"It all began when I received a task from Director Ming and made backchannel contact with Chen Xiaoping. I cultivated at the Star Martial Academy, specializing in the Spirit Engraving Method, which conveniently allows one to imprint spiritual power onto a Soul Bead. I embedded a spirit engraving in each of the Soul Beads I used as bait. Once the transaction was completed and the engraving activated, the spiritual power would mix with the Star Power in the Soul Bead within twenty-four hours, generating a Star Energy Fluctuation. It was by locating this fluctuation that I determined the whereabouts of the Soul Beads." "Tsk, tsk, tsk... There’s such a method? How come I’ve never heard of it before? Director Ming’s original approach was to fish with a hook, but you went and put a tracker in the bait? Your method is more direct and effective..." "Thank you for the praise, Xie Chengju." "And what happened next? Even though we found the Soul Beads, there wasn’t a single clue about the puppet master. Besides, after we raided their Soul Bead warehouse, we must have spooked them. How did you manage to find Xiao Qing?" "This all goes back to the initial plan. Director Ming wanted me to build a good relationship with Chen Xiaoping to connect with his superiors. So, after the Soul Bead transaction was completed, I sent Chen Xiaoping a red envelope worth a hundred thousand yuan. In that red envelope was a Trojan horse virus I had written. When Director Ming raided the Soul Bead warehouse, it certainly alarmed them. But with their warehouse wiped out, they were furious. He definitely wouldn’t dare cause trouble for the Tianjian Bureau, so he’d naturally vent his anger on Chen Xiaoping. Fortunately, Chen Xiaoping’s phone already had my Trojan horse, so I could track his location no matter where they took him. I then followed the signal to Xiao Qing’s villa. There, using a robot, I happened to film Xiao Qing killing Chen Xiaoping, confirming he was the puppet master." After hearing Wang Lan’s operational process, the group of top brass was momentarily speechless. Was this plan complicated? Not really; even a police commissioner could devise this method to crack the case. Why didn’t the Tianjian Bureau think of this? Firstly, no one had considered imprinting spiritual power onto a Soul Bead for tracking, nor did anyone possess the ability to do so. The subsequent parts of the plan all hinged on successfully locating the Soul Beads. Therefore... this plan’s success hinged on Wang Lan’s ability to approach it from an angle no one else considered. If this method of using Spirit Engraving to track Soul Beads became public, the black market would likely stop dealing in Soul Beads altogether. After all, who could guarantee the Soul Beads they acquired weren’t already marked with a Spirit Engraving? Coming out of the conference room, Ming Baiye affectionately slung his arm over Wang Lan’s shoulder. "Wang Lan, this great achievement is almost entirely thanks to you, a gift to your uncle, so to speak. The original plan had some feasibility, but its chances of success were less than fifty percent. I was just trying it out, figuring there was nothing to lose even if it failed. Frankly, just recovering so many Soul Beads was already a huge success in my book. I never expected you to directly find the puppet master behind the scenes. This great achievement is certainly enough to make old Xu from the Intelligence Department quite jealous. You know what he said to me yesterday? ’Wang Lan is from our Intelligence Department in Suzhou City. How did he end up attached to your Action Department? Even if he needed an attachment, it should be to the Intelligence Department!’ Hahaha... As they say, first come, first served. He can only blame himself for not being proactive. Come on, our guys are interrogating Xiao Qing. Let’s go take a look." In the interrogation room, Xiao Qing sat rigidly, his expression indifferent. Regardless of how the Tianjian Bureau questioned him, he remained silent. Xiao Qing’s face was bruised and swollen, but this didn’t diminish his imposing aura in the slightest. "Xiao Qing, our patience is limited. Whether you cooperate or not, your crimes are enough to have you executed many times over. Where did these Soul Beads come from? Where are the ledgers? You might as well confess everything now." "If you’re merciful enough to execute me quickly, I’ll even thank you for it. I cannot reveal the source of the Soul Beads. Ever since I got into this business, I knew there was no turning back. "So, quite early on, I sent my wife and kids abroad. As for my mistresses... they know nothing. If you want to find out who the puppet master is, keep an eye on my mistresses. Now that I’m caught, some treacherous bastards will surely wish for my swift death, perhaps even the annihilation of my entire family. Whoever tries to kill my mistresses is most likely the one who supplied me with the Soul Beads." "Stop beating around the bush. We want the information from you directly. The Tianjian Bureau has no interest in cleaning up your messes." "I’m the one controlling Modu City’s Soul Bead black market. By arresting me, you’ve crippled the Soul Bead black market for at least five years. Now that you have achieved your goal, why bother to know who supplies them?" Wang Lan, who was in the monitoring room, asked Ming Baiye with confusion, "Why waste so much breath on him? Why not just go directly into his mind and find out?" "He had long been wary of this move. He had someone install a sealing Skill Form in his mind. If any Spirit Engraving technique is attempted, it will activate instantly and destroy his brain." "Director Ming!" Just then, the door to the room opened, and a Tianjian Bureau captain walked in, saluting Ming Baiye. The source of this content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚·𝔫𝔢𝔱 "The Evidence Section just reported that the