Chapter 3702

Hearing Du Heng mistake him for his father, Ye Chen immediately realized that Du Heng had not only seen his father but likely had some contact with him.

He then coldly questioned: "Do you know my father?"

Du Heng had initially thought he was seeing a ghost, after all, a person suddenly appearing on his ship in the middle of the night on the sea, unseen and unheard, was truly eerie.

But upon hearing Ye Chen suddenly mention "father," he instantly understood and exclaimed: "You... you are the son of Changying Ye?! Then... then you must be Ye Chen?! You're still alive?!"

Ye Chen sneered: "It seems you know quite a lot about our family's situation."

Du Heng, unaware of Ye Chen's background, released his spiritual sense to probe, yet detected no fluctuation, but he still dared not be careless, for Ye Chen's sudden appearance behind him was beyond ordinary capability—could his strength far surpass his own?!

While nervously preparing to confront Ye Chen at any moment, Du Heng forced a smile and tried to ease the tension: "Your father back then, just like your mother, was quite famous in the overseas Chinese community in America, after all, they were the pride of the Chinese people. I had some slight contact with your parents, though nothing deep. Later they returned to China, and even then we completely lost touch."

Du Heng was not lying.

He was a Deputy Commissioner of the Left Military Governor's Office, which happened to oversee North America. Long ago, he had been ordered to use a false identity to contact Changying Ye and An Chengxi, and the original command came directly from headquarters—so much so that even the Grand Commander Wu Yongzhen of the Left Military Governor's Office didn't know why the British Lord had ordered them to approach Changying Ye. Moreover, shortly after he made contact with Changying Ye, the latter returned to China with An Chengxi. Later, Changying Ye and An Chengxi were killed, and the British Lord issued a global order to search for the missing Ye Chen, and Du Heng obtained Ye Chen's file.

Because Ye Chen's maternal grandparents had always been in America, the initial focus of suspicion regarding Ye Chen's whereabouts fell on the An family. The Left Military Governor's Office had even searched thoroughly in North America, found no clues, and then gave up.

Precisely for this reason, although Du Heng had never seen Ye Chen, he knew his name.

Ye Chen stared coldly at Du Heng and pressed: "Regarding my parents, what else do you know?"

Du Heng spread his hands, shrugged, and said sincerely: "Actually, I don't know much about your parents. I heard they were harmed in Huaxia, and to be honest, I still feel a sense of sorrow and regret."

As he spoke, he looked at Ye Chen and said very frankly: "Ye Chen, how did you end up here? This is the Left Military Governor's Office garrison of the Anti-Qing Alliance. It's dangerous for you to be here. Listen to me—leave quickly, and absolutely do not let other members of the Anti-Qing Alliance discover you!"

Du Heng deliberately used these sincere words to try to lower Ye Chen's guard, then, as Ye Chen seemed to relax, he instantly launched an attack—a silver sleeve-arrow shot from his cuff, propelled by spiritual energy and formation power, moving with extreme speed and force, straight for Ye Chen's face.

Du Heng's plan was simple: to kill Ye Chen in one strike.

Ye Chen had been Wu Feiyan's long-sought target—if he could kill him, he would surely receive a great reward.

Ye Chen had long been on guard against Du Heng; every move of his was under Ye Chen's surveillance. When Ye Chen sensed the spiritual fluctuation in Du Heng's sleeve, he immediately prepared to respond.

Du Heng's cultivation was indeed far inferior to Ye Chen's, so when his sleeve-arrow shot out, Ye Chen instantly wrapped it completely in his powerful spiritual energy. The arrow, which had been full of killing intent a second ago, was now frozen mid-air.

Du Heng was terrified by this sight, his eyes wide as he stared at Ye Chen and stammered: "You... how did you do that?! Are you also a cultivator?!"

Ye Chen let out a cold laugh: "Your little trick—do you really think you're invincible under heaven?" With a thought, the sleeve-arrow wrapped in his spiritual energy flew directly into his hand. He played with it, smiling at Du Heng: "I am not only a cultivator, but one whose strength far surpasses yours!"

Du Heng asked fearfully: "What... what do you want to do? I have no grudge against you, nor any connection to your parents' death. I beg you, spare my life—whatever you want me to do, I will fully cooperate!"

Ye Chen nodded, smiling: "I never intended to kill you, because keeping you alive is still useful to me."

Du Heng breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said: "Don't worry, from now on I will be your insider. If there is any disturbance in the Left Military Governor's Office, I will report to you immediately!"

Ye Chen asked him: "I ask you—have any of the elders of the Anti-Qing Alliance come here?"

Du Heng immediately shook his head: "No, the three elders are like dragons—seen only in legend, never in person. We have no idea where they are."

Ye Chen smiled and asked: "Are you telling the truth?"

Du Heng immediately declared firmly: "The truth! Absolutely the truth! If I speak half a lie, may I be struck by lightning from heaven!"

Ye Chen curled his lip, disdainful: "Who would believe such a childish oath?"

Du Heng hurriedly asked: "Then what must I swear for you to believe me?"

Ye Chen shook his head: "You don't need to swear—I have a way to make you tell the truth."

Seeing the cold glint in Ye Chen's eyes, Du Heng's heart jolted. Just as he was about to speak, Ye Chen directly controlled his mind with spiritual energy and said coldly: "I ask you again—have any of the elders of the Anti-Qing Alliance ever come to America?!"

Du Heng immediately replied respectfully: "Yes, the Second Elder came, spent some time traveling in America, and went to Mexico a few days ago."

Ye Chen frowned—he hadn't expected that one of the three great elders had actually come to America.

So he asked Du Heng again: "What did that Second Elder go to Mexico for? Will he return to America?"

Du Heng shook his head: "I'm not sure. The Second Elder only said he wanted to go see and look for opportunities, so we arranged a private plane to send him to Mexico."

Miami is on the easternmost side of the Gulf of Mexico, separated from Mexico by the entire gulf—straight-line distance nearly two thousand kilometers, overland more than two thousand. Although the sea route is only over a thousand kilometers, ship speed is too slow—over a thousand kilometers would take at least a day and night. Only by plane is it the fastest route.

Thinking that the Second Elder's departure from America was arranged by the Left Military Governor's Office, Ye Chen felt confident: even if the Second Elder wanted to return to Miami, he would still need the Office to arrange a plane. Thus, Ye Chen wouldn't have to worry about his sudden return, which might expose the mental suggestion he had implanted in Du Heng.

So Ye Chen asked him: "How many assassin garrisons does the Left Military Governor's Office have under its command?"

"Five," Du Heng replied truthfully: "Three are in America, the other two in Canada and Mexico."

Ye Chen then asked: "Have these assassin garrisons completed their full replacement?"

Du Heng nodded: "Already completed."

Ye Chen frowned and asked: "Is there any way to get them all back?"