Chapter 130: Trouble for Xu Bancheng

Lin Qiu had issued a formal challenge to the entire East Sea, marking the definitive end of his easy days. Fortunately, the system-assigned mission had no time limit, or he would have truly been in a bind.

"Mission update: Time limit set to one month."

No sooner had Lin Qiu thought this than the system ruthlessly patched that "bug."

"You heartless system!"

Lin Qiu secretly flipped the system the middle finger, but the cold, indifferent system couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him.

To keep up appearances and, more importantly, to save his own skin, Lin Qiu decided to have the Prime Minister, Old Turtle, set up a "fighting ring" outside the entrance of the Nether King City, spanning roughly the size of a small town.

However, the ocean was not like land. On land, everyone stood on the ground, but the ocean was a three-dimensional space. Even with a defined area, it wouldn't make sense to forbid fish from swimming upward. So, Lin Qiu simply drew a rough circle, ignoring terrain and depth, as long as no one could escape for hundreds of miles.

In other words, if Lin Qiu couldn't win a fight, simply escaping the circle would count as a victory. Given his small size and high speed, it would be difficult for any fish to catch him if he darted around. Fish were, after all, just fish, and their attack methods were limited. Lin Qiu was very confident in his resilience and evasion skills.

If Old Turtle knew what he was thinking, he would likely break into a cold sweat for him.

"I have never seen such a form of combat before," remarked Old Turtle. Slow by nature, he had spent half a day laboring over this "ring."

There was no helping it; Lin Qiu couldn't exactly tell him that this was how fights were commonly settled in the human world. In the end, Lin Qiu didn't answer and instead brushed the topic aside.

With the system forcing a time limit on the investigation into Xu Fei’s background, things had become complicated. Suddenly, Lin Qiu slapped his thigh—he had completely forgotten about his clone!

With that, the fighting ring became a mere decoration. He could disappear from the ocean and return without anyone being the wiser. Lin Qiu preferred this kind of one-sided constraint.

Back in the Nether King City, Lin Qiu locked himself in his room and instructed Sun Erniang to guard the door and ensure no one entered. Though she didn't understand his intentions, she obeyed and stood watch.

Inside the room, Lin Qiu’s main consciousness shifted to the Bureau of Exotic Beast Management.

"Lin Qiu, we just received a tip that there's something strange going on in the East City. We'd like you to go take a look."

Lin Qiu was just about to find Xu Bancheng when Liu Changfeng caught him red-handed. He had more important things to do; he had no interest in some investigation mission.

"Find someone else. I need to see Xu Bancheng. Do you know where he is?"

"I haven't seen him for a while. Let me try to contact him."

Liu Changfeng didn't press the issue; Lin Qiu was a special entity within their bureau. He took such trivial assignments only if he felt like it.

Liu Changfeng called Xu Bancheng, but there was no response. Xu Bancheng would either turn his phone off when sleeping or hang up immediately; this long, unanswered ringing was extremely strange.

"I can't reach him. This is odd," Liu Changfeng frowned. Could something have happened?

Lin Qiu felt a headache coming on. Things kept piling up; couldn't they give him a moment to breathe?

"Can you reach his assistant?" Lin Qiu asked, rubbing his temples.

Liu Changfeng dialed the assistant's number, and it was picked up almost immediately.

"Hello?"

"Why are you calling me? Isn't President Xu at the Exotic Beast Intelligence Agency?"

Before Liu Changfeng could state his business, the assistant took the initiative.

Lin Qiu and Liu Changfeng exchanged glances, both wearing the same expression: trouble! It appeared that something had indeed happened to Xu Bancheng.

"When did you last see him?" Liu Changfeng asked urgently.

The assistant was silent for a moment. "I haven't seen President Xu for about two days. The last time I saw him, he said he was going to East City to handle some business and would come to find you afterward."

So the assistant had been assuming Xu Bancheng was at the Intelligence Agency all along? When Xu Bancheng was busy, it wasn't unusual for him to vanish for days. Especially concerning the Intelligence Agency, the assistant didn't have the security clearance to approach their personnel.

East City? Again?

How could such a coincidence exist? It seemed a trip to East City was inevitable.

"What exactly did you mean by 'something strange' in East City?" Liu Changfeng hung up, and Lin Qiu asked. Whatever could get the better of Xu Bancheng certainly wasn't simple.

"Actually, the report I received was that several women have gone missing in East City." Liu Changfeng’s expression was peculiar; he couldn't imagine how missing women would relate to Xu Bancheng.

"Regardless, we must go to East City," Lin Qiu said, rubbing his stubble-less chin thoughtfully.

"No, not 'we'—'you,'" Liu Changfeng said, shoving the address into Lin Qiu’s hand.

That was a ruthless way to sell out a teammate. Was Xu Bancheng even his friend? Lin Qiu started to wonder.

Even without looking up, Liu Changfeng knew what Lin Qiu’s glare meant.

"I’m a researcher. Frontline work is for you guys," Liu Changfeng said righteously. Besides, if Xu Bancheng couldn't handle it, he would just be "feeding the enemy" if he went.

Lin Qiu was momentarily speechless. He couldn't imagine doing such a thing himself.

"You aren't expecting me to go alone, are you?" His combat ability on land was limited; if he went alone, wouldn't he just be a fish in a barrel?

Just then, Hei Ze and Wang Xiaomeng walked in, the latter munching on a lollipop. Lin Qiu looked at Wang Xiaomeng’s JK skirt, twin tails, and cherry hair ornaments. She looked so cute that Lin Qiu nearly drooled, forgetting the mission entirely.

But Wang Xiaomeng walked straight toward Liu Changfeng, ignoring Lin Qiu entirely as she passed.

Lin Qiu quickly snapped out of it. He was a man with a family now; how could he stare at wild flowers? Especially since this particular wildflower was actually a fake.

Thinking this, Lin Qiu pulled a small mirror from his waist and indulged in a moment of self-admiration.

"Beautiful, truly beautiful!"

As expected, only his own handsome face could cleanse his eyes and purify his soul.