Then let the witch offer her loyalty

"Besides, I know that you gangsters are particular about following the leader and think it's important who you work for."

"Then you should think carefully—what is the biggest mountain you can worship in the Rose Empire?"

After saying this, Chen Moxin patted Chu Fan on the head and left.

After Chen Moxin left, Chu Fan squatted there blankly, remaining silent.

Suddenly, accompanied by an explosive cheer, he started dancing wildly as if he had gone mad.

"Yay! I'm ashore!!!"

...

After leaving the warehouse, Chen Moxin found an abandoned gasoline can in a secluded spot, threw in her blood-stained raincoat, gloves, shoe covers, mask, and other items, and burned them.

As he was preparing to return to Xinshi, he saw a patrol car from the Public Security Bureau parked on the side of the road.

A uniformed sheriff leaned against the car door, casually smoking a cigarette, while several tattooed thugs stood opposite him.

While the rioters and the sheriff were chatting and laughing, the sheriff used his position as cover to throw a thick, bulging black plastic bag into the passenger window.

The sheriff caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, but acted as if he hadn't seen anything. He simply exhaled smoke rings and said casually, "I'll turn a blind eye to this street for the next three days. Don't make too much noise, or you'll put me in a difficult position."

The thugs bowed and scraped, laughing, "Don't worry, officer, we know the rules. After we kill those bastards, we'll clean up the mess."

The sheriff took a cigarette out of his pocket and tossed it to the thug, then patted him on the shoulder like an old friend before they went their separate ways.

Chen Moxin saw this scene from afar and gave a brief smile.

No matter the country, including the Rose Empire, there is never absolute harmony between official internal institutions.

Whether due to their positions, factions, or interests, different organizations will inevitably have conflicts while cooperating with each other.

The Public Security Bureau and the Witch Management Bureau are the best examples.

Both are imperial law enforcement agencies and share the responsibility of maintaining social stability, but their relationship is not as harmonious as people might imagine.

The reason is simple: the existence of the Witch Administration Bureau greatly affects the status of the Public Security Bureau.

In the first few years after the emergence of psionicists, there was no such organization as the "Witch Administration Bureau".

The tracking and capture of psionicists are all handled by elite forces within the Security Bureau.

In those years, the Public Security Bureau wielded immense power, and almost every agency had to revolve around those police officers.

However, as internal reforms deepened, the Upper House Council established the "Witch Administration Bureau" to handle psychic-related incidents, which was equivalent to transferring a large part of its power from the Security Bureau.

Who would feel good in this situation?

Therefore, while the Public Security Bureau and the Administration Bureau appear to be sister units, they are actually very unfriendly to this newly established institution in recent decades.

When the Administration Bureau needs the Public Security Bureau to cooperate in handling cases, the other party will cooperate on the surface, but will secretly create various obstacles.

Why has this gray area, located on the outskirts of the Twin Cities, been so difficult to eradicate for so long?

Besides historical reasons, the main reason is that the Public Security Bureau deliberately turned a blind eye.

The Public Security Bureau used its power to cultivate relationships with local violent groups and provide them with covert protection in order to prevent the Bureau's influence from spreading to this area.

In the Twin Cities, the Bureau of Management wields considerable power in the New City, and all departments must cooperate with them should any psychic-related cases arise.

But this approach doesn't work in remote areas, because that's the territory of the security bureau.

Nine out of ten violent groups have the secret support of the police department, and the remaining one might even be a group directly sent by the police department to change its identity.

Once illegal psychic individuals appear on the border, the Public Security Bureau will outwardly cooperate with the Administration Bureau, but secretly instruct violent groups to obstruct the Administration Bureau's investigations in order to damage their image and status.

The Public Security Bureau was well aware of these disgusting underhanded tactics employed by the Public Security Bureau, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Thanks to the long-term management of the Public Security Bureau, the border area has long been an impenetrable fortress.

This is something that can't be discussed openly.

If we insist on tearing down that facade and everyone starts exposing each other, it will ultimately damage the image of the entire empire.

