281: Chapter 282 The world has changed; who dares to use Seventh Brother as a pawn?

A heavy rainstorm fell over Tianhai City.

On the second floor of Huichun Hall, Zhang Wei was making a phone call.

It wasn't to Instructor Su Qing, nor was it to Chen Shu.

It was to Xiao Zhenguo.

"Young Master Xiao, is the matter with that batch of supplies settled? Brother Qi is ending his seclusion at the end of the month; the medicinal herbs and essence storage liquid need to be in place beforehand."

On the other end of the line, Xiao Zhenguo's voice was a bit low: "Zhang Wei, the supplies are no problem, they're already on the way. But something happened on my end that I need to tell you about."

"What happened?"

"The Eastern Rift Zone... something's happened."

Zhang Wei's whole body tensed up.

Thunder outside the window exploded at that exact moment, causing the entire Huichun Hall to shake slightly.

"What's the situation?"

"The night before last, the Eastern Third Monitoring Station recorded an abnormal Law fluctuation with an intensity far exceeding the norm. The Federal Military urgently dispatched a reconnaissance team—a full organized platoon, fully armed. Six hours later—they lost contact."

"Lost contact?"

"No sign of them, dead or alive. They haven't re-established contact yet. The Federal Military has suppressed the news, but the Xiao Family has people in the military, so it was leaked to us immediately."

Zhang Wei set down his teacup, his fingers unconsciously tapping twice on the rim.

The Eastern Rift Zone.

The direction of the mysterious signal Chen Shu had intercepted earlier was in the eastern part of the Federation.

He had felt that direction was off at the time, and now it seemed it wasn't just off—something major had happened.

He asked, "Are there specific characteristics of the Law fluctuation?"

"Yes." Xiao Zhenguo pulled up a set of data. "The detection records show that the frequency spectrum of that fluctuation doesn't match any known Law types. It's not Fire-type, not Thunder-type, not Space-type—it's nothing. The Federal Military's analysis report used a very mysterious description: 'Ancient'."

"Ancient?"

"Yes, their exact words were: 'This Law fluctuation possesses extremely ancient characteristics, similar to the residual signals occasionally detected in Ancient Era ruins, but its intensity is several orders of magnitude higher.'"

Zhang Wei ran those words through his mind.

Several orders of magnitude higher.

A residual Law signal from Ancient Era ruins is like a bit of lingering warmth in a fossil, so weak it's almost negligible. What did it mean for it to be several orders of magnitude higher? It meant it wasn't a residue.

It was an Awakening.

The Ancient Era. The skull of the old god was a relic of the Ancient Era. The core compass of the Earth Fiend Cave was too.

All those things in the mysterious person's hands were related to the Ancient Era.

A line was becoming clearer and clearer in his mind, but he couldn't see the end of it.

"Young Master Xiao, help me keep an eye on this. Notify me immediately if there's any new progress."

"Will do." Xiao Zhenguo hesitated for a moment. "Zhang Wei, is Lin Qi in seclusion right now?"

"Yes."

"When will he be out?"

"At the end of the month."

There was two seconds of silence on the other end.

Zhang Wei was all too familiar with this kind of silence—Xiao Zhenguo was weighing whether or not to mention a very troublesome matter.

Sure enough.

"Tell him some news. After that abnormal fluctuation in the rift zone, the Federal Military's High Command held a closed-door meeting. My people only managed to find out one item on the agenda—"

"What agenda?"

"'Regarding the disposal plan for the Panel-less Awakened'."

Zhang Wei's finger stopped on the tabletop.

Outside the window, the rain poured down, but he suddenly felt the surroundings become deathly quiet.

The Panel-less Awakened.

They were talking about Lin Qi.

The only one in the entire Federation.

On other people's files, it would say 'Fire-type Awakened' or 'Space-type Awakened,' but Brother Qi's file probably had a big question mark. Now, that question mark had turned into an exclamation point.

"Disposal plan? What do they want to do?"

"I don't know. The meeting's contents are top secret; my people aren't high enough in rank to access them. But one thing is certain—after the Convention Center incident, the Federation high-level officials have officially listed Lin Qi as an 'S-rank Target of Interest'."

