159: Chapter 159 Want to become the Sea God with the System? This Formaldehyde Seafood Family Bucket Will Put You in Jail for Life

The interrogation room lights were bright, shining directly on Sea King's face, which was tanned dark and covered in dried mud spots.

The cuffs on Sea King's wrists were locked to the iron chair, making faint clinking sounds.

He hunched his neck, his eyes darting around; the charlatan Aura he had on the mudflats earlier had long since been tossed into the Yangtze River.

Gu Changan sat opposite him, flipping through the newly arrived lab report, and casually tossed a few photos onto the table.

The photos showed frozen goods from the cold storage, with the Walmart labels that hadn't been torn off yet clearly visible.

Sea King stared at the photos, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Talk, Sea King."

Gu Changan leaned back against the chair, his voice steady.

"Where did those Australian blue lobsters, double-headed abalones, and that painted finless porpoise come from?"

Sea King swallowed a mouthful of saliva and muttered softly.

"I've said it before, those were gifts from the sea. I was lucky and found them."

Gu Changan smiled and pushed the lab report in front of him.

"The sea must have it rough, having to specially prepare high-concentration industrial formaldehyde and preservatives for you at the estuary?"

"The dosage of chemicals in those crabs of yours is enough to send half the people in Donghai City to the ICU."

"Our people have already sealed off a cold chain factory in the suburbs of Donghai City and caught several workers who were spray-painting cutlassfish."

"They said it was your idea, to make the cutlassfish look like they had a metallic luster."

Sea King's face twitched, and despair surfaced in his eyes.

He knew the supply chain he relied on for survival had been broken.

That was a team he had hired at great expense.

Every morning at dawn, divers would go into the water first and hang the frozen seafood on hidden stakes at the bottom of the mud pits using transparent fishing line.

He would livestream from above, and as soon as he pulled the string, the "big haul" would "emerge from the earth."

Internet trolls were responsible for manipulating the rhythm in the livestream, shouting "Miracle" and "Sea King."

In half a month, he had swindled sixty million in tips and so-called "order fees" using this trick.

"Director Gu, I just wanted to make some money; I didn't mean to kill anyone."

Sea King suddenly howled, snot and tears streaming down together.

"My System said that as long as my reputation was big enough, it could make me a real Sea God. All of this was for my cultivation."

Gu Changan tapped the table, interrupting his wailing.

"Cultivation? According to Article 144 of the Criminal Law, the crime of producing and selling toxic and harmful food carries the death penalty or life imprisonment."

"Add on the abuse and killing of first-class protected animals, and you can cultivate until Ascension while inside."

Upon hearing the words "death penalty," Sea King's body shook like a sieve. He suddenly slapped the table, his eyes glazing over.

"I don't accept this! I have superpowers! I have a mental illness! I have auditory hallucinations!"

"I have the Sea God talking to me! You can't put a madman on trial!"

He began to babble incoherently in the interrogation room, saying he could hear the Soul of every salted fish singing.

He even tried to curl himself into a ball, imitating a finless porpoise rolling on the ground.

Gu Changan watched his performance indifferently, and the [Eye of True Appraisal] before his eyes popped up a line of small red text.

[The target is performing a clumsy acting imitation. Psychological state: Fear. Heart rate: 140. Currently attempting to evade legal sanctions by feigning madness.]

Gu Changan stood up, walked out of the interrogation room, and waved to Chen Xiaobei, who was nearby.

"Go to the cafeteria and get a boxed meal, the kind with a big chicken leg."

Chen Xiaobei was stunned for a moment, but quickly brought over the steaming hot boxed meal.

The interrogation room door opened again.

The aroma of the braised chicken leg instantly filled the cramped space.

Sea King hadn't eaten properly for two days, and upon smelling the aroma, his rolling movements froze.

Gu Changan lifted the lid right in front of him and picked up the chopsticks.

