The system is four years ahead of schedule, but Weird is still a cub.

"...Minister Deng is right."

Chen Su's voice was dry, like sandpaper rubbing: "Headquarters will not tolerate the serious disciplinary violations of individual team members. On behalf of headquarters, I express my sincerest apologies to the Rong City Special Operations Department. This person will be immediately escorted back to Dajing to face the most severe military trial."

He managed to utter the last two words with difficulty, and the evidence fell into Deng Yuqi's hands. If it didn't draw some blood, this matter probably wouldn't end so easily.

Chen Su had to distance himself and make a statement. Shadow Serpent was already useless; he couldn't let this expendable pawn drag down the entire task force or even himself.

Deng Yuqi's formulaic smile finally deepened slightly, carrying a hint of barely perceptible satisfaction: "Director Chen is a man of great understanding and admirable character. The Rong City Special Operations Department has always been part of the Da Jing Headquarters, and upholding organizational discipline is our bounden duty. I hope that the cooperation ahead will be more candid and smooth."

She paused, then changed the subject, her tone becoming "earnest": "Speaking of responsibility, Director Chen saw it for himself at Quanlong Mountain just now. Comrade Zhang Hong's condition is indeed extremely critical, and the hope of reversing it is slim. Professor Jiang's team has gone to great lengths and consumed enormous resources to stabilize his condition. Didn't you say before that headquarters would provide full support and that any resource requests could be made?"

coming!

Chen Su felt a chill run down his spine, knowing that the other party was about to make an exorbitant demand.

Deng Yuqi tapped the tablet lightly, and a pre-prepared list was instantly projected onto the large screen in the conference room.

The sheer length of the list and the sophistication of the projects made Chen Su and Zhao Lan and the others behind him twitch in disbelief.

"This is the list of supplies that Elder Jiang has compiled for Comrade Zhang's treatment, which is urgently needed." Deng Yuqi said calmly, as if she were reading a routine purchase order.

"Includes: three sets of the highest-specification 'Mental Anchoring Matrix' core components (Note: must include the 'Primordial' model of the eerie energy resonator);"

"Twenty tons of special coolant for the 'Deep Consciousness Stabilization Chamber' (purity requirement: 99.999%)."

"One hundred units of 'void crystals' (standard cut size) for suppressing spatial disturbances;"

"Ten liters of 'Spring of Purification' stock solution used for the removal of mental pollution in the 'Cradle of Life' project; and... two state-of-the-art 'Mystic Energy Spectral Analysis Array' mobile platforms, along with fifty sets of 'Abyss-level' mystic energy detection sensors..."

?

? ?
???

Hey lady, are you making a wish here?

Every item on the list is a priceless treasure of the headquarters laboratory, many of which are even strategic reserves and are subject to extremely strict control.

The "Primordial" resonator, the "Void Crystal," and the "Spring of Purification" raw material are the lifeblood of the headquarters' core laboratory; even Chen Su himself might not be able to get his application approved.

Deng Yuqi added at the end: "Oh, right, there's also an additional 'environmental renovation and security reinforcement cost' to upgrade the spatial shielding level of the Quanlongshan containment area and the emergency system in case Comrade Zhang Hong gets out of control. The preliminary budget... will be around this amount."

She made a gesture.

Looking at that astronomical figure, Chen Su felt his vision blur and a metallic taste rise in his throat. This wasn't just asking for the moon; it was downright gluttonous! He could almost imagine the fury those old guys would unleash when this list reached headquarters!
But does he have a choice?
With their leverage in the other party's hands, and with irrefutable evidence of Shadow Snake's illegal modifications and infiltration, the Rong City Special Operations Department holds an absolute moral and power high ground.

If he dares to say "no" now, Deng Yuqi will dare to expose the Shadow Snake incident to the heavens, making the headquarters lose face and making Chen Su suffer the consequences.

“…Okay!” Chen Su managed to squeeze out this word with almost all his strength, his face turning from red to white, and the veins on his forehead throbbing.

"Headquarters... will do its utmost to ensure that the supplies on the list are coordinated as soon as possible to meet the needs of Rong City to the greatest extent possible, and will be transported to Rong City in batches. I hope that these resources can be truly used for Comrade Zhang Hong's treatment." He almost gritted his teeth to emphasize the word "treatment".

"Of course," Deng Yuqi said with a smile. "The Rong City Special Affairs Department will certainly live up to the expectations of headquarters."

