A group of police and City Defense Soldiers swiftly scanned each council member, then approached certain ones. "Why are you arresting me? I’m a council member!" The man in the white shirt slammed the table from his seat in the corner and stood up, looking toward the police who were walking towards him. "Sir, there is ample evidence," The young policeman in front of him took a breath and raised his hand to display his electronic arrest warrant, "that you are associated with last night’s assault on Yilan City by the Evis Space System Mercenary Corps and the Kopes Mining Mercenary Corps, accepted bribes from the Evis Space System, and have premeditatedly aided the Evis Space System in betraying Yilan City." "What rubbish are you spouting?!" The man in the white shirt went stiff, glaring at the young policeman in front of him, angrily asking, "Are you trying to slander me?" "The evidence is conclusive, sir, we don’t slander anyone," The young policeman shook his head, "According to the Yilan City Constitution, anyone who rebels or betrays, or provides aid or encouragement to enemies of Yilan City shall not hold any council or government civil or military office," He picked up a pair of magnetic handcuffs and cuffed the white-shirted man’s left and right hands, "You once took an oath to the Yilan City Constitution as part of your swearing-in, and now, having broken that oath, you are no longer a council member of Yilan City." The silver handcuffs activated, sticking together. At this point, the towering City Defense Soldier beside the young policeman also reached out to secure the man next to the white-shirted one, who was holding a cigar. "This is political persecution!!!" The cigar man roared angrily, looking up at the Speaker standing at the top, "We’re council members; we have immunity. You can’t arrest me!!!" "According to Article One, Section Six of the Yilan City Constitution, council members shall not be arrested during sessions of the council, nor shall they be questioned at any other place for any speech or debate made in the City Council." Standing at the door, Tucker looked toward the cigar man, raised his hand to check the time, and responded loudly, "But the meeting is still two minutes from starting, take him away!" The towering City Defense Soldier dragged the cigar man out toward the door. More and more council members were arrested and then led towards the door. "Linen, you tyrant! You lapdogs! You are purging dissent! You’re destroying the constitution!" The cigar man kept bellowing as he walked. "I want to see Linen; I’m innocent, why are you arresting me! I’m a council member! You’re slandering me!" The man in the white shirt was also yelling. But soon his voice was drowned out by the noise of the chaos. "No, why are you arresting me? I’m from Mr. Lin En’s faction! I support him, I do!" "I want to see Mr. Lin En, I’ve bled for the party! I’ve worked hard for the party! I want to see Mr. Lin En!" "No, my wife is about to give birth, give me a chance to see her, I promise I’ll come right back!" "I’ll give the money back; I’ll give the money back, don’t arrest me! Don’t arrest me!" Among the buzz and chaos, all the arrested individuals were taken out of the council chamber. The entire council hall suddenly lost nearly half its people, even appeared a bit deserted. "Are you even arresting people from Linen’s faction?" The elderly Speaker looked at Tucker, his face ashen. "According to Mr. Lin En’s directives, arrests are made purely based on guilt, irrespective of relationships. The moment they connected with Yilan’s enemies, their statuses were useless," Tucker looked around at the police leaving the council hall swiftly and saluted the old Speaker again, "My apologies for the disturbance; please, continue." Then he slowly retreated from the council hall and stretched his hand to close the large doors. "Chief, there’s a council member who says his wife is about to give birth and is asking us for a chance to see her." And behind Tucker, amidst the crowded throng, a police officer immediately ran over, reporting to him quickly. "How come he wasn’t thinking about giving the brothers on the battlefield a chance when he was contacting the Consortium?" Tucker turned around, looking puzzledly at the police officer, "Is his wife actually pregnant?" "We haven’t found any information about a pregnancy, and he hasn’t provided any evidence; he becomes evasive when questioned closely," The officer shook his head and pulled out a tablet, "His wife is over sixty, and they use the council’s free annual health check; we looked through the medical reports collected by the council, and his wife is