No strange things are allowed to evolve!

Although the president never said it outright, there aren't many people he can dislike.

First, someone must be at least on his level, or possess something extraordinary about them to catch his eye; only then can he decide whether he likes or dislikes them.

If it's just an insignificant passerby, there's no question of disliking them; they'll simply be ignored.

So it's quite obvious that Strawberry Milkshake's father was also an evolved being, and probably someone extraordinary.

This made Jiang Shu sigh with emotion. He never expected that all the people he had encountered since his debut were second-generation rich kids. This made him realize how difficult it had been for him, a simple young man who started from scratch and had no one to rely on.

After the president said that, Jiang Shu could understand why Strawberry Milkshake was able to enter and leave the Holy Temple's headquarters unscathed after being exposed.

Jiang Shu found it strange from the beginning. It was understandable that Shen Mo couldn't stop her, since the two had fought before and Shen Mo had personally admitted that Strawberry Milkshake was not a simple character, and even he was not easy to deal with.

It's understandable that the elders couldn't handle it. Strawberry Milkshake dared to venture deep into enemy territory alone, so he must be highly skilled and daring, and must have some tricks up his sleeve. Therefore, it's not surprising that he was able to fool the elders who were there to provide support.

However, it would be unreasonable to say that the head of the church would let a little mouse slip away so easily in his own home.

It's important to understand that the Holy Temple is not a small force. If even an organization of this size cannot pose a threat to the rebels, then frankly, no matter what the rebels want to do, they should win.

However, Jiang Shu's doubts have now been resolved.

If there was a powerful figure of equal caliber to the guild master at the time who was there to provide support, or if the guild master was wary of him and deliberately let Strawberry Milkshake go, then it would make much more sense.

But while I understand, I still have to make the same foolish mistakes.

Jiang Shu asked, "You hate him, yet you let his daughter go? Logically, shouldn't you have captured her, tortured her severely, and then threatened her father to meet your demands? Then, once you got the ransom, you could have killed her. Wouldn't that have been wonderful?"

"?"

The president was deep in thought, seemingly recalling something from the past, and a look of reminiscence unconsciously appeared on his face.

As a result, Jiang Shu's words brought him back to reality.

"What do you take me for?!" the guild leader roared. "What kind of good person would do such a thing?!"

"The other person is a rebel, and don't you dislike them?"

"But there are principles to follow!" The president looked at Jiang Shu, who was grinning, and could tell that he was joking, but he still frowned and emphasized very sternly, "I may dislike him, but it has nothing to do with anyone else. If you make this kind of joke again, I will really beat you up!"

"I have studied this seriously."

But jokes aside, Jiang Shu was genuinely curious about the person the president disliked and feared.

He asked, "But then again, who exactly is Strawberry Milkshake's father? Is she dangerous?"

"It's very dangerous."

The president first answered decisively, then thought for a moment before continuing:

“You’re not the naive kid you were before you entered Lies Town anymore. You’re definitely qualified to get involved with these things now, so you won’t accidentally run into them and not even know who you’re dealing with.”

Jiang Shu listened attentively.

The president gathered his thoughts: "His name is 'Strategist,' the most cunning and mysterious of the rebels. To be honest, if he hadn't made an unprecedented move by personally intervening last time, I wouldn't have known he already had a child..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Shu interrupted, "Why do I detect a hint of resentment in your voice?"

Are you fucking out of your mind?

"Please continue."

"..."

The president took a deep breath before continuing:

"In short, all traces of him in this world are very difficult to find. He hides himself very well. Younger people probably have never even heard of such a person."

However, a careful study of the rebels' activities reveals that their presence is ubiquitous.

If you didn't know him beforehand, he would only leave you with a very incongruous and counterintuitive feeling.

It's like this: even though there's no evidence to prove the existence of a certain person or a certain step, after reviewing the whole thing from beginning to end, you'll find that if that step were missing, the whole thing couldn't have proceeded logically.

He doesn't exist, but he has to exist.

That's the most unique feeling he gives people.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu had already keenly sensed it.

This description doesn't sound like someone's evaluation of another person they've never met, only heard about from them.

