Chapter 317 - 316: Big Exposure, Old Friend

Just as Li Jing predicted.

Two agents from the Sky Shield Bureau quickly dealt with the five thugs who had followed them again, not leaving until the female reporter had driven three blocks away from Langeckter District.

All in all, they followed her for more than twenty minutes.

Seeing that the two Sky Shield Bureau agents had finally left, the female reporter breathed a silent sigh of relief before glancing in their direction.

"Sir, are you still with me?"

"Yeah, I’m here."

Li Jing responded.

"Let’s drive a bit further, we’ll find a safe place to talk."

At this moment, Li Jing’s Silent Shadow was still activated.

To the female reporter, the front passenger seat was always empty.

Of course.

This was Li Jing’s doing.

When Silent Shadow is activated, it doesn’t affect everyone indiscriminately; you can choose specific individuals who will not be affected.

At least, that’s how Li Jing saw it.

Maintaining an air of mystery would be beneficial for his communication with this female reporter.

From the driver’s seat, the female reporter heard Li Jing confirm that he was still with her. Though she was quietly amazed at his incredible ability to "disappear," she drove away from the main road.

It appeared that this female reporter was BMM’s permanent correspondent in Wesbayl city and was very familiar with the local roads.

Before long, she had expertly navigated her way away from any monitored roads and pulled up near a wide community park.

Stopping at the entrance of the park, the reporter turned to face him.

"Sir, shall we get out of the car to talk?"

"Okay."

Li Jing replied, deactivating his Silent Shadow so she could see him, and pushed open the car door.

The female reporter quickly followed suit and exited the car.

She was well-practiced in performing certain procedures.

As soon as she got out of the car, she naturally hooked her arm through Li Jing’s, putting on the air of intimate lovers with a soft laugh.

"My name is Helena, a special correspondent for BMM. May I ask your name?"

"Jim."

Li Jing casually made up a name and they both walked into the community park together.

It was just after nine in the morning—the time when some people were doing their morning exercises or taking a walk.

There were many people in the community park.

Helena resisted the urge to ask questions immediately. She continued to stroll beside Li Jing with an almost intimate closeness, looking around for a suitable place to have a conversation.

Eventually, she picked a small, unoccupied grove by the park’s lake and tightened her grip on the arm she held.

"Mr. Jim, let’s head over there."

Li Jing nodded silently.

...

Before long, the two of them stood by the side of the lake.

Once they arrived, Li Jing did not beat around the bush. He took out a thumb drive that he had prepared before leaving in the morning and handed it over.

"Everything you need is in here."

Helena was just about to ask a question, but didn’t expect Li Jing to be so straightforward, or for him to have everything prepared in advance.

The interview seemed unnecessary now.

Helena was smart.

She knew that Li Jing must have prepared the thumb drive in advance, and he waited until now to give it to her because he has certain demands.

She took the thumb drive and stashed it away before inquiring.

"Mr. Jim, do you have any specific guidelines for the related report?"

"Nothing special. I just hope that BMM can report the truth, and to do it quickly."

Li Jing responded with a smile.

Helena pursed her lips slightly and said,

"Reporting the truth is easy, but as for being quick... that depends on the contents of the thumb drive. On the one hand, I need to write the script based on it, on the other hand, we can’t avoid the review process which can be fast or slow depending on the explosiveness of the news."

"Mmm."

Li Jing responded.

"I can assure you, the contents of this thumb drive are explosive. It involves a top-secret experiment that the White Hawk Official tried to keep under wraps. It has stirred up trouble, affecting not only your homeland but at least extending to Longyu as well."

Saying this, he continued with a meaningful voice,

"Recently, there was a commercial delegation from the White Hawk that visited Longyu. Overnight, all members died. I assume, Ms. Helena, you are aware of this?"

"BMM has made relevant reports."

Helena nodded, then asked with great excitement,

"Are these two incidents related?"

"Don’t you think it’s better to delve deeper into it?"

