The sound of water echoed around the spacious bathroom, steam swirling in the air.
"Has there been any progress on the matter I asked you to investigate last ti?"
Fang Cheng’s voice was calm and low, mostly drowned out by the sound of the water, only audible if you were very close.
Xu Hao was scrubbing his back with effort; he paused montarily at the question, then replied quietly in a low voice:
"I’ve found out so things."
"What have you found?"
Fang Cheng asked while rubbing his hair.
Although—there wasn’t much hair to rub.
The hot water stread over his bald head, the foamy body wash outlining the muscular lines on his skin.
"Boss, those investigators from the Noah Organization are really sothing."
Like secret agents eting in clandestine, Xu Hao lowered his voice even further, and changed the way he addressed Fang Cheng to sound closer.
"They’ve almost dug up your ancestors from eighteen generations ago. Your family background, social connections, from elentary to university, and then your work experience after graduation—all clear as day, possibly even clearer than you know yourself."
"And... there’s also..."
Xu Hao’s Adam’s apple bobbed with noticeable hesitation and apprehension:
"Whatever they’ve found, just tell everything."
Fang Cheng’s tone remained calm, as if he was prepared for any shocking news.
"They found that your Fang Family ancestors seed to have produced a few... um, infamous figures."
Xu Hao seed to choke on water, coughed twice, wiped his face with his raised hand, and continued:
"Not going too far back, just during the chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms, your Fang Family produced a general, called the ’Man Slaughter.’ Records say he buried 100,000 surrendered soldiers alive, blood flowing like a river, and you could allegedly hear the wails of the wronged souls at night."
"I must say, Boss, your family history is really... well, vast and magnificent!"
Getting caught up in the story, Xu Hao smacked his lips, seemingly forgetting the secrecy of their eting.
His words carried a tone of relishing in the scandal, as he began his "storytelling" session.
"Pushing back a few hundred years earlier, there was also a cannibalistic bandit nad Fang, who specifically targeted delicate won, claiming it was a potent tonic, a thod to perfect his peerless dark martial arts..."
"As for modern tis, there’s even more to say. Various serial killers and maniacs have shadows of your Fang Family in their files."
"And... and... your father..."
At this point, Xu Hao paused, carefully deliberated for a while, and then squeezed out a literary term.
"Enough."
Fang Cheng’s voice was soft, with a hint of coldness, cutting off Xu Hao’s increasingly enthusiastic "story session."
Xu Hao imdiately shut his mouth, awkwardly realizing he had spoken too much.
"What do they plan to do next?"
Fang Cheng was silent for a mont before asking.
He seed indifferent to the "black history" Xu Hao recounted.
"Hey, you might not believe this,"
Xu Hao, feeling the weight lifted off his mind, continued to report the intel he’d gathered with a unified front:
"The Noah folks are having troubles of their own, facing so tricky matters. They’re short-handed at the mont, so they can’t focus completely on you right now."
He paused, then deliberately added a few explanations:
"Mainly because last ti you single-handedly took down dozens of Red Tiger Gang mbers, your skills were too eye-catching."
"They know that dealing with a combat expert like you ans sending small fry and street thugs is just offering themselves up for nothing. It’s likely to alert you and wreck their plans."
"Nevertheless, they’re not idle either. They’re applying to their higher-ups to send more experts to East Capital."
"So, at least for the next few days, you can breathe a little easier. I estimate it’ll take about a week before they might make any new moves."
Hearing this, Fang Cheng’s eyes flickered:
"Can you apply to be responsible for this task? Then you could ’investigate’ ."
Xu Hao instantly understood Fang Cheng’s implication, revealing a knowing smile.
But then his expression fell, looking sowhat troubled as he said:
"If possible, I’d definitely try my best to get it."
"But... the boss I was following before went missing suddenly before last year’s New Year’s Eve while on a task, and I’m not getting along with the new guy that was parachuted in."
Fang Cheng understood that the "missing boss" Xu Hao referred to was likely one of the two experts he had eliminated at the trash processing plant.
As Xu Hao continued to speak, he seed to grow more agitated, venting his complaints:
"Damn, that guy isn’t from my camp, always looking down on , nitpicking—it’s going to be tough to get a job from him."
His tone was filled with obvious frustration and helplessness.
Indeed, wherever there are people, there is the Martial World.
Even in a massive multinational organization like Noah, internal factions and power struggles are unavoidable.
Fang Cheng felt a slight relief, knowing that for now, he had so breathing room and preparation ti.
Turning off the faucet, he took a towel to wipe off the water droplets from his body, casually asking:
"You said they are having trouble and reallocating a lot of manpower—what specifically is it about?"
"Well, this... heh heh..."
Xu Hao scratched his signature tuft of yellow hair, sowhat embarrassed as he explained:
"I was so focused on gathering intel related to you that I didn’t really look into that.
"I just vaguely heard that soone quite formidable popped up around East Capital, specifically opposing the Noah Organization, causing them considerable losses and costing them personnel."
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