I, Lord of Prayer

Hush money. 💲🐼 🍬🎃

Even with his bird-like knowledge, he never imagined that one day he would be openly extorted for hush money.

But he wasn't angry; on the contrary, he was surprised and delighted.

He didn't expect Zhou Chen to see through his intentions so quickly, and he was even more surprised that Zhou Chen was so bold as to ask him for benefits.

This is absolutely fantastic!

Our Eternal Flame is lacking such talent!

Birdman was extremely satisfied. He waved his hand to dismiss all his subordinates and smiled:

"Mr. Serial killer, do you know who you're blackmailing? To be honest, I haven't heard the term 'hush money' in years, because normally I make sure that the person in the know will never speak out."

"You won't kill me."

Zhou Chen said firmly, "You need me, and the organization behind you needs me too. Although I don't know exactly what you want me to do, infiltrating the Star Society is surely the right thing to do, isn't it?"

At this point, a hint of dissatisfaction crept into his voice: "I've done so much for you, we're practically in this together, yet you still don't trust me? Don't you even have that much magnanimity?"

"To correct you, I actually trusted you unilaterally a long time ago."

Birdman shrugged helplessly: "But some guys are just too suspicious, they keep testing me again and again."

"And now?" Zhou Chen asked.

"Uh... I don't know, you were too fast, I didn't have time to report."

The birdman shrugged awkwardly: "Why don't you wait a bit, let me report it first? Anyway, I don't have what you need here, it has to be given from above. ✋👌 ➅➈รĤᑌ𝓧.¢ᗝм 🐟🎉"

Zhou Chen pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Birdman took out his phone and made a call. The voice on the other end was encrypted, and only a series of static sounds could be heard. After a short while, he hung up the phone and laughed, "Your performance has been recognized by the higher-ups, but I have some bad news for you."

He paused for a long time before continuing:

"The Blue of Canaan is gone."

Zhou Chen was slightly disappointed, but he had already prepared himself mentally. Getting a piece of Canaan Blue was already beyond his expectations. This thing was priceless and unavailable; many Ascendants would spend their entire fortunes to buy it.

"But there's some good news," Birdman said, changing the subject.

"What?"

"We have a 'Star Mango' on hand," the birdman said with a mysterious smile. "You probably don't know what that is, do you?"

"The item is indeed in your hands..." Zhou Chen shook his head, feigning ignorance: "I don't know."

  Remember us, 101kanshu.com

"Hmm... Do you know about the restricted area?" Birdman asked.

"I know that."

"Let's get straight to the point," the birdman explained. "The Star Mango is a national treasure from the [149th Forbidden Zone]. Taking it directly can completely repair the soul, but that would be too wasteful. The best way is to use it with the aid of alchemical rituals to perform an ascension ceremony."

The ritual's effect is a smooth and safe advancement to the next tier without any side effects, with a maximum of tier four, while also repairing the soul. ¤ (¯´☆✭.¸_)¤ ❻❾𝕤Ħᵘא.ⒸⓄ𝐦 ¤(_¸.✭☆´¯) ¤

That's why the Holy See considers this a national treasure; it can easily allow a third-tier Ascension cultivator to advance to the fourth tier without any side effects. No wonder so many people are envious...

Oh, and by the way, the Star Mango isn't a mango; it's a cluster of rays of light the size of a lychee.

After hearing what the birdman said, Zhou Chen was a little surprised. He had never heard of the Star Mango having the effect of stabilizing advancement, so he quickly asked in the communication channel.

"Back then, you didn't have enough access, and I couldn't possibly show you all the information," Jiang Che replied calmly.

"Hesitatingly speaking."

Zhou Chen didn't continue rambling on about this issue, outwardly looking indifferently at the birdman: "Star Mangoes are so precious, are you willing to give them to me?"

"You have great potential and are highly regarded by many; this is a necessary investment..."

Seemingly having expended a lot of energy while relaxing, the birdman yawned deeply, then laughed:

"Of course, that will be your initiation gift after you officially join us."

Zhou Chen immediately sneered: "In the end, you still don't trust me."

"There's nothing we can do about it," the birdman said helplessly. "Go back and wait for the mission. Don't worry, it'll be quick."

"Okay." Zhou Chen nodded, then rubbed his hands together. "What about hush money?"

"Didn't I say I'd give you a star mango...?"

"Do you think I'm some kind of gullible three-year-old?" Zhou Chen's tone was quite displeased. "I know you have a lot of good stuff."

"well……"

The birdman sighed resignedly. "How about a forbidden item?"

Zhou Chen was stunned. He had only wanted to extort some benefits, but the birdman directly gave him a forbidden item.

Wow, this is an extraordinary amount of money!

"What is it?" he asked as calmly as possible.

Birdman said with a regretful look, "C-027 blind man's sunglasses, I've been eyeing these for a long time, and I only got my hands on them a couple of days ago, but they conflict with my abilities, so I can't use them."

"Consider it hush money if you want it."

"Okay." Zhou Chen nodded without hesitation.

He had read the complete list of forbidden items and memorized all the B, C, and D level forbidden items. The moment he heard the name, he knew that he absolutely could not let go of this forbidden item.

"Go upstairs and wait. I'll send someone to get it."

Twenty minutes later, Birdman's men arrived on the fourth floor of the club, took out an ordinary glasses case from their pockets, and respectfully handed it to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen opened the glasses case, and inside lay a pair of completely black sunglasses, which looked no different from ordinary sunglasses.

"This is the kind of forbidden substance that can be used without containment. Do you know its effects and side effects?" the birdman said, flicking the ash from his cigar.

"Know."

"Then I won't explain further. It's getting late, please go back, and remember not to give yourself away."

"I know what I'm doing."

Zhou Chen put the glasses case into his coat pocket and turned to leave.

·

·

Back to the Stars.

Zhou Chen arrived at the secret mission team immediately, multitasking as he recounted the flight path mentioned by the birdman and Snow White during their negotiations, ensuring that the staff took notes.

He quickly sketched all the victims he had seen on the easel with a pencil.

During his time in the research department, he received sketching training, which was one of the basic courses.

Soon, a series of clear, detailed, and lifelike black-and-white portraits covered the desk. The staff entered the portraits into the system and searched for them one by one in the database. Eventually, all of them were matched with the files and displayed on the big screen.

Without exception, they were all missing persons.

The missing persons in Jinzhu City and the surrounding areas have been missing for anywhere from three years to a few months.

Zhou Chen even saw a female student from Jinzhu University. If he remembered correctly, she was the music major female student named "Yue'er" on the roster.

The case file shows that after she went missing, her parents were extremely anxious and immediately called the police. They used all available connections and resources to search for her, but so far they have made no progress and are constantly in tears.

His mother was so grief-stricken that she suffered a mental breakdown and nearly committed suicide, but was saved in time. However, she was subsequently confined to a mental hospital. His father, on the other hand, had a full head of white hair and looked as if he had aged more than ten years.

The same grief pervades every family that has lost their children or loved ones.

Looking at the faces shrouded in sorrow and streaked with tears in the case files, Zhou Chen felt a pang of heartache. He sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and couldn't bear to look any longer.