The strongest intermediary in all realms

When Lin Xiaowan sat on the crippled guest chair in Zhou Ming's office, her expression vividly illustrated what it meant to be "a fish waiting to be caught."

She rested her hands on her knees, blinking her eyes as she looked at Zhou Ming, just like a kitten waiting by its food bowl.

"Found it?" she asked in a low voice. "Where did that sword come from?"

Zhou Ming took the photo of the Green Wave Sword out of the drawer and pushed it in front of her. Then he leaned against the edge of the desk, crossed his arms, and struck a pose like a professional "intelligence broker".

"The Azure Sky Realm, the Divine Firmament Sect, the token of its last leader." He spoke clearly, enunciating each word. "The Divine Firmament Sect was a cultivation sect that perished three hundred years ago, and it once held considerable prestige in the Azure Sky Realm. This sword was a symbol of their leader's identity. Your ancestors likely obtained this sword by chance, but never understood its true value."

"That's...that's it?" Lin Xiaowan tilted her head. "No treasure map? No martial arts manual?"

Zhou Ming remained unfazed: "According to the information I've gathered, this sword is primarily used for 'identity verification.' If the holder reaches a certain cultivation level, they can use the sword to activate certain facilities within the Shenxiao Sect ruins. But for ordinary people, it's just a rather old ancient sword. Your sword, on the other hand, is exquisitely crafted; if sold as an antique, it would probably be worth quite a bit of money."

Lin Xiaowan's expression showed a brief moment of disappointment, but she quickly recovered: "That's true. My grandfather was just an ordinary schoolteacher during the Republic of China era. If he really had some earth-shattering secret, he would have made a name for himself long ago."

"However," Zhou Ming added, "I discovered something during my research. When you search for 'All-Heavens Purgers' within the Administration Bureau, that 'High Risk, Sealed' record is best avoided. It involves very deep layers of information; for an intern like you to delve into that could easily backfire."

Lin Xiaowan's expression stiffened slightly, then she lowered her head and remained silent for two seconds. When she looked up again, her eyes were a little red.

"Mr. Zhou... there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

Zhou Ming's heart skipped a beat. His intuition told him that Lin Xiaowan was hiding something.

"you say."

"The reason I'm in such a hurry to investigate the secret of this sword," Lin Xiaowan said, pulling a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handing it to me, "is because my grandfather gave it to me three years ago before he passed away. He said, 'The Green Wave Sword holds the clues to saving my parents.'"

Zhou Ming took the note and unfolded it. It contained a line of crooked, labored handwriting, clearly written with great difficulty by the old man in his final moments.

"The sword contains a technique that allows you to cross realms. Your parents didn't die; they traveled through time."

Zhou Ming's finger stopped at the edge of the note. He slowly raised his eyes to look at Lin Xiaowan.

Your parents...

"When I was six years old, they said I was going to participate in an 'exploration mission' organized by the Bureau, and then that was it." Lin Xiaowan's voice was unusually calm, as if she had practiced it many times before she could achieve such composure.

"The Bureau's conclusion was 'the passage was unstable, all personnel are out of contact, presumed dead,' but my grandfather insisted they weren't dead, saying they 'traveled through' and are trapped in some dimension, unable to return."

Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the note: "I always thought Grandpa was senile, until I started my internship at the Bureau and came across that sealed record of 'The Purgers of the Heavens'...and discovered my dad's name was also on the list of associated personnel."

Zhou Ming was stunned.

"What did you say?"

"My dad was the captain of that exploration mission back then." Lin Xiaowan looked up at him. "The mission's code name was 'Qingxiao.' The mission was to explore a newly discovered immortal-world portal, the Qingxiao Realm. There were seven people on that mission, and all of them went missing. The Administration Bureau said it was due to the instability of the portal, but the sealed records I found say—'Attacked by an unknown force, suspected to be related to the Purifiers of the Heavens.'"

The office fell silent. The sounds of hoverbikes and vendors outside the window became distant and indistinct through the glass, like sounds from another world.

Zhou Ming sat back down in his chair, looking at the girl across from him wearing an intern vest from the Bureau of Administration. She had her hair tied in a ponytail, her face still had a bit of baby fat, but something in her eyes far exceeded her age.

"So you're investigating Green Wave Sword not just out of curiosity," Zhou Ming said, "but because you want to find your parents."

Lin Xiaowan nodded, her lips pressed tightly together.

Zhou Ming turned to look at Xiao Qi, who had been silently floating in the corner. Xiao Qi typed a message to him expressionlessly: "What she said matches the system records. Lin Xiaowan's father's file does indeed show 'Qingxiao Mission - Missing,' and the related keyword is 'liquidation.' But this part of the information is encrypted; as an intern, she doesn't have the necessary permissions to see it all."

Zhou Ming remained silent for a long time.

Then he reached out his hand.

"I'll help you investigate your parents' matter. There's indeed more information sealed within the Green Wave Sword, but I can't tell you all at once—some things are too dangerous for you right now. You have to agree to one condition."

Lin Xiaowan grasped his hand: "What are the conditions?"

