MCL CH58

Chapter 58: “President Yan is using those business…

All the ordinary passengers had been safely escorted away. Even after confirming and checking the crystal core left behind after the Siren’s death, Qi Xian still felt somewhat dazed.

After all, his first impression of Lin Xi had always been stuck at the stage of “a weak, low-level fire-type ability user who can’t take care of himself and, even if he entered a rift, could at most be used for a bit of illumination.” To be suddenly told that it was this Mr. Lin who had single-handedly dealt with a Special A-grade Contaminant left him with a dream-like sense of unreality.

“Captain Qi, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m really going to feel embarrassed.” Finally leaving the rift, Lin Xi changed into a clean set of clothes in a nearby rescue vehicle. Droplets of water were still clinging to the strands of hair falling by his side. Noticing Qi Xian’s hesitant expression, he leaned over with a pleasant smile and patted his shoulder. “This matter was indeed a bit sudden. I’d love to explain it to you properly, but as you know, some things are not suitable to be casually disclosed to outsiders.”

This secretive expression was so perfectly executed that Qi Xian immediately returned a smile. “No need to say more. I get it, I get it all.”

As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced in Su Qiuyin’s direction, feeling a wave of cold sweat inwardly.

With his current position, he basically had all regular access rights. If even he wasn’t notified, then that matter must be…

And it was very obvious that Director Su Qiuyin had full knowledge of Mr. Lin’s affairs.

Qi Xian quickly averted his gaze and looked back at Lin Xi. “In any case, I really didn’t expect something like this to happen again. I’m really short-staffed here right now. How about you go with the others to the quarantine area to rest for a bit?”

“Thank you, but there’s no need.” Lin Xi replied with a smile. “I already have a ride.”

Qi Xian was stunned. “The ride you’re referring to is…”

Before he could finish, a gloomy voice sounded from behind him. “Can we go now?”

Qi Xian: “.”

Could this ride possibly refer to?

“I was originally heading to J City today anyway, and it’s quite urgent. The flight being forcibly canceled couldn’t be helped. I heard Director Su also has business back in J City, so I could only trouble him to give me a lift.” Noticing Qi Xian’s petrified figure, Lin Xi patted his shoulder comfortingly. Just as he was about to take a step, he suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right, what about the quarantine area? There was a child on the plane today. Are he and his mother alright?”

Qi Xian belatedly came back to his senses. “Ah… they should be fine. It’s thanks to you that, aside from a few ability users, the safety of all ordinary passengers was ensured.”

Of course, Lin Xi knew who the “few ability users” that were excluded were. He smiled silently. “That’s good to hear.”

He smiled and waved at Qi Xian. “Well then, Captain Qi, we’ll meet again if fate allows.”

Seeing the man’s carefree attitude, Qi Xian also chuckled. “Yes, we’ll meet again if fate allows.”

By the time Lin Xi got into the car, Su Qiuyin was already sitting in the back seat on the other side.

He didn’t forget to greet him with a smile, seemingly unfazed by the man’s cold aura that was enough to make anyone keep their distance. After sitting down, he casually closed the car door and then lowered his head to absentmindedly take out his phone.

The Third Division’s vehicle started, and soon it passed through the overgrown path of the barren mountains and returned to the main road bustling with traffic.

They headed straight for J City.

Su Qiuyin had been resting with his eyes closed ever since Lin Xi got in the car. It was only after passing through several tunnels that he finally opened his eyes and silently glanced at the figure who was engrossed in his phone.

He had never been someone to take unnecessary interest in others, but from the very beginning of their contact, this man named “Lin Ni” always gave him a very strange feeling.

Su Qiuyin frowned slightly. Before he could figure out where this strange sense of dissonance came from, he saw the figure in his line of sight suddenly sit up a little straighter.

Just as he was about to withdraw his blatant scrutiny, he heard Lin Xi let out a low sigh. “…Lost again.”

His gaze shifted to the phone screen. Su Qiuyin saw the “Defeat” message displayed on the interface of a match-3 game. The “Level 3” marker on it was particularly striking. “……….”

To not even be able to pass such a low-level stage, he was somewhat lacking in gaming talent.

Just as he was thinking this, Lin Xi seemed to have gone numb from losing and quit the game with a lack of interest. He suddenly looked over. Perhaps noticing where Su Qiuyin’s gaze had landed, he blinked and asked, “Is Director Su interested in games too?”

“…” Su Qiuyin withdrew his gaze. “Not interested.”

Lin Xi chuckled. “Is that so.”

The teasing in his words was barely concealed, causing Su Qiuyin to fall into a brief silence before speaking. “I just find people like you, who are bad but love to play, a bit rare. The last time I saw one was…”

At this point, his words came to an abrupt halt.

Lin Xi vaguely guessed something. He glanced at Su Qiuyin’s inscrutable expression and asked as if he hadn’t noticed, “Who was it?”

