Soul Trigger

Chapter 131 Brainstorming
Yan Xiyu's expression suddenly darkened:

"This is no joke. Who has such a great ability?"

"If there really is such a person, it doesn't mean that 'he' is targeting me directly."

Ji Li glanced at the cool girl, signaling her not to think too much.

His expertise was not in solving cases or planning, but he had done a lot of such things in his previous life, so he still had the necessary sense.

But also because of the heights he had held in the past, he was more accustomed to thinking from top to bottom rather than from bottom to top.

And at this moment, as his mind was beating, the logical frame of the Ascension Protocol also appeared in his retina, moving frequently:
"Assuming this person exists, 'he' may not even know who I am, and he may not really be focused on just me."

"Because such people must have their own power, or a secret society. Although I have performed well in the Special Management Bureau and Flash Street... Don't look at me like that, I am just stating the facts."

Ji Li ignored Park Yongzhi's expression of "Brother, I know you are very good, but can you please stop bragging?" and continued:

“But I’m not famous.”

"On Flash Street, I'm not as famous as the door-opener Bunny."

"In the Special Management Bureau, although I got first place in the assessment, there are dozens of training grounds with countless first places. This is nothing to the entire awakened world."

"So I'm not even as famous as that cool chick who's been tracking down the Red Whip Society..."

Yan Xiyu's serious expression froze for a moment, and then he showed visible displeasure:
"Cool chick...?"

"Sorry, I'm used to saying this, Captain." Ji Li waved his hand. Seeing his unapologetic look, Yan Xiyu became even more unhappy.

"So, it was the other party's men who targeted me."

"And the other party happens to have such pawn resources placed there, which can be used by his subordinates."

Yan Xiyu snorted coldly, temporarily putting aside the fact that Ji Li secretly gave him a nickname:
"The Flayer Black Production and the Blood Shuttle Group."

"That's right. If the purpose is for 'high-quality spiritual circuits', then what he is targeting, or what the Skinner Black Industry and Blood Shuttle Group are targeting, is all the awakened people with high-quality spiritual circuits."

"Could this person be the 'mouthpiece' in An Zhixiong's mouth?" Park Yongzhi followed up with the thought.

"A real person behind the scenes would not do such a thing personally, but the name of Mouthpiece can be a clue." Yan Xiyu said.

"But there is still a doubt. A pawn like a senior colonel should not be abandoned so casually."

Logical boxes piled up in Ji Li's retina, and he kept digging for deeper doubts and clues:
"Maybe there is something else going on. As far as I know, the skinners' black industry is just one black industry line. There are all kinds of organizations involved in it, and their goals are different."

"Either the person behind the scenes doesn't really care about this pawn, or this is just a surface layer of the conspiracy, and there are other deeper meanings or other entanglements behind it."

"I prefer the latter theory because the pilgrimage itself involves a lot of chain reactions."

"If such a person really exists, he should be plotting the matter behind the mayor's death, and his men targeting the masterpiece may just be a part of the whole conspiracy chain."

Yan Xiyu judged, his eyes becoming more serious:

"And remember what I said, the Blood Shuttle Group is not an ordinary interest group, but a 'brotherhood' with deep friendship among its members?"

Ji Li nodded: "So the Blood Shuttle Group is very likely to do something beyond normal logic, because their 'brothers' died at your hands, especially at my hands."

"And these actions may not be related to the real intentions of the people behind them. Perhaps they are acting on their own will, or even just superficially in harmony with the people behind them."

Having deduced to this point, the logical chain of the Ascension Protocol has already generated a lot of confusion in Ji Li's mind. If he wants to continue digging for clues, he has to sort it out first.

Ji Li's eyes swept over Yan Xiyu, who was already immersed in speculation, and Park Yongzhi, whose eyes had begun to circle, and temporarily interrupted this direction:
"These are just follow-up conclusions. The premise is to verify whether I was targeted because of my 'high-quality spiritual circuit'. It's also very simple..."