Li Jing responded with a jesting laugh and extended his hand.

"Give me your phone."

Seeing his gesture, Helena had no hesitation, and handed over her phone.

Li Jing took it, opened it, typed in Augustus’s name, added his own thoughts and handed it back.

Helena took the phone back and lowered her gaze.

She saw that Augustus had a unique background – a top-tier scientist in the field of Artificial Intelligence, her body trembled and her pupils constricted.

A top-tier figure in artificial intelligence, representing the Business and Trade Association to visit Longyu?

This...

It was clear to anyone that there was a serious issue!

This alone could make for an explosive headline.

Helena quickly deleted the words on the screen, then said,

"I’ll verify the information about Augustus as soon as possible. I have some friends at the White Hawk Science Academy who might know something. But it might be a bit of a hassle to get them to talk."

"That’s nothing to do with me, figure it out on your own."

Li Jing shrugged and said,

"Don’t blame me for not warning you, if you drag this out and don’t report it promptly, you, Helena, might be in danger, too. You’ve been marked by the Sky Shield Bureau, and if they find you again before you report, you might have a hard time extricating yourself."

"I understand."

Helena responded and then asked.

"Mr. Jim, could you leave a contact for me? If necessary, I still want to..."

"I’m afraid that won’t work."

Li Jing shook his head and said,

"I personally don’t want to get too involved in this, lest I bring trouble upon myself."

As he spoke, he said lightly,

"I can give Miss. Helena more information. White Hawk has at least two Guardian Gods involved in this mess."

Two Guardian Gods?

Helena gasped.

This information was a bit shocking.

Guardian Gods are elusive figures in any country.

On the surface, they are the guardians of a nation, but, in reality, they are the "top streams" at the official level.

Mysterious, powerful, and they have considerable influence!

After a moment of silence, Helena took out a paper and pen, swiftly wrote down an address and handed it over.

"This is my address. Mr Jim, if you need help or want to find me, you can come directly to my house."

After speaking, she continued.

"This matter is extremely sensitive. Once it’s exposed, I am highly likely to be controlled by the Sky Shield Bureau for some time. With BMM backing me up and making the broadcast, I am assured of my personal safety. The Sky Shield Bureau wouldn’t dare do anything to me, at most they would restrict my movements, and it wouldn’t be long before I could return."

Li Jing nodded at her words and took the paper.

Seeing that he took the note without saying anything more, Helena nodded, then turned and quickly walked away.

Li Jing watched her leave, then comfortably sat down by the lake.

This time, everything was ready except for a favourable wind.

Next, he was waiting for BMM to make a move.

After hanging out by the lake in the community park for a while, Li Jing, covering himself from the eyes and ears of passers-by, took out an appearance-changing talisman, transformed into the image of an archer, and then left.

...

About half an hour later, Li Jing returned to the hotel where he was staying.

It was not long before lunchtime arrived.

Just as he was about to order room service, there was a "knock knock" at the door.

Upon hearing it, Li Jing frowned slightly and got up to open the door.

Then, a gloomy-faced Jester appeared in his sight.

Upon suddenly seeing this person, Li Jing was surprised.

"Mr. Jester, what are you doing here?"

Li Jing’s surprised expression was very authentic.

Because he was indeed very surprised.

Jester had arrived, and he had a face that looked worse than having eaten shit. Without a doubt, Helena had made a move.

This efficiency, had to say, was a bit high.

Despite his request for Helena to act as quickly as possible and broadcast the news, just as he had said, revealing it was bound to undergo due process.

No matter how urgent, what should be there still have to be there.

Outside the door.

Jester looked at Li Jing’s surprised face and furrowed his brows more.

As Li Jing thought.

Helena had made a move, and the related explosive news had been spread crazily on all major social media networks of White Hawk.

This time, to tell the truth, Jester was really disgusted.

The reason why he had not yet made a move was that he had not made adequate preparations.

It was not easy to overthrow a Guardian God.