“It’s nothing.” Su Qiuyin had already closed his eyes again, clearly having no intention of answering. “I just received a message from headquarters. After we pass the highway section, we will enter a spatial transfer zone. An ability user with a spatial domain will come to meet us and lead our convoy to jump directly to the J City spatial link point. We will reach the headquarters building soon.”

“A direct jump?”

This news was somewhat surprising to Lin Xi.

After all, the spatial coding ability was indeed convenient, but it was also under the strictest control to avoid causing chaos. Even when the Third Division came to N City to monitor Yan Xingzhou under the pretext of being stationed there, they had taken the normal highway route all the way.

But this time, they had actually opened up the spatial link authority. Could it be that something had also happened in J City?

Perhaps Lin Xi’s questioning gaze was too obvious, but Su Qiuyin actually had a rare moment of kindness and explained a bit more. “Don’t look at me like that. I was also very surprised. The Executive has already told me about you testing at a special-grade ability strength, but even so, a special-grade ability user joining the Alliance is, strictly speaking, not worth making such a big fuss over. But according to the headquarters’ contact, this arrangement was made mainly because someone wants to see you.”

Vaguely realizing something, a corner of Lin Xi’s mouth lifted with interest. “Someone?”

Su Qiuyin’s narrow eyes opened slightly, his gaze unusually sharp. “A major figure from the Central Research Institute. Even if you haven’t heard his name in normal times, as an ability user, you must have benefited from his research projects.”

Shen Nanyang.

All he could say was, so it really was him.

Lin Xi smiled, his lowered eyelids hiding the expression on his face. “Such a person wants to see me? That’s truly my honor.”

Su Qiuyin maintained this posture, watching Lin Xi.

Sometimes, this man who always gave him a very subtle feeling would also show extremely thought-provoking reactions to certain things.

A trace of interest finally appeared in his perpetually cold and emotionless eyes. After a moment’s pause, Su Qiuyin spoke again. “As for the reason he suddenly wants to see you, it’s quite interesting. You should be interested.”

Lin Xi: “Hmm?”

“President Yan of the Wanyuan Group seems to be very dissatisfied with the matter of you joining the Alliance. He should have contacted headquarters the moment he received the news.” Su Qiuyin spoke slowly, his narrowed eyes not missing a single change in Lin Xi’s expression. “Yan Xingzhou has something in his possession that is very important to the Central Research Institute, and they have been very eager to retrieve it. But for so many years, he has rejected all of the headquarters’ conditions. You should have been at that banquet before. Executive Gu finally had the chance to use your identity certificate to test the waters, resulting in a transaction that was quite satisfactory for both sides.”

Lin Xi nodded. “I remember. It seems there was such a thing.”

“But now, Yan Xingzhou has suddenly proposed to raise the stakes, and this ‘stake’ is—that you are absolutely not allowed to have any connection with the Alliance. Honestly, having known this man for so long, this is the first time I’ve seen him be so emotional over a single person.” Su Qiuyin’s words deliberately drew out. “Lin Ni, do you think there might be some reason behind this that I don’t know about?”

As his voice fell, the entire car fell into a dead silence.

A moment later, Lin Xi laughed out loud. “No wonder he let me go so easily before. This explains it. President Yan is using his business tactics on me.”

He looked at Su Qiuyin. “However, it seems the Alliance didn’t accept such an overly arrogant threat. Otherwise, there would be no need to take me to the headquarters today, nor would I have to meet that person from the Central Research Institute you mentioned.”

Su Qiuyin did not see the slightest abnormality in Lin Xi’s expression, and there was a hint of faint regret in his eyes. “That, I don’t know. There’s still a stretch of road ahead, and we might not have time to rest later. My suggestion is, why not take a nap now.”

“No need.” Lin Xi said as he unlocked his phone screen again.

Su Qiuyin thought he was about to start his match-3 game again, only to see the screen switch to the messaging interface the next second, followed by unhesitating typing.

Lin Xi looked up and saw Su Qiuyin’s gaze. He smiled pleasantly. “I haven’t reported my safety to President Yan yet. I’ll take this opportunity to greet him properly.”

“…” It was also the first time Su Qiuyin had seen someone dare to be so audacious with Yan Xingzhou.

It really was true that those who are favored tend to be fearless.

He glanced over the string of very colorful “greetings,” and the image of the man on the other end receiving these messages couldn’t help but appear in his mind. His usually irritated mood actually improved quite a bit. “Mmm, you continue.”

Lin Xi sent messages one after another.

Each set of “greetings” was not repeated in the slightest.

In a gap, he finally received a reply from Yan Xingzhou: [You’ve met Su Qiuyin?]

Lin Xi glanced at Su Qiuyin, who had already looked away: [Mmm, how are things on your end?]

Yan Xingzhou: [Arrived at the hotel.]

Having received the reply he most wanted to know, Lin Xi also got straight to the point: [Shen Nanyang wants to see me.]

This time, Yan Xingzhou’s reply was noticeably slower. It was a long while before Lin Xi received another message.

Three concise words: [Be careful yourself.]

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