Chapter Ninety-Seven: Meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of Jingmen!

"Brother Lei wants to see you."

"Everything you mentioned before, Brother Lei has basically agreed to. The official warrant for the Dark Mage has already been revoked, and you can now act under that identity. Still, try not to keep doing things that go against the authorities. If anything comes up, speak with me first."

"As for the resources you asked for, Brother Lei said that quite a few large guilds from outside will be coming to lend support soon. Your situation is special, so it will probably be impossible to get an official allocation for you in the short term, but he can privately subsidize you with one hundred million contribution points."

"If there is anything else that requires your help later, we will apply for an additional operations allowance for you. The Dark Mage will then be placed under the Jingmen Safe Zone Special Task Force, and I will communicate with you directly."

"As for the Blood Pill, you should speak to Brother Lei about it yourself when the time comes. A lot of the information is sealed off. I will also investigate it personally afterward, and if I find anything related to your father, I will let you know."

Zhan Yu's conversation with Yi Shen was brief and to the point. After saying what needed to be said, he hung up.

There was not even a single record left on Yi Shen's communicator. It was probably one of those specially encrypted private channels.

Yi Shen was fairly satisfied with the outcome. After all, it was all free gain. There was no reason not to take it.

Soon after, Yi Shen met Zhan Yu again at a special outpost outside the city.

Zhan Yu took Yi Shen into an off-road vehicle.

This time, Zhan Yu had come alone. The woman in yellow was nowhere to be seen. The vehicle drove for a long time, entered the mountains, and after winding through several turns arrived at a small courtyard.

Only after passing through layer upon layer of checks did Yi Shen finally meet Qi Lei, the chief commander of the Jingmen Safe Zone.

Within the Jingmen Safe Zone, this man was almost a legend. Qi Lei had once led the first generation of explorers in conquering one otherworldly realm after another, reclaiming cities and establishing order. Even though he had kept himself out of sight in recent years, in the hearts of many people in the Jingmen Safe Zone he remained a figure of near-religious faith. His most famous photograph showed him standing alone with a spear, holding a warehouse in the city, charging in and out of monster hordes seven times, like a war god.

Yi Shen had originally imagined that a figure like this should be imposing, perhaps even overflowing with the majesty of power and rank.

But when he actually saw him, Qi Lei was only wearing a plain gray shirt and jacket, looking very much like an old man, utterly unlike the countless images circulating outside.

If Zhan Yu had not said this was Qi Lei, Yi Shen would probably have passed right by him even if he met him on the street.

"The son of Yi Qinfei is quite good."

When Qi Lei saw Yi Shen, he was far more approachable than Zhan Yu. He looked at Yi Shen the way an elder might look at a younger generation, and even chatted familiarly with him, saying he had gone to the wedding feast when Yi Shen was born, since he had been of the same generation as Yi Qinfei.

Most of the time it was Qi Lei speaking, and Yi Shen listening.

For some reason, though, Yi Shen could vaguely feel Qi Lei's life force quietly slipping away, and an inexplicable, sorrowful feeling rose in his heart, the melancholy of a hero growing dim in his twilight years.

Yi Shen did not bring up Peach Blossom Cottage or the matter of money. In the presence of such an old man, talking about money felt a little vulgar. From Qi Lei's mouth, he also heard many stories about his father, stories Yi Shen had never heard from this angle before.

When the Blood Pill was mentioned, Yi Shen finally heard a complete account.

Roughly eight years ago, a terrifying beast had suddenly appeared near the Jingmen Safe Zone. Unlike other monsters, this beast had emerged from the western mountain range, and no one could see its level at all.

At that time, the Jingmen Safe Zone already had quite a few explorers above level sixty. Only through the joint efforts of everyone were they barely able to drive it away.

But that was only the beginning. After the giant beast was forced back, smaller beasts would occasionally appear inside the city.

Gradually, some Blood Pills began circulating in secret within the Jingmen Safe Zone, all dropped from these smaller beasts.

At first, everyone thought they were some special kind of loot, something that permanently increased attributes and would certainly fetch a very high price.

But Qi Lei quickly realized that something was wrong, because beyond the attributes described by the system, these Blood Pills also had a tremendous effect on the human body. They could even seize control of a person's mind and parasitize them. On top of that, after swallowing one, there would be a brief surge of enormous strength, followed by a massive backlash.

After that, Qi Lei immediately arranged for the matter to be suppressed.

He ordered the Blood Pills to be collected and cracked down upon, banned their circulation, and prevented any disastrous consequences. Many explorers who had eaten Blood Pills saw their bodily functions decline sharply, as though they had been drained dry. In the worst cases, they would even attack their companions.

After a thorough investigation, it was discovered that the source of the Blood Pills and the beasts themselves ultimately traced back to that giant beast, which had been lurking around the Jingmen Safe Zone with hungry eyes the entire time. In the end, Qi Lei led a group of high-level explorers in a sudden assault and killed it, but the beast's strength far exceeded expectations. It took an enormous price to finally bring it down.

Qi Lei did not say much about what happened after that.

He only told Yi Shen that the appearance of the Blood Pills was even more fatal to the Jingmen Safe Zone. At the time, people from above had also been sent to investigate, and everyone suffered heavy losses.

Yet this time, when Blood Pills appeared again, no abnormalities were found nearby.

That meant that some power they did not understand was already slowly manipulating the course of the Jingmen Safe Zone.

Zhan Yu had already found evidence that someone within Jingbei Industries had deliberately concealed the information. There had been a mole inside, and those people had already been arrested and were being interrogated. Qi Lei instructed Yi Shen to avoid eating Blood Pills if possible. If any special circumstances were discovered later, the information could also be shared as quickly as possible.

The exchange with Qi Lei went smoothly enough.

As before, Yi Shen could tell that Qi Lei seemed to have some intention of drawing him in.

Yi Shen himself did not dislike that. With these two towering figures behind him, he could be considered to have "people above him" in the official system, and not just anyone, but the two highest-ranking people there.

After returning to the Jingmen Safe Zone, Yi Shen had Bai Hongjiang help him inquire about the Blood Pill.

Something like that might mean little to high-level explorers, but for explorers in their twenties or thirties, it held a deadly allure. If it truly appeared in large quantities, Bai Hongjiang's side should have a chance of catching wind of it.

Aside from investigating the Blood Pill, Yi Shen also soon received one hundred million contribution points from Zhan Yu.

Zhan Yu, however, was not very interested in it.

When he chatted with Yi Shen, he said plainly that contribution points no longer meant much to people like them.

Yi Shen told him that if he had no interest in money, Yi Shen could take it all.

Zhan Yu then silently changed the subject.