Chapter 174: 174, Qing Zhen's defection

Defection?

The members of the chairmanship fell silent in the conference room, for this accusation was grave indeed.

There had been defectors in the Qing family consortium before, but in recent years, almost none, for the price of defection was too steep, and the consortium never let any defector go.

Someone asked the secretary: "Did Qing Zhen leave any information?"

"He placed a handwritten letter on the table in the villa," the secretary replied: "He said he was going out to clear his mind."

The others in the room were stunned—had Qing Zhen treated the chairmanship's decision as child's play? He was not to set foot beyond the villa, yet he had fled beyond the barrier!

The elder pondered and said: "He would not stoop to defect to the Li family. I suspect he learned of the experimental subject's disappearance from some source he did not understand. These two events must be connected; otherwise, such a coincidence would not arise."

Someone puzzled: "Do you mean Qing Zhen left the barrier because of the experimental subject's news?"

"It seems so," the elder said with a grim face.

The chairmanship members in the room, upon hearing the elder's words, suddenly felt at a loss: "But what connection does the experimental subject's news have with Qing Zhen? Why would he flee?"

"It appears Qing Zhen has already made his judgment—the vast number of experimental subjects is likely being transferred toward Barrier 109," the elder said: "And Qing Zhen's journey to Barrier 109 must be to rescue his brother, Luo Lan."

Luo Lan's presence in Barrier 109 was no secret; the consortium had not ordered his return merely because they could not be bothered with this illegitimate child.

The bond between Qing Zhen and Luo Lan was well known to all, yet none had anticipated that Qing Zhen would risk the charge of defection, fleeing alone beyond Barrier 111 for Luo Lan's sake.

"But what use is Qing Zhen going to Barrier 111 alone?" someone puzzled: "He has no one left under him."

Someone asked the secretary: "What of the soldiers who were reassigned to other combat sequences? Any movements?"

"None. They are all well-behaved, each in their respective camps," the secretary replied.

At these words, all fell silent. Given Qing Zhen's character, how could he venture to Barrier 109 without followers?

There was only one explanation—Qing Zhen must still command a secret force, unknown even to the chairmanship.

Indeed, was this not the reason the chairmanship sought to reclaim Qing Zhen's power? This most renowned shadow of the consortium was on the verge of losing control.

...

Ren Xiaosu had sensed something amiss these past few days; the entire barrier had grown unnervingly calm.

No one stirred trouble, nor had any battles occurred, as though the various factions that had schemed to reach Barrier 109 had come merely for sightseeing.

At the holiday ceremony after the final exams, Ren Xiaosu had not seen Yang Xiaoju's figure. By protocol, this was the time to collect summer homework and announce exam results, with teachers explaining the final papers.

Instead, Yang Xiaoju had vanished as if swallowed by the earth.

The only thing that did not surprise Ren Xiaosu was Yang Xiaoju's exam papers—each subject scored exactly 140 points, not a point more or less.

When Jiang Wuofa collected his papers, he asked which belonged to Class 7's monitor, Ren Xiaosu, and which to the academic affairs representative, Ren Xiaosu.

In Yang Xiaoju's absence, Ren Xiaosu shamelessly took the higher-scoring set.

Jiang Wuofa, puzzled, said: "The handwriting on that paper is quite elegant. It doesn't look like yours."

Yet she suddenly noticed the name on the paper: "Class 7 Monitor Ren Xiaosu." Jiang Wuofa sighed in relief: "It really is your paper. Who knew you scored so high?"

Now it was Ren Xiaosu's turn to be speechless...

It was said that afternoon, a girl from another class, nearly of senior year age, sought out Ren Xiaosu to rally classmates against him. But when a crowd gathered at their classroom door, they were all blocked by Ren Xiaosu's classmates.

The visiting students were somewhat confused—this class was quite united, but could they guarantee he would never stand alone?

Yet Ren Xiaosu's classmates spoke earnestly: "We block you to protect you, understand?"

Li Mo was immediately furious: "Your Ren Xiaosu from your class clearly knows nothing, yet deliberately let me copy his paper, causing me to score only 40 in every subject. Is this something a human would do?"

Ren Xiaosu was not in the classroom, and his classmates exchanged glances before saying: "You must be mistaken. Ren Xiaosu scored 560 points this time!"

Li Mo: "???"

This was even less human than before!

At this point, Ren Xiaosu had lost all heart for school, nor did he care about the events unfolding within it.

For he knew that in these few days, something momentous would occur. All this was but the calm before the storm.

Once he became transcendent, his vision would differ from ordinary students'. While they pondered how to spend the holiday, Ren Xiaosu had already begun contemplating how to survive the coming chaos.

After completing the task of letting Li Mo copy his paper, the palace rewarded Ren Xiaosu with 1.0 agility. Now his strength was 8.5, agility 6.1, but this crisis would not be resolved by a slight increase in agility.

What he looked forward to more was the reward the palace would grant upon completing the task of sheltering Dong Funiang.

After all, the last side mission's reward had been the Black Blade.

Now, those four words—side mission—represented high-quality rewards in Ren Xiaosu's heart.

It was not just Yang Xiaoju who had vanished; Luo Lan had not visited the shop in many days either. Li family consortium combatants on the street had dwindled, leaving only private forces and the Order's personnel.

Everything was abnormal, yet the atmosphere grew ever more serene.

Ren Xiaosu stood at the shop entrance, watching the passersby, when someone passing by slipped a yellowed parchment envelope into his hand.

He retreated inside and opened it to find a withered ginkgo leaf and a short message.

Was this intelligence from Luo Lan, delivered in such secrecy?

Upon opening it, the letter read: "Large number of experimental subjects missing in the direction of Barrier 113, suspected en route to Barrier 109. Within three days, find a way to leave the barrier."

The letter did not specify how to leave, but for Luo Lan, offering such a timely warning was already an act of utmost kindness, as their friendship was not as deep as imagined.

What troubled Ren Xiaosu was the information revealed—the Qing consortium's outlook on the experimental subjects' arrival was far from optimistic.

Had those experimental subjects gone mad? Why had they suddenly attacked Barrier 109?

Whatever the case, great changes would likely shake the barrier within three days. Those coveting the research results would surely act within that time.

No one had time to waste—only the question of who would strike first to ignite the chaos remained.

Ren Xiaosu turned to Wang Fugui and Xiao Yu and said: "It's time to leave. Begin packing."

Wang Fugui, stroking the freshly cleaned counter, sighed: "Such a fine shop, and we must flee again."

Ren Xiaosu smiled: "What, reluctant?"

"Not exactly," Wang Fugui said bitterly: "Xiaosu, have you realized? These hundred or so barriers have stood on the wasteland for decades, even centuries. Yet this year, they've encountered one mishap after another. This is no coincidence—it is the true chaos returning to sweep across the land."