Chapter 141: Case File

On the way back to Yangzhi City, Chen Chuan watched the scenery outside the car as he went over how he had gotten rid of the butterfly tattoos.

This was the first time he encountered a supernatural being no one had heard about before. Thank goodness, he had managed to deal with it.

But if no one had died accidentally, then getting rid of it would have been much more troublesome. Perhaps a few more people would have died.

This was the best possible outcome.

But could it have been better?

He thought about it. The only way to get rid of supernatural beings was to use the circumstances to his advantage and pick the appropriate method. Strength alone was useless, but that might also be because he wasn’t strong enough yet. In the future, he might have other choices, and, without a doubt, a higher margin of error.

But he also noticed that the number of supernatural beings had increased. It wasn’t just because he had ventured into this field and heard about it more. Based on the registration date of the missions, the number of supernatural beings had been increasing yearly. Why was that?

Chen Chuan couldn’t help but remember what Douma had said.

“The echoes of the world are getting stronger.”

Could this be connected to what he said?

The driver suddenly slammed on the brakes. The moment Chen Chuan sensed the shift in force, he didn’t wait for the safety belt to stop him. He pushed a hand and foot against the front seat. At the same time, his mutated tissue channeled refined force layer by layer to counteract the momentum and prevent him from lurching forward.

The driver cursed. A few motorbikes had rushed out from the canyon and practically grazed the car as they passed. If he hadn’t slammed on the brakes, they would have crashed into the car.

After the motorbikes passed by, they turned around and started following the car on the sides. They could tell that the car was not from Jia County, and there was no one else on the road. The bikers were really bold and occasionally even swerved in front of the car.

“What should we do, Mr. Chen?” the driver asked.

Chen Chuan cast them a cursory glance. Even though the bikers were really close, they were just showing off their skills. “Drive as you usually would and ignore those that get close to us. If they block our way, do whatever you have to do.”

The driver perked up at that and said, “Got it, Mr. Chen. I will do just that.”

It wasn’t as if he had no connections. All the owners of the company came from powerful families. Why should he be worried about these country bumpkins?

He pressed on the horn, then floored the gas pedal and shifted gears. The car started speeding down the road. When the two bikers blocking their way saw him suddenly charging toward them in their rearview mirrors, they were shocked and quickly moved to the side. If they had been a second late, the car would have grazed them. Cold sweat broke out on their skin. Since this was a downward slope and the car was traveling fast, the bikers could not catch up anymore.

The driver cast a glance back and saw the motorbikes still following them. He said somewhat regretfully, “It’s a pity that I’m not driving Young Master Sun’s racecar. Otherwise, we would have shaken them off already.”

No wonder the company sent this guy instead of Xiao Wei, who’s much more careful. He’s much bolder and better suited to deal with situations like this, Chen Chuan thought.

In just a moment, they left Hollow Screen Canyon and got onto the winding mountain road. When they got to the corners, the driver drove even more confidently and didn’t let the bikers overtake them.

After a while, they left Jia County. Once they passed the checkpoint on the main road, the motorbikes fell back. They clearly knew that they wouldn’t be able to pull such stunts elsewhere.

A little over an hour later, Chen Chuan returned to Yangzhi City. He first went to the company and told them about the mission. He then filled up a form to archive it.

Ren Shu was delighted, because the Department of Administrative Affairs had recommended their company to Jia County’s department. Now that Chen Chuan completed it successfully, their name was going to spread. In the future, if other governmental departments needed to deal with similar cases, they would immediately think of them. Their strategy had been right.

Unfortunately, there were only a handful of people who could take up supernatural-related missions. Normal agents willing to take them on were rare enough, much less experts like Chen Chuan. This made it hard for them to expand their business. The only thing they could do was slowly gather evaluation points. Fortunately, they didn’t have to worry about money. They just had to think of ways to make them the best in their niche.

Once Chen Chuan was done with the paperwork at the company, he asked Xiao Wei to send him back.

He had gone to Jia County for a few days, and it was now March.

Over the past few days, Chen Chuan had neglected his training. But to his current self, skipping a few days of martial arts drills was fine. The most important thing for him was to make his mutated tissue stronger, and the growth he gained over the past few days was enough for him to make up for the days of training he skipped.

In all, the benefits he gained outweighed the losses.

After he returned to the university, he called Cheng Zitong first and told him how he dealt with the butterfly tattoos in detail. They went through an in-depth discussion, then Chen Chuan ended the call and threw himself into his daily training.

The medicine’s effects were dwindling. Thankfully, he still had the bone beads from Qisel as a substitute. They would be enough to maintain the growth of his mutated tissue over the next two months.

A few more days passed. Soon, it was the first day off of the month.

