146: position

When Chen Nian pushed open the door to Sun Li's office,

Sun Li was buried in a pile of light screens and documents, his fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard, his brow furrowed tightly.

Hearing the door open, he looked up and saw it was Chen Nian. He immediately stood up, a respectful expression appearing on his face.

“Mr. Chen, you're here.”

Chen Nian nodded and walked straight to the sofa to sit down, getting straight to the point: “So, is there any news on the Evil God Cult?”

A trace of shame appeared on Sun Li's face as he shook his head:

“I'm sorry, Mr. Chen. We used all the resources we could mobilize to conduct the most in-depth analysis and tracing of that jade pendant, but...”

He paused, his tone somewhat helpless:

“The Evil God Cult's anti-tracking methods are very sophisticated. They seem to have used some extremely high-level power to interfere with our investigation.”

“Currently, we can only determine that the last time the jade pendant was activated was three days ago.”

“The energy fluctuations point to the northwest, but the specific coordinates cannot be locked down; the range is too large.”

“Other than that, there are no more valuable clues.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Nian's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

Three days ago? Northwest direction?

That range was indeed too large—it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It seemed the Evil God Cult was even more cautious and cunning than he had imagined.

“No clues at all?” Chen Nian pressed.

Sun Li gave a bitter smile:

“I can't say there are absolutely none.”

“The technical department is trying to crack that encryption method, but it takes time.”

“And... it's not certain that they will succeed.”

Chen Nian was silent for a moment.

He didn't like this feeling of waiting passively.

The efficiency was too low.

In this amount of time, he could have gone out and farmed several waves of points.

However, he also knew that tracking a massive organization hidden so deeply was indeed not something that could be done overnight.

The Spiritual Energy Bureau had already done its best.

“Take me over there to have a look.” Chen Nian stood up.

He wanted to see the progress there for himself.

If it really wasn't working, he would find a way himself.

Sun Li was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted: “Alright, Mr. Chen, please follow me.”

He didn't dare to be slightest bit negligent and immediately got up to lead the way for Chen Nian.

The two passed through several corridors, took a dedicated elevator, and arrived at the technical center located deep underground at the headquarters.

When the alloy doors of the technical center slowly slid open, a scene of busy activity met their eyes.

On a massive screen wall, countless data streams and images scrolled rapidly.

Hundreds of technicians sat at their respective workstations, operating with full concentration.

There was a tense, focused atmosphere in the air.

However, when Chen Nian's figure appeared at the door, this focus was instantly broken.

“Special Commissioner Chen!”

Someone called out first.

In the next moment, the entire technical center seemed to have the pause button pressed.

All the busy staff members stopped what they were doing in unison and jerked their heads up.

When they saw clearly that the newcomer was Chen Nian, they hardly hesitated.

With a 'swish', everyone stood up at the same time.

Their movements were uniform, their faces filled with shock, awe, and a trace of undisguisable fanaticism.

The entire technical center was silent, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

Everyone's gaze was focused on Chen Nian, as if they were welcoming a leader's inspection.

This scene was several times more exaggerated than when he was in the cafeteria.

Chen Nian: “...”

He felt a bit helpless.

He just came to check on the progress; why did it turn into a leadership inspection?

Sun Li was also startled by this display and quickly stepped forward, waving his hand at the crowd:

“Everyone, continue working. Special Commissioner Chen is just here to learn about the tracking progress on the Evil God Cult.”

Only then did everyone snap out of it, but still no one sat down; instead, they looked at Chen Nian with even more respectful gazes.

At this time, the person in charge of the technical center, an elderly man with slightly graying hair but high spirits, walked up quickly to meet them.

He was the head of the technical department, Professor Zhang.

“Special Commissioner Chen, why did you come in person?” Professor Zhang's tone carried excitement and a hint of nervousness.

Chen Nian said indifferently: “I came to see the progress. I heard you've encountered some difficulties?”

A trace of shame appeared on Professor Zhang's face:

“Yes, I'm very sorry. The Evil God Cult's protection methods exceeded our expectations. That encryption method is extremely ancient and eerie; our algorithms are having trouble cracking it for the time being.”

“Where is the item? Lead the way.” Chen Nian's command was concise and clear.

Professor Zhang stepped aside to lead the way: “Alright, this way please.”

They passed through several heavy gates and arrived at a room filled with various precision instruments.

In the center of the room, that black jade pendant was suspended.

The jade pendant was confined in mid-air by several energy beams, surrounded by a large number of probes and sensors that were constantly scanning and analyzing it.

Seeing Chen Nian enter, the few technicians inside also stood up nervously.

Chen Nian ignored the others, his gaze locking directly onto the slowly rotating jade pendant.

He slowly closed his eyes, and the terrifying perception of the fifth-tier Prison Suppressing Divine Body acted like invisible tentacles.

It instantly penetrated the energy barrier on the surface of the jade pendant and went directly into its core.

In his perception, countless distorted, cold energies were densely packed like a spiderweb.

However, just as Professor Zhang said, these energies were interfered with and covered up by some extremely sophisticated and ancient power.

It was as if they were shrouded in thick fog, making it difficult to lock onto the specific source.

“Interference shielding...” Chen Nian snorted coldly in his heart, “Playing this game in front of me?”

With a slight thought, his Divine Thought power, as vast as the sea, erupted violently.

Like an invisible giant hand, it forcibly tore open that layer of thick fog shrouding the energy trails!

“Buzz—!”

The instruments inside the isolation room instantly erupted with ear-piercing alarms, and the originally chaotic data streams on the screens began to jump and reorganize frantically!

The technicians were so scared they retreated repeatedly, and Professor Zhang's eyes widened even more, his face full of disbelief.

“This... this is...”

They saw the suspended jade pendant suddenly vibrate violently. The distorted runes on its surface seemed to come alive, letting out painful wails before shattering and dissipating inch by inch!

Inside the isolation room, there was a dead silence.

Professor Zhang and the technicians stood with their mouths agape.

Looking at the instantly located, crystal-clear latitude and longitude coordinates on the screen, their minds went blank.

They had spent a vast amount of manpower and resources, using the most advanced technology and equipment, and had made no progress on this difficult problem for several hours... and Special Commissioner Chen just stood here, closed his eyes for a moment, and solved it?

Just what kind of power was this?!

“Immediately send the coordinates to the Operations Command!” Sun Li reacted and immediately ordered the still-dazed technicians.

“Yes! Yes!” The technicians jumped, and began to operate with fumbling hands.

Chen Nian, however, had already turned and was walking out.

“Mr. Chen, you...” Sun Li quickly followed.

“I'm going to handle it,” Chen Nian's voice remained calm, yet carried a kind of unquestionable decisiveness. “You guys get ready for backup.”