Chapter 55

"It's fine."

Zhao Jiayi shook her head slightly, speaking with a hint of guilt: "I just stayed up all night watching dramas, didn't sleep much, that's why I'm tired now."

"Stayed up all night watching dramas?" Lin Qing suddenly understood, as if truly convinced, and said: "Then you'll stay with me to direct the scene."

"Lin kid."

At that moment, Yuan Anping walked over, eyeing him strangely, and asked: "Did you take out all these people from the underground fighting ring?"

"Yes." Lin Qing gave a slight nod. "Lucky break—just happened to have the right counter."

Zhao Jiayi couldn't help glancing at him.

Yuan Anping clicked his tongue, smiling faintly: "That's not something luck can explain."

Even with perfect counters, a regular team leader couldn't single-handedly wipe out this underground fighting ring.

Even mastering three combat techniques would be difficult.

But he knew everyone had secrets, and there was no need to press further.

"By the way, Chief."

Lin Qing suddenly asked: "What about the escaped prisoner from Qinghu Island Prison, Chu Tianyao?"

"He got away." Yuan Anping shrugged helplessly. "His strength matches mine—I could only drive him off."

If he hadn't seen Yuan Anping neutralize the escapee's threat with a single move, Lin Qing almost would've believed his lie.

Yuan Anping was definitely hiding his true strength.

Lin Qing pretended not to know, sighing deliberately: "Still, Chu Tianyao really is connected to the Yuanhong Society. Maybe when he severely injured my sister back then, it was also tied to the Yuanhong Society…"

"There's a possibility." Yuan Anping gave a slight nod.

"I made too big a show today."

Lin Qing glanced sideways at Zhao Jiayi, frowning deliberately: "I don't know what came over me today—I got impulsive and wiped out the entire Yuanhong Society underground ring. They must hate me to the bone now. Next… they might send Chu Tianyao again to kill me."

Zhao Jiayi, standing beside him, froze, then slowly lowered her head, biting her lip slightly.

"That's normal."

Yuan Anping said casually: "But the Yuanhong Society is an underground group—they won't dare go too far. If they kill a patrol officer of your status, headquarters will send people to investigate thoroughly. The Yuanhong Society won't be able to survive in Lin'an City."

Lin Qing sighed. "I hope so."

He shook his head slightly. "Still, the Yuanhong Society can command Chu Tianyao—their background must be significant. If Xiao Peidong really is their informant, the force behind him must want to push him into the position of official team leader. Me and him are destined to clash. Unless they eliminate me, he won't let this go…"

"It's a bit troublesome."

Yuan Anping nodded slightly, saying nothing more.

He had a feeling Lin Qing spoke too much today—almost as if deliberately seeking sympathy, which made him feel uneasy.

Zhao Jiayi listened silently beside him, her eyes revealing a hint of deep thought.

…

Search teams were assigned to every area of the underground fighting ring, except the office zone.

After pretending to search two locations, Xiao Peidong headed straight for Zhou Yang's office.

Inside the retro-style office.

Xiao Peidong stepped in quickly and shut the door behind him.

He knew that since Zhou Yang was dead, the Sensory Essence must still be hidden somewhere within this underground fighting ring.

Although he didn't know exactly where, it was most likely concealed inside one of the two safes in this office's hidden compartment.

He understood some of Zhou Yang's secrets.

"These two hidden compartments—I remember they used the same mechanism…"

Xiao Peidong thought quickly and stepped forward, striking the wall repeatedly over ten times before the hidden compartment opened.

He examined the safe inside carefully and found its fingerprint and iris recognition had been disabled.

Only after opening the safe could one disable fingerprint and iris recognition.

Xiao Peidong immediately unlocked the safe and found it filled with a large pile of extraterrestrial currency.

But he didn't care about the money—it would all be confiscated anyway, and he'd have to pass metal detection when leaving, so he couldn't take a single coin.