Therefore, the management bureau can only silently swallow such hidden losses.

Chen Moxin brought Chu Fan here for two reasons: firstly, to find someone to take the blame, and secondly, to use him as a pawn to infiltrate this remote border region.

The conflict between the Public Security Bureau and the Administration Bureau stems from a power imbalance, a structural contradiction that is not only irreconcilable but also tends to intensify over time.

Chen Moxin didn't know if the higher-ups in the Administration Bureau had any plans for this. At least for him, if the day of conflict really came, he didn't want to be left without any useful cards to play.

Chen Moxin chose Chu Fan not only because they had met once before, but also because he thought the man was smart enough.

Intelligent people have a major flaw: they are good at playing both sides and assessing situations, but they lack eternal loyalty and will only stand in the position that is most advantageous to themselves.

But this biggest drawback is also its biggest advantage.

Because as long as you can convince him that following you is the most advantageous option, he will be devoted to you and more loyal than a dog.

...

The next day at noon, Chen Moxin returned to her office after finishing her business. Alexander and Lei Lie were huddled together discussing something.

"Hey Chen, did you eat that gossip from the border region?"

"What melon?"

"That Luo Fei you asked me to investigate yesterday, his whole gang was killed last night."

"Oh, really? Who killed him?"

Alexander, with a gossipy air, said in a leisurely manner, "You might not believe it, but it was done by a middleman from the border region named Chu Fan. I heard he had some kind of conflict with Luo Fei."

"Holy crap, do you know how awesome Chu Fan is? I heard he charged into Luo Fei's territory with a fire axe and chopped down more than thirty people! More than thirty! I can't chop down that many people in one game!"

"This guy became famous overnight yesterday; now the underworld calls him 'Frontier Axe King.'"

Chen Moxin raised an eyebrow: "You're so well-informed?"

Alexander laughed and said, "My dad works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He used to introduce me to a lot of friends who work in intelligence. They would tell me about things that weren't classified, just for fun, so I often got to know all sorts of gossip."

He had just finished speaking when he was suddenly hit on the head by a stack of documents.

Yang Jie stood behind him, his face stern, and said, "Guaguagua, all you do is eat melons all day long, you don't do any serious work at all! You've been at the Ninth Bureau of Demon Hunting for so many days, have you found a witch willing to form a spiritual contract with you yet?"

"Uh haha...not yet..." Alexander and Lei Lie were both embarrassed.

Yang Jie shook his head and said in a tone of disappointment, "You two are truly the worst reserves I've ever trained."

“Look at Chen Moxin, just now, she already has a second witch.”

"The second one?" Alexander was taken aback and looked at Chen Moxin.

"Could it be that girl named Gu Qiaoqiao? Did she make a spiritual pact with you?"

"Hmm, that's what I did this morning."

"Didn't she just complete the incarceration procedures yesterday? Why is she willing to sign a contract with you right away?"

"There's nothing we can do, your Brother Chen is just that sought after."

Yang Jie picked up the thread and scolded Alexander and Lei Lie, "Look at them, and then look at you. You're never serious. Do you want to be reservists for life?"

Alexander and Lei Lie shrank back, no longer daring to slack off, and hurriedly ran out of the office, preparing to take advantage of their lunch break to go to the containment area and try to build a relationship with the witch lady there.

After the two left, the office became much quieter.

Chen Moxin returned to her workstation and entered Gu Qiaoqiao's interface in the system panel.

[Current Task: Resolve Gu Qiaoqiao's Debt Issues (Completed)]

[Reward Obtained: Gu Qiaoqiao obtains "Mental Interference - Emotion"]

[Awakened to the second stage of psychic power, gaining the advanced power "Refractive Spirit"]

When a psychic uses "Refraction," they can choose whether to activate "Refraction Spirit" to enter a spirit form.

In their spirit form, psychics are no longer visually invisible, but completely detached from the physical world, unaffected by the material world, and unable to launch any attacks.