"Sea King, since you claim to have the Divine Power of the Sea God, let's play a simple test."

"Is there a chicken leg in this boxed meal? If you guess correctly, I'll treat it as if you really have special abilities and send you to a mental hospital for recuperation."

"If you guess wrong, you will honestly confess the money laundering route for those sixty million in illicit funds."

Sea King stared fixedly at the lunch box, a swallowing sound emitting from his throat.

He thought to himself that Gu Changan was definitely trying to trap him.

Under normal circumstances, what was brought out at a time like this would definitely have a chicken leg.

He closed his eyes, feigning a sense of intuition, pinched his fingers to calculate, and shouted.

"I have a sense! The Sea God tells me there is a chicken leg inside! This is a gift from the heavens!"

Gu Changan, right in front of him, used his chopsticks to push aside the braised pork on top.

Underneath, it was all vegetarian Chinese cabbage and two over-stewed potato chunks.

The so-called chicken leg aroma was merely wafting from a bowl of concentrated broth placed nearby on purpose.

Gu Changan, right in front of him, poured that bowl of broth into the trash can.

"It seems your Sea God is not only ineffective but also has poor eyesight."

"This is called an olfactory interference experiment. It wouldn't even fool a three-year-old; you still want to fool the law?"

Sea King completely slumped, his whole body going limp on the iron chair.

"I'll talk... I'll confess everything. The money is in my brother-in-law's overseas account, and I'll give you the list too."

Gu Changan ignored him and directly handed the metal bottle containing the "Super Sea-Foraging System" to the special task force.

"Send it to the Research Institute. Tell those old men not to break it again; the biological encyclopedia inside this thing has quite a lot of research value."

Three days later.

News came from the Research Institute.

That mass of blue light and shadow had been partially analyzed.

It actually contained a complete global marine geological model.

It even accurately marked many undiscovered rare earth mineral deposits.

The old professor at the Research Institute was flushed with excitement, stating to the camera that this greatly advanced the national strategy of becoming a maritime power.

In that day's news, this major scientific and technological achievement was broadcast.

The news mentioned "a certain enthusiastic citizen, Liu," who provided special clues in the case, and offered verbal commendation.

In the detention center.

Sea King stared at the TV on the wall, seeing his System become a pioneer tool for national marine exploration.

Seeing those "Divine Power" that originally belonged to him become complex code on the big screen.

His vision went black, and he slammed his head against the wall.

"That's mine! My Sea God!"

A prison guard walked over coldly and gave him a warning.

"Stop shouting. You're going to the forest farm to plant trees next week. Don't think about these useless things."

Gu Changan was sitting in his office.

A familiar System notification sound rang in his mind.

[Ding! Successfully confiscated an illegal wild System, recovering national marine resource losses.]

[Reward distributed: Underwater Free Movement Ability (Passive).]

[Function Description: The host can breathe underwater as if on land, is unaffected by pressure, and vision is not obstructed.]

Gu Changan looked at the tree shadows outside the window and took a sip of hot tea, feeling speechless.

"I'm not going fishing, why give me this? Do you think I bathe too slowly?"

Just then, the red phone on the desk rang.

On the other end of the line, the Bureau Chief's voice sounded somewhat anxious, even carrying a hint of imperceptible panic.

"Changan, something big has happened. You know that 'Cloud Top Palace' real estate project in the east of the city, right?"

"It's in chaos there right now. As soon as construction starts, fog appears, so thick you can't even see the road."

"The developer, Manager Zhang, is going around saying he dug up a Spiritual Vein and that it's a sign of Spiritual Qi returning."

"Housing prices have already risen from thirty thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand, and some people are even bringing tents to the sales office to inhale the fog."

"Go take a look immediately. If this Spiritual Qi returning is real, our Administration Bureau will have to change its name."

Gu Changan put down the phone, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Spiritual Vein? Spiritual Qi returning?"

"I think someone has too much free time and is creating problems for the law again."