273: Chapter 274 Top Secret Cause of Death Revealed; Seclusion Leads to Attainment of Divine Power!

Over the next three days, the entire Federation watched a grand drama unfold.

Following Lin Qi's plan, Zhang Wei's internet water army team had successfully shifted the focus of public opinion from "Lin Qi's abilities" to "Li Qingcang's crimes."

The Federal Military acted with extreme speed.

On the afternoon of the exhibition center incident, the Federal Investigation Bureau officially filed treason charges against Li Qingcang.

A special operations team directly under the military arrived in Tianhai City shortly after, emptying out all material evidence within six hours, including the remains of the destroyed magic array where the skull of the old god had been located.

The next day, the Supreme People's Procuratorate of the Federation issued a bulletin confirming that the Kyoto Li Family was suspected of stealing the Federation's SS-class protected cultural relic, the "skull of the old god." Li Qingcang was arrested, and all Family assets were frozen.

On the third day, the Li Family's ancestral home of a century was sealed off, their seventy-two subsidiary companies entered bankruptcy liquidation, and twenty thousand employees faced unemployment.

Three days.

A century-old powerhouse, dismantled.

As news spread, all the major families and clans in the Federation could no longer sit still.

What truly terrified them was the manner in which the Li Family had collapsed.

A teenager, without official backing, without Family influence, had uprooted a century of foundation by his own strength.

Economic strangulation, media crushing, legal pinning, plus that unspoken factor on a physical level.

Clean and efficient.

On the Federation's social networks, someone compiled a "Lin Qi Achievement List," starting from the Awakening ceremony at Tianhai No. 3 High School to the finale at the exhibition center; every time he clashed with a force, the other side was turned upside down.

This achievement list was captioned with four words: "Don't provoke this person."

The likes exceeded one billion.

Tianhai City, Huichun Hall headquarters, second-floor office.

Zhang Wei sat in the boss's chair, with three holographic screens lit up in front of him, monitoring public opinion data while answering the phone.

"I said no! Even if you raise the interview fee to five million, it's still no! Brother Qi isn't accepting any interviews, stop bothering me."

"Uh-huh, the documentary rights can be discussed, but the share can't be lower than seventy-thirty, with us getting seventy."

"What? Ask Brother Qi to endorse an energy drink? How much a year? Two hundred million? Are you trying to pay off a beggar? Twenty billion, Federation Credits, to start."

Hanging up the phone, he took a large gulp of tea.

He was hot, completely hot.

After the exhibition center incident, all sorts of people flocked in—media, corporations, and even a few mid-sized Schools all came to inquire, hoping to establish a connection with Lin Qi.

The total value of commercial cooperation proposals exceeded thirty billion.

If Lin Qi himself were willing to show his face, ten times that amount wouldn't be enough.

Unfortunately, Brother Qi had zero interest in any of this.

"Reject them all."

Three words, his exact words.

Zhang Wei could only act as a shield; he was good at collecting money, but pushing money away was even harder than spending it.

"Young Master Zhang."

The office door was knocked twice, and his assistant poked his head in.

"There's someone outside looking for you, saying the 'Boss' sent him."

The flesh on Zhang Wei's face twitched.

"Let him in."

Chen Shu walked in.

His black suit was spotless, he walked without a sound, and his presence was terrifyingly low.

This was the first time Zhang Wei had been alone with this man, and he felt somewhat uneasy; this guy used to be the head of the Li Family's shadow operations, responsible for countless lives.

Now he belonged to Brother Qi, but that coldness remained.

"Young Master Zhang." The address was very formal.

"Don't call me Young Master Zhang, just call me Fatty." Zhang Wei waved his hand, suppressing the awkwardness in his heart. "What is it?"

"Master instructed me to organize the list of the Li Family's intelligence network, and it is complete."

Chen Shu took a black USB drive from his inner pocket and placed it on the table.

"There are 117 shadow lines of the Li Family across the six administrative districts of the Federation over three generations, involving the military, the business world, politics, and the black market. Forty-three are ineffective, twenty-one were cleared out after the Li Family incident, and fifty-three remain usable."

Zhang Wei picked up the USB drive and weighed it.

"Fifty-three shadow lines."

"Control has been severed from the Li Family's System, re-encrypted, and handed over to Master. Please instruct on how to allocate and use them."

"Alright, I'll hold onto it for now and give it to Brother Qi when he returns. Anything else?"

"Yes."

Chen Shu paused for a beat, which for him was considered a significant fluctuation.

"There is progress on the matter Master asked me to investigate."

"Which one?"

"The Northern Forbidden Zone, Zheng Wujiang."

Zhang Wei's expression changed.

"You found it in just three days?"

"One of the Li Family's shadow lines had direct access to the Northern Military archive." Chen Shu answered concisely. "Zheng Wujiang's death report has a public version and an internal version that are different."

"How are they different?"

"Public version: Encountered a herd of Void Beasts while executing a C-class clearance mission and died in the line of duty."