The abrupt exposure of the Desert Fortress incident getting blown up made a massive mistake, and it became extremely unfavorable for him.

Besides him personally, the White Hawk Official couldn’t handle it anymore.

The Desert Fortress had been reported to be conducting experiments on artificial humans and causing such a big mess- how could the public possibly turn a blind eye?

Less than ten minutes after the news broke, in some major cities, a large number of people had taken to the streets to march, demanding an explanation from White Hawk Official.

This mess came out of nowhere.

From Jester’s point of view.

The matter was definitely related to Li Jing!

Regarding the Desert Fortress’s information, there is nothing to say about it leaking.

There is no such thing as a wall that doesn’t leak.

There are moles in the high levels of White Hawk, which is not uncommon.

But the event involves two Guardian Gods. Even among the White Hawk officials, the number of people who know the details is very small.

Except for Li Jing, the only ones who have an understanding of the situation are Jester’s confidants.

This time around, if you want to put it bluntly, he came to question the crime.

However, Li Jing’s surprised expression at this moment was so real that it made Jester unsure whether he was related to the matter.

The key is, Jester does not have specific evidence indicating the matter was done by someone specific.

At the same time, he couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of there being a traitor among his confidants.

Taking a deep breath, Jester forced a slight smile.

"Mr Archer, have you seen the news on the internet?"

"News?"

Li Jing blinked and decided to play dumb.

"I’m not very interested in local White Hawk news and haven’t been following it. Mr. Jester, you don’t look very well, is something wrong?"

Jester remained silent upon hearing this, then said,

"Stay at the hotel, I might need you at any moment."

Leaving only these words behind, he turned and hurried away.

He doesn’t have time to play dumb with someone right now.

Watching Jester hurriedly leave, Li Jing, with a smile on his face, closed the door, took out his temporary phone purchased at Wesbayl airport, found a news website and started browsing.

With this visit, Li Jing had a direct wow moment.

He didn’t expect Helena to act so quickly, so he hadn’t been paying attention.

It had not been two hours since his meeting with Helena.

Yet, exposure reports related to the meeting were already flooding the news websites.

Not only was BMM involved, other media outlets were also reporting it.

All of White Hawk’s media, as if in agreement, brought out exclusive reports one after another.

Li Jing, as the initiator, recognized that these so-called "exclusive" news pieces all originated from the USB drive he had given to Helena; they were the same pieces of information, just broken up and exposed separately.

Obviously, the major media outlets of White Hawk had collaborated intensely on this.

He wondered if such a decision was led by Helena or designed by BMM’s top executives, but he had to admit, it was quite brilliant!

By funneling it through one medium, there was no way to avoid White Hawk Official’s backlash.

Everyone would earn money, but they could avoid unnecessary trouble.

After all, the White Hawk official needed to make a statement through the media, there was no point in getting rid of all the media in their territory.

Especially when there had been a major exposure, they needed more ways to articulate their stance.

After skimming through the reports on several news websites, Li Jing couldn’t help but be astounded.

White Hawk’s media was ferocious.

The information from his USB drive had indeed been parsed, but each single piece of it was exposed, devoid of any concealment.

Even the records from the Desert Fortress Lab that Li Jing had intentionally left were reported by the media outlets, which were decrypting and analyzing them in detail.

Out of all the media outlets, BMM was the most outrageous.

Yet, they were quite cunning; they did not broadcast any core information.

Those taboo parts were left to be aired by other media outlets.

As usual, all they did was criticize White Hawk Official, subtly guiding public opinion towards the three Guardian Gods...

Closing the news websites, Li Jing logged onto White Hawk’s popular social platform "LATTE".

At that moment, LATTE was in chaos.

The accusations against White Hawk’s top officials were everywhere.

There were even various Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Beasts making appearances.

Some were clamoring for the resignation of specific high-level officials, some were calling for the involved Guardian God to be held accountable, some were suggesting to form groups to protest, and some were even proposing to visit the Kregar Desert for verification.

