Chapter 343: Aftermath of All Sides

Federal Weird Investigation Bureau, top‑level ward.

The disinfectant smell was so thick it wouldn't dissolve, mixing with the monitor's regular beeping, and that was all there was.

Jiang Yuan woke up.

He opened his eyes; the ceiling was a blinding pure white.

A series of dull pains throbbed in his chest, as if countless red‑hot steel probes kept stabbing him.

He could feel the legion inside his body was quite weak.

He lost.

He lost utterly.

Sai Men's featureless Gray Mask, and the staff that could erase everything with a light tap, became a nightmare seared into his mind.

By the bedside stood a figure.

It was Wei Gong.

The old man still wore that faded Zhongshan suit, his posture upright, though the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed a bit deeper.

"Awake."

Wei Gong's voice was calm, revealing no joy or anger.

Jiang Yuan struggled to sit up, but an irresistible weakness pinned him to the bed.

He stopped struggling.

There was no decadence, no despair.

In those eyes that once were clear, now only one thing remained—fire.

A blaze on the verge of erupting, ready to turn the whole world and himself to ash, embodied his ultimate battle will.

"Director."

Jiang Yuan spoke, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper had rubbed his throat.

"I will take everything back."

He said neither "rest assured" nor "I'm sorry."

It sounded more like an oath.

A man who crawled back from Hell, swearing a blood oath to this world.

Wei Gong stared at him, his cloudy old eyes shining eerily.

He said nothing, merely reaching out his age‑spotted hand to tuck Jiang Yuan's blanket corner.

The motion was gentle, as if caring for his own grandson.

Beyond the next ward, separated by thick glass.

Liang Wen leaned against the wall, a unlit cigarette between his lips, his complexion as pale as paper.

Several small life‑support devices were attached to him, transparent tubes carrying differently colored fluids slowly infusing his body.

His organs had decayed like rotten wood, some even replaced by cold artificial ones.

Each breath came with a knife‑scraping pain.

On the other side of the glass, his daughter Liang Ting lay quietly, like a sleeping beauty.

Wei Gong stepped out of Jiang Yuan's ward and stood beside him.

"Liang Wen."

Wei Gong spoke, "You know the price of overdrawing your body. This time, you nearly drained yourself dry."

"Really, step back to the sidelines."

It's a form of protection.

Liang Wen, however, smiled.

He flicked away the cigarette butt, then slowly straightened, smoothed his crumpled collar, and struck a pose he thought was strikingly cool.

"Lord Director, have you forgotten?"

His voice was soft, yet he used a melodramatic, operatic flourish.

"I am the Dark-Blooded King, the solitary ruler walking the edge of the Abyss!"

He extended a finger, pointing at the daughter in the ward.

"My sleeping princess still awaits her hero's return!"

"Mere mortal decay cannot bind my noble soul!"

"Abyss Walker, never exit the stage!"

He turned, faced Wei Gong, grinned widely.

"Unless I turn into a pile of bones."

Wei Gong looked at him, his lips moved, and finally it became only a sigh.

He knew that this usually most out‑of‑place fellow was, at his core, tougher than anyone.

Half an hour later, in a secret office with no signage.

Su Ming sat opposite Wei Gong.

His wounds, healed by the Time Marrow Worm's repair, now held a cup of hot tea.

He disguised himself as an unlucky soul who barely survived the Blood Moon game and was then swept into the Core incident by the official rescue team.

He deliberately downplayed his role, attributing every breakthrough to Lei Yu's bravery and Liang Wen's strength.

"You mean you were just lucky to survive?"

Wei Gong's knuckles tapped lightly on the table, producing a dull thud.

Su Ming nodded, his eyes carrying a hint of the fear a civilian should have.

"Yes, Director. I'm just an ordinary person; if it weren't for Captain Lei and Captain Liang, I would have …"

"Is that so?"

Wei Gong interrupted him.

Those old eyes, sharp as a hawk's, stared straight at Su Ming.

The air in the office seemed to solidify.

Su Ming felt like prey being watched by a sleeping male lion; every cell in his body screamed danger.

"As far as I know, the Mirror Walker's Rules are top‑secret, never recorded by the Investigation Bureau. How did you learn that Paint and cement can suppress it?"

Wei Gong spoke slowly, each word like a nail hammered into Su Ming's heart.

"Also, the Subway Line 2 riding rules—you know them better than our Special Forces. You even know the Faceless Ticket Inspector won't disturb someone who is 'reading.'"

Su Ming's hand holding the teacup was steady as a rock.

But he knew his disguise, before this old man, was as thin as a sheet of tracing paper.

Wei Gong leaned forward slightly.

"Su Ming, tell me, who exactly are you?"

The office was dead silent.

Su Ming slowly set down the teacup; its bottom touched the desk with a faint clink.

He lifted his head, his face showing a calm that seemed to see through everything.

He knew that continuing the act was now pointless.

Just as he was about to confess part of the truth to secure the greatest benefit for himself,

Wei Gong suddenly smiled.

The old man reclined in his chair and pushed a File onto Su Ming's desk.

"I don't care what you concealed, nor what secrets you carry."

Wei Gong looked at him, each word deliberate.

"All I know is that in the Blood Moon Weird Domain, you rescued hundreds of survivors and helped Liang Wen stabilize the situation."

"Ouyang Feng, one of the Core Captains, was corrupted by the Weird during the Skeleton City Incident and has already fallen."

"Now that position is vacant."

The File was pushed to Su Ming's side.

On the cover were several scarlet bold characters.

【Federal Weird Investigation Bureau Core Captain Reserve Commission】

Su Ming's pupils suddenly contracted.

He had imagined countless possibilities.

But he had never thought of this.

He stared at Wei Gong, trying to read something from the wrinkle‑lined face.

But that face was like a bottomless ancient well.

"In chaotic times, one needs heavy statutes, and even more, fierce men."

Wei Gong said lightly.

"I don't care whether you're human or ghost; as long as you stand on humanity's side, the Investigation Bureau will be your strongest backing."

Su Ming fell silent.

He rapidly weighed the pros and cons.

The Weird era has fully arrived, and the risk of fighting alone has multiplied geometrically.

With the Investigation Bureau as backing, both Intelligence and resources are far stronger than him acting as a lone wolf.

And moreover…

He still owes Lei Yu a life.

"What authority do I have?"

Su Ming finally spoke.

"All resources below S Ji in the Investigation Bureau are at your disposal."

Wei Gong answered crisply.

"Just like Jiang Yuan and Liang Wen, you need to assemble a team that obeys you completely. As for the members, pick them yourself."

"Fine."

Su Ming picked up the commission.

"I'll take it."

He stepped out of the office; in the cold metal Corridor, only his footsteps echoed.

Su Ming opened the Encrypted Terminal that had just synced to his phone.

Inside were all the Yujui Archive files that the Federal Weird Investigation Bureau currently has on record.

His fingers swiped quickly across the screen, passing over one name after another.

Finally, his gaze lingered on a file marked "Highly Dangerous" and "Mentally Extremely Unstable."

Su Ming's mouth curled into a cold arc.

"The first team member…"

"Let's pick this lunatic."