His voice was high-pitched yet reverent, fanatical yet holy.
With his crazed yet pious deanor, he looked just like a thoroughly brainwashed Fanatic.
—If the diagnostic instrunts hadn’t shown that Zhou Chen’s sanity and Soul were uncorrupted, Jiang Che and the others would have actually believed it.
Although Zhou Chen’s sanity level had dropped below the warning threshold, it was slowly recovering. Overall, there was no major cause for concern.
This made everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
"How did he do it?"
Yang’s face was filled with disbelief. "I know it was just a recording, but that was an Abyssal King. I feel dizzy just watching it through the protective screen... How did he withstand it?"
—An Abyssal King.
An existence that could be called one of the Gods. Even a recording, blurred to the point of near-unrecognizability, carried an unimaginable, terrifying Power, enough to trigger a red alert.
Jiang Che watched the slowly recovering sanity reading on the screen. She narrowed her eyes, seeming to have a theory, but in the end, she just said calmly, "Perhaps this is another one of his strengths: his incredible Willpower."
Of course, the Eternal Fire wouldn’t be foolish enough to let a new recruit gaze upon the true form of the King of Chaos. That would be a death sentence for every single one of them.
All who gaze upon a God must pay the price for their blasphemy—be it with their sanity, their life, or their purity. This is simply because mortals cannot look directly at the Gods.
Unless the God in question allows it.
But even with the image blurred in various ways and its power greatly diminished, the profound chaos and malice it contained were still more than any normal person could bear. Most people would likely be driven mad and corroded by Abyssal Power. Perhaps this explained why so many Abyssal Cultists were lunatics.
Only soone with exceptionally strong Willpower could endure such terrifying ntal corruption.
"More money! I demand more money!"
Zhou Chen was screaming his lungs out over the communication channel, terrified by the experience.
’That was so damn scary! Is staring at the King of Chaos sothing a normal person can do? This stunt could probably make the top 100 on the Star Association’s annual ’Ways to Get Yourself Killed’ list!’
Even now, his Soul was still trembling with Fear. He could still hear phantom whispers in his ears, and his brain throbbed with a searing pain, as if it were being stirred by a red-hot iron rod.
’If I hadn’t made a wish beforehand to protect my mind from the influence of Abyssal Power, I’d probably be a puppet for the King of Chaos by now, spilling every single one of the Star Association’s plans.’
’So they have to give more money!’
"..."
Jiang Che was speechless for a mont. "Don’t worry about that. You’ll definitely receive a high-paying subsidy. Hmm, we can also upgrade your clearance level and, depending on the situation, apply for a suitable Forbidden Object for you..."
Zhou Chen didn’t reply. He was currently with Li Xiaoxiao, taking the elevator out of the Room in the Crack. The entire villa and the Room in the Crack had no signal-jamming devices. Of course, the Room in the Crack surely had so kind of Matrix that contained the leakage of Abyssal Power; otherwise, the Star Association’s detection instrunts would have found it long ago. However, that Matrix didn’t seem to affect communication devices, which was why his equipnt continued to function normally.
After returning to the villa, Zhou Chen collapsed onto the living room sofa. His expression remained fanatical, as if he had discovered the aning of life and the truth of the World. But his face was ashen, his body trembled and twitched uncontrollably, and he was drenched in cold sweat.
Li Xiaoxiao thoughtfully poured him a glass of water to help him recover, used a tissue to wipe the sweat from his face, and said comfortingly, "There’s no need to be so nervous. Our Lord is very rciful to His followers. He will generously bestow Power, life, wealth... anything one could ever want."
"Is there anything you want?"
"Of course... a Star Mango."
Zhou Chen said, "You know about it, right? The Birdman promised he’d give one."
"A Star Mango, huh..."
Li Xiaoxiao thought for a mont. "We were planning to give it to you during the next ceremony as your initiation gift. The next ceremony is in three days, so there’s no need to be anxious."
"Three days... Okay." Zhou Chen nodded, then asked with a hint of confusion, "A ceremony? Here?"
"Of course not here. We’ll notify you of the specific ti and place one day in advance. But given your current status, you probably won’t be available."
"I can take leave. A damaged Soul is a Level 10 Disability. They won’t co looking for if sothing cos up." A fanatical light shone in Zhou Chen’s eyes. "I want to attend the ceremony to offer my devout faith to our Lord!"
"Very good, Zhou Chen." Li Xiaoxiao gave a satisfied smile. "Now then, I have a mission for you."
"I’ll do whatever it takes!"
"You’re an Ascender now, so you should have co into contact with the Special Operations Team, right?"
"Yes, the higher-ups are thinking of transferring to the Special Operations Team," Zhou Chen replied.
"Then you should know that a new team leader for the Special Operations Team arrived in Jinzhu not long ago, right? I rember her na is... Jiang Che?"
"..."
’Oh, boy... The woman you’re talking about is sitting in a secret room listening to this conversation right now.’
Zhou Chen cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he just nodded. "I know."
"Your mission is simple. Get into the Special Operations Team and gain that team leader’s trust. No, gaining her trust is too difficult. You just need to get close to her."
Li Xiaoxiao told him, "You need to find out everything about her: her character, her personality, her likes and dislikes, her past experiences, whether she’s an Ascender, whether she’s an Alchemist, whether she’s ever had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, what her next move will be..."
"If you get the chance, it would be best to find out her three asurents as well."
"In short, investigate whatever you can. Every word that cos out of her mouth, you need to rember it carefully and report back to us. If you can obtain intelligence that’s useful to us, you will be handsoly rewarded."
’Ah, so it’s finally co to this.’
’A spy within a spy.’
’The organization I’m undercover in is telling to go undercover in my original organization.’
’Enough with the nesting dolls already.’
’Still, the fact that they’re giving this infiltration mission ans the Eternal Fire has high hopes for . They probably want to groom into an important piece to plant within the Star Association.’
"I understand. I’ll find a way to get in touch with her."
Zhou Chen nodded solemnly. "Right now, all I know is that she’s planning to make a move against Fu Qing. That shouldn’t be much of a Secret, I think it was even ntioned on the news."
"Fu Qing... Do you think he’s a big deal?" Li Xiaoxiao asked playfully.
"Of course. He’s one of the most powerful n in Jinzhu and is famous throughout the entire Asian Region," Zhou Chen answered truthfully.
"And yet, in our eyes, a man like that is nothing more than bait. You don’t actually think all this recent chaos just appeared out of nowhere, do you?"
By now, Li Xiaoxiao had lowered her guard around Zhou Chen. After witnessing the greatness of the King of Chaos, anyone would willingly beco His follower.
"Before long, Fu Qing will be completely exposed, and we will use the impact of his downfall to achieve our objective."
Zhou Chen’s heart tightened, but he kept a straight face as he asked, "What objective?"
"I can’t tell you~"
Li Xiaoxiao wagged her finger and gave a mysterious smile. "That’s a top-level secret. Let alone you, even the Birdman barely knows anything about it."
After a mont of silence, Zhou Chen didn’t press the issue. Asking again would only arouse her suspicion.
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already late, so he decided not to stay any longer. He stood up and said, "I should get going. If I get back too late, it’ll look suspicious."
"Alright then, see you in three days!"
Li Xiaoxiao flashed a youthful smile and waved goodbye to him.
"Don’t forget your mission~"
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