……

Half a month passed in an eerie and tense calm.

Chen Su was like a caged beast, confined to the area designated by the Special Affairs Department of Rong City every day. Ostensibly, it was for "exchange and learning" and "cooperative investigation," but in reality, he was restricted in every way, and every move he made seemed to be under invisible surveillance.

The members of the task force he brought were also scattered and assigned by Deng Yuqi under the pretext of "familiarity with Fuzhou's defense" and "assisting in grassroots patrols," making it impossible for them to form a cohesive force.

Regarding Zhang Hong, apart from receiving a few vague briefings that indicated the situation remained "severe and stable," there has been no substantial progress.

On the contrary, the Special Affairs Department of Rong City, taking advantage of the "extorted" list, openly received several batches of precious supplies allocated by headquarters, and Li Xiang's research department was almost a sea of ​​joy.

Although Chen Su ultimately failed to fulfill Deng Yuqi's "wish list," he paid for 40% of the supplies on it, along with an astronomical sum of "expenses."

Don't underestimate this 40%. Much of it was obtained by Chen Su using his personal connections and power to the fullest extent possible, even bypassing layers of review.

One can only say that a lie is always accompanied by hundreds or thousands of lies to cover it up. Once the truth comes out, Chen Su will face utter destruction.

That evening, Chen Su returned to his hotel suite, exhausted and filled with pent-up frustration. The pent-up resentment and sense of defeat of the past few days had left him utterly drained.

He loosened his tie, threw his coat on the sofa in frustration, walked to the bar, and wanted to pour himself a shot of strong liquor to numb his senses.

Just as his fingers were about to touch the bottle, his body suddenly froze.

An indescribable, cold, and viscous aura of eeriness, like a silent tide, instantly filled the entire room.

This aura was different from the eerie, terrifying energy he was familiar with, which had a strong corrosive effect. Instead, it was a chilling cold that made one's hair stand on end.

If it weren't for the readings on his wristwatch, which were constantly rising, he might have even wondered if he had turned the air conditioning up to the lowest setting.

At this moment, the light in the room seemed to dim, and the air seemed to freeze.

Chen Su felt a chill run down his spine, his heart clenching as if gripped by an invisible hand. He whirled around, his right hand instinctively pressing against the energy suppressor at his waist. His rigorously trained internal system was instantly activated, poised to unleash its power.

Then he saw it. On the single sofa in his suite, a woman was sitting upright, unnoticed.

She wore a perfectly tailored dark red velvet cheongsam, embroidered with intricate and eerie raven patterns in gold thread, which were faintly visible in the dim light.

She leaned back languidly, one leg elegantly crossed over the other, revealing a section of her fair, almost translucent calf.

She wore a dark gold raven mask that only covered the upper half of her face. Beneath the mask, her red lips were slightly upturned, a half-smile playing on her lips. Her exposed chin had beautiful lines, and her skin was as delicate as fine porcelain.

She sat there quietly, as if she had been waiting there for a long time, or as if she had just appeared out of thin air. The expensive scent of incense in the room was completely covered by that cold and powerful aura of eeriness.

Chen Su's pupils contracted sharply, and his blood seemed to freeze instantly. Although he didn't recognize the woman before him, her unique "appearance" and the aura she exuded already foreshadowed her identity—

Phantom.

Moreover, she is a relatively "rare" female eccentric among eccentrics.

"Your Excellency... who is it?" Chen Su's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with disbelief and shock. He couldn't understand how a strange woman could appear in his room so easily and so mysteriously.

What about the surveillance by the Fukushima Special Operations Department?
What about the precautions he set up?
In the eyes of the other party, are they all just for show?
"Nice to meet you, Director Chen Su." Her red lips parted slightly, her voice as clear and melodious as ice beads falling onto a jade plate, yet carrying a chilling and languid quality that penetrated to the very soul.

"Or should I address you as... the 'Imperial Envoy' sent by headquarters?"

"Twelve Branches?" Chen Su almost roared out. The eerie energy suppressor at his waist activated instantly, and a light blue energy shield enveloped his entire body. At the same time, he quickly took a step back, trying to create distance and find cover.

His heart pounded, his brain raced as he analyzed the unprecedentedly powerful and eccentric figure before him.

"Are you... 'Crow'?" Chen Su asked.

Although the only known monster organizations in "reality" so far are the Twelve Branches, the Heavenly Stems, and the Monster Association, the Heavenly Stems operate in secrecy and are mostly "causing trouble" overseas.

