The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Next, Lin Manteng and the other person were also put in specially made handcuffs.

Feng Ting glanced at the three of them, made sure the handcuffs were locked, then let them get into the car and headed towards the Dayun City Investigation Bureau building.

Seventh-tier ability users naturally cannot be imprisoned in the same centralized location as those of mid- to low-tier ability users.

The facilities and restraints at the concentration point are adequate against those below the sixth rank, but at the seventh rank, ordinary energy suppressors are simply not enough.

The safest course of action would be to place them under the watchful eye of the bureau chief, who is also the torchbearer of the eighth-rank gold emblem.

At this time, the atmosphere in Jiangdong City, the capital of Dongjiang Province, was far more tense than in Dayun City.

A row of black SUVs surrounded a building with the words "Fireworks Headquarters" hanging in large characters.

Torchbearers dressed in black trench coats and wearing silver or bronze torch badges on their chests formed human walls, blocking all entrances and exits of the building.

But what's most eye-catching isn't the cars or the people, but the black figure in mid-air.

A man in a black trench coat wearing a gold torch badge is defying the laws of gravity and hovering silently in mid-air.

His hands hung naturally at his sides, and the void beneath his feet seemed to be supported by an invisible glass plate.

The wind blew from all directions, and his black trench coat fluttered slightly in the air currents.

He stood suspended in mid-air, his gaze calmly fixed on the Fireworks Organization headquarters building before him, his eyes as still as a deep well, as if he were looking at an empty shell that had lost all value.

The operation downstairs is still ongoing.

One by one, members of the fireworks headquarters, wearing specially made handcuffs, were escorted out of the building.

Some were dressed in suits, some in casual clothes, and some in security guard uniforms. People of all kinds and levels lined up, heads bowed, and were led silently to a reserved open space to the side.

Another torchbearer, also wearing a gold emblem, stood on the ground and frowned slightly as he looked at the fireworks team members being escorted out.

His gaze swept across each of their faces, as if searching for a particular one.

He randomly stopped the next middle-aged man in a gray jacket who was being escorted out.

"Where is Chen Yinhuo?" The torchbearer's voice was soft, but direct.

The middle-aged man was clearly startled by the sudden question, and his shoulders twitched sharply.

He looked up and saw a golden torchbearer standing in front of him. His lips trembled slightly as he said, "I...I...don't know."

The torchbearer with the golden emblem glanced at him, but didn't ask any further questions. He waved for him to continue walking forward.

He then asked several members of the Fireworks Headquarters who were being escorted, and the answers he received were almost identical—"Don't know," "Never seen him," "Haven't seen the General Manager for several days."

The torchbearer with the golden emblem frowned even more deeply.

He stood on the steps, shifting his gaze from the escorted crowd to the tall, now deserted building before him.

After a moment, he snapped out of his thoughts, looked at the group of handcuffed ability users before him, and raised his voice by half an octave: "Which one is Chen Yan?"

The crowd fell silent for a moment, and then the people in front automatically moved aside.

After the crowd dispersed, a young man wearing a white shirt was revealed, standing in the middle of the line.

Clearly, this is Chen Yan.

The torchbearer with the golden emblem looked him up and down, then asked, "You're Chen Yan, Chen Yinhuo's younger brother and assistant?"

The young man nodded expressionlessly: "It's me."

The torchbearer with the golden emblem then asked, "Where is Chen Yin Huo?"

The young man remained expressionless, his eyes as calm as a stagnant pool, his pupils not even contracting.

He shook his head, his voice flat and emotionless: "I don't know."

The torchbearer with the golden emblem frowned slightly, staring at his face for two seconds: "When was the last time you saw him?"

Chen Yan's tone remained flat: "Although I am his nominal assistant, I can't see him every day."

"His whereabouts are always unpredictable; he never tells me in advance. The last time I saw him was a week ago."

The torchbearer with the golden emblem wanted to ask something more, but at that moment, the torchbearer who had been standing in the air also silently descended and stood steadily beside him.

He shook his head slightly at his colleague who was asking him questions: "They're definitely not here anymore."

"He hasn't been captured on any of the surveillance cameras."

The torchbearer who asked the question nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the result: "That's true. With the bureau chief here, it's normal that it wouldn't dare to stay in Jiangdong City."

The two torchbearers with golden emblems exchanged a glance.

"Let's take these people back first and find out what they're trying to spread."

. . .

Meanwhile, in Dayun City, at a gathering place for ability users, Qin Tian's questioning had just begun.

"Next, Qin Tian." The torchbearer at the entrance glanced at the list in his hand and called out.

Qin Tian stood up from the bench in the waiting area, took a deep breath, and tried to appear less nervous.

He followed the torchbearer through several security gates and underwent scanning by multiple special instruments. Only after confirming that there were no abnormal reactions was he allowed to enter an interrogation room.

"Have you come into contact with any strange people recently? Or received any strange items?" The bronze torchbearer sitting inside raised his head, his gaze calmly landing on Qin Tian's face as he sat down.

Qin Tian was taken aback.

"Strange people...? Strange objects...?"

He frowned and thought carefully for a while, going through his memories of the past few days from beginning to end, but found nothing unusual.

So he honestly shook his head.

"No, I'm a homebody. I basically don't talk to strangers, and at work it's all familiar faces, so nothing particularly special happens."

The torchbearer in front of him, wearing a small bronze torch, showed no change in expression and continued to press, "Think carefully. It might not just be strangers; it could be colleagues or friends. Have they shown any unusual behavior recently?"