He raised his head and glanced at the two of them:

"We can confirm whether my speculation is true by checking whether any Awakeners, craftsmen or engravers who meet the requirements have disappeared recently. As for other speculations, we need to start with the Blood Shuttle Group and the Skinners' black industry."

"The scope is too large. We can't check the hidden network in a short time. We have to start from the archives... I will help you interrogate after we go back." Yan Xiyu said.

"The guards will also investigate in this direction." Park Yongzhi nodded, and finally smiled with relief.

The two of them were brainstorming, and he was the only one standing there with no words. Now the answer was finally out:
"For the Guards, this kind of black production line is nothing more than a paper tiger. We can wipe out the entire line within three days."

The reason why this kind of black industry has not been eliminated is due to the huge chain of interests and the dispersed functions of the three official companies.

Because this part of the responsibility does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Guard, it is mainly investigated by the Police Department's Special News Department and the Special Management Bureau's task force.

The main function of the Department of Extraordinary News is to target crimes committed by awakened persons, while the main function of the Special Management Bureau is to investigate abnormal situations, of which crimes committed by awakened persons are only a part.

For illegal activities like illegal businesses, an investigation will only begin after a corresponding case is filed, and the main focus of the investigation is still on the Lingbo Prison and "haunted incidents".

But the situation is different now. The third mayor was assassinated, and the Skinner became one of the clues. If the iron fist of the state machine were to strike down, the entire underground black industry in Silla City would be wiped out in less than three days.

But Yan Xiyu and Ji Li both shook their heads: "No."

As a soldier, Park Yong-jik naturally refuted and asked why it was not possible.

In his eyes, there was no problem that could not be solved by cannon fire. If there was, he would mobilize the entire guard to fire together.

"Since the Skinner is involved, he must have left himself a way out. If we act now with great fanfare, not only will we not be able to find the key clues, but we will also destroy any traces that the other party may not have been able to erase."

"The other is that any clues that may exist will be destroyed due to the violent uprooting, so that only some superficial crimes can be solved. It is almost impossible to find out about the assassination of the third mayor."

Yan Xiyu told the story slowly and at the same time looked down with his red eyes at Park Yongzhi, whose head was full of muscles. Every reflection in his eyes was telling that this guy had lived to middle age in vain and had grown a thick beard.

"And if the skinners are like this, what about the big bosses behind other black industries? By then, the whole Aurora City will be in chaos, which will be exactly what the assassin wants. But the necessary investigation still needs to be done, and then we have to follow the clues and investigate secretly." Ji Li added.

Hearing what both of them said, Park Yongzhi could only rub his temples and nod, as if they had reached a consensus:
"...Honestly, we should let the staff officer come and talk to you."

Ji Li waved his hand, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip:
"It's okay. At least you did a good job as a receptionist."

Park Yongzhi's mouth twitched, and the cool girl covered her mouth with her side face and bit her lips hard——

So happy.

She loved to see the guards get humiliated.

What Ji Li said was true. This tea was much better than the marching rations that Jiang Shijun had given him and Rabbit. "So, do you two have any other questions?"

Park Yongzhi thought about it for a while, but couldn't help it:
"Back to the original question... An Zhixiong was covering for the Gluttony Train, but the Gluttony Train was targeting you. You killed the Gluttony Train, and he thought you really killed the mayor. Isn't this a contradiction?"

Ji Li glanced at Park Yongzhi:

"This shows that he didn't know the purpose of the Gluttony Train to find me. He might just let the Gluttony Train pass, or cover up the traces of the Gluttony Train's existence on the pilgrimage route. And his belief that 'the Black Goat killed the mayor' might also be part of the plan of the 'Mouthpiece' or the 'Skinning King'."

Following Ji Li's thoughts, Yan Xiyu reacted quickly:

"An Zhixiong is a pawn, he knows nothing, and what he thinks is that 'the black goat killed the mayor' is actually protecting the person who actually framed Ji Li."