"In the internal version, the Void Beasts in the mission area had already been completely cleared before Zheng Wujiang arrived. He did not die from Void Beasts."

"Twenty minutes before his death, all monitoring equipment in the mission area malfunctioned simultaneously, leaving behind only a fragment of incomplete environmental data."

"That record shows that in the seventeen minutes before Zheng Wujiang's death, there were large-scale anomalies in the physical constants at his location: gravity fluctuations, electromagnetic field disturbances, and unstable spatial structures."

"It perfectly matches the characteristics of System Rejection."

Zhang Wei leaned back in his chair.

He remembered the time at the Xiao Family gate, when Brother Qi's body turned transparent, and physical Laws were stripped away.

Zheng Wujiang had experienced the same thing thirty years ago.

But he didn't have "My Body is the World."

So he died.

"Have you notified Brother Qi?"

"Not yet. Master instructed me to inform you first if there were results, so you could pass it on."

Zhang Wei nodded.

"Got it, you go back first."

After Chen Shu left, he sat in the office alone for a long while.

He picked up the phone, hesitated for a few seconds, and then dialed.

"Brother Qi."

The background noise on the other end was very quiet; Lin Qi must be in seclusion somewhere recovering.

"Speak."

"Chen Shu's investigation has results. Zheng Wujiang died of System Rejection thirty years ago."

There was silence on the other end for three seconds.

"As I thought."

"Did you guess it a long time ago?"

"Eighty percent sure, now it's confirmed."

"Then..." Zhang Wei swallowed hard. "This world has already killed someone like you once. It killed one thirty years ago, and now it's set its sights on you."

"So what?"

"So what are you going to do next?"

A soft chuckle came from the other side, with a hint of expectation.

"The person from thirty years ago walked into a dead end."

"Because he didn't find the right direction."

"But he left behind a notebook."

Zhang Wei slapped his thigh: "You mean the one The Scavenger mentioned? Zheng Wujiang's martial arts notebook?"

"Yeah, I need that notebook."

"But The Scavenger only said the notebook existed; he didn't say where it was."

"Have Chen Shu check. Zheng Wujiang's belongings should have been sealed by the military after his death. With Chen Shu's ability plus those fifty-three shadow lines, he'll find it."

"Alright, I'll arrange it immediately."

"Also."

"Go ahead, Brother Qi."

"Starting tomorrow, help me find a place."

"What kind?"

"High concentration of Law, abundant energy, preferably related to essence. I need to go into seclusion for a Breakthrough."

Zhang Wei's breathing quickened slightly.

Brother Qi was going to attempt a Breakthrough.

"To the Tongshen Realm?"

"Yeah."

"How about the core area of the Extreme Cold Ice Cave? The essence concentration is a hundred times higher than the outside."

"No." Lin Qi rejected it directly. "The environment is too extreme. My physical state hasn't fully recovered to its Peak. The risk of attempting a Breakthrough there is too high."

"Then..."

Zhang Wei's brain spun rapidly, and suddenly an idea popped up.

"Brother Qi, what about the Earth Fiend Cave?"

"The Earth Fiend Cave?"

"Didn't you take back the core compass? That place is a natural Law node. Although the essence inside isn't as dense as the ice cave, it's stable. Most importantly, you've 'suppressed' that place, so you naturally have a home-field advantage. Attempting the Breakthrough on your own turf has a much higher safety factor."

There was silence on the other side for two seconds.

"That makes sense."

Zhang Wei grinned; he had been praised by Brother Qi, even if it was only three words.

"I'll arrange it immediately. Entrance security, supplies, communications—I'll handle it all."

"Don't make it too complicated. Prepare standard supplies, and just keep watch at the entrance for me."

"No problem!"

"Also." Lin Qi's tone became a bit more serious. "During my seclusion, everything outside is left to you. You keep an eye on the aftermath of the Li Family, and take over the daily scheduling for Chen Shu. If there's an emergency, judge first if you can handle it yourself; if you can't, call Instructor Su Qing."

"Understood."

"One last thing."

"What?"

"Help me pass a message to Instructor Su Qing."

"What message?"

"Tell her that when I come out of seclusion, it will be time to break her curse."

The phone hung up.

Zhang Wei put down the phone, spun around in his chair twice, and slapped his thigh.

"Damn it!"

He couldn't tell if that slap was out of excitement or nervousness, but he slapped it hard anyway.

Brother Qi was going into seclusion to attempt a Breakthrough to the Tongshen Realm.

If he succeeded.

He didn't dare to think, he really didn't dare to think.

He stood up and rushed out of the office, taking out his phone as he walked.

"Hello? Uncle Wang? Yes, it's me. Do you still remember the location of the entrance to the Earth Fiend Cave? Help me coordinate a supply transport vehicle. What? How much? Work first, settle the bill later! It's for Brother Qi! Yes, that Brother Qi!"

Within ten minutes, the entire logistics System of Huichun Hall was in full operation.