Chapter 180: The Investigation Bureau

In the afternoon, Li Yi took a shower on the building's rooftop, drank a cup of Golden Nutrient Liquid, put on his Qiu Long leather flying fish suit again, rested briefly, then picked up his sniper rifle and took the elevator to leave.

Lu Jue, who had brought him here, had already left earlier.

After stepping out of the building, he planned to hail a taxi to the Investigation Bureau.

But after trying for a long time, not a single taxi appeared—whether there were no drivers or if, for some reason, many people had chosen to stay home rather than earn that small amount of money, the society's operation had clearly begun to show signs of strain under special circumstances.

At this moment, Li Yi missed the secondhand car he had bought for 100, 00 yuan—only driven once before it was stolen, and just thinking about it made him furious.

"Looks like I need to buy a few more secondhand cars as backups; I can't keep being inconvenienced every time I go out." He thought to himself.

He planned to buy several because when heading to dangerous areas, vehicles suffered heavy damage; buying expensive ones wasn't worth it, and losing cheap ones didn't hurt much—he now had some savings and could afford to tinker a bit.

"Li Yi, are you going out? Hailing a taxi isn't easy right now—where are you headed? I'll drive you." Zheng Lan, who was supervising upstairs, saw him struggling and stepped out.

"I'm going to the Investigation Bureau. Are you free now?" Li Yi asked.

Zheng Lan smiled. "I'm free anytime—it's just supervision. A short break won't matter. I'll go get the car and take you to the Investigation Bureau."

"Alright." Li Yi nodded, not refusing.

Soon, Zheng Lan arrived with an old man's electric cart. She looked embarrassed. "My last car was damaged, and the insurance payout was small, so I could only afford this old man's cart for now. Don't look down on it—it's small, but convenient for commuting, and you don't need to register it or buy insurance; no one's enforcing rules on these anymore."

She hadn't replaced her car because she'd spent too much of her own money on Li Yi's renovation—her pockets were nearly empty, and she couldn't bear to spend more.

"As long as it gets me there, I don't care." Li Yi got in and squeezed in barely.

As she drove, Zheng Lan said: "You must hate this old man's cart—I remember you liked big cars, right?"

"Yes, I prefer big cars—they're durable, safer, less likely to have accidents." Li Yi nodded.

"So you don't plan to get a private car?" Zheng Lan gave him a knowing smile.

Li Yi said: "After I leave the Investigation Bureau, I'll check out the secondhand car market—otherwise, going out really is inconvenient."

"Secondhand cars are terrible. Buy new. It won't cost much, and new cars perform better—they won't break down and strand you on the road. Every time you go out, you're doing something important; if the car fails, it's disastrous. Plus, secondhand cars often have spare keys—what if someone steals it?"

Zheng Lan smiled. "If you trust me, I can divert some of your renovation funds to buy you a new car—I can get it done in a day, and it won't delay your plans."

"Fine. If you don't mind the trouble, go get one for me—but not just one. Buy several." Li Yi said.

"Several? Right—you're young, strong, rich, and can afford it. Driving multiple cars makes sense." Zheng Lan grinned.

Li Yi glanced at Zheng Lan, his expression odd: You'd better mean cars, and not something else.

They chatted, and soon they arrived at the Investigation Bureau.

"Li Yi, I'll go buy the car for you—remember to meet with Zheng Gong, he has something to discuss with you," Zheng Lan called out as he got out, still worried.

"Don't worry, I've got a good memory—I haven't forgotten." Li Yi said, then walked into the Investigation Bureau without looking back.

Compared to twenty days ago, the Investigation Bureau seemed changed—but he couldn't pinpoint exactly how.

The personnel turnover appeared massive.

Many familiar faces had vanished; everyone entering or leaving now were strangers, making Li Yi feel alienated.

Yet when Li Yi entered the Investigation Bureau carrying his sniper rifle, he immediately drew attention.

"I'm here to return the sniper rifle and ammunition I requested last time. Is Zheng Gong here? I need to see him." He placed the rifle on the front desk and spoke directly.

Though he loved the rifle, he had to return it—he couldn't make those who helped him uncomfortable.

