140: Chapter 140 has no tricks; it's something my system of favors can't handle.
On the tablet screen.
Zhang San was crying his eyes out, snot and tears running down his face.
His blue and white striped hospital gown was rubbed dirty on the concrete floor.
The prison guard tapped his electric baton against the iron door twice, cursing and yelling at him to shut up.
Qin Yuan didn't finish watching.
He pressed the lock button, and the screen went black.
He tossed the tablet onto the mahogany desk.
With a "clack" sound.
It sounded a bit muffled.
The file bag that Gu Qianqian had slapped onto the table was made of kraft paper, its edges slightly worn.
Qin Yuan wasn't in a hurry to open it.
He picked up the hot tea beside him.
The teacup was made of purple clay, with a faint ring of tea stains around the rim that hadn't been washed off.
He blew on the steam and took a sip.
It was a bit hot on his tongue.
It was good tea, Mingqian Longjing, but it had been steeped too long and tasted slightly bitter.
This period of time has certainly been lively.
He leaned back in his executive chair and spun halfway around.
The chair axis let out a "creak" of friction.
From the Divine Doctor Descending the Mountain to the Asura Son-in-law.
Then to that scavenger king with X-ray Vision.
And that reborn Immortal Venerable who refused to admit defeat, as well as the Crooked-Mouth Dragon King whose ashes were scattered by a nuclear bomb.
Plus the Divine Tycoon, the sign-in maniacs running wild in the streets these past few days, and that doomsday reborn person who was crying for his parents just now.
All sorts of messy schemes.
He had seen them all.
Qin Yuan reached out and rubbed his chin.
He hadn't shaved in the morning, and it felt a bit prickly to the touch.
What "Child of Destiny."
What "blessed with fortune."
To put it bluntly, it's all nonsense.
Mixing in this society.
As long as you still need to breathe, eat, and spend money to buy things.
As long as you are still spinning within this set of rules and systems.
Then there is no scheme that cannot be handled by human relationships.
He looked at the balance on the system panel, a string of numbers so long it made one dizzy.
Causality Law human relationship exchange.
This thing is really useful.
The Divine Tycoon system gives you infinite money?
With one phone call from me to the Tax Bureau to audit your accounts, your money becomes illicit funds.
The doomsday system tells you to hoard supplies and build a base?
The Anti-Terrorism Bureau will label you a terrorist, and SWAT teams will break down your door to teach you a lesson.
No matter how high your martial arts are.
Can you withstand depleted uranium armor-piercing shells?
No matter how good your Lightness Skill is.
Can you outrun a supersonic missile?
Nonsense.
Qin Yuan reached for the lighter on the table.
With a "click," a flame shot out.
He lit a cigarette.
The burning tobacco made a faint crackling sound.
He took a deep drag, and the blue smoke dispersed in the study.
Carrying a hint of nicotine's spicy flavor.
"Boss."
Gu Qianqian pulled up a chair and sat down, the chair legs scraping harshly against the floor.
She pushed the file bag toward Qin Yuan.
There were some potato chip crumbs on the bag.
"The situation over at the Kunlun Mountains is a bit off."
She rubbed the seasoning powder off her fingers.
"Several of our Shadow Guard outposts deployed at the foot of the mountain have lost contact."
Qin Yuan's fingers holding the cigarette paused.
Ash fell onto the table.
"Lost contact?"
He exhaled a puff of smoke.
"How long has it been?"
"Four hours."
Gu Qianqian took out her phone; the screen was full of red exclamation marks.
"The SkyNet System can't capture the situation in the mountains either. It seems like that place has been shielded by something; it's all static."
She bit her nails.
"The signal towers aren't broken, but they can't transmit data."
Qin Yuan didn't speak.
He reached out to take the file bag.
He unwound the string twice to open it.
Inside were several photos taken by high-altitude satellites.
The image quality was a bit blurry, with noise all around the edges.
The first photo.
Deep in the Kunlun Mountains, the peaks that were originally covered in snow all year round.
