“Chief Inspector Shen...”
“If there’s anything you want to ask, go ahead.”
Shen Yun didn’t turn around.
“No. First, I want to apologize.”
Jiang Qi steadied himself and spoke first, explaining.
“I wasn’t hiding anything out of malice, and I don’t have any negative feelings toward the Safe Zone.”
Shen Yun’s voice came slowly.
“There’s no need to be nervous, Jiang Qi.”
“You’re very unusual, and quite talented.”
“As long as we agree on the big picture, I’ll be very tolerant of you.”
Jiang Qi silently watched his back.
When Shen Yun said they agreed on the big picture, did he mean humanity, the Fourth Safe Zone, or the Inspectorate?
“Chief Inspector Shen, how did you... do that?”
Jiang Qi couldn’t help asking.
“Besides the attacks from Mad Laughter, your ability can also passively keep you calm, right?”
Before Jiang Qi could answer, Shen Yun turned around.
“Your control over your emotions and expressions is practically perfect.”
“But when you mentioned cyan and black...”
Shen Yun’s voice paused.
“The light around you shifted.”
Every hair on Jiang Qi’s body stood on end!
He thought back to the flickering candlelight and felt like someone stripped naked, standing exposed beneath an examining gaze!
“Just like now.”
Shen Yun’s voice rang in Jiang Qi’s ear, almost spellbinding.
“Your light is trembling violently.”
Jiang Qi couldn’t help shivering.
Light?
Even after Inspector Wang had expanded his understanding of Ascendants, and after he’d witnessed Old Chen’s strange ability,
Shen Yun had just once again completely upended his understanding.
It was almost like some kind of Domain, able to rewrite and sense everything within it.
“My Path of Ascension is connected to light.”
Shen Yun spoke with unusual candor.
“I won’t tell you about my other abilities, and you won’t tell me about yours.”
“We only need to know that your Path of Ascension is focused on the mind, and that you’re also good at fighting.”
“Whether as colleagues or Comrades-in-Arms, keeping the secrets of your Path of Ascension is a basic rule for survival.”
Jiang Qi recalled the testing process.
Even the direction of one’s ability was chosen by oneself. It seemed the Safe Zone tacitly permitted this from top to bottom.
“After all, no two Paths of Ascension in the world are exactly alike.”
Jiang Qi had gained a new understanding of the Safe Zone and the Headquarters.
Shen Yun’s candor only made him more wary.
“You don’t need to tell anyone else about the Black Flame.”
Shen Yun said suddenly.
“Why?”
“Knowing about it would only increase the risk.”
There was no room for argument in Shen Yun’s tone.
“It’s enough that I know.”
Jiang Qi asked anxiously,
“Have you... have you heard of any Ascendants who use the Black Flame?”
Shen Yun shook his head.
Although he had expected that answer, Jiang Qi couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
If even someone as powerful and influential as the Chief Inspector had no leads, then he was still far from the truth.
“For now, all we can confirm is that this Arsonist infiltrated the Fourth District.”
“They most likely came from one of the first three Safe Zones, or perhaps even another Headquarters.”
Shen Yun looked at Jiang Qi’s hesitant expression.
“You don’t remember how the Safe Zones are divided?”
“...My memory is a little incomplete.”
At this point, Jiang Qi decided to simply tell him everything.
Shen Yun gazed at Jiang Qi for a long time before finally speaking.
“In short, ever since the World-Devouring Species invaded, humanity has established twenty-four Safe Zones around the Three Great Headquarters.”
“The White Tower Council, the Tianji General Directorate, and Zeshi Hall.”
“Each of the Three Great Headquarters oversees Safe Zones numbered one through eight.”
“All three Headquarters are located in Safe Zone Number One.”
“We’re the Tianji Fourth Safe Zone.”
Shen Yun paused, seemingly watching to see whether Jiang Qi could remember anything.
Those three names sounded distinctly different from one another.
The first two represented the Western and Eastern factions, respectively.
Zeshi Hall sounded like a church or some kind of legacy faction, which wasn’t difficult for Jiang Qi to understand.
Seeing that Jiang Qi had nothing to say, Shen Yun continued.