The front desk staff blinked. "Please show your ID or state your name—I'll verify your records."

"Li Yi."

"Understood, please wait a moment." The staff began pulling up Li Yi's information on the computer.

Just then, a tall investigator strode over, recognizing Li Yi. "Hey, isn't that Li Yi?"

"You're… Lu Yue?" Li Yi's expression shifted—he recognized the man.

He had defeated this man back at the training base, winning money from him in the process.

"Haha, you still remember me! Where've you been? You vanished for ages—I haven't seen you in a month. I thought something had happened, but later I asked Zheng Gong and learned you requested a sniper rifle and went to train in the danger zone. How'd it go? No mishaps?" Lu Yue asked, then added:

"Fine, everything went smoothly. By the way, where's Zheng Gong?" Li Yi asked.

"He's managing equipment at the Equipment Division."

Lu Yue slapped the front desk. "Hold off on returning Li Yi's rifle—just mark it as not lost. He'll likely need it again soon; reapplying would be a hassle."

"Got it. I'll cancel the return request." The staff replied.

Lu Yue then handed the rifle back to Li Yi. "You're looking for Zheng Gong? I'll take you there. A lot's happened lately—let Zheng Gong explain it to you."

Li Yi took the rifle, surprised.

He hadn't expected Lu Yue to become an investigator—clearly, things had changed a lot.

Soon,

the two reached the Investigation Bureau's Equipment Division.

Lu Yue called out: "Zheng Gong! Good news—Li Yi's back!"

Hearing the voice,

the Equipment Division's door opened immediately. Zheng Gong appeared, his face lighting up with relief when he saw Li Yi—he gave him a tight hug: "Thank heaven and earth, you're finally back."

Li Yi frowned. "Didn't I say I'd be away for a while? Is there a mission for me?"

"No, it's more than just a mission—the Investigation Bureau has suffered major losses. Personnel are scarce. After Wang Jian and Chen Hao died, our squad was nearly wiped out. I barely pulled He Xiong back in and added a new recruit as a sniper."

Zheng Gong's expression darkened. "But during one mission, they met disaster. I'm not capable enough to lead a team properly—I failed the mission. Sometimes I think, if you'd been here, maybe none of this would've happened."

Li Yi fell silent.

He hadn't expected He Xiong, Wang Jian's partner, to die too. Last time he'd gone on a mission, He Xiong had lost an arm and been severely wounded—now he'd returned to hear of his death.

"Li Yi, I've got to head out on a mission—I'll be off. Stay in touch," Lu Yue said, waving and leaving.

Both nodded in farewell.

After Lu Yue left, Li Yi asked: "It seems the Investigation Bureau has gone through a lot lately. Can you tell me what happened?"

"You noticed too?"

Zheng Gong looked up, then sighed. "So much has happened. After you left, disaster followed disaster. I'll keep it brief. First: a few days after you left, Team Leader Zhang Lei led a team on a mission to handle a supernatural incident in the old district—nearly his entire elite squad was wiped out."

"Zhang Lei died?" Li Yi's eyes narrowed sharply.

"No, no—he didn't die, but he's been in a coma ever since, his consciousness damaged. In more mystical terms, his soul was injured—he's been recovering ever since." Zheng Gong said. "But Zhang Lei's coma was just the beginning. Because the Investigation Bureau lost a powerful spiritual sense expert like him, the next day, the training base was attacked."

"A group broke into the training base—led by Wei Bin. That guy had been hunted by Vice Chairman Li Shaoqing of the Cultivation Association. We thought he'd fled into the danger zone, but instead, to get revenge on the Investigation Bureau, he stormed the training base. Many trainees and external combat personnel died, even several instructors. Wei Bin's goal was to steal the White Bone Fresco artifact."

"Luckily, he failed. Lin Yue was training in the Artifact Training Room at the time and used the artifact to break through into Spiritual Sense. She fought Wei Bin and killed him herself—halting the losses."

"Lin Jie broke through into Spiritual Sense?" Li Yi's eyes flickered with surprise.

But he quickly understood—Lin Jie had been stuck at Sensory Realm for a long time, held back only by insufficient cosmic energy. Now, with the artifact training room's abundant energy, she had naturally crossed the threshold and become a true expert.