As for the Monster Association, Chen Su, as an official at headquarters, was certainly aware of their current "fate," so his first thought was of the Zodiacs.

On the sofa, the woman known as "Raven" let out an extremely faint laugh, seemingly tinged with ice. She didn't even move; she merely raised the fingers resting on her lap gracefully, causing the strange energy shield surrounding Chen Su to ripple violently like water rippled by a stone thrown in, its light instantly dimming by more than half.

Such powerful treacherous energy!

Chen Su was horrified. This seemingly casual action revealed a power far beyond his expectations. He felt like a flying insect caught in an invisible spider web, and any resistance seemed pale and powerless.

"It seems my reputation is more widespread than I imagined." Raven's red lips curved into a deeper smile, tinged with amusement.

"Don't be nervous, Director Chen. If I wanted to harm you, you would already be a cold corpse the moment you walked in. I'm here with... sincerity to cooperate."

At this moment, "Crow" was vastly different from when he first met Shen Ge in both appearance and voice; it was as if he were a completely different person.

"Cooperation?" Chen Su's voice was sharp due to his high level of vigilance. "The Special Operations Department and the Twelve Branches are locked in a life-or-death struggle. How could there be any talk of cooperation?"

"Ha, what an outdated dualism." Raven's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible sarcasm as he continued, "In this bizarrely reshaped world, stances and allies are often determined solely by whether interests align. And I happen to know Director Chen's deepest... dilemma and desire at this moment."

Her gaze pierced through the cold, dark gold mask, as if she could see right through Chen Su's soul: "That man named Zhang Hong... is trapped in the cold cage of Quanlong Mountain, struggling in despair, slowly sliding into an inhuman abyss."

"And you, Director Chen Su, carrying a secret order from headquarters and shouldering the heavy responsibility of bringing him back to Dajing, are being manipulated by that woman Deng Yuqi in this quagmire of Rong City."

"Your hidden pawn has been eliminated, your resources have been extorted, your dignity has been trampled on... It's been half a month, and you can't move an inch. You can't even see Zhang Hong a few times. Am I right?"

Every word was like a cold needle, precisely piercing Chen Su's most painful spot.

His face went from shock to ashen, his knuckles turning white from the strain. Crow's intelligence capabilities, or rather her understanding of the Rong City Special Operations Department and his own situation, reached a terrifying level, sending a chill down his spine.

"What do you want to say?" Chen Su forced himself to calm down, his voice low and hoarse.

“It’s very simple, a mutually beneficial collaboration.” Raven’s posture remained languid, but his tone carried an undeniable allure.

"You, Director Chen Su, request to visit Zhang Hong again, citing 'deep concern' and 'headquarters technical support'. The location is the core research area of ​​the Quanlongshan base."

Chen Su's pupils contracted, but he did not interrupt.

Crow continued, "During your visit, I will arrange a small... 'accident.' Don't worry, we have no intention of harming any members of the Special Operations Department. That would only invite the mad dog Shen Ge's furious retaliation, which is not in our interest."

“All we need is a chaotic enough ‘accident’ that will attract everyone’s attention—for example, a controlled, high-intensity outbreak of eerie space in a non-critical area, or a precise destruction of an outer eerie energy storage facility.”

Her voice was like a devil's whisper: "In the chaos, Zhang Hong's containment unit will 'just happen' to experience a brief, controllable 'loss of control.' Our forces will intervene and... 'transfer' him out. We only need a portion of tissue from his left hand, and ten vials of fresh blood samples. In return..."

Raven leaned forward slightly, his icy, eerie aura seemingly possessing a deadly allure: "Zhang Hong, who has been transferred out, will be handed over to you intact."

"You can take him immediately, board the headquarters' private jet, and return to Dajing in style. The mission was a complete success, and the rewards from headquarters, the respect of your colleagues, and the path to future promotions... will all be open for you."

"And the price you paid was merely to 'protect' yourself in the chaos, and to remain... silent about the 'accident' and the 'hijacking by mysterious forces' afterwards."

condition!

The conditions are so tempting they're almost suffocating!

Chen Su's heart pounded uncontrollably; this almost perfectly resolved all his predicaments. Zhang Hong was in his grasp, the mission accomplished, the shame of Rong City washed away, and he might even receive a commendation from headquarters!
And the cost... is merely some insignificant tissue samples and blood? And the silence surrounding this "accident"?

This is like a windfall! (End of Chapter)