Chapter 4176 - 4195: Human Trafficking?

"Good!"

The Charming Erosion-transformed Captain Zhou swiftly exited, and as soon as he opened the door, two subordinates came over, one of them squinting his eyes at Qiu Chan with an uncontrollable expression.

"Captain Zhou" grabbed his collar and snorted coldly, "From now on, if any of you dare step through this door, I’ll break his leg."

"Captain Zhou" leaned closer, staring into the man’s eyes, "Especially you, if you dare step in, I’ll break your third leg too!"

The two subordinates’ expressions changed dramatically, their eyes suddenly cleared.

The door quickly closed, and the room returned to silence.

Qiu Chan stared at Lin Chen, her gaze containing both surprise and contemplation, "You have a method to manipulate others?"

Lin Chen smiled and said, "Similar methods, but not everyone can be manipulated, for example, you—I can’t."

Qiu Chan thought for a moment, "The people you can manipulate, their strength can’t be too strong, or should I say, mental strength?"

Lin Chen chuckled and sat down in a chair, "The various techniques of cultivators, aside from the strength of spiritual power, there’s also the strength of energy in a warrior’s furnace, and the intensity of the divine soul."

"The stronger the strength, the greater the mental intensity, making it harder to resist various magic techniques for those with lower strength, but total control comes with many limitations. It’s not about controlling whoever you want."

What Lin Chen said wasn’t false; if you can’t defeat the opponent, how can you read their soul memory, perform Soul Search, and transform into them?

Of course, you can use conspiracies to calculate against the opponent; once controlled, the Charming Erosion can transform into them.

In other words, if one day Lin Chen took the opportunity of having dinner with the Star Core Leader, subtly drugged him unnoticed, and then the Charming Erosion searched through his soul and Life Brand, he could completely transform into him.

This ability is too formidable, Lin Chen wouldn’t reveal it, or else he might be besieged.

Even though Lin Chen is the Master of the Star Core Leader’s daughter, the Star Core Leader might stay wary of Lin Chen, fearing being replaced any day.

Qiu Chan nodded, having done detailed research on the cultivator system and understanding many of its eerie methods, she could comprehend what Lin Chen said.

She didn’t pursue the matter further, understanding these are Lin Chen’s Hidden Card to save his life.

Cultivators don’t trust anyone, only themselves!

Such Daoist couples like Lin Chen’s group, truly happy in hardship and danger, are as rare as phoenix feathers.

"We’re just waiting now?"

Lin Chen nodded, "Rest assured and relax. Until tomorrow when we meet again, perhaps we’ll understand many things here."

"Good!"

An uneventful night passed.

The next morning, "Captain Zhou" appeared again.

"You stand guard at the entrance outside, don’t come in."

"Captain Zhou" gave his orders and entered the room, closing the door.

Lin Chen stood up and asked with a business-like tone, "What’s the situation here?"

Qiu Chan was right beside him, and Charming Erosion simulated Captain Zhou’s identity, answering straightforwardly, "This is the secret base of the Freedom Front, the mining company is just a facade. They control the local senior management, and under their cover, everything done here is managed by no one."

"I’m responsible for external security to ensure no one discovers any anomalies here. Yesterday, you two came here and took photos, so I captured you to prevent the news from leaking and drawing official attention."

Lin Chen asked, "What does this secret base do exactly, who is in charge here, what strength do they have, and how many Level 8 martial artists are there above?"

"Captain Zhou," as if controlled, shared everything without hesitation, "The secret base has two Level 9 martial artists, one is the base leader Hou Yuanfeng, and the other rarely appears, always wears a hood and mask, concealing himself entirely—even his hands are gloved."

"There are twenty-one Level 8 martial artists, but they generally don’t appear in outer areas; all operate within the inner area."

"What exactly goes on in the inner area, I don’t know. All I know is that periodically a group of people is sent into the inner area, and after entering, they never appear again."

"I caught wind of two Level 8 martial artists in the inner area chatting once. One said, ’Is this batch satisfactory as the other side?’, and the other replied, ’I heard it’s satisfactory, but they think the quantity is too low.’ Then they noticed me and stopped talking..."

Qiu Chan frowned and asked, "By ’batch,’ do they mean the people you sent in?"

"Captain Zhou" nodded, "Yes, these people are collected from various channels, mostly undocumented individuals, or lone wanderers unnoticed by anyone, so if they disappear, no one looks for them."

"With people above aiding concealment, collecting these individuals isn’t complicated; each batch numbers hundreds..."

Lin Chen asked, "Are there any characteristics of these collected people?"

Treating humans like goods, who are they being sold to?

Sending people underground, without them emerging; could there be other exits, or possibly Teleportation Gates down there?

The Federation’s technology includes wormhole jumping technology, so quietly sending people from underground is entirely doable.

"Captain Zhou" responded, "Either young and beautiful women, teenagers, or warriors, excluding ordinary men and elders."

Lin Chen turned to Qiu Chan, "Human trafficking?"

Qiu Chan said gravely, "Highly likely, women and girls have specific groups that prefer them, and warriors may be purchased as slaves; but where are they being sold to?"

Lin Chen sighed lightly, "Even the brilliance of the Federation cannot illuminate every shadow."

Qiu Chan spoke heavily, "The Federation unifies various planets, implementing Federation Law universally; but these planets originally practiced myriad systems, and altering their original lifestyles is challenging. Many publicly abide by the Federation law, but privately act independently."

"The Federation strives to have all planets accept Federation’s systems, adhere to its laws, to bring equality to all, yet it’s very difficult..."

Lin Chen empathically nodded, then raised a new query: "I suspect this secret base is not just about human smuggling; for such a task, having two Level 9 martial artists and over twenty Level 8 ones seems excessive, doesn’t it?"

Qiu Chan was slightly stunned, then agreed, nodding, "Indeed, what are they really doing?"

Lin Chen reminded, "The mysterious powerhouse masking his face might be crucial; none here recognize him, suggesting he might not be one of the rebels but rather represent another party."

"Simply put, he conducts business with the rebels, and his identity is very sensitive, cannot be revealed..."