Then, Let Them Offer Their Loyalty!

Chapter 95: Yan Chen and Jia Shu Falling Out?

As Qiu Tu noticed the changes in the countdown hourglass, several question marks popped up in his mind. He couldn’t understand why Jia Shu summoning him to his office had triggered his Crisis Sense. Could it be that Jia Shu intended to harm him in the office?

With this thought in mind, Qiu Tu glanced at the series of Crisis Alerts that had appeared, trying to understand the nature of the impending crisis. However, as he skimmed through the alerts, he was taken aback by their content—it was completely different from what he had expected, and it surprised him.

After quickly reading through the alerts, a small hourglass with a 20-minute countdown appeared in the upper left corner of his vision.

[19:56]

Meanwhile, the agent standing by the door, noticing that Qiu Tu hadn't responded, urged him, "Chief Qiu, the Minister is waiting for you."

Pulled out of his thoughts, Qiu Tu gave the agent a long, thoughtful look before smiling and saying, "Alright, I'm coming."

He handed the documents to Cao Dabiao and called over a few more agents, giving them instructions. "Get a photocopier and some paper, and make three copies of all these documents."

"One set should be organized by location, another by personnel, and the last one should be arranged chronologically."

He turned to Cao Dabiao, "You’ll be in charge of this task."

Then, addressing Liu Fuping and Chen Feng, he added, "Sister Liu, Chen Feng, assist him."

"Yes, sir!" the three responded in unison.

Since assigning tasks was part of the usual workflow, the agent by the door didn’t say anything, patiently waiting as Qiu Tu finished.

Once everything was set, Qiu Tu walked to the door and followed the agent out of the temporary office.

[18:27]

With the agent leading the way, the two quickly reached the door to Jia Shu's office. However, instead of entering immediately, Qiu Tu paused to straighten his clothes and asked the agent beside him, "I don’t think I’ve seen you around the Political Division before. Are you new?"

The agent, who seemed a bit aloof, only replied with a curt "Yes."

Qiu Tu continued, "What's your name?"

"Ji Chen," the agent responded.

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Qiu Tu nodded slightly before knocking on the office door.

From inside, Jia Shu's voice called out, "Come in."

With a confident smile, Qiu Tu pushed open the door and stepped inside.

[18:01]

As Qiu Tu entered Jia Shu's office, the light dimmed, and his eyes widened slightly, struggling to adjust to the darker environment. Once his vision cleared, he noticed someone sitting in the large, high-backed executive chair, their back turned towards him.

The imposing, black leather chair stood like a tall tombstone in the middle of the office, with Jia Shu standing beside it, almost like a servant.

In all of New Realm City, there was only one person who could sit in Jia Shu’s chair and command such respect from him...

Sure enough, as Qiu Tu's thoughts trailed off, the chair slowly swiveled around, revealing Yan Chen, one of the three leaders of New Realm City and the Director of the Investigation Department.

Seeing this, Qiu Tu quickly feigned surprise and saluted, "Greetings, Director!"

After saluting, Qiu Tu acted as if he had just remembered this was Jia Shu’s office and hurriedly saluted him as well, "Minister!"

After Qiu Tu finished greeting them, Yan Chen didn’t immediately respond. He simply stared at Qiu Tu, his eyes deep and inscrutable like an abyss.

While Yan Chen scrutinized him, Qiu Tu subtly observed Yan Chen in return.

This wasn't Yan Chen's usual study or office: the curtains didn’t fully block the light, and the quality of Jia Shu's desk lamp was decent, allowing Qiu Tu to clearly see Yan Chen's appearance for the first time.

To describe it... Yan Chen looked somewhat unremarkable, with a visage that seemed aged and withered.

Qiu Tu recalled that the official records listed Yan Chen's age as 51, but the man before him looked like he was well over sixty-five, even emitting a faint scent of decay.

Qiu Tu thought back to Qin Shuman's earlier speculation about Yan Chen’s Cataclysm pathway: Life or Immortality. Frankly, Qiu Tu couldn’t see anything "immortal" about Yan Chen. If it weren't for Qin Shuman's reliable intel, Qiu Tu might have thought Yan Chen barely had any "life" left in him.

[17:36]

As Qiu Tu pondered Yan Chen’s appearance and possible Cataclysm pathways, Yan Chen finally spoke in a low, raspy voice, like nails scratching across a chalkboard, "Qiu Tu, I heard you took on the Yin Caimei case?"

Hearing this, Qiu Tu glanced at Jia Shu.

Jia Shu wore a smile, his gaze unwavering, as if he hadn’t been the one to summon Qiu Tu, nor the one who had assigned him this case.

Seeing this, Qiu Tu nodded without denying it. "Yes, Director."

[17:30]

Yan Chen grunted in acknowledgment and then slowly asked, "So, how's your investigation going?"