"Yes, all of this is thanks to you, Li Yi. If you hadn't lent Lin Yue the artifact training room, she wouldn't have broken through just days before Wei Bin attacked." Zheng Gong added with relief. "And Lin Yue is strong—she learned your fist technique. That's how she barely won against Wei Bin. Otherwise, she might not have defeated him."

"How's Lin Yue now? Did she get hurt?" Li Yi asked.

"She was injured, but nothing serious. She's recovering at the training base. The Investigation Bureau also wants her to stay there longer to help stabilize the situation—since the Team Leader is comatose, we urgently need a Spiritual Sense expert to stand with us."

Hearing Lin Yue was safe, Li Yi exhaled slightly in relief—he was also grateful he'd taught her the fist technique. Without it, she'd have had no advantage against Wei Bin, who was a Spiritual Sense expert who had mastered the Guiding Technique to a high level.

Though Lin Jie had the Guiding Technique too, she'd only just received it—she hadn't had time to cultivate it. Without the fist technique compensating, she might have died.

"From what you've said, the situation really is dire," Li Yi said.

Zheng Gong sighed. "It's worse. With the Team Leader comatose, Investigation Bureau personnel decimated, and the training base damaged, the defense line in the abandoned district collapsed. Fierce beasts are rioting, transcendent creatures are fleeing the danger zone and migrating toward the city. Some speculate that even more terrifying mythic beings dwell deep in the danger zone, driving all transcendent creatures and beasts out."

"Though we can't confirm the truth, satellites did detect a pale green cloud drifting deep in the danger zone, accompanied by intense energy readings. This has been reported upward—if all goes well, experts from the Golden Academy will come to investigate."

"It's like rain falling on a leaking roof—every disaster hits at once." Even Zheng Gong was overwhelmed—and now Li Yi felt the same.

He finally understood why the Investigation Bureau and the Cultivation Association were forcing cultivators to hunt fierce beasts and transcendent creatures—the defense line had collapsed.

To protect the city, they had no choice but to mobilize all cultivators in Tianchang City to stabilize the situation.

Otherwise, if the beasts entered the city, order would collapse—and no one wanted that.

"To cope with this crisis, the Investigation Bureau issued another order: release prisoners. Let them complete missions to earn sentence reductions. Some dangerous criminals were forcibly freed." Zheng Gong spoke, his tone filled with shame or helplessness.

"Release prisoners to complete missions for sentence reduction?" Li Yi paused, then realized: "So Yang Yi Long was released too?"

"Correct. He had no solid evidence against him and reached an agreement with the Investigation Bureau—he was released." Zheng Gong said. "Not just Yang Yi Long—the woman who tried to assassinate you, Ning Wu, was also released. She's currently completing assigned missions; each successful mission earns her a reduction in her sentence."

"But their missions are extremely dangerous. Many prisoners die on them. Very few escape punishment—but Li Yi, you must understand this. The Investigation Bureau has no manpower left. The collapsed defense line has already killed many of our investigators, but this critical news hasn't been made public—fear would spread."

Li Yi nodded. "I understand. For the greater good—it's all for the safety of everyone in the city."

"I'm glad you understand."

Zheng Gong looked ashamed. "I'm furious too. Wang Jian's death was tied to Yang Yi Long. And Ning Wu—she's killed at least twenty innocent people and hired fugitives to murder. Those scum should've been executed on the spot instead of wasting time on legal procedures. Now they've seized the chance to be freed."

"Ning Wu isn't a threat—a Sensory Realm criminal. If she dares come after me, it's death. But Yang Yi Long is a major threat. By the way, where is he now?" Li Yi asked.

"He's hunting transcendent creatures in the danger zone. He has ten targets. Only after completing them can he clear his name. Until then, he'll suffer." Zheng Gong said.

Ten transcendent creatures?

Yang Yi Long's mission is heavy.

But Li Yi understood—the Investigation Bureau couldn't hold Yang Yi Long for long. He'd eventually have to face him. He hadn't expected him to be released so soon—he'd hoped to keep him locked up for months, until he himself broke through into Spiritual Sense, at which point Yang Yi Long wouldn't matter at all.