[The "Refractive Spirit" will accumulate more rampant and erosive thoughts than the "Refractive Spirit"]

【...】

[Detection indicates that the host has previously entered into a spiritual pact with the witch.]

The third-tier awakening ability "Phantom Image" will be unlocked after completing all exclusive missions.

【Phantom Image: When a psionicist activates their ability, they can create a phantom clone that is identical to themselves. The duration of the clone depends on the amount of psionic energy injected.】

[During its existence, the illusory form possesses a real physical entity, inherits all the powers and characteristics of the psychic, and can be autonomously controlled by the psychic through their consciousness.]

[The Shadow Form can use the same psionic energy as the original body, but the resulting maddening erosion will be three times that of the original body.]

The illusory image will dissipate upon receiving fatal damage or upon the end of its duration.

When the illusory image annihilates, a psionic explosion occurs, causing massive damage to surrounding objects.

During the day today, Gu Qiaoqiao found Chen Moxin and discussed with him the matter of establishing a spiritual contract.

This was actually a foregone conclusion. Gu Qiaoqiao only had Chen Moxin as an acquaintance in the management bureau, and it was he who helped her solve the usury problem yesterday.

Logically and emotionally, Gu Qiaoqiao would definitely take the initiative to find Chen Moxin and become his witch; this is both an act of trust and a way of repaying him.

So, naturally, the two went through the application process in the morning and quickly completed the ceremony of establishing a spiritual pact.

Chen Moxin thus became one of the few psychics in the bureau to possess "multiple spiritual contracts," something even his direct superior, Yang Jie, had never accomplished.

Now, Gu Qiaoqiao's second and third stage awakening effects of spiritual energy can be seen through the system.

Chen Moxin said, "Thank you, I feel great."

Now who can tell him apart from the Demon Joker?!

Chapter 123 The polarity reversal

Chen Moxin calmed himself down, shifted his focus from the abilities to the last task.

The events that befell the witch have now settled, and she has no more worries.

She was once an unattainable moon, but now she has quietly fallen to the mortal realm.

Others' moonlight can only shine in their dreams, but yours lingers right before your eyes.

Dedicate your final song to her.

[Final Mission: Fulfill Gu Qiaoqiao's romantic fantasies]

[Task Reward 1: Gu Qiaoqiao obtains "Mind Interference - Ultimate"]

[Mission Reward 2: Obtain 1 "Talent Point", which can be used to unlock the "General Psionic Talent"]

Looking at this task, Chen Moxin fell into deep thought.

To fulfill Gu Qiaoqiao's romantic fantasies?

This description is somewhat vague and doesn't provide any specific direction.

Based on Chen Moxin's previous experience, this must refer to something specific, or certain specific things.

Chen Moxin originally wanted to ask Gu Qiaoqiao in person to see if she could get any information out of her.

But after much deliberation, he decided not to do it.

Firstly, a shy, girl-next-door type like Gu Qiaoqiao might be too embarrassed to tell you directly if you ask her.

Furthermore, a fantasy is a fantasy because, subjectively, the person involved believes that such a thing is difficult to achieve, but subconsciously, they yearn for it to happen.

Only when one harbors both regret and longing can it be called fantasy.

If Chen Moxin had asked directly, Gu Qiaoqiao might have guessed that he was going to surprise her.

Once you have expectations, fantasy may no longer be fantasy.

Chen Moxin didn't know how the system would judge this aspect, or whether it would be so convoluted. It was also possible that he was just overthinking it.

To be on the safe side, finding out Gu Qiaoqiao's little secret without her knowledge would be foolproof.

With that in mind, Chen Moxin took advantage of her lunch break from 12 to 14 pm to make a special trip to Gu Qiaoqiao's house.

Uncle Gu and Aunt Fan had both gone to work, so no one was home, and Chen Moxin didn't have a key.

However, a mere door lock was no match for a psychic like him.

He activated the [Raging Suppression] talent, unleashed Gu Qiaoqiao's second-tier awakened ability "Refractive Spirit," and entered a spirit form.