144: Chapter 144 Learn More

The Director's brows suddenly furrowed.

He raised a hand to rub his chin, his tone deepening slightly:

"But just who was it that sent us that message earlier?"

He seemed to be talking to himself, yet also asking the two people beside him,

"I checked on the way here; that message wasn't sent by anyone in our bureau.

Furthermore, K was able to discover our encirclement in advance; he must have received a tip-off.

This proves there is still someone in the shadows watching all of this."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the Psychic and the Mage, his voice dropping a few notches lower:

"Right, there were traces of system intrusions at both the police station explosion and the manor explosion sites. The Resistance must still have a B-rank Mechanic on the planet, so we need to be extra careful."

After detonating the Psychic Meteor, Zhen Lu did not linger on the spot.

K had vanished, the ball of white light in the sky was rapidly dissipating, and his knowledge of the Mage profession was practically a blank slate.

He wasn't sure how many tracking methods the opponent possessed, what kind of residual energy they could detect, or if they would be able to trace him down based on even the slightest clue.

Therefore, he retreated extremely quickly, turning and flying back toward his apartment at full speed.

Upon arriving home, he first took off the isolation suit, folded it, and stuffed it into a box, then went to the bathroom to wash his face.

The cold water splashed against his skin, loosening his tightly wound nerves from the entire night just a little.

Then, he released the isolation on the signal device in his arm.

He walked to the living room, sat down on the sofa, leaned his back into the cushions, closed his eyes, and went over everything that happened tonight from beginning to end.

From the moment K arrived at his door, to the very end when he personally shoved the Psychic Meteor down K's throat, every step had been walking a tightrope.

If K had been captured, everything he displayed during the time he was controlled by K would have been spilled, and his secret identity would have been completely exposed.

But fortunately, K had evaporated before he could say anything. Fortunately, none of that had happened.

He opened his eyes, stood up from the sofa, walked to the bed, lay down, and touched his ring.

A flash of white light passed, and the plaza of the Realm of Holy Light unfolded beneath his feet. He first sent a message to Sun Yi,

"I encountered an ambush during the mission, but I have escaped safely. I don't know about the other matters. Hope for support as soon as possible."

He didn't have anyone else's contact information, so he could only let Sun Yi know within the game.

Without lingering any longer, he went directly through the Church's exclusive portal and headed toward the Training Room.

Matthew hadn't arrived yet, and the Training Room was empty. He leaned against a stone pillar, closed his eyes, and waited quietly.

Before long, the door to the Training Room was pushed open.

Matthew walked in from outside, and upon seeing Zhen Lu already waiting by the stone pillar, a fleeting flash of joy crossed his eyes, but that emotion was quickly reined in by his habitual composure.

He closed the door, walked to the center of the concentric circles, stood still, and said:

"You've arrived quite early today. Has the matter been resolved?"

"I'm not sure."

Zhen Lu leaned against the stone pillar, his tone carrying a touch of exhaustion and relief,

"I was just rescued, and I came to contact you immediately after returning to my apartment. I'm not too clear on what specifically happened afterward either."

"It's good enough that you've returned safely."

Matthew's voice was not loud, but every word carried a weight that put one at ease,

"You don't need to worry about other matters. I will handle everything."

Zhen Lu leaned against the stone pillar, remaining silent for quite a while.

Matthew glanced at him, as if reading something from his silence, and asked:

"Looking at you, it seems you still have some questions? You can ask directly. If I know, I will tell you depending on the situation."

Zhen Lu did not hide anything; he looked up at Matthew and asked directly:

"Why do I feel like the city has been a bit strange lately? I've lived in Radiance City for over twenty years and have never seen so many powerhouses. They're all high-ranking. Back when I worked at the Logistics Center, it was hard to even see an E-rank. All I heard about were gang shootouts or wanted criminals, but recently these high-ranking ability users seem to have popped up out of nowhere."

Matthew heard this question and nodded slightly.

"It's good that you noticed this issue." Matthew leaned against the stone pillar, crossed his arms over his chest, his tone calm and frank, "Actually, it's not hard to explain. Two points,"

"One, you are already a Transcendent, so you can know the truth about most information, but ordinary people cannot, because the truth also represents danger."

"Two, The Resistance has bases on every planet in the Empire, and Radiance City is no exception. But the reason high-ranking powerhouses are appearing frequently in your city this time is because of a Visiting Delegation."

He paused, then continued:

"The Visiting Delegation sent by the Huipu Star Cluster civilization had their itinerary set last year. Radiance City is just one of the stopovers on their route. The main mission of this Visiting Delegation is to establish ties with the Empire, or more accurately, to establish a marriage alliance with a certain noble family of the Empire. However, since the people coming are relatively young, they have designated several stopovers along the entire route, intending to sightsee on the planets at these stopovers, which is also a form of observation of the entire Empire."

"As for The Resistance, you certainly don't know its origins." Matthew moved his gaze away from Zhen Lu's face and let it fall on the concentric circles carved into the floor of the Training Room, his tone shifting from the previous frankness to a slower, more solemn rhythm.

"Simply put, the Empire used to have a Royal Family. The Royal Family, the nobility, and the Church stood in a tripartite balance, maintaining the operation of the entire Empire. It's just that later, the Royal Family was kicked out, and the Empire no longer acknowledges the existence of the Royal Family. Their remnants combined with some other forces to form The Resistance. So, The Resistance does not want to see the Empire's strength increase again."

He paused, took his arms down from his chest, and crossed his hands on his knees.

"The noble territory for the main marriage alliance of the Huipu Star Cluster this time happens to border the Huipu Star Cluster civilization. If the marriage alliance is successful, the Huipu civilization will be fully integrated into the Empire. This is where the conflict lies."

"The Resistance has always considered itself the legitimate authority and would not want to see the Empire grow stronger again. The city you are in is just one of them; other cities serving as stopovers are experiencing conflicts every day."

Zhen Lu was even more confused and asked:

"Then The Resistance could just directly attack the Visiting Delegation, right? What's the use of fighting over cities?"

Matthew patiently explained:

"The Resistance naturally wants to recruit the Huipu civilization to their side."

Matthew's tone remained steady, as if he were explaining a problem he had long prepared for,

"Directly attacking the Visiting Delegation is equivalent to creating more opponents for themselves. The Huipu civilization would immediately stand on the Empire's side, leaving no room for negotiation."

He cast his gaze on Zhen Lu's face.

"So they won't directly take action against the Visiting Delegation. But they can let the Visiting Delegation see with their own eyes what the cities under the Holy Light Empire are like—turmoil, powerhouses running rampant, and battles in urban areas. Every time the Visiting Delegation arrives at a stopover and sees this kind of scene, their confidence in the Empire will be worn away bit by bit. Once confidence is lost, one will only see the flaws."

He paused, his tone softening a few degrees further. "Whether it is a person or a civilization, it is all the same."