Chapter 193 - 192: High-level Meeting

Chapter 193: Chapter 192: High-level Meeting

Feng Ling suspected she might have been a little *too* accommodating, to the point that Su Yuqing and Zhou Diao had practically decided to freeload off her and never leave.

Zhou Diao was the most outrageous of the two. He moved into the second floor of the sales office that very same night.

His excuse was, "The Financial Center Building is in the heart of the city, with access to everywhere. No matter where a situation arises, I can get there quickly."

It was as if, after someone had seen through his act, he decided to stop pretending altogether and just lean into it, throwing caution to the wind.

Su Yuqing enabled him, reasoning, "With Zhou Diao living here, it’ll be more convenient for me to visit. I can just tell people I’m here to see Zhou Diao."

The second floor had plenty of rooms, so Feng Ling had no reason to refuse.

’Whatever, let it be.’

Besides, she was about to take Ye Zheng on a long trip anyway.

「Three days passed in a flash.」

During this time, Feng Ling spent her days eating and drinking to diligently store up energy, occasionally browsing the news online to see what all the fuss was about.

There were two major hot topics online recently—

The first was Pei Xianjue’s meteoric rise to fame.

As the first female Inspector to enter the Maze, netizens dubbed her "Ye Zheng’s successor" and "the next Ye Zheng."

Some netizens left comments on Pei Xianjue’s social media calling her "Little Ye Zheng," while others argued that the nickname, though seemingly affectionate, was actually disrespectful. The two factions went back and forth, bickering online.

The second hot topic was the leak of the real-name version of the Hunter rankings.

Just as Feng Ling had predicted, less than half a day after the Hunter rankings were published, the real-name version was leaked. By the time the officials reacted, it had already been shared across countless groups.

Some people used their real names and didn’t care about the leak, even hoping to become famous.

Others, however, were worried that their Hunter identity being exposed would affect their families’ lives and were so angry they started cussing up a storm online.

In fact, a third "hot topic" had also occurred, but Feng Ling didn’t know about it.

Because this incident took place within the Inspection Bureau.

...

After Su Yuqing submitted Ye Zheng’s phone to the Supervision Bureau, technicians quickly retrieved the video footage from right before Ye Zheng’s death.

After watching it dozens of times and with the help of AI, the technicians managed to extract the physical characteristics of two of the Alien Species from the blizzard-filled footage. They then sent this information to the various branch Inspection Bureaus to issue a warrant.

The top brass at the Supervision Bureau also convened an emergency meeting because of this video.

In the square conference room, tables and chairs were arranged in a circle in the center. Bright lights shone down from above, casting deep shadows beneath everyone’s brow bones.

Above the conference table, a hanging curved LCD screen was split in two. The top half played the video of Ye Zheng’s incident, while the bottom half played the video Wen Xiuyan had submitted.

In the top video, Ye Zheng was a human fighting an Alien Species.

In the bottom video, Ye Zheng had become a non-human monster, attacking the Hunters who had ventured deep into the Maze.

"Are we sure it’s her?"

"This Pollution Body used the Blazing Angel ability. It can’t be a coincidence. It is indeed our Inspector, Ye Zheng."

"What was the result of the technicians’ analysis?"

"They confirmed it’s her. She was contaminated by a large number of unknown Cards released by the Squirrel. The preliminary estimate for her Pollution Value is over 60%. There’s no value in trying to save her."

"How cruel... We’ve lost a precious Inspector."

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

Ye Zheng was undoubtedly precious. However, the "preciousness" being discussed here referred not only to her personal value but also to the time and resources the Inspection Bureau and the research institutes had invested in her.

Someone spoke up. "This Hunter named Wen Xiuyan, did she witness the Pollution Body’s death?"

"No. They found a survivor in the Maze, and Wen Xiuyan had to go outside to get a protective suit. Only a Hunter named Feng Ling was on the scene, but Feng Ling didn’t submit any video of the operation."

"So, right now, no one knows if Ye Zheng is dead, and no one has found the Pollution Body’s corpse."

"With a Pollution Value over 60%, it’s impossible to survive. I don’t think the Hunter would lie about this—there’s no need. As for the body, perhaps it was devoured by Maze Creatures."

"This Feng Ling is very capable. I met her once at a meeting in Yuquan City. It seems she’s grown even stronger. Talent like that is rare. Should we offer her some protection or support? We can’t let a tragedy like Ye Zheng’s happen again."

"Let her develop on her own. The system has already set her up as a hidden boss for the Alien Species, which draws enough aggro as it is. If we interfere, it’ll just be adding fuel to the fire, making her situation even more perilous."

"Perhaps she’s already aware of this. During the recent cleanup operation in the Northern Forest, she didn’t claim any Contribution Points, causing her rank to drop. Isn’t that a way of hiding her true strength?"

"She’s close with Su Yuqing from Qingjiang City and Pei Xianjue from Yuquan City. If she runs into trouble, she’ll likely seek help from the Inspection Bureau."

"In that case, let’s move on to the next topic."

...

...

「Yanjing City.」

「Alien Species Safety Inspection Bureau.」

Wen Xiuyan, Wu Wei, and Liang Jiaqin walked out of the soundproof interview room one after another.

Xu Yiming was waiting for them outside. The moment he saw them, he rushed over and asked, "How’d it go? What kind of questions did they ask?"

Wen Xiuyan was still buzzing with excitement. "They asked us what we witnessed, and of course, we told them everything exactly as it happened! It’s a shame I was in a hurry to get the protective suits, or I could’ve seen with my own eyes how Ms. Ling took care of that Pollution Body! Ah, Ms. Ling is so amazing!"

Xu Yiming’s eyes were full of envy.

The three of them had been invited for an interview by the Supervision Bureau because they had witnessed the Pollution Body. Liang Jiaqin was one of them, and since Xu Yiming was good friends with him, he had tagged along.

Liang Jiaqin said, confused, "But it’s weird. If the Inspection Bureau wants to know how the Pollution Body was dealt with, why don’t they just ask Feng Ling directly?"

"Maybe they already did. They probably just called us in for confirmation," Wu Wei said. "Isn’t that how it always goes in spy movies? They question everyone separately, then compare the intel to see who’s lying."

Liang Jiaqin thought he was being ridiculous. "We’re not spies."

"I was just making an analogy," Wu Wei said with a laugh.

Xu Yiming was itching with curiosity. He asked Wen Xiuyan, "Tell me again, what exactly happened? How did Feng Ling subdue the Pollution Body?"

"It was super dangerous! I don’t know how to describe it... Ah, anyway, this silver python suddenly appeared and scared the crap out of me! Before I could even react, Ms. Ling suddenly told us to run. Then the snake just WHOOSHED over and picked me up! It threw me dozens of meters away! And then, and then, you have to hear this..." Wen Xiuyan’s speech got faster and faster as she spoke, punctuating her words with frantic gestures.

As Xu Yiming listened to her description of the event, he grew excited along with her but also felt a sense of disappointment and regret.

’Sigh, he hadn’t seen a thing.’

After entering the Maze, all he’d seen was Feng Ling toss a grenade.

While he was feeling wistful, Xu Yiming’s phone suddenly vibrated.

He picked it up and saw it was a call from Su Yuqing. He quickly answered, "What’s up?"

Su Yuqing: "I’m helping Feng Ling find some backup. Are you free..."

"I am!" Xu Yiming shouted decisively. "I’m free!!!"