“The higher the number of a Safe Zone, the more dangerous it is.”
“The Headquarters devote most of their resources to the first four zones. All kinds of important institutions are established only in the first four Safe Zones.”
“That makes sense.”
Jiang Qi nodded.
“After all, you have to secure your home front before expanding outward. If the Safe Zones at home were in chaos, there’d be no way to expand.”
Shen Yun continued explaining.
“The Eighth District could even be said to coexist with the World-Devouring Species to some extent. It’s impossible to swiftly and effectively kill the invading World-Devouring Species there.”
“Accordingly, only mid- and low-tier Ascendants are left there. Ordinary People can hardly survive.”
“As for High-Tier Ascendants, they’re either in one of the first three zones or deep beyond the Safe Zones.”
“Normally, the movements of all official High-Tier Ascendants are reported to the Chief Inspectors of each district.”
“After all, if people like us ever clashed, it would be a devastating blow to the Safe Zone.”
Jiang Qi slowly digested the information, somewhat surprised.
The situation was grimmer than he had expected!
They couldn’t even fully secure just eight Safe Zones!
Shen Yun saw him lost in thought and said no more, changing the subject.
“Think about it on your way back. There’s one last thing.”
“In three days, the Headquarters will hold a Gathering for Newly Ascended. I hope you’ll attend on behalf of the Fourth District.”
Hope...
It was a rather subtle word.
Jiang Qi considered this.
“What’s going to happen?”
A note of appreciation entered Shen Yun’s gaze.
“People will keep coming after you. You’ll become a target for everyone, and you may even... be in mortal danger.”
“Why?”
“Because of me.”
Jiang Qi understood.
This was a grudge between two powerful figures, and Shen Yun seemed to be the one at a disadvantage for now.
Just as Jiang Qi was about to refuse, Shen Yun calmly took out a necklace of alternating black and white and set it on the table.
“A Tier Three Mental Item.”
“It strengthens your ability while constantly nourishing and repairing your damaged mind, and expands the range of your Mad Laughter.”
“To a certain extent, it lets you actively guide how you use your Mental Power instead of merely triggering it passively.”
Seeing Jiang Qi rise to his feet, Shen Yun sweetened the deal.
“Higher-tier items would be unusable for you, and would only bring trouble by making you a target. Tier Three Mental Items are already rare, and their value...”
Shen Yun hadn’t finished speaking.
Without a word, Jiang Qi put the necklace around his neck.
A chill spread through his entire body from his skin!
The next second, a surge of pure mental energy fiercely poured into his mind!
His perception spread outward in an instant like a vast net!
His Mental Power extended outward unconsciously, rippling faintly as if brushed by the wind.
“Chief Inspector Shen, I have one more question.”
Jiang Qi’s voice brimmed with barely restrained madness.
“No matter who it is, if they strike first, I can beat them to a pulp, right?”
Shen Yun looked at him, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
“No problem.”
Shen Yun promptly handed Jiang Qi a file.
“Jiang Qi, this is very important to me.”
He stared at Jiang Qi and added,
“Possibly more important than you realize.”
Jiang Qi pointed to the necklace around his neck and grinned.
“It’s more important to me than you realize, too.”
“Goodbye, Chief Inspector Shen.”
Jiang Qi waved, turned, and opened the office door without the slightest hesitation.
The door closed, and silence returned to the office.
“He’s completely different from the person he was.”
“An orphan who came back from the dead, extraordinary talent, knows when to advance and retreat, decisive... and quite the liar.”
Watching Jiang Qi leave the Inspectorate, Shen Yun looked up at the clouds and murmured to himself,
“Can I return to Zone One?”
.......
Jiang Qi walked back to the dormitory.
He didn’t want to miss the chance to go to the Headquarters.
But the moment he left the Fourth District, he would inevitably bear Shen Yun’s Mark.
But... so what?
Jiang Qi smiled.
Most importantly, Shen Yun had never asked what cyan represented.
Jiang Qi was grateful for this degree of tacit permission.
He opened the file. The first document revoked the order restricting him to the Fourth District.
The second document had his photo on it, with just one line beneath.
【Jiang Qi of the Fourth District, Mental Scale 9】