"S-rank Target of Interest... how is that different from being wanted?"

"There's a big difference. Being wanted means they want to catch you. S-rank Target of Interest means they haven't decided what to do with you yet. They might try to win you over, they might try to suppress you, or they might do nothing and continue to observe. To put it bluntly—you're on their chessboard, but they haven't decided if you're a pawn or a player yet."

Zhang Wei gave a cold laugh.

A pawn or a player. These people certainly thought highly of themselves.

If Brother Qi knew someone was discussing how to 'dispose' of him, his expression probably wouldn't even change—the grass on the graves of the people he'd seen who wanted to dispose of him had already grown several cycles.

But attitude was one thing, and precaution was another. They were two different matters.

"Understood. Thanks, Young Master Xiao."

"You're welcome. Also—"

"Hmm?"

"You guys need to be careful. That anomaly in the Eastern Rift Zone occurred almost simultaneously with Lin Qi's seclusion. It might be a coincidence."

"Or it might not be."

"I lean toward the latter." Xiao Zhenguo paused, lowering his voice. "Zhang Wei, I Xiao Family do business based on one word—Momentum. Right now, this momentum isn't right.

Ancient Era things are starting to surface, the Federal Military is discussing a 'disposal plan', an unknown anomaly appeared in the rift zone... individually, these things aren't much, but put together, occurring in the same period—don't you think it's too coincidental?"

"I do."

"Someone is playing chess."

"I know," Zhang Wei's tone was flat. "But the one playing chess might not know one thing."

"What?"

"In his whole life, Brother Qi has never been played as a pawn. Everyone who tried ended up regretting it."

On the other end of the line, Xiao Zhenguo was silent for a moment, then let out a light chuckle.

"Fine. Then I'll wait and see."

The call ended.

Zhang Wei sat alone in the office as the rain flowed down the window glass, cutting the outside lights into strips.

He organized the information in his mind. Rift zone anomaly. Recon team lost contact. Ancient Era Law fluctuation. Federal Military closed-door meeting. S-rank Target of Interest. Disposal plan for the Panel-less Awakened.

Any one of these was enough of a headache. Put together, it wasn't just a headache—it was life-threatening.

But Zhang Wei's hand was steady.

In all his years with Brother Qi, he'd seen situations more difficult than this.

Then he picked up his phone and sent two messages in an encrypted group.

The first was to Chen Shu: "An abnormal Law fluctuation appeared in the Eastern Rift Zone three days ago; a Federal Military recon team has lost contact.

The fluctuation spectrum is similar to signals from Ancient Era ruins but several orders of magnitude higher in intensity.

Adjust monitoring focus immediately and concentrate on screening the direction of the rift zone.

Open all frequency bands, paying particular attention to the signal characteristics of the mysterious person we intercepted before."

The second was to Instructor Su Qing:

"The Federal Military High Command has held a closed-door meeting with an agenda involving a 'disposal plan for the Panel-less Awakened'.

Lin Qi has been listed as an S-rank Target of Interest. Keep an eye on movements from Longya Academy, especially if anyone comes asking about the location of Brother Qi's seclusion."

After sending the messages, he leaned back in his chair.

Brother Qi still had Nine Heavens before ending his seclusion.

Nine Heavens.

The rain outside grew even heavier.

Zhang Wei stared at the ceiling and thought for a while. Nine Heavens wasn't long, but at this critical juncture, every day felt like walking a tightrope.

He didn't know if new situations would arise in the rift zone, he didn't know to what extent the Federal Military had discussed the 'disposal plan', and there was absolutely no news from the mysterious person's side.

Three hidden chess moves, all pressing down within these Nine Heavens.

He suddenly really wanted to go to the mine entrance and take a look. Not that he was worried about Brother Qi's safety—the depths of the Earth Fiend Cave were suppressed by the core compass, making that place safer than anywhere else in the Federation.

He just wanted to confirm that the entrance was still fine and that no one who shouldn't be there was loitering around.

Zhang Wei stood up and grabbed his coat.

"Forget it. I'll go take a look."