Having a basic understanding of the situation on the internet, Li Jing put down his phone and stopped paying attention.

There was nothing worth his attention.

He had done this not to stir up chaos in White Hawk, but rather to urge Jester to hurry up.

One clear, obvious fact stood out.

Jester was more focused on capturing Bei Yi and Evlyn rather than making adequate preparations to take down another Guardian God in one fell swoop.

Li Jing had no interest in that Guardian God, but he felt it necessary to give Jester a push.

Now that the incident had already been exposed, Li Jing was certain Jester would continue to focus on cracking down on his opponent. But, at the same time, Jester would have to start taking the issue of capturing Bei Yi and Evlyn more seriously.

Without capturing the two of them, the incident would never be over.

Even if a Guardian God resigned, it wouldn’t be enough to quell the rage of the public of White Hawk.

Further, once the whole incident was exposed, the involved Guardian God would also become alert.

In order not to alarm that God, Jester would probably keep most of the relevant information to himself, only revealing a part and controlling it so as not to arouse any suspicion.

Now, however, that God would have to stay alert.

Two White Hawk Guardian Gods were involved in the incident, and it was publicly exposed. Who wouldn’t be aware of this?

Being aware would inevitably lead to countermeasures.

Beyond just destroying evidence and going all out against Jester, he would also need to quietly intervene and find Bei Yi and Evlyn to "eliminate" them before Jester could get to them.

Only when the dead can’t testify, would he be able to ensure his own safety.

On Jester’s side, of course, he must try to get ahead.

With the involvement of two White Hawk Guardian Gods, Li Jing believed that it wouldn’t be long before there would be news.

White Hawk was a large and sparsely populated place with many blind spots.

But when everyone under White Hawk’s jurisdiction was focused on this one incident, no matter how well Bei Yi and Evlyn hid, traces of them could not escape detection, unless they had already secretly left White Hawk.

Purely based on the current situation, the chances of the two of them having left White Hawk were almost zero.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to leave, but with the current turbulent situation, they wouldn’t be able to sneak away from White Hawk quietly.

...

In the blink of an eye, an entire afternoon had passed.

The exposure information on the internet was still spreading.

None of the major news outlets or social platforms were idle, exposing a lot of new information.

Li Jing, staying idle in the hotel, was savouring the spectacle.

The power of the masses was somewhat terrifying.

In just one afternoon, the identities of the seven members of Augustus’s trade team visiting Longyu had been thoroughly exposed, even their ID numbers had been dug out.

There was even information that Li Jing was unaware of.

He savoured the juicy bits of gossip.

However, given that the murderer Adela had already been arrested and that Li Jing held information related to the Fortress Laboratory, these late-coming pieces of information seemed rather insignificant.

As it approached evening, night was falling.

Li Jing was lying on the couch surfing the internet on his phone, hoping to find some juicy gossip he hadn’t caught yet.

As he was browsing, a sudden announcement caught his attention.

The announcement was about Helena’s arrest.

The sight of the announcement seemed odd to Li Jing.

What on earth had Helena done?

How could she have been arrested?

Wasn’t she quite shrewd and strong-willed?

How did she fall into the hands of the authorities so quickly?

After running his eyes through the announcement, Li Jing didn’t pay it further attention.

Right under the announcement was BMM’s official platform, speaking up in support of Helena.

The statement had clearly pointed out that all the exposed information released by media outlets that day was obtained by Helena, risking her own safety. Now, the White Hawk Official wanted to ignore the principle of press freedom and make an example of her.

Even if her news was exposed outside, Helena wouldn’t be in any actual danger. Being detained for a period was the worst thing that could happen to her.

If anything did go wrong, the White Hawk Official would face an even more severe crisis.

Just as he was about to explore more news, Li Jing’s phone buzzed with a new message from Jester.

"I have some clues about where Bei Yi and Evlyn are hiding. I’ve asked several helpers to collaborate and try to locate them. One person will be coming to the hotel where you, Mr. Archer, are staying. At that time, I’d appreciate it if you join in the action and strive for results."