"For now, don't delve into any files related to the 'Liquidators,' and don't mention the details of the Divine Firmament I just told you to anyone. Continue your internship at the Administration Bureau and keep an eye on any changes to publicly available information related to the 'Liquidation' in the internal system. Keep me updated regularly," Zhou Ming said, emphasizing each word. "Once I've completed the preliminary preparations, we'll work together to find a way to rescue your parents."

Lin Xiaowan stared at him for several seconds. Then she let go and suddenly smiled.

"Mr. Zhou, you are unlike any other real estate agent I've ever met."

"Why is it different?"

"Other agents only talk about money," she said. "You're genuinely trying to help."

Zhou Ming was a little embarrassed by her straightforward evaluation, and he lowered his head and pretended to tidy up the papers on the table to hide his expression.

Xiao Qi rolled her eyes in the corner and muttered in the system voice that only Zhou Ming could hear, "Recruiting more followers? You might as well start a 'Cross-Dimensional Mutual Aid Association' instead."

After Lin Xiaowan left, Zhou Ming closed the office door and let out a long sigh.

"Things are more complicated than I imagined."

He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the cobwebs on the ceiling. "Among the seven people who went missing during the Qingxiao mission were Lin Xiaowan's parents. The 'unknown force' they encountered during that mission was most likely the Purifiers. The annihilation of the Shenxiao Sect was also the Purifiers' doing. The Purifiers have been active for at least three hundred years, and they operate across dimensions. Their goal is to 'sever the connections between all worlds,' isolating each world once again."

"Yes." Xiao Qi floated down and sat in front of him, her short legs swinging back and forth on the edge of the table. "Moreover, the fragment of the Divine Firmament Sect Leader's divine consciousness that I just intercepted mentioned a detail—there is a core figure at the 'High Priest' level within the Purifiers who can manipulate a special 'Severance Technique,' which can directly destroy passages and even erase the connection points between planes on a small scale. The reason the Divine Firmament Sect was wiped out overnight was because they were trying to build a stable interdimensional teleportation array, which triggered the Purifiers' 'Severance Technique.'"

Zhou Ming frowned: "With so many portals connecting Earth to other planes, isn't Blue Star a huge target in the eyes of the Cleaners?"

"According to their logic, Earth is the 'core lesion of the multiverse's disease." Xiao Qi's tone was unusually serious.

"Therefore, the annihilation of the Shenxiao Sect is just the tip of the iceberg in the purge. They have been secretly sabotaging passages between worlds and interdimensional communication. The reason why nothing major has happened on Blue Star yet may be because the purgers are accumulating power, or they may be waiting for a specific opportunity."

Zhou Ming rubbed his temples. He started with a shabby office and a cutesy system spirit, but on the second day, he got into trouble with a cross-dimensional terrorist organization that had lived for hundreds of years.

Isn't the difficulty level of this script a bit too high?

Just as he was about to complain, his phone vibrated again.

Chen Jianguo sent a WeChat voice message. He opened it and listened. Old Chen's hoarse voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Brother Zhou, the doctor examined her and said that the combination of the flower stamen and the medicine is perfectly suited to her condition. Xiaoyue took the medicine once today, and her cough has lessened considerably tonight. She just told me she wanted to eat strawberries... She hasn't asked for anything on her own for three months. Brother Zhou, I'm so grateful. If you ever need me to run errands in the future, just say the word."

Zhou Ming listened to the voice message twice, then locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.

Xiaoqi looked at the slight upturn of his lips and said softly, "You're clearly smiling happily, but you pretend to be so calm."

"Don't even try."

Zhou Ming stood up and stretched. "Let's get down to business. First, organize the information extracted from the Green Wave Sword into two sets: a 'basic version' and an 'advanced version.' We'll verbally explain the basic version to Lin Xiaowan when she comes over later. Second, continue running through the rift zone tomorrow, using the remaining Blue Star daily necessities to exchange for spirit talismans with rogue cultivators, and save up universal points to buy disguise talismans. Third—"

He paused.

"Third, compile an analysis report on the behavior patterns of the 'liquidators.' Since they are collecting inheritance information and boundary coordinates from various worlds, I will do the opposite: use the tentacles of the intermediary network to collect traces of their activities. Knowing your enemy is the key to survival."

Xiao Qi jumped off the table, and when she landed, her body transformed into a normal human size. She stood next to Zhou Ming and stretched—this action, combined with her loli-like face, had a strangely cute feel to it.

"Boss," she suddenly changed her address, "Although you may look like a poor, struggling real estate agent, in terms of decision-making logic... you're actually quite suited for this job."

"Thanks," Zhou Ming said expressionlessly, "though it doesn't sound like a compliment."

He walked to the window and opened it. The afternoon sun slanted in, bathing the dilapidated office in a warm golden light.

Outside the window, pedestrians carrying long swords and deliverymen riding hovermobiles strolled along the street. Steam rose from the steamer baskets of the corner bun shop, a strange blend of everyday life and the atmosphere of fantasy.

This world is vast, and the myriad realms are even larger.

He was just a real estate agent who had only been open for two days.

But that's okay, we'll take it one step at a time.

At least today, a girl named Xiaoyue can eat strawberries.