The president must know the other party very well.

Therefore, rather than saying that the president dislikes the other party, it would be more accurate to say that he admires him. It's just that the reason why the two are hostile is unknown, whether it's due to different positions or some grudge.

"So how did you find him, or rather, get to know him?" Jiang Shu asked.

"That's not important."

The president seemed reluctant to discuss this matter.

"The important thing is that this person is extremely dangerous."

His danger isn't like a ferocious beast, with its overwhelming slaughter and bloodshed, but more like a venomous snake or spider, leading you step by step into its trap. By the time you realize there's nowhere to escape, it's already too late.

So I have to remind you not to let your guard down just because you spent some time with his daughter and everything turned out fine in the end.

I don't know his daughter, but I know him personally. He's incredibly cunning, and anyone he targets is unlikely to escape.

I specifically called you here today, partly to remind you of this.

The last one was just a small-scale, impromptu event, but this competition is different. You can tell from this list that they have been planning this for a long time.

Although we don't know exactly what it's going to do, we can be sure that it will be very important to the rebels, and they might even show up in person.

I know him, and he knows me too. All I can do is ensure your safety as much as possible. But if they discover you're there and try to do something else to you, I might not be able to help immediately. At that point, you'll have to figure it out for yourself.

Seeing how serious the chairman was, Jiang Shu naturally decided to back down.

"I said, since something so unexpected and dangerous has happened, wouldn't it be better if I just retreated?"

It wasn't that Jiang Shu was afraid.

However, some things are more meaningful than life itself. He now shoulders the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the Bureau of Different Lineages, filling the gap in the Bureau's lack of outstanding Love and Desire Spiritual Root Evolvers, and changing the situation where excellent Love and Desire Spiritual Root Evolvers are monopolized by the Old Man of No Controversy.

Therefore, it's best to be cautious and avoid unnecessary trouble if possible.

However, to Jiang Shu's surprise, his reasonable request was not met.

The chairman shook his head and said, "Although that's what I thought too, I had already discussed your future with your bureau chief before you came. His opinion is that you should stay for now."

"Why?" Jiang Shu was a little confused.

"I don't know either, but he must have his own reasons. Just do as he says." The chairman didn't say much, and Jiang Shu couldn't tell whether he was genuinely unsure or just pretending.

This made Jiang Shu fall into deep thought.

When he first came to the Holy Temple, he had two reasons: first, to use the confrontation with the incubation field to quickly improve his strength; and second, because the director needed to investigate the mastermind behind Qin Lang's betrayal and thoroughly investigate the mole within the Bureau of Different Lineages, he would not be able to take care of Jiang Shu at all times, so he entrusted him to the president of the Holy Temple.

However, despite what the director said, Jiang Shu has always been skeptical of this statement.

He felt that with the director's abilities, no matter how dangerous the mastermind was or how complicated the investigation of this lead was, it was absolutely impossible for the director to devote all his attention to it and be unable to spare the time.

Therefore, he always felt that the director had other purposes for asking him to come, but he just hadn't told him yet.

Previously, I thought it was to win the championship of the competition, become the King of Confrontation, obtain the Confrontation Token, and accumulate strength for the competition with the Elder Wuzheng in the Ancestral Spiritual Root Incubation Field.

But now it seems that this is not the case, or at least it's not just for that reason.

Because the threat from the rebels is obviously greater than the threat from the traitors. Staying in the Holy Temple, the main battlefield, is not as good as returning to the Bureau of Different Lineages. But the director wants me to stay. Isn't that a contradiction?

Unless the director has some kind of plan in which he is an indispensable part, and his departure would cause the plan to fail and benefit the rebels, the director would not do such a thing.

But... what is the plan?

Jiang Shu was completely clueless.

So he tentatively asked, "Even if I stay here for the time being, I definitely can't continue to get involved in the confrontation with the hatchery and the subsequent confrontation competition, right? Wouldn't it be better to just stay in the hotel until everything is over?"

"Um..."

The president pondered, looking as if he was truly thinking.

But in the end, just as Jiang Shu expected, he shook his head: "No, we still have to do things the way they should. Although the confirmed list of personnel is from the qualifying rounds, we can't be sure that there won't be any of their people in the points rounds."

You've been making waves in the points race lately; even I've heard about you from people I don't know.

In this situation, if you suddenly disappeared, wouldn't that easily attract unnecessary attention?

To be honest, the reason is far-fetched.

Although a sudden disappearance may attract attention, such attention will certainly be short-lived and far less than if one keeps causing trouble.

Therefore, Jiang Shu was almost certain that the chairman was hiding something from him, something that he and the bureau chief had discussed and decided upon.

This is in stark contrast to the president's previous attitude of telling me to be more restrained, instead of just doing what I normally do...

Doesn't he know what I've been doing all this time?

Let's think about it more deeply.

Regarding the incident in Lie Town, it's impossible that Strawberry Milkshake didn't report it to the strategist truthfully. In other words, it's impossible that the strategist was unaware of his existence; at most, he might not have known that he was also in the Sanctuary, preparing for the competition.

But if the strategist is truly as feared as the chairman says, and considering the other party's style of doing things, then since the chairman can find out about these things, can't the other party investigate back to find out what is happening in the sanctuary in real time?

Therefore, Jiang Shu had reason to suspect that he might not be staying temporarily, but rather unable to leave temporarily.

I'm afraid I'm being watched.

Therefore, the director and the chairman concluded that staying was safer than running around.

As for why things should be done the way they should be, that's even easier to explain.

Since we've already been targeted, we might as well turn the tables, escalate the situation, and play the role of bait.

The enemy is currently in the shadows while we are in the open. If they don't take any action, even if we have a list, it's pointless to take control of everyone before we figure out their purpose. It would only alert them. So we can only wait passively.

However, if your presence causes the other party to take actions outside of their plan, it may expose a flaw, giving your side an opportunity.

Even Jiang Shu had to admit that this was indeed the best option at present, and the most likely way to break the deadlock.

The problem is, Jiang Shu doesn't want to be passively used as bait in this high-level game.

Not having a choice is secondary.

After all, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. When you're not strong enough, you'll encounter a lot of helplessness. Jiang Shu understands this principle and can accept it.

The main problem is that even if the bureau chief and the chairman have made thorough preparations, Jiang Shu simply doesn't have the habit of completely entrusting his life and fortune to others.

He has more faith in himself than others, and he never regrets failures caused by his own mistakes, but rather accepts them calmly.

Only what you control in your own hands is called destiny.

Moreover, he was more afraid of the unexpected than the possible consequences. He never wanted to experience that kind of coercion, like being threatened with a strawberry milkshake, again.

Although Lietown is actually quite fun, the experience of being forced to do something is completely different from doing something voluntarily.

So even if the strategist brought in a non-human woman he had never seen before to sit on him with Dafu, Jiang Shu would not feel happy at all if it was forced.

Furthermore, even if we take a step back and assume something happens to me because of this, wouldn't my parents be sad and feel very sorry for me?

Jiang Shu was a filial son, and he could not allow such a thing to happen under his nose.

However, he knew he couldn't get away now, so he felt he had to do something to change his role as bait and turn the tables.

Rather than reacting to each move, it's better to take the initiative and strike first to avoid being hit a hundred times. This is a principle that Jiang Shu has always firmly believed in.

So he turned his attention to the list.

The only way to turn the tables and take the initiative is to focus on the people on the list...

Chapter 254 The Target Appears

Seeing that Jiang Shu hadn't spoken for a long time, the president assumed that he was going through a difficult internal struggle.

He knew Jiang Shu well. Although he had some admirable qualities, his flaws outweighed his virtues. In most cases, he would back down when faced with difficulties and only take action when there were benefits.

Therefore, it's really asking him to continue as usual despite the risks under these circumstances.

But there was no other way; he had to overcome it.

So the president had no choice but to harden his heart and say:

"Anyway, you just need to do what you're supposed to do during this time and continue to focus on preparing for the competition. You don't need to worry about anything else; I'll take care of everything for you."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu didn't say much and simply nodded.

He didn't intend to tell the other person his thoughts because he didn't want to create any unnecessary unpleasantness.