The strongest intermediary in all realms

When Zhou Ming returned to his office, it was just beginning to get light.

He placed his backpack on the table and took out the pale blue crystal ball, placing it in the center of his desk.

The crystal sphere shimmered with a soft glow in the morning light, like a frozen little moon.

Gulu emerged from the system space, curiously sniffed the crystal sphere, and sneezed from the warm, moist scent on its surface, then wagged its tail and retreated.

"It's beautiful." Zhou Ming examined the crystal sphere. "Just this one thing powered up the entire teleportation system eleven times."

"Don't be fooled by appearances," Xiao Qi floated over and stood beside the crystal sphere, her expression grave. "I've done a preliminary analysis of its energy structure. The essence of this crystal sphere is an aggregate of some kind of high-concentration dimensional primordial stone. If measured by the standards of the cultivation world, the energy within is enough for a Golden Core cultivator to operate at full power for three years. The fact that the Cleaners possess an energy core of this level indicates that their resource reserves are far more abundant than we imagined."

Zhou Ming picked up the crystal ball, weighed it in his hand, then opened the drawer, put it inside, and locked it.

"Leave it for now. This is a trump card, not an everyday item."

He washed his face, changed into clean clothes, and sat back down at the table to import the photos from the 12th dimension from his phone into his computer. He archived all the information: the watchtower's appearance, the location of the ventilation vents, and the array structure of the basement.

Then he leaned back in his chair and began to plan his next move.

If the liquidators don't receive the goods this morning, there are two possible reactions: First, they will start investigating internally to find out where the problem lies; second, they will urgently send people to Plane Twelve to investigate the reason for the teleportation array malfunction.

Zhou Ming was betting that their manpower was limited and they couldn't handle both ends at the same time in the short term—especially since they didn't know the crystal ball had been stolen.

There is at least a one-day information gap between equipment malfunction and the discovery of the theft.

On this day, he planned to do one thing: create a false impression so that the liquidators would think that "the Blue Star array room malfunctioned" rather than "the 12th plane was infiltrated".

"By diverting suspicion to Blue Star, they'll be busy with repairs near the warehouse, reducing attention to Plane Twelve," Zhou Ming told Xiao Qi.

"I need you to simulate a fragment of information about a malfunction in the array, so that when the array is restarted next time, they read a 'local terminal error' diagnostic log instead of an 'external power loss' alarm."

Xiao Qi nodded thoughtfully: "Sure, I've extracted data fragments from the sealing marks on the wooden crate. Some of them contain the protocol format for communicating with the Blue Star terminal array. We can forge a 'terminal interface error' log and insert it into their system. Technically, it's feasible, but we can't guarantee they'll fall for it completely; it can only delay them."

"Every day you delay is a day you gain."

Zhou Ming turned on his computer, pulled out his notes from last night, and began to refine his plan.

Xiaoqi hovered above the computer, streams of light flowing from her fingertips into the system as she busily constructed a fake log.

At noon, there was a knock on the office door.

Lin Xiaowan's voice came through the door, urgent and low: "Mr. Zhou! Are you there?"

Zhou Ming opened the door, and Lin Xiaowan, wearing an intern vest from the Bureau, had sweat on her forehead, her ponytail was askew, and she was clutching her phone.

She entered the room, slammed the door shut, and leaned against it, catching her breath.

"I found it." Her voice trembled. "The external account you asked me to monitor logged in this morning. It accessed the Green Wave Sword's 'movement history for the past three months.' The Bureau's internal system has a public registration file for this sword; you can find the holder's change records simply by entering a name—it saw my name."

Zhou Ming's heart sank.

"He knows the Green Wave Sword is in your hands?"

"I know." Lin Xiaowan's face paled. "The file shows the registration record of me inheriting this sword from my grandfather last year. The address listed is my home. If he's one of the liquidators, he now knows that this sword is in the hands of an intern named Lin Xiaowan in Yuecheng District."

Zhou Ming stood in front of the table, tapping his fingers lightly twice on the edge. This situation was beyond his expectations.

He had assumed the liquidators were searching blindly in the Rift Zone through black market channels, but he never expected they would have the authority to directly access the Administration's system and check public files.

Lin Xiaowan checked the operation logs left by Green Wave Sword in the system, as well as the time difference of the other party's access, which indicated that the other party was accessing the more basic original registration data, rather than second-hand clues.

"Go home and get that sword," Zhou Ming said. "Go back now, bring the sword to me, and then do something in the Administration Bureau's system: change the 'registration status' of the sword under your name to 'loaned,' and put my name as the loan recipient."

Lin Xiaowan was taken aback: "Why?"

"Because your home isn't safe anymore. They've found your name and address, and the next step is to come and investigate. Putting the sword at your place is like putting a target right at your doorstep. Putting it at my place, at least they haven't targeted me yet—and even if they did, my office is just a facade, and I can leave at any time."

Lin Xiaowan gritted her teeth and nodded, "I'll go right away."

She turned and ran out. The door was open, and the wind from the corridor blew in, making the handwritten "GG" on the table rustle. Zhou Ming stood still, his mind racing.

The timelines are starting to align; the liquidators have discovered the identity of the Green Wave Sword's wielder, meaning they are one step closer to finding Lin Xiaowan's parents.