postmenopausal, unable to conceive. The checkup three months ago also showed no signs of pregnancy. "Moreover, his wife is an accessory to the crime, and according to the investigation, they were transferring assets to Dawn City and had bought tickets to leave Yilan today." "Makes up excuses to try and escape, huh? Is his wife on the next batch of arrest lists?" Tucker glanced at the tablet. The young officer nodded, "We’re short-staffed now; she’s on this afternoon’s arrest list." "Move his wife up in the queue then," Tucker raised his hand, "Find a few people and arrest her now; give them a chance to meet." The officer promptly agreed and then turned back into the crowd. Tucker raised his head, looking toward the sunlight streaming in from beyond the corridor. He took out a cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, and put it to his lips but then hesitated and put it back. "What’s the matter, Chief?" A young policeman passing by looked at him. "Nothing, just thinking," Tucker put away the cigarette case, looking toward the bright light in the corridor and mused with a smile, "The sunlight still gets in here." The top floor of the City Council Building·Levi Apartment [Mr. Lin En, there are two journalists who want to interview you, apparently from the last press conference. Here’s their information.] Standing in front of the gilded double doors, He Ao looked down at the message on his bracelet, along with the profiles of the two individuals. [What would be a good time slot for the appointment?] The response came immediately. [This afternoon will do.] He Ao quickly replied and then put down his bracelet, looking at the secretary standing in front of the door. The female secretary looked up as his gaze came her way, nodded slightly, and swiped her bracelet to open the door, revealing the spacious inside, "This is the apartment’s reception room, where Mr. Levi always brings guests. I only have access to this door..." Before she could finish, she felt a powerful hand grab her shoulder and pull her back. Then a streak of golden light flashed at the end of her field of view, driving into the ground. The secretary spun around and landed behind He Ao, barely stabilizing herself. Only then did she have the chance to look down at the golden staff’s lowest end. It seemed to be a shadow with a human head and snake body, pinned to the floor by a golden cane, struggling furiously. Then she saw the elderly man holding the cane lightly tap the body of the cane, a faint tremor transferring to the body of the shadow, which suddenly trembled, stiffened, and then fell silent, disintegrating into the void. "Mr. Linen, this, what is this?" The female secretary slightly bent her legs and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, asking shakily. "It should be an Abyssal Creature," He Ao reached out, stepping through the door that had just been opened, feeling the icy qi within, "Was this thing here originally?" said the female secretary, trembling, "Usually not even dust would settle here." "You don’t have a combat-related Talent Sequence?" He Ao looked back at the female secretary, who had been stationed at the city council building and was Levi’s personal secretary. He could feel that the female secretary should be a C-level Transcendent, but she seemed to lack strong combat abilities and experience. the secretary, who had just been scared out of her wits, finally regained some composure, straightening up tremblingly and speaking in a low voice, "Talent Sequence 68: Nutritionist. Mr. Levi thought I did good work and specially found me some Secret Medicines." He Ao withdrew his gaze, looking towards the hall behind the door. The decor of the entire hall was dominated by black and gold, with a gold-patterned floor-to-ceiling window facing the door; the entire hall was divided into two parts by the twinkling light of decorative fine bamboo. To the right, deeper in, was a sophisticated black rosewood bar, while the left was obscured from view by the decorative fine bamboo. "Did Levi say anything to you when he left?" He Ao withdrew his gaze, looking again at the female secretary beside him. the secretary shook her head. After the scare she had just had, she seemed to also realize something was wrong and spoke more calmly, "Mr. Levi sometimes leaves or shuts himself in for a while. If I call his communication device and get no response, it means he’s gone, and then I would announce to outsiders that he’s not in." "So, you mean you didn’t actually see him leave?" He Ao withdrew his gaze and reached out, feeling the chilling qi that pervaded the hall. the secretary looked up at He Ao, hesitated, and then asked