Light Fortress
Chapter 157 - 145: Core Members

Chapter 157: Chapter 145: Core Members

Chen Mei’s file was not complicated.

All sons of council members will never have a happy childhood.

There are only a hundred seats in the East Continent Council. To secure a seat, one must sacrifice many things... and time spent with family is the first to be sacrificed.

His mother died due to complications during childbirth.

Chen Mei grew up alone.

Between father and son, as the years passed, only a growing gulf of estrangement remained... the file did not mention Chen Mei’s body techniques or his strength.

One day, five years ago, he suddenly appeared at the Sincere Heart South Hall.

His way of proving himself was very similar to that of Crow.

With his fists, he made a name for himself... Initially, due to the name Chen San, no one dared to truly confront him, but later he linked with the deep water area of Deep Sea and cleared all the trials of the first eleven levels in one go.

After reading the file.

Gu Shen couldn’t believe it; he looked at the young man wrapped in a wooden coffin as if he were seeing a ghost.

Chen Mei was only a few years older than himself.

"Is this still human?" Gu Shen frowned, "A single test, clearing eleven levels of deep water. Just one step away from obtaining a ’Title’?"

Nan Jin had also finished reading the file; she slowly closed the book, her tone grave, "Such talent would be ranked at the very top even in East Continent."

Zhou Jiren, however, remained calm.

He shook his head, "Without someone to impart experience, without prior experience in Spiritual Link... to reach the eleventh layer on the first test, Chen Mei would undisputedly be the first in the Five Continents. Even Gu Changzhi is far inferior to him."

Every person needs to take things step by step.

No exceptions.

"Do you mean... beyond the file, in unknown places, someone performed a ’Spiritual Link’ on him?" Gu Shen felt inexplicably nervous.

"Right, but not just that."

Zhou Jiren spoke earnestly, "The person who performed the ’Spiritual Link’ on him, the body techniques taught... are extremely harmful. He probably practiced them for close to ten years to reach this stage. In fact, my ’Ivy’ touched it and could feel the vitality of his trunk. This young body has already expended too much energy, like a forty-year-old’s. If he continues to practice like this, he won’t have much longer to live."

Recalling the battle on the riverbank.

Though Gu Shen did not participate personally, he had watched the mutual assaults between Chen Mei and Song Ci.

Both of their moves were incredibly fierce, striking blows rapidly, almost evaporating the river water in the heart of the river in an instant.

"This is a type of... overexploitation," Mr. Shu said, "Although it can quickly enhance strength, the cost is too great, often consuming a lot of one’s life."

Hearing this, a strange light flashed in Nan Jin’s eyes.

The next moment, a strong hand pressed down on her.

Zhou Jiren’s expression was solemn as he said sternly, "Do not follow his example, nor attempt to take shortcuts in Extraordinary Cultivation... it will not end well, only putting the cart before the horse."

Lu Nanjin was silent for a moment, then quietly said, "I understand."

"Xiao’s traits match those of the person missing from Chen Mei’s file," Zhou Jiren said. "Sometimes, a blank doesn’t mean non-existence. The greatest ability Xiao has shown so far is strong ’Spiritual Control.’"

Indeed... Gu Shen nodded silently.

Everyone in the Changjiu Foundation is a madman.

They have all been brainwashed by "Xiao."

"Interrogation is useless."

Lu Nanjin suddenly said, "I understand people like Chen Mei; the more severe the interrogation, the less they will confess about the ’Spiritual Link’... and they are even less likely to disclose the true identity of that person or related clues..."

She gazed at the tightly sealed wooden coffin.

That’s why she understood.

Perhaps it was because he was such a person himself.

"Chen Mei...will only thank him..."

Old Fox revealed a sly smile, "Oh... is that so?"

"Perhaps this isn’t an audit at all."

Zhou Jiren lightly snapped his fingers, and the vines a few meters away burst open, scattering about with a crackling sound.

Chen Mei, pinned in place by the vines, glared angrily at the trio of old and young in front of him.

When had he ever been treated like this?

Those three bastards treated him like a piece of cargo, locking him up or releasing him on a whim.

"The next questions are very important."

Mr. Shu extended his finger, pointing to a camera that had been turned on not far away, and said, "There... see? This conversation will be recorded, and I might send it to some members of the Council."

"Hah... really?"

Chen Mei sneered coldly, "So what?"

He struggled to lift his neck, aiming to spit at the camera to show his disdain and scorn, but the vines restricted his movement, and the camera was in a corner of the ceiling behind his head.

Thus, he struggled for a while, to no effect.

From the camera’s perspective, Chen Mei’s "anger" wasn’t visible; only his helpless and restrained silhouette could be seen.

"Have you seen this photo before?"

Zhou Jiren slowly pulled an old photo from inside his coat; the photo showed a man with sharp eyes and defined brows, slightly yellowed with age.

Gu Shen recognized the man in the photo at a glance.

Zhou Yu.

And at the sight of the photo, Chen Mei’s gaze shifted subtly, a brief change that even the best actors couldn’t conceal as "truth" from their awareness.

This subtle shift, however, was clearly caught by the trio sitting opposite.

"He knows... Zhou Yu."

Gu Shen felt it was unimaginable, sensing a fortunate twist of fate.

The merger of the Zhou Yu case and the Yuan Dan Street case was based on his intuition... and searching for the owner of Blood Fire was like finding a needle in a haystack because the Zhou Yu case had gone cold with all clues lost over time.

But at this moment, Chen Mei’s reaction told him that merging the cases had been the right choice—

The lost clues had been found!

Now, the key was to extract enough information from Chen Mei’s lips.

"Don’t bother."

Chen Mei said coldly, "I don’t know this person, and I don’t want to say anything."

"Thank you very much for the information provided..."

Unexpectedly, Zhou Jiren raised his head, lifted the photo toward the camera again, as if blatantly flaunting it.

Then, he seriously said to Chen Mei, "Considering the special help you have provided in this case... I have decided to include you in the ’Special Operations Group’ as one of the core members."

"???" Chen Mei was stunned.

He was still bewildered, not understanding what Old Fox meant by this move.

"Alright."

Zhou Jiren stood up, patted Gu Shen on the shoulder, and said calmly, "Xiao Gu, our mission now officially begins—the first step is to retrieve the surveillance footage, erase what needs to be erased, and produce a complete video. I want everyone to know that Chen Mei has agreed to a trade of information with me and has become a core member of the Xiao project."