White Night Organization, the Meteor of Spies.
Le Yuxin let out a gentle breath.
"Qian Yuliu really left him one hell of a gift."
"For the grace of teaching and guidance, how could one throw it away with a single word? Our Glorious Nation has stood for a thousand years, setting loyalty, filial piety, faith, and righteousness as the gentleman's standards, never to breed students who betray their master and ancestors," Lan Yan said, patting Le Yuxin on the shoulder, "Since you and your peers deeply misunderstand the Statistical Department, now we need students like you and Captain Qian to participate in the case. If there's any injustice, you can wash away Mr. Lin's charges and clear his name!"
Chen Fu kept nodding along, "That's exactly as it should be!"
Lan Yan continued, "But there's also the greater principle of 'destroying your kin for righteousness.' If the evidence is clear and Mr. Lin is gravely suspect, as court officers, you must serve the nation loyally and cannot show favoritism or shield him. You must act according to the law and ensure justice is served."
"The Statistical Department never wrongs an innocent man, nor does it let a criminal go free!"
The student, Gao Jin, next to Lin Jinyao, snorted coldly, "That all sounds wonderful, but everyone knows how you wrongly arrested Professor Pan, Mr. Ouyang, Director Mu, and others, tossing them into jail to be tortured! The public sees everything clearly. The crimes of your Statistical Department are countless and indescribable—abuse of power that everyone knows about!"
"Professor Pan and Mr. Ouyang sheltered Backlight Particles and were caught on the spot. Director Mu of the Imprisonment Department let criminals go, defying the Court, with hard evidence in hand. How did they suddenly become 'innocent people' when you tell the story?"
Lan Yan adjusted his glasses and shook his head slightly, "Everything in this world comes down to reason. If you have any doubts, you're welcome to check our case records at the Statistical Department any day. Every operation is always reported truthfully. We arrest who must be arrested and release who needs releasing. As executors of the law, we absolutely never break protocol when handling cases, so where does this 'abuse of power' talk even come from?"
"Now, Lin Jinyao and your outstanding students, please come with us to the Statistical Department to accept investigation. That's our duty, and we must be a bit rude. If you're truly wronged, I, Lan, will apologize in person afterward." Lan Yan waved his hand, and all the officers tightened the encirclement, pulling out handcuffs and raising their guns at Lin Jinyao and company.
Under the harsh lights, the expressions of Gao Jin and the other students were all over the place—fear, anger, but most of all, panic. Only Lin Jinyao's face stayed calm, with his eyes glittering as he pondered something unknown.
Suddenly, Lin Jinyao let out a laugh, "You think you have it all figured out, don't you, Lan Yan."
Lan Yan gestured for the officers to halt and raised an eyebrow, "Please, enlighten me, sir."
"Not calling in support from other departments, sending only Statistical Department agents—sure is bold and swift, tough to prevent. You think you're blitzing in, but in fact, you're stepping right into the trap."
Lin Jinyao stood under the glaring light, stepping right up to the gun barrels. Rain splattered against his face, unable to hide the confident smile he wore, "Lan Yan, this is your burial ground!"
"—There's a mole, isn't there."
Now, standing by Lan Yan, Kui Zhao said in a sneering tone, "Lin Jinyao, you think we don't know about the mole you planted in the Statistical Department?"
Kui Zhao took a step forward, standing next to Le Yuxin, "Our entire department is out in force. You think this is just about catching you, Backlight rebel? Since you've chosen to show your hand, you've saved us the trouble of interrogating you."
"Whether rebel or mole, death is the only outcome!"
Le Yuxin stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.
Lan Yan now reached out and pressed Le Yuxin's shoulder, his tone tinged with pity, "The rebel is caught, the mole exposed, troubles all gathered together, everything just got simpler."
"The only sad thing is, I never expected that you would be the mole... You're always distracted at work and love observing me—I noticed your sly side long ago."
"At that moment, Le Yuxin thanked the 'Residual Blood Physique' skill a million times over."
"He looked calm, like he was just taking in someone else's story, but inside he was in a complete panic, wanting desperately to bolt!"
Left side, Kui Zhao.
Right side, Lan Yan.
Behind him, more Statistical Department officers gripped their pistols.
"One hour ago, Le Yuxin figured the 'survive 15 days' challenge should be a breeze. But now, forget 15 days—he might not even last an hour and a half!"
"Le Yuxin felt utterly hopeless about his luck."
"Seriously, who crosses over and dies right away? If someone with a delicate mind did that, they'd probably shatter on the spot."
"Fine, dying right after transmigrating is bad luck enough, but somehow his new identity is a spy and undercover agent—that's as risky as being the guy who arms nukes for a living. A corpse is the best-case scenario in this job; being tortured to death is basically an occupational hazard."
"But okay, being a spy it is. The problem is, just under an hour into his new identity, the fact that he's a spy is already out!"
"How the hell is he supposed to play this game if he doesn't even get a sliver of operational space?"
"People aren't worth it; early death, early reincarnation."
Just then, Agent Ailili suddenly reported, "Captain, Chief, we're picking up lots of Charter signals moving in!"
Le Yuxin glanced down at the Light and Shadow Detector to find a whole swarm of red dots converging on the compound at high speed. The detector's range was 50 meters, and in the time it took to glance, the dots had surrounded the outside, encircling the Statistical Department officers!
Everyone looked up to see a dozen or more grey-coated ambushers appear on the outer wall. They raised light pistols at the Statistical Department agents. The officers instantly swung their guns back in response—the tables turned in a flash, from total domination to a standoff.
"To be fair, an Awakener at the level of Qian Yuliu could dodge bullets, but only if the shots were spaced out. In a real bullet storm, even highly trained department agents will die!"
"Le Yuxin felt a bit of relief—so Lin Jinyao had an ace up his sleeve. He tightened his grip on his pistol, every muscle wired, ready to rebel at any moment!"
"You call that a challenge to us? A handful of Backlight rebels lying in wait, plus a dozen guns, plus a useless mole—this is your backup?"
Kui Zhao stomped heavily forward, hands clasped behind his back, and turned to Lan Yan, grinning, "Chief, how many moves do you need?"
Lan Yan pushed up his glasses, "Five."
Kui Zhao burst out laughing, "You think you can kill him in five moves? Fine, if the chief only needs five, then I'll only use five!"
Arrogant!
So fucking arrogant!
"They don't even look at me, just start betting on how many moves it takes to kill me?"
"Le Yuxin's face looked calm, but his whole body was ready to snap. The first memories he digested were from Qian Yuliu's combat experience—it wasn't second nature yet, but with 'Residual Blood Physique' helping him out, he could fight to a level close to Qian Yuliu."
"People with Spiritual Power are still people—get killed, you die; get hurt, you're crippled!"
"The strength gap wasn't vast enough to be insurmountable! And with 'Substitute' on his side, Le Yuxin didn't fear death. In a fight, with one side reckless and the other cautious, who could say what would happen?"
"Kill me in five moves? Who the hell do you think you are?"
But just then, Le Yuxin heard a thunderous, disdainful voice shout above Lin Jinyao's head:
"Kill me in five moves? Who the hell do you think you are?"