Once again, Qiu Tu glanced at Jia Shu, but there was no reaction.

Smiling, Qiu Tu replied, "Thanks to your guidance, Director, our investigation team has been working around the clock, and we’re close to solving the case."

The moment Qiu Tu finished speaking, the office fell silent. Yan Chen shot Jia Shu a cold look before asking in a deep voice, "Oh? So close to solving it already? Let's hear it."

[17:13]

As Yan Chen questioned him, Qiu Tu couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander a bit...

In truth, Qiu Tu wasn’t surprised to find Yan Chen in Jia Shu's office. He wasn’t even surprised by the questions Yan Chen was asking.

That’s because the Crisis Sense had already given him a Crisis Alert, warning him of everything that was now unfolding...

[Crisis Sense Activated! Generating Crisis Report!]

[Your immediate superior, New Realm City Investigation Department Director Yan Chen, is currently in conflict with your superior, Political Division Minister Jia Shu!]

[The cause of the conflict is that Jia Shu secretly handed you the 'Yin Caimei case' without informing Yan Chen!]

[Feeling that his authority has been challenged, Yan Chen not only harbors significant resentment towards Jia Shu but also has developed deep distrust towards you!]

[Now, under the guise of Jia Shu, he has invited you to Jia Shu's office to report on the case!]

[You have 20 minutes to choose how to present the investigation results and the 'truth.' This choice will determine your standing with both Yan Chen and Jia Shu!]

[Be very cautious in your decision—your future situation depends on it!]

'What the heck? Wasn't this case assigned to me by Yan Chen? How could it have been Jia Shu's doing without Yan Chen knowing?'

Qiu Tu was baffled by the idea that the case had been handed to him behind Yan Chen's back, especially since it seemed to have led to tension between the two. Worse, Yan Chen's distrust towards him had grown significantly because of it.

He found the whole situation absurd. 'What’s the point of giving me such a challenging case if it’s only going to create problems for everyone involved?'

Qiu Tu felt like he was just a pawn in a power play between the two higher-ups. The realization left him feeling frustrated and almost overwhelmed.

But there was no time to dwell on his irritation. The Crisis Sense was clear: his life could be in danger if he didn’t handle the situation correctly. However, it didn’t specify where the threat was coming from—whether it was from Yan Chen if he hid the investigation's truth or from Jia Shu if he revealed it.

These uncertainties forced Qiu Tu to pause and think carefully before entering the office, pretending to assign tasks to his team while he weighed his options.

Thanks to the Crisis Sense and the brief moment to strategize, Qiu Tu finally identified the key to navigating the situation safely.

With his thoughts collected, Qiu Tu faced Yan Chen's scrutinizing gaze and firmly responded, "Yes, Director."

[17:10]

He continued, "From the moment I learned about this case, I sensed something unusual about it."

"That night, I supervised the interrogation team as they questioned Yin Caimei. She showed no signs of psychological issues, nor did she exhibit any symptoms of illness. The interrogation was conducted according to protocol, without the use of any illegal methods or substances."

"Logically, she shouldn’t have died."

"So, when I heard of her death, my first suspicion was that it was a homicide."

"I immediately had a forensic examination conducted on Yin Caimei’s body, which concluded that she died from sudden cardiac arrest—an accidental death."

"But this result only deepened my suspicions."

"I then requested the Minister’s approval to use a Cataclysm artifact to check for traces of Cataclysmic abilities or artifacts."

"And sure enough, I found something."

Qiu Tu paused before adding, "Last night, using the Mist Index Book, I detected traces of a Cataclysmic Curse on Yin Caimei's body. This led me to discover the murder weapon."

[16:32]

Qiu Tu noticed a flicker of interest in Yan Chen's eyes as he mentioned the murder weapon. He wasn't surprised. Yan Chen's earlier cold demeanor likely stemmed from his belief that Qiu Tu couldn’t possibly make significant progress in just a few days. When Qiu Tu claimed to have made breakthroughs and identified the culprit, Yan Chen probably assumed he was just following Jia Shu’s plan to pin the crime on a scapegoat.

But now that Qiu Tu was presenting actual findings, Yan Chen’s interest was piqued.

As Qiu Tu had anticipated, Yan Chen soon asked, "Oh? A murder weapon? What kind of weapon?"

"A book," Qiu Tu replied. "A book that Yin Caimei illegally brought into the holding cell, titled Brave New World."

He paused before adding, "After examining it with the Mist Index Book, I confirmed that the book is a Cataclysm artifact. The Cataclysmic energy it contains matches the traces found on Yin Caimei."

"And it was through this artifact that I was able to significantly narrow down the list of suspects and identify the first potential culprit."

[15:21]

Upon hearing this, Yan Chen’s expression remained neutral, his tone calm as he asked, "Who do you suspect?"

Author's Note