softly, "Has something happened to Mr. Levi?" "It needs to be investigated." He Ao shook his head. "I will send you some information on this apartment. There’s a hidden door on the left side of the hall, behind which is Mr. Levi’s private abode, which contains his bedroom, study, and some workshops," the secretary raised her hand, operated her bracelet, and then spoke quietly, "Mr. Levi doesn’t allow anyone to go in, so I do not have a gatekeeping card." "Alright, I understand." He Ao rejoined calmly, "You go downstairs first, leave this place to me." The secretary hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently, and walked into the elevator. As the elevator doors closed, He Ao looked ahead, picked up the cane, and crossed the threshold. An deeply chilling qi instantly seeped into his body. The hall, which was very bright due to sunlight from the floor-to-ceiling windows, became unusually dim after He Ao crossed the threshold. He Ao looked up at the window outside. The blazing morning sun, filtering through the window, appeared dim and yellow, much like the glow at dusk. He turned his head back, looking at the double doors behind him. With his entry, the double doors had automatically closed. Under the scope of his Divine Sense’s field of view, some hidden flows of energy runes that were inscribed on the walls and the door appeared before his eyes. These runes seemed to form a certain type of Array that ’confined’ the cold, distorted essence within this vast hall. There was no breeze in the hall, yet the finely detailed landscape bamboo swayed with a rustling sound, emitting a chilly and piercing noise. Between the slender bamboo gaps, a multitude of eyes blinked in and out of visibility, watching He Ao as he stepped into the hall. He Ao turned his head back; he seemingly did not hear these sounds, picked up his staff, and crossed through the pathway amidst the bamboo. Those eyes also shifted their gaze, cautiously peeking at him. And in the moment he passed by the trembling bamboo, the Elder turned his head to glance at the landscape bamboo. All of the shivering abruptly halted at that moment, and the rustling sound came to an abrupt end. It was as though prey under the gaze of an exotic beast had gone stiff instantly. It seemed as if the cold aura that filled the air was somewhat dispersed at that moment. He Ao withdrew his gaze and continued forward. The decor on the left side of the hall was simple, with a few reception tables and a reading area with a small bookshelf, on which some humanities and history books were placed. Soon, he arrived in front of the wall at the very left side of the hall. He Ao reached out his hand to touch the wall. A bone-chilling cold rushed into him through his fingertips, and crazed, distorted ravings exploded in his mind in an instant. He withdrew his hand, gazing at the wall. The silent, cold aura that spread throughout the entire hall seemed to seep out from this wall. That cold, distorted essence from the Abyss seeped out of the wall, continuously spreading throughout the hall. He lowered his head to glance at the fingertips he had just touched the wall with. However, within the wall, there seemed to be an additional presence, not coming from the Abyss, but something somewhat familiar to him. He Ao’s gaze swept over the entire wall, and before long, he found the hidden small door that the secretary had mentioned. He walked up to the door and gently pressed the door panel; it was closed. Then, he placed both hands on the door and pushed forcefully. With a sound like tearing metal, the entire door was blasted open, revealing a dim, narrow corridor before He Ao. An even colder breath rushed to his face instantly. The light above the corridor flickered but failed to illuminate any area. This corridor had none of the doors leading to bedrooms or studies the secretary spoke of, just a long corridor that stretched straight ahead, with walls mostly hidden in a hazy glow on both sides. The deeper one looked, the corridor grew increasingly silent and dark, the end indistinct, as if it stretched from reality into a bottomless Abyss. He Ao scanned both sides of the corridor with his eyes infused with Divine Sense. On those exquisitely decorated walls, there were also faintly inscribed some intricate energy runes. Perhaps this was the real ’lock’ of this area, some sort of defensive Extraordinary Array. However, it was clear that this Array had not been activated. When the Array’s master ’left’, it was too ’hastily’ done to ’lock’ up their room. Looking at the pitch-black end of the corridor, He Ao lifted his foot, stepped over the threshold, and entered this corridor.