The snow has melted.
It wasn't a large-scale melt.
It melted radially outward from a certain center point.
Revealing the dark brown rock underneath.
The second one.
At that melting center point, one could vaguely see the outlines of some buildings.
They weren't modern buildings.
They looked like those ancient palaces, very large.
There seemed to be reflections on the roofs.
The third one.
The most eerie one.
The photo was taken at night.
In the mountain range that should have been pitch black.
There was a faint pillar of light.
Very thin, but very bright.
Pointing straight to the sky.
"When did this pillar of light appear?"
Qin Yuan threw the photos on the table and flicked the ash.
"Last night, in the middle of the night."
Gu Qianqian shoved the phone screen in front of Qin Yuan.
"Monitoring station data shows that the moment the light pillar appeared, the surrounding magnetic field went completely haywire."
"A dozen migratory birds flying past just dropped down and died."
Qin Yuan looked at the photos.
That pillar of light looked a bit blinding.
He vaguely felt that this was not a good omen.
"Is there any news from Elder Chu?"
He finished the last drag of his cigarette and pressed the butt into the ashtray.
"None."
Gu Qianqian shook her head and put her phone back in her pocket.
"The military side is also very quiet; there haven't been any big movements."
She picked at a pimple on her face.
"They are probably just watching and waiting too."
Qin Yuan stood up.
The chair slid backward and bumped into the bookshelf.
"Let's go."
He picked up his suit jacket from the back of the chair.
"Where are we going, Boss?"
Gu Qianqian hurriedly stood up and patted the dust off her backside.
"To go see."
Qin Yuan put on his jacket.
The cuffs were a bit tight; he tugged at them twice.
"Let's see what kind of surprise the Heavenly Dao has prepared for me this time."
He walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside the window was the bustling capital.
Heavy traffic, skyscrapers.
Sunlight shone on the glass curtain wall, refracting blinding light.
Everything looked so peaceful.
So orderly.
He stood here, looking down on all of this.
Like a god controlling everyone's life and death.
There was nothing he couldn't handle.
Whether it was money or power.
Or those flashy systems.
He even felt that this game was getting a bit boring.
He stood with his hands in his pants pockets, looking at his reflection in the glass.
Just at this moment.
Just when he thought he could sit back and relax, and enjoy this invincible life.
A vibration without any warning came from under his feet.
It wasn't an illusion.
It was a real vibration.
The water in the teacup sloshed out and spilled onto the table.
A few books on the bookshelf fell off and hit the floor.
"Holy crap! An earthquake?!"
Gu Qianqian was so scared she hugged the table leg.
Qin Yuan didn't move.
He stared fixedly out the window.
In the distance.
A very far place.
In the direction of the Kunlun Mountains.
The horizon that should have been covered by thick clouds.
Suddenly.
A light erupted.
A terrifying golden pillar of light shooting straight into the sky!
The pillar of light was too big, too bright.
Even from thousands of kilometers away, it could be seen clearly.
It was like a giant golden sword, forcefully piercing a hole in the sky!
The entire earth of Blue Star trembled violently as a result.
The glass windows emitted a "humming" resonance.
This was definitely not an earthquake.
This commotion was ten times more exaggerated than a nuclear explosion.
Qin Yuan's pupils constricted sharply.
He felt as if his heart had been ruthlessly squeezed by someone.
This was unscientific.
This had already exceeded the scope that the Causality Law could explain.
In that golden light, there was an aura of pressure that made even him feel terrified.
"This..."
Gu Qianqian slumped on the floor, looking at the pillar of light outside the window, unable to speak clearly.
"Bo... Boss... what the hell is that?"
Qin Yuan stared fixedly at the golden light, his brows knitted into a knot.
His palms were actually sweating.
He gritted his back teeth.
"Notify Tanlang, assemble the entire Shadow Guard."
He turned his head and looked at Gu Qianqian, who was slumped on the floor.
His voice was a bit hoarse.
"Investigate for me, what on earth that thing is!"