Park Yongzhi raised his hands in surrender: "You two, just pretend I didn't ask you. I'm a little dizzy right now. How about calling a staff officer over..."

Yan Xiyu curled his lips and said, "Is this the level of the guards?"

Park Yongzhi's eyes suddenly narrowed:
"continue."

Ji Li continued, "What it means is that because there is someone else who framed me, the truth that An Zhixiong believes just happens to cover up the person who actually framed me."

"Black Ice, that person should be the one who deliberately lured An Zhixiong."

"So An Zhixiong is just a chess piece among chess pieces. He knows almost nothing and is only responsible for carrying out the most basic orders. He is manipulated like a puppet."

Park Yongzhi: "An Zhixiong is a senior colonel. How terrifying must the King of Foreskin be to do such a thing? How powerful is that masterpiece on you to attract such a person to target you?"

Ji Li touched his neck and glanced at him:
"He came from a place where one foot has stepped halfway into the realm of the evil lord."

Park Yong-ji: That’s okay.

At this time, a faint voice came from the side:

"Excuse me, three..."

The three turned their heads and saw the guard recorder who had been taking notes with a pen:

"Is it the 'Skinning King' or the 'Foreskin King'?"

Ji Li silently spat the tea back into the cup, his mouth curled in response to the vulgar joke.

Yan Xiyu was stunned for a moment, turned his head and bit his lower lip fiercely——

Can't laugh!!!!
Park Yongzhi looked at him strangely:
"Do you think you're funny? You can't tell the difference between bo and bao, right? How did you learn Chinese?!"

The Recorder saluted and apologized.

"So the final conclusion is to start from the direction of the skinners and the black industry in Aurora City. Have you two memorized the details?"

Yan Xiyu nodded, and Park Yongzhi looked at the recorder who was shaking his notebook with a serious face.

The latter nodded.

Ji Li did not tell anyone about the Tower of Babel. This level of information should be known to the leaders of both sides.

If it was not announced, they had their reasons. If he wanted to talk about it, he should have talked to Jeon Ji-hyun. There was no need to talk to a receptionist like Park Yong-ji.

Then he looked at Yan Xiyu:

"The Guards are mainly looking for clues from the frontal raiders, supplemented by the Skinners' tracking direction."

"If we don't find any other clues on the day of the pilgrimage, we will focus on investigating the Skinners."

Park Yongzhi sighed:

"Captain Yan, forget it. To be honest, I didn't expect that you are not only good at martial arts, but also have good logical thinking ability. I have learned a lot today..."

Ji Li smiled and patted his shoulder:

"It's okay, Commander Park, you're still young."

Park Yongzhi: "...?"

My son seems to be just a few years younger than you.

After the final decision was made and consensus was reached, the Special Management Bureau and the Guard completed the case and reported to Han Xiaofu and Quan Qixian respectively.

"Honestly, I thought that little... old woman wasn't that easy to talk to."

On the way back to the car, Ji Li and Yan Xiyu chatted idly.

"Little old woman?"

Ji Li shrugged. He originally wanted to say little girl.

Yan Xiyu snorted: "The old woman is indeed a pretty good leader. She is flexible and takes rules very seriously. She is rigid, but she is actually very flexible in her work."

"Like this time when you killed An Zhixiong, she didn't come to you, but went to the director to ask for an explanation. But then again, you seem to like giving people nicknames, don't you?"

Yan Xiyu said as he opened the passenger door:

"Let me count for you, bunny girl, lion spirit, little old woman, I am a cool girl? Anything else?"

Ji Li nodded naturally: "Red-eyed girl...you're sitting in the passenger seat?"

Yan Xiyu slammed the car door shut:
"I'm your boss, so of course I'll sit in the passenger seat."

Then he turned his head and looked at Ji Li standing outside the window:
"Drive, two-legged sheep!"

Tsk, you still hold a grudge.

Ji Li walked to the driver's seat, opened the door and got in:

"Row."

(End of this chapter)