This was the day Chen Chuan had agreed to meet with Gao Ming. So, he didn’t go anywhere and just waited in his room. Around noon, his phone rang. He picked it up and heard Gao Ming’s voice. “I’m here, cuz.”

Chen Chuan left the dorm and went to the university entrance, where Gao Ming was leaning against his car door. “Didn’t you go back home first?”

“Your case is the most important thing to me right now. Get in. We’ll talk inside,” Gao Ming said with a grin and motioned at his car.

Chen Chuan opened the car door, went in, and shut the door. Gao Ming then got an envelope out of his bag and handed it to him. “The information is right here. Take it and go through it slowly later. I’ll tell you what my thoughts on it are.”

His voice became more serious. “I’ve been looking for the student’s file, but soon noticed that there was very little record about him. Aside from what I discovered before, I found nothing else. So, I had to look for information in other places.

“I thought that it’s a good thing that I can’t find any information. It meant that the student managed to go to Central City and get a position of some importance there, since his file was transferred away.

“Last month, I got lucky. One of my seniors had to go to a top-tier law firm in Central City to deliver some documents, so I asked him to look into this if possible. He agreed to it.”

Gao Ming grinned. “It was just a simple request, and I wasn’t really hopeful that he could get me anything, since things in Central City are really complicated. But he got results right away, because this student is really unique.”

“Unique?” Chen Chuan’s thoughts jumped to this word. Being unique in Central City was no ordinary feat.

“He’s quite infamous in Central City.” Gao Ming brought his hand up to point at the envelope. “Let me tell you something good first. Fifteen years ago, this student managed to receive a recommendation and go to Central City, so we can use him as an example.

“He first worked at Central City’s Resolution Department. Later on, for some unknown reason, perhaps due to personal choice, he resigned from this position and joined a company. While working there, he got into a lawsuit and resigned after two years.

“This is nothing, really, but just half a year later, the company got caught in an explosion, and many of the employees and executives died. This guy was suspected to have been involved. That’s why all the files about him were transferred to Central City and why I haven’t been able to find anything about him here.”

Gao Ming looked straight into Chen Chuan’s eyes and said, “All those things happened in Central City, cuz. What matters to us is that he succeeded in receiving a recommendation by obtaining a Class B permit.

“But we have to consider one other element: After he got his recommendation, certain people might have become even more wary of the possibility of commoners going to Central City, so the obstacles before you will be even greater.”

Gao Ming laughed. “But this doesn’t mean that you don’t have a chance. It might even be beneficial for you.”

“How so?” Chen Chuan asked.

Gao Ming’s expression became a little more serious as he pointed up. “We overlooked one element—the government. I’ve been looking into how to pave the way forward from the bottom, but also checking the policies the government has been imposing on the branch campuses over the past decade. They have been quite beneficial to the commoners.

“But the forces of power in each region have been thwarting their efforts to help the commoners, and most of the resources ended up in their hands, so the changes have been minimal. However, if a student who fits the right criteria shows up, the government might just pay attention to them.

“How should I put this? This is just a fifty-fifty guess. After all, without more information, I can only make deductions. This is all the information I could dig up for you. It’s up to you to make the final decision, but I think that if you don’t try, you’ll never know the results.”

Chen Chuan thought about it and said, “Thanks, Gao Ming.”

“This is nothing. I’m the one who wanted to work on your case,” Gao Ming fired back with a grin.

“Your suggestion last time was really helpful. I might sit for the unrestricted defense permit before my senior year, but I need you to look into some more things for me.”

“What is it?” Gao Ming asked.

“Do you have a pen and paper?”

Gao Ming looked around before handing the items to him.

Chen Chuan took them and wrote some words on the paper before circling some things. Then, he handed the paper back. Gao Ming took a look and nodded. “Got it. I’ll get back to you soon, cuz.”

With their conversation over, they bade goodbye to each other, and Chen Chuan got out of the car. He went back to his room to look through the information, then set off for Cheng Zitong’s office.

The moment Cheng Zitong saw him and the envelope he brought, he realized what was happening, and he stopped whatever he was doing. “Did you get the information?”

Chen Chuan nodded.

“Shut the door and give me the envelope.”

Chen Chuan did as told before walking over and handing the envelope.

Cheng Zitong opened the envelope and spread the papers on the table to read through them. At the end, he also saw Gao Ming’s addendum. It was basically what he had told Chen Chuan in the car.

After he was done, he looked at Chen Chuan.

“What are your thoughts?”

“Mr. Cheng, all that I did was for the sole purpose of going to Central City. Honestly, no matter what the results of the investigation were, I was going to fight to get recommended to Central City,” Chen Chuan answered earnestly. “The results are better than what I predicted, and that has just strengthened my resolve. I intend to submit my application for the unrestricted defense permit this month.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep