Chapter 70: Yearning for Stability

The night was hazy, the silhouettes of buildings outlined by a faint halo of light emanating from the distant urban sprawl.

Along the edge of the empty street, the scent of blood quickly spread.

"Hah!"

Lin Qing's single hand blurred into a streak of afterimages and trembled; under the burst of invisible force, countless fine droplets of blood were instantly shaken loose and scattered, revealing his skin which shimmered with a metallic sheen.

As the metallic hue faded, he used his now-clean hand to take out his phone and issued a mobilization order through the Patrol System.

An assassination attempt on a Patrol Officer was a major incident; mobilizing the Patrol Team was only to be expected.

Immediately, he remotely controlled the patrol car parked a hundred meters away to drive over automatically.

After finishing these tasks, Lin Qing glanced at the Order Level, which had already risen to 2.1.

If the Crimson Red Society were thoroughly eradicated, the Order Level should rise significantly, right?

"As expected, they are also of the Illuminati..."

Lin Qing squatted beside the red-haired woman, looking at the sun-shaped tattoo appearing on her arm, and noticed a line of numbers within it.

"7489?" Lin Qing pondered thoughtfully.

He had long heard that members of the Illuminati were scattered across the globe, each bearing a tattoo, but this was the first time he had seen one with a serial number.

"Sss!"

At this moment, the black patrol car stopped not far away; the door opened, and Zhao Jiayi got out and walked over.

"No special instruments were found on this person; it seems she gained her ability through genetic modification, which is why she can bend light." Zhao Jiayi quickly scanned her with telekinesis.

"Not bad genetic ability."

Lin Qing spoke once, then glanced at Zhao Jiayi and asked, "Aren't you afraid of seeing a corpse?"

"Nothing much," Zhao Jiayi said carelessly. "It's just a corpse. When I was in the lab before... cough, cough..."

She suddenly coughed twice and said somewhat awkwardly, "Just pretend you didn't hear that; Dad won't let me talk about it."

The lab? Lin Qing looked at her, didn't press further, and simply said, "The patrol is arriving soon. This woman has an instrument on her body that constantly monitors vital signs; check if any of her accomplices are approaching here."

Zhao Jiayi made an "Oh" sound, expanded her telekinesis, and began scanning the surroundings.

After a while, she shook her head and said, "I haven't detected any suspicious people."

"That's good." Lin Qing nodded slightly.

It had to be said that the help provided by Zhao Jiayi, this telekinetic Awakener, was immense—since he came to see Zhang Zhiren, she had been using her telekinesis to scan the situation from hundreds of meters away, then sending pre-arranged code words via phone or subconsciously reminding him.

If it were just him, although he could judge that enemies were targeting him through changes in the Order Level, he would still have to remain constantly vigilant, and it wouldn't be this clear or intuitive.

Of course...

He had already cultivated all his combat arts to the instinctive level, able to activate them in an instant; as long as he remained vigilant, he could activate "The Rigid" to block a strike in time and counter-kill.

But that was also quite troublesome.

With the help of Zhao Jiayi, this telekinetic Awakener, as long as she gave him intuitive reminders, there was nothing to fear.

After all, this red-haired woman's strength lay mainly in her invisibility ability; her actual combat power was slightly inferior to that of a typical Team Leader.

Once the huge advantage of invisible surprise attack was gone, for him now, she was indeed very weak.

"By the way."

Lin Qing suddenly asked, "Have you confirmed the location of the 'handover of goods' that Zhang Zhiren mentioned?"

Zhao Jiayi nodded, glanced at the red-haired woman's corpse, and said, "As you instructed, I subconsciously reminded this person that 'the place for tomorrow's handover of goods should be very safe,' and she indeed subconsciously looked in that direction."

She took out her phone, opened the map, and said uncertainly, "After reminding her at different locations several times, judging from the direction she subconsciously gazed, it should be in the area of 'White Elephant Street' or 'Qianjiang New City'."

Lin Qing nodded slightly.

Such criminals, for the sake of safety, certainly wouldn't want to leave data traces; after all, whether private cars or ride-hailing cars, they all have to enter the traffic database.

Since it is in the Xiaoshan District and the distance isn't very far, walking there in an invisible state is the safest option.

Therefore, this woman should be very familiar with the route; the direction she subconsciously looked is most likely where the 'handover of goods' will take place.

"Has the time been confirmed?" Lin Qing asked. Zhao Jiayi nodded and said, "As you instructed, I subconsciously reminded her that she absolutely must not miss tomorrow's important time; she checked the alarm reminder on her phone once. I saw the nearest alarm was at 5:45, and there were also alarms at 7:30 and 17:25, so I'm not sure which one it is."

Telekinetic investigation is convenient in this way; it's like a full-view camera.

"Zhang Zhiren seems to attach great importance to, or rather, is nervous about this 'handover of goods'; the transaction time point should not be something that can be changed arbitrarily."

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Although I don't know what the goods being handed over are, they will surely be prepared at the latest before the handover. Tomorrow morning at 5, I will take you to White Elephant Street and Qianjiang New City to look around; you investigate, and we should find something."

"Getting up so early..."

Zhao Jiayi made an "Oh" sound and added, "But the things I discover with telekinesis can't be used as evidence; how will you mobilize the patrol tomorrow?"

"I cannot mobilize the Patrol Team." Lin Qing shook his head.

"There are surely moles within the Patrol Team; even if I mobilize them temporarily, with the timing so close, as long as the mission location is near the handover site, if the enemy isn't an idiot, they will definitely figure it out."

Lin Qing said, "At that time, you use your telekinesis to help me investigate once; confirm that Chu Tianyao is not there and there is no danger. After I enter alone, then I will mobilize the patrol."

Zhao Jiayi made an "Oh" sound and said, "But Chu Tianyao will definitely rush over as well..."

"Just like last time, ask the Chief Captain to help hold the fort."

Lin Qing shook the phone in his hand. "Earlier, I specifically recorded audio at Zhang Zhiren's place for Yuan Anping to hear; I'm asking him that he needs no evidence, just a credible reason is enough."

Moreover, with his current strength, he actually wasn't that afraid of Chu Tianyao anymore.

Xu Qiu, Patrol Officer No. 1, had strength very close to Chu Tianyao; although she had mastered the original Morning Sun cultivation method, her six combat arts were only at the 'mastery' level.

But he had six combat arts at the instinctive level to back him up, which could roughly make up for the gap between the 77th Edition cultivation method and the original Morning Sun method.

So, his current strength was also very close to Xu Qiu's.

Calculated this way, at the very least, exchanging blows with Chu Tianyao was no problem for him; with the Chief Captain holding the fort, there was nothing to fear.

"No wonder you recorded the audio." Zhao Jiayi realized.

"But... why are you so invested in this matter?" She suddenly looked at Lin Qing with some confusion. "We don't even know how much merit this is yet; do you hate criminals that much?"

Lin Qing looked at her.

This girl.

He deliberately adopted a serious tone: "How did you pass the professional ideological and political examination for inspectors? Sweeping away evil is our very duty as inspectors; your comrade's ideology has some problems."

"..."

Zhao Jiayi couldn't help but glance at the red-haired woman on the ground. Which inspector conducts a sting operation and then directly kills and rips out the heart?

"I am just an ordinary person who longs for peace and stability."

Lin Qing said casually: "Don't you think life is better when society is stable and orderly?"

Zhao Jiayi felt he wasn't the type of person with such a strong sense of justice, but... she also sensed he seemed to be telling the truth?

"By the way," Lin Qing suddenly said, "I almost forgot something."

"What?"

A short while later, some inspectors on duty at the branch station arrived at the scene and began investigating the red-haired woman's corpse and her personal belongings.

Unfortunately, her mobile phone seemed linked to the vital signs detector she carried; after her death, the phone's data had already been cleared, and it was unknown whether the technical department could recover it.

However, even if it hadn't been cleared, they probably wouldn't have found much useful information anyway.

"Captain, your arm..."

The inspectors who arrived couldn't help but look at Lin Qing's left arm.

Anyone with working eyes could see that Lin Qing's left arm was obviously twisted abnormally, and his complexion was very pale.

"It's nothing; I'll just go to the hospital later to have the bone set."

Lin Qing glanced at the red-haired woman's corpse on the ground and said with a hint of lingering fear: "She attacked me while invisible; I didn't have time to activate my combat technique. I was almost killed. Fortunately, I reacted quickly..."

(End of this chapter)