"Colleagues, friends..." Qin Tian muttered these two words, his mind racing.

"hiss--"

Suddenly, he gasped, his eyes lighting up as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"There really is."

The torchbearer with the bronze emblem tapped the electronic pen lightly on the tablet. "Speak."

"I have a good friend named Ji Ran. She was originally a salted fish like me, and we made a pact to lie flat together."

"But a couple of days ago, I don't know what got into him, he suddenly gave me a diagram of a special ritual, all very mysteriously, and just handed it to me and left without saying another word."

The torchbearer, wearing a small bronze torch, quickly jotted down a few notes on the tablet in front of him, then looked up and repeated the key information: "Special ritual?"

Qin Tian nodded and gestured: "Yes, he said it's a ritual that can increase the cultivation speed of ability users without any side effects. In fact, it only requires a few low-grade energy stones to activate."

Upon hearing this, the torchbearer in charge of recording the interrogation narrowed his eyes, a sharp glint appearing in his previously calm gaze: "So, you tried?"

Hearing this, Qin Tian scratched his head sheepishly, "No. I'm just a nobody, I don't care much about strength or anything like that. Besides, even though all I need are a few low-grade energy stones, I don't have a single one on me."

Not a single energy stone?

The torchbearer in charge of recording the interrogation looked at him with a strange expression: "Are you sure you didn't use that ritual?"

"Yes, me—"

Qin Tian was about to answer when he was rudely interrupted.

"Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely." The torchbearer's voice wasn't loud, but there was an undeniable sense of pressure in his tone. "Think carefully before you speak. If you've used that ritual, it's not too late to confess now. But if we find out later, it won't be as simple as 'cooperating with the investigation.'"

Qin Tian put on a wronged expression: "Sir, everything I said is true, not a single lie! I really haven't used that ritual. The blueprints are still tucked away in my drawer at home; I haven't even opened them!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and almost stood up from his chair.

The torchbearer in charge of taking notes stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then nodded and didn't pursue the matter further.

Then he asked a few more questions about Ji Ran.

Qin Tian answered them one by one.

"Okay, you can go now. We'll call you again if we need anything else."

Qin Tian breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, bowed to the torchbearer with the bronze emblem, and then quickly walked out of the interrogation room.

. . .

Meanwhile, in a spacious and bright office of the Dongjiang Provincial Survey Bureau.

A man wearing a gold badge on his chest and epaulets with four gold bars on his shoulders was sitting behind a desk.

His face was almost too handsome: well-defined features, a high nose bridge, and perfectly curved lips. But what was most striking was his hair, a head of golden hair that looked as if it had been bathed in sunlight, neatly combed and gleaming under the office lights.

Within the Bureau of Investigation's torchbearer system, there are only four levels: torchbearer candidate, bronze badge, silver badge, and gold badge. The gold badge torchbearer is the highest rank.

Above that, the titles are based on the Jiuli's rank system.

For example, this one is a genuine tenth-level True Yang Realm expert with four golden bars on his epaulets!

He's a powerful guardian-level expert!

(Regular job ranks in the Bureau of Investigation: Torchbearer Candidate - Tier 1 & 2, Bronze Badge - Tier 3 & 4, Silver Badge - Tier 5 & 6, Gold Badge - Tier 7 & 8)

(Nine Li ranks: Fire of the Spirit - Tier 5-6, Traveler - Tier 7-8, Impermanence - Tier 9 Void Appearance, Guardian - Tier 10 True Yang, the rest will not be announced for now.)

His title within the Bureau of Investigation was "Guardian Torchbearer".

This is because in the early days of the Investigation Bureau, there were only four levels: torchbearer candidates, bronze, silver, and gold torchbearers, while Jiuli was established internally some time after the Investigation Bureau was established.

That's why this situation has occurred.

A torchbearer wearing a silver badge stood respectfully beside the man, holding a tablet computer in his hand. He bowed slightly and said, "Director, the reports from various regions have been preliminarily compiled and uploaded."

The handsome blond man nodded casually, "Yeah, I'm already looking at it."

His fingers slid lightly across the floating light screen in front of him, his gaze sweeping over the dense text and data line by line.

He read the report carefully, his lips moving slightly as if he were silently reciting something.

"Chen Yinhuo's whereabouts are unknown... two rituals whose specific functions cannot be determined..."

A moment later, he placed his long, slender hand on his forehead and rubbed it vigorously twice.

"As expected, even after taking tactical analysis and strategic guidance courses, I'm still not cut out for this."

He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling, a hint of weariness on his handsome face.

"The Deep Dark Domain suits me better... Sigh, there are still two more years before I can rotate, it's unbearable..."

He sighed again, this time with a heavier sigh than before.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore."

"Let the research institute deal with this headache."

He sprang up from the back of his chair, sat up straight again, and quickly tapped the screen with his fingers to package all the data and send it to the Dongling Research Institute with one click, for professional researchers to analyze and process.

When the notification popped up that the message had been successfully sent, he nodded in satisfaction, picked up the teacup on the table, and took a sip.

Meanwhile, the Silver-Bearer who overheard these words kept his eyes down, his face expressionless, as if he hadn't heard a single word.

The blond bureau chief put down his teacup, leaned back in his chair, and gazed out the window at the skyline of Jiangdong City with his light amber eyes.

"To repel external threats, we must first pacify internal strife."

"Operation Clean Furnace... Hopefully, this fire can burn as cleanly as possible."