If he guessed correctly, they wanted to use the bloodline connection of the Green Wave Sword holders to trace the coordinates of the missing personnel from the Azure Sky Mission scattered in the spatial turbulence—if the information that Lin Xiaowan's parents were still alive was confirmed by the other party, the consequences would be unimaginable.

An hour later, Lin Xiaowan returned carrying a long, rectangular object wrapped in cloth. She unwrapped the cloth and placed it on the table; it was the Green Wave Sword with its dark green scabbard.

The vine patterns on the scabbard gleamed in the sunlight, appearing even more exquisite than in the photograph.

"I've already loaned it out," Lin Xiaowan said. "The system shows that you are the current registered owner of this sword. If the other party checks again, they will only see your name and address—"

"No. 87 Wutong Road," Zhou Ming nodded. "That's the address of this office."

Lin Xiaowan stood by the table, her hands resting on the edge, looking down at the sword.

Her shoulders were slightly tense, and her fingertips left a shallow mark on the table.

"Mr. Zhou," she looked up, her eyes a little red but her voice steady, "my parents... tell me the truth, have you already found out something?"

Zhou Ming looked at her, this girl in her early twenties, who had interned at the Administration Bureau for half a year, dealing with files and data every day, and had been guarding an ancestral sword for so many years.

She kept the note her grandfather left before he passed away in her pocket for three years.

"Yes." Zhou Ming opened the drawer, took out his phone, and flipped to the photo of the stone niche in the Shenxiao Ruins.

"The Green Wave Sword does indeed contain the legacy of the Divine Firmament Sect. Your parents' 'Azure Sky Mission' back then involved the Purifiers. The Divine Firmament Sect was wiped out three hundred years ago, also by the Purifiers. They have been hunting down anyone or any organization that attempts stable interdimensional communication."

Lin Xiaowan stared at the photo of the stone niche on her phone screen, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Are they still alive?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," Zhou Ming said honestly. "But the 'two people fell into a spacetime turbulence' you saw in the Bureau's archives, from the perspective of spacetime jump theory, falling into a turbulence doesn't necessarily mean death. It's more likely they were randomly thrown into another dimension. They might still be alive in some world, just unable to find their way back."

Lin Xiaowan remained silent for a long time. The sunlight outside the window shifted from noon to afternoon, and the light changed from bright platinum to warm amber.

Gulu lay quietly on the windowsill, basking in the sun with its tail, occasionally letting out a "squeak".

Finally, she took a deep breath and pushed the Green Wave Sword towards Zhou Ming.

"The sword is yours; you know better than I how to use it." She stood up, wiping her eyes forcefully. "I'll go back to the administration and keep an eye on that account. If there's any new activity, I'll let you know immediately."

"Be careful," Zhou Ming cautioned. "If you notice anyone following you or suspicious individuals appearing near your residence, immediately move to the empty room downstairs from me—I've asked the landlord, and there's a room available for long-term rent on the second floor."

Lin Xiaowan nodded, and as she walked to the door, she turned back to look at him: "Mr. Zhou, you could have clearly stayed out of this. You could have returned the Green Wave Sword to the Purifiers, or simply sold it and ran away. You could have gotten away unscathed. Why did you help me?"

Zhou Ming leaned against the table, looking down at the dark green longsword on it. The patterns on the scabbard reflected the afterglow of the setting sun.

"Because I run a 'jack-of-all-trades' business," he said. "A 'jack-of-all-trades' business means I handle everything; your business falls within my scope."

Lin Xiaowan smiled, the first time Zhou Ming had seen her truly relaxed in the past few days. She pushed open the door and walked out, her steps lighter than when she came in.

Zhou Ming heard her footsteps descending the stairs, one floor at a time, until they disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the street corner.

He turned around, carefully put the Green Wave Sword into the drawer and locked it, making it a neighbor to the blue crystal ball.

A key to the legacy of immortals and heroes, a heart of magical energy—two treasures, separated by a thin wooden board, each silent.

"What's next?" Xiaoqi asked.

"Wait." Zhou Ming sat back in his chair. "The liquidators didn't receive the goods this morning, and they should send someone to the warehouse tonight to check the array. If my forged logs take effect, all their energy tonight will be focused on investigating the 'Blue Star Terminal Interface,' leaving them no time to investigate Plane Twelve."

He paused. "If it doesn't work... then it means their technical lead is more capable than I thought. Forging logs won't fool him. In that case, I'll have to switch to Plan B."

What is Plan B?

Zhou Ming put his feet up on the edge of the table, crossed his arms, and looked at the spider web on the ceiling.

"Plan B is to take all my belongings and the Green Wave Sword, along with you and Gulu, and retreat to the Rift Zone for a couple of days. We'll wait until things calm down before making any further moves. A wise man doesn't stand under a crumbling wall."

Xiaoqi rolled her eyes: "You call this Plan B? This is called running away."

"A strategic retreat," Zhou Ming corrected, "is one of the core operating principles of intermediaries: survive first, then do business."

The sunlight slanted in through the window, turning the dust in the office into golden particles that floated and sank in the air.

A corner of the handwritten "GG" paper on the table was blown up by the wind, and the four characters "Yorozuya Intermediary" on it shone brightly in the light.

Zhou Ming closed his eyes.

Tonight is crucial. Whether the liquidator will fall for it will directly determine whether he remains calm and collected or rushes to the rift zone.

He waited.