Chapter 680: Connection
Three days after the successful capture operation, all suspects involved in the case were brought to justice. Thirty-seven individuals across thirteen provincial regions had been apprehended within three days by ten field agent squads acting simultaneously.
This level of efficiency was considered a rarity in the history of the Inspection Department. Once the news spread, the entire headquarters was buzzing with discussions about the operation. However, there was not much excitement in the office area of the Fourth Squad.
Zhou Bin sat at his workstation, staring at the newly sorted interrogation records on his light screen, his brow furrowed deeply. Fang Xiaoxiao leaned against the desk beside him, flipping back and forth through a document in her hands and muttering something under her breath. Li Zhaowen pushed up his glasses, his fingers flying across a virtual keyboard as he pulled up file after file.
Xu Wuyi sat at the round table with Zheng Hai’s interrogation records laid out in front of him. Zheng Hai appeared to be a small-time merchant in agricultural trade, but in reality, he acted as a middleman for Li Mingyuan, connecting him with several foreign factions.
𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Xu Wuyi read for a while, then picked up the record and turned back to the first page.
Zheng Hai, forty-five years old, from Qinghe County, Celestial Swallow Province. He had a middle school education, farmed at home in his early years, and later ran a small business. After turning thirty, he got involved in Star Realm trade and gradually amassed wealth. Five years ago, he was introduced to Li Mingyuan and began working as his middleman.
Xu Wuyi had read this information before, but this time, his gaze lingered on the words "Qinghe County" for a few seconds. He set the record down and looked at Li Zhaowen. "Qinghe County. Look into this place and see if there’s anything special about it."
Li Zhaowen paused for a moment before immediately getting to work. A few minutes later, he looked up with a subtle expression on his face.
"Captain Meng, Qinghe County is a small place. There’s nothing particularly special about it. But if there’s anything worth noting..." He paused, pulling up a file and projecting it onto the light screen. "Zheng Mingchuan, the Chairman of the Supreme Council’s Logistics Support Committee. His registered birthplace is also Qinghe County."
The office fell silent for a moment.
Fang Xiaoxiao was the first to react. She sprang to her feet, her eyes wide. "Zheng Mingchuan? That Zheng Mingchuan? He and Zheng Hai..."
"Same village," Li Zhaowen said, pushing up his glasses. "I checked. Zheng Hai’s hometown is Xiahe Village in Qinghe County, and Zheng Mingchuan’s hometown is also Xiahe Village. They are from the same village, and with only a five-year age gap, they probably knew each other since childhood."
Zhou Bin frowned. "Such a coincidence? Li Mingyuan’s case dragged out a Zheng Hai, and Zheng Hai happens to be from the same village as Zheng Mingchuan?"
Sun Jing leaned back in his chair, his fingers gently tapping the desk. "You could say it’s a coincidence, or you could say it’s not," he said slowly. "But everyone in our line of work knows that there aren’t that many coincidences."
Fang Xiaoxiao looked at Xu Wuyi, a hint of excitement in her eyes. "Captain Meng, should we investigate Zheng Mingchuan? He and Zheng Hai are from the same village. What if..."
Xu Wuyi did not answer immediately. He stood up and walked over to the window, gazing at the simulated sky outside. The blue of the sky looked incredibly fake, but after a while, one simply got used to it.
The Chairman of the Supreme Council’s Logistics Support Committee wasn’t the highest rank, but the position was crucial. Anyone who could sit in that seat was no simple character. More importantly, he remembered that a few days ago, someone had come asking about him. He hadn’t asked who it was, but Luo Jing later told him it was Zheng Mingchuan.
Zheng Mingchuan probably never expected that Luo Jing would not only refuse to show him any respect but would even take the initiative to reveal his intentions to Xu Wuyi. To Luo Jing, befriending a Half-step Grandmaster like Xu Wuyi—a top-tier genius absolutely guaranteed to break Federation records—was far more important than some committee chairman.
Now that Zheng Mingchuan’s name had popped up in Zheng Hai’s case, it was hard not to overthink things.
Xu Wuyi turned around and looked at Li Zhaowen. "Is there any traceable connection between Zheng Mingchuan and Zheng Hai?"
Li Zhaowen rapidly worked his keyboard, bringing up a file. "In the currently accessible public records, the two have no intersection whatsoever.
"There are no joint investments, no financial transactions, no communication records, and not even a single instance of them appearing in the same frame at a public event.
"But the timeline of Zheng Hai’s rise to wealth is quite interesting. Before he turned thirty, he was stuck farming and running small businesses in his hometown without any success.
"After thirty, he got involved in Star Realm trade and slowly expanded. And when Zheng Mingchuan was thirty-five, he just so happened to be transferred to the Supreme Council, entering the core of power."
Fang Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but chime in. "Isn’t this a classic case of getting rich through connections? Zheng Mingchuan establishes a foothold in Beijing and casually lends a hand to an old acquaintance from his hometown. This sort of thing is all too common."
Zhou Bin shook his head. "Common it may be, but we have no evidence. Even if Zheng Mingchuan really did help Zheng Hai, as long as it didn’t involve the illegal transfer of benefits, it doesn’t constitute a crime."
Sun Jing chuckled. "It might not be a crime, but it warrants an investigation. Isn’t that exactly what our Inspection Department does?"
The group all looked toward Xu Wuyi.
Xu Wuyi thought for a moment before saying, "I’ll go interrogate Zheng Hai first."
He stood up and walked toward the door.
When the door to the interrogation room was pushed open, Zheng Hai was leaning back in the interrogation chair, zoning out. Hearing the noise, he lifted his head and saw the man wearing the black-and-white mask walk in. His body unconsciously tensed up.
He had already been interrogated several times over the past few days. Every time, it had been the same two Inspection Department agents asking questions, going back and forth over the exact same topics. He had already told them everything he knew, but those people were still unsatisfied, always trying to dig more out of him.
But the person who walked in this time was different.
He had heard about that mask. Rumor had it that this was the very man who went alone to the Celestial Swallow Battle Group and captured Li Mingyuan. This was an important figure standing at the very top of the pyramid.
An ominous premonition swelled in Zheng Hai’s heart.
Xu Wuyi sat down opposite him, watching him across the interrogation desk. Those eyes looked through the two pale blue crystals on the mask, so terrifyingly calm that it gave him the creeps.
Zheng Hai managed to squeeze out a smile. "Captain Meng, you’re here. I’ve already told you everything I should. Really, I’m not hiding anything."
Xu Wuyi didn’t reply. He merely raised his right hand, extended a single finger, and tapped lightly in the air in front of him.
Before Zheng Hai could even react, he felt a bizarre power envelop him. The sensation was incredibly subtle. It wasn’t like being weighed down by something, nor did it feel like an invasion. Rather, it felt like... a switch inside his body had been flipped on. That switch was connected to his mouth, and once opened, it could never be closed again.
Xu Wuyi retracted his hand and looked at him calmly. "Zheng Hai, what is your relationship with Zheng Mingchuan?"
Zheng Hai opened his mouth, wanting to say that he didn’t know Zheng Mingchuan, wanting to say that it was all a coincidence, wanting to say that none of this had anything to do with him.
But what came out instead was, "We’re from the same village. We’ve known each other since we were kids."