computer is severely damaged. Xiao Qing formatted the hard drive before physically destroying it. With such extensive physical damage, there’s nothing more we can do." "Damn it!" Ming Baiye pounded a fist in anger. "We were so close! Xiao Qing destroyed that computer right before he tried to break out; it must have contained something crucial. Tell the Evidence Section to keep trying, to find another way." Then, Ming Baiye approached the microphone and softly said, "Use any means necessary. Make Xiao Qing reveal the source of the Soul Beads." "Wait!" shouted Wang Lan suddenly. "Mr. Ming, that computer you mentioned... it wouldn’t happen to be the laptop in Xiao Qing’s study, would it?" "Yes, that’s right—" Suddenly, Ming Baiye whipped his head around to look at Wang Lan. "You weren’t part of that operation, so how did you know there was a laptop in Xiao Qing’s study?" "Mr. Ming, have you forgotten? I sent a spider drone into the villa. That night, the spider robot went to the study and copied all the encrypted files from the laptop to the cloud. After returning to the dormitory, I went straight to bed. Then I got your call to come to the Bureau, and in the rush, it completely slipped my mind." "My goodness... you... I’m speechless. Quick, give me the files!" Wang Lan’s spider drone didn’t have onboard storage, so the files were uploaded to the cloud. Wang Lan provided the cloud file ID and password, and Ming Baiye immediately instructed the Evidence Section to download and process the data. "Wang Lan, let’s go. Time to meet an old friend." "His real name isn’t Xiao Qing but Bai Xiaoyun. It turns out he’s connected to Eld Di’s faction. Back in the day, he used to trail after the He Jinze brothers. Later, we heard he was killed in action. The He Jinze brothers even grieved for him for a good while. Hmph! Who would have thought he would betray Jade Country and get involved in such dirty business? I knew from the beginning that this smooth-talking fellow was fundamentally crooked." Taking Wang Lan to the interrogation room next door, the two interrogators quickly stood up. Ming Baiye then looked Xiao Qing up and down, his gaze filled with interest. Xiao Qing’s pupils contracted slightly upon seeing the military rank on Ming Baiye. "I don’t want to interrogate you now; let’s just have a chat." Playing this game? Trying to lower my guard and then attack my psychological defenses? That’s an old trick, worn out in the army long ago. "Don’t get any ideas. The previous interrogation was to extract the source of your Soul Beads. But now, there’s no need. We’ve already got the encrypted folder from your computer." "Hahaha..." Xiao Qing burst into laughter. "Do you think you can fool me? A hard drive formatted dozens of times and then blasted to pieces. If you can still recover data from that, well, I’d have to see it to believe it." "You’re overthinking! Do you know why we found you last night?" "If you found my Soul Bead warehouse, would it be so hard to find me? Would you have made your move if you hadn’t already been tracking me?" "That’s where you’re wrong. Finding the Soul Bead warehouse was a complete accident. As for finding you... well, you brought that upon yourself. "Chen Xiaoping was under our surveillance the whole time. You bringing him to your villa just to vent your anger? You were practically asking for it. If you hadn’t grabbed Chen Xiaoping, we might still be wondering how to draw you out." "Impossible! I have perception-type experts. It’s impossible to be under surveillance without them noticing. Stop trying to fool me." "There was a tracking device on Chen Xiaoping. Can your perception-type Star Martial Warriors detect something like that?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Qing’s face changed dramatically. "Moreover, we recorded the entire process of you killing Chen Xiaoping. With that footage, do you think there’s anything we missed? What I didn’t know during the previous interrogation was that my men had already copied the encrypted files from your computer. Look here, my friend. This is somewhat related to you too. Your Flame Sword isn’t bad. But compared to this young brother of mine, you’re not even worthy of carrying his shoes. Xiao Qing... no, I should call you Bai Xiaoyun." "You... impossible, you couldn’t have gotten the encrypted files... you couldn’t have snuck into my bedroom as if it were completely unguarded! My study has a perception barrier!" Xiao Qing cried out agitatedly. He knew that as long as he kept his secrets, the wife and children he had settled abroad could survive. Once the Tianjian Bureau got hold of these secrets, many people would want his entire family dead, utterly annihilated. "Indeed, there was a barrier, and my robot did indeed touch it. Your perception barrier is clever and sensitive, seemingly flawless. "Perhaps... if the barrier’s sensitivity was initially set too high, it would be annoying if it was accidentally triggered by insects like mosquitoes. Every passing fly could potentially set off the alarm. "Your villa is on a mountaintop, surrounded by dense woods, so there must be plenty of insects. So... you found it bothersome and lowered the barrier’s sensitivity, didn’t you? "A bird landing on your roof didn’t trigger the alarm, so a spider sneaking into your study naturally went unnoticed as well." As he spoke, Wang Lan opened his palm, revealing a fingernail-sized spider resting there. Upon seeing this spider, Xiao Qing felt a chill run down his spine. "Last night, while you were in your bedroom smoking all evening, I was in your study, copying your files." "You..." Xiao Qing looked at Wang Lan in shock. After a long while, as if all his strength had been drained, he slumped down. "I’ll confess... I’ll tell you everything." "First, let’s talk about something else. I heard you were killed in action. How did you end up back in Modu City, and as this ’Xiao Qing’?"