation?" He sighed. "Well, at least now I’ll know who not to mess with."

His experiences in his previous life always seemed to offer him some small comfort in the present. Even that look of contempt from the middle-aged man was soon forgotten.

"Hey!" As soon as he approached the inn’s entrance, he heard Li Sanqing’s voice.

"The Investigation Bureau people came by just now?"

"Who else could it have been?" Zhang Ze shrugged, a thought flashing through his mind. "Do ordinary people have any idea about these things?"

Li Sanqing hesitated, but quickly replied, "Not everyone is clueless. But do you really think people become martial artists just to kill each other?"

Even with Li Sanqing’s answer, Zhang Ze remained confused. In truth, he knew far too little about the world of martial artists.

"Have you ever paid attention to the inn we’re staying at?" Li Sanqing asked. "Did you know, only martial artists are allowed to stay here? Martial artists don’t even have to pay, but ordinary people can’t stay here no matter how much money they have."

Li Sanqing, no longer as aloof as before, offered more explanation in response to Zhang Ze’s muttered questions. "It’s not just here—this is how the whole world works now. Martial artists are the privileged class!"

As the two conversed, the sky in the distance was already growing pale with dawn. Back in his room, Zhang Ze suddenly felt as if he was beginning to approach the true nature of being a martial artist.

He rested for a while. Then he went downstairs and bought a new smartphone.

"Hello? Baldy?" Once the call connected, Zhang Ze got right to the point. "I have an idea for a collaboration with Erlong and his crew."

Early that morning.

At the county branch of the Investigation Bureau—

Being called in so early in the morning, everyone was a little disgruntled. But most of that feeling vanished the moment they saw Luan Yuan standing above them.

This time, Lin Dong was no longer seated at Luan Yuan’s right hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for calling you together so early," Lin Ziwei began, her tone far less overbearing than before, and her voice surprisingly pleasant. Yet everyone quickly understood: for the foreseeable future—at least until the source of the black-market pills was found—this seemingly delicate woman would be their leader.

In fact, when they heard Lin Ziwei was investigating the sources of the surface-market pills, many in the room felt a surge of indignation. After all, though a posting at the county Investigation Bureau was a stable job, their annual income barely exceeded a hundred thousand. And the Lin family’s pricing? A single first-grade Body-Strengthening Pill cost a staggering sixty thousand.

The lack of affordable pills was one of the main reasons there were so few martial artists in the Bureau.

So, even in their hearts, these investigators harbored deep resentment toward the Lin family and the pill companies. In some ways, they envied the likes of Erlong, who lived much more freely. Even if they were furious with the Lin family, could they dare stop Lin Ziwei’s car and give her a beating?

But, as expected, those of the esteemed Lin family seemed utterly oblivious to such sentiments.

Having briefed the group, Lin Ziwei, accompanied by Luan Yuan, approached Lin Dong. Once, Lin Dong had been a rather dashing young man, but now he appeared before Lin Ziwei with a swollen, bruised face—almost unrecognizable.

"Sis, you have to avenge me! Those thugs dared to block our car and attack us—absolutely lawless! And you still want to provide them with discounted pills…"

"Enough!" Lin Dong nearly let slip his own scheme, provoking Lin Ziwei’s fury.

Luan Yuan, nearby, gave a discreet cough and glanced around, clearly signaling: You all heard nothing.

Yet Lin Ziwei’s candor caught Luan Yuan off guard. "Director Luan, I won’t hide the truth. Against those illicit pill dealers, I did personally provide discounted pills to squeeze them out of the market."

Being exposed by her own brother, Lin Ziwei was clearly displeased. "But the Investigation Bureau must take full action. I want more than just a shrinking black-market! I want a complete result."

"Of course, of course." Hearing this, Luan Yuan understood: whether or not he belonged to them, he was now one of theirs. "Miss Lin, rest assured—cracking down on illegal pills is the Bureau’s duty. We will fully cooperate with your company’s operations."