Before Li Jing could reply, Jester sent another message.

"Mr. Archer, both of us are wise; regardless if the news was released by you or not. What’s done is done and I won’t pursue it further, but we hope you can cooperate with me to the fullest in the coming period. I will not shortchange you afterwards. I want them alive, not dead."

Receiving such a message, the corners of Li Jing’s mouth turned upward with a reply.

"Jester, you suspect me, which truly saddens me. However, considering the profound friendship between us, I will do my best to assist you."

He sent the message, but there was no reply from Jester.

Li Jing didn’t send any more messages to argue.

From the very beginning, he didn’t expect Jester not to suspect him.

He created such complexity to ensure there was no evidence.

Without evidence, there’s nothing to be discussed.

Jester wouldn’t completely break off with him.

Jester, once officially participating, indeed worked efficiently.

In just one afternoon, hints about the hiding places of Bei Yi and Evlyn were found.

Actually, this was quite realistic.

For a nation’s Guardian Gods, Bei Yi and Evlyn didn’t pose a big threat. It was all about defeating his own opponent.

Shaking his mobile, Li Jing sits upright, silently waiting.

There was now undoubtedly a chance to participate in the hunt.

But it seemed that Jester didn’t trust him and had assigned a "teammate" to monitor him.

That didn’t matter; he was here now.

Li Jing had no other demand, as long as he could participate.

...

He had not been sitting on the couch waiting for long when a light knocking sound at the door was heard.

Li Jing instantly became alert at the sound.

They had arrived!

Striding to the door, Li Jing opened it, immediately widening his eyes in surprise.

Outside the door, there was a tall female mage wearing a body-slimming robe, with silky blonde hair flowing.

Her deep blue eyes...

What’s that saying again?

It’s a small world.

The person at the door was none other than Serlina, the only person Li Jing could regard as a friend in White Hawk.

Li Jing was taken aback. He had been to White Hawk twice recently and had never thought of contacting Serlina.

He especially didn’t want to endanger her by contacting her.

This situation had caught him by surprise. It was Serlina who Jester had arranged to come "watch" him...

Li Jing felt he might have been too suspicious and misunderstood Jester.

Serlina was from the Six Realm. She could not be monitoring him.

She wasn’t an official staff member, but a mentor from the College of War Magic.

Her special aspect was that she possessed the Spiritual World.

Obviously, Serlina was a legitimate helper invited by Jester to use her Spiritual World to locate Bei Yi and Evlyn.

With Serlina and him, who had caught Adela, they were undoubtedly the team most likely to find Bei Yi and Evlyn.

Jester didn’t want to watch him, but he put the precious chance on him directly!

While Li Jing was still surprised, Serlina at the door gave a smile.

"Mr. Archer, I am here following the request of the Guardian God of White Hawk, Jester, to come to you..."

Before she finished, Li Jing activated Silent Shadow.

???

Serlina widened her eyes, her voice halting halfway in surprise.

True, Li Jing was from the Seventh Realm.

His Silent Shadow could easily interfere with Serlina’s perception.

But this was meaningless.

Because to Serlina, Silent Shadow was a potent disruption.

As Li Jing’s power increased, the disruption grew stronger...

When Li Jing activated Silent Shadow now, Serlina was slightly befuddled on the spot.

This feeling...

There’s no mistake! It’s Li Jing!

Like him, she also didn’t expect to meet someone she knew in White Hawk.

Looking at Li Jing with a confused expression, Serlina rubbed her eyes hard, then put on her glasses.

Li Jing’s appearance was not as original, and her delicately arched eyebrows furrowed a little.

"You..."

Before she could finish, Li Jing smiled.

"Yes, it’s me."

!

Serlina was startled, looking left and right, then lowered her voice in confusion.

"How did you end up in White Hawk?"

"Let’s talk inside."

Li Jing smiled, stepping aside from the doorway to let her in.

...