"All this money is here…" Xiao Peidong mused. "Recognition lock disabled?"

He wasn't surprised.

Zhou Yang, the woman, was preparing to flee—of course she'd erase all iris and fingerprint records. Basic procedure.

Perhaps she'd just opened the safe, cleared the records, and was about to gather the money when she was forced to rush out to confront Lin Qing—and never returned? That was a reasonable guess.

"The Sensory Essence isn't in this safe—then it must be in the other safe inside the second hidden compartment…"

Xiao Peidong swiftly opened the other hidden compartment, revealing the safe inside.

"Huh?"

At first glance, Xiao Peidong frowned slightly.

Because…

This safe didn't require fingerprint or facial recognition—it could be opened directly.

That made him feel something was off.

Even if preparing to flee, one would handle things one at a time, right? He'd been trained since childhood by the organization—his vigilance was high. Before seizing any benefit, he always asked: Could this be a trap? Like now.

It didn't match normal behavior—that's what tipped him off.

But for some reason, Xiao Peidong had a strong intuition—

The thing he wanted was very likely inside this safe.

Perhaps the situation had been urgent, and Zhou Yang thought she might not escape, so she removed the recognition locks first? Maybe she did this precisely to let him come and search, ensuring he couldn't be blocked by fingerprint or iris recognition.

After all, though he and Zhou Yang had tensions, they were still allies, often cooperating.

Moreover, Lin Qing had just looked like he had finished a battle, sitting there resting, clearly having no time yet to search this office.

"Right, it's very likely."

The more Xiao Peidong thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed; his eyes grew hot as he gazed at this unguarded safe. "The Super-Sense Primordial Fluid must be inside..."

As long as he could obtain the Super-Sense Primordial Fluid, before the job evaluation assessment on the twentieth of next month, he had a great hope of mastering the original version of the Morning Sun Cultivation Method!

By then, he would have absolute confidence in being elected as the true Captain.

In the future, after mastering two more combat techniques, he could be promoted to Patrol Chief; he even had hope of eyeing the position of Patrol Chief of Lin'an City, truly gaining freedom!

Ambition, freedom, and intuition made Xiao Peidong hesitate for a moment, yet he still reached out and pressed the button to open the safe door.

Who would not trust their own intuition?

"Hiss!!"

The instant the safe door opened, a fierce purple poison mist burst forth, accompanied by high-pressure airflow that struck Xiao Peidong's face hard!

Xiao Peidong reacted immediately, but the speed at which this poisonous gas shot out under high pressure was nearly a hundred meters per second; how could someone unskilled in speed possibly dodge in time?

The poison gas had surged forward, even seeping into his skin! "This... is Purple Vine No. 004!"

Shocked in his heart, Xiao Peidong realized immediately that this was a neurotoxin he had encountered during his anti-toxin experiments! He instantly stepped back two paces, held his breath, covered his mouth and nose, and as the poison gas rapidly dissipated, he immediately waved his hand to scatter the purple mist. Ignoring the poison gas seeping through his skin, he quickly looked into the safe.

This must just be Zhou Yang's defensive measure against enemies!

As long as he could obtain the Super-Sense Primordial Fluid, even being poisoned would be worth it!

Besides, he had undergone anti-toxin gene modification; Purple Vine No. 004 toxin could not kill him, it would only make him weak for a while.

He didn't even notice that the purple poison mist, which should have dispersed in the air, was quietly gathering around him.

However—

"Hmm?"

Xiao Peidong froze, staring at the empty interior of the safe, his eyes full of disbelief: "How could it be empty?"

An indescribable surge of anger and frustration suddenly erupted from his heart, blood rushing straight to his brain; combined with the seepage of the neurotoxin, his vision went black, and he immediately fainted.

Zhao Jiayi squatted in the corner beneath the boxing ring, pretending to look at her phone, while muttering something quietly to herself.

"This is reasonable, what you want is inside... This is reasonable, what you want is inside..."

(End of this chapter)