655: Chapter 655: Traitor?
(Two-in-one Super-sized Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass) 655: Chapter 655: Traitor?
(Two-in-one Super-sized Chapter, Seeking Monthly Pass) “Okay,”
YiXiya glanced at the hamburger on the table, took a sip of coffee, and after a brief mont of thought, she asked, “Elderly gentleman, do you know about the polluted monsters?”
“The Vite I killed last night?”
He Ao asked calmly.
“Exactly,” YiXiya nodded, “Vite isn’t entirely a polluted monster; he was a human who attempted to steal the power of polluted monsters and ultimately rged with one.”
“The polluted monsters you speak of, how are they different from the exotic beasts in the wilderness?”
He Ao asked thoughtfully.
Exotic beasts in the wilderness were, to a greater or lesser extent, affected by wilderness pollution, making them a kind of polluted monster.
“In fact, the major difference lies in that polluted monsters undergo sudden mutations into monster forms, without genetic signs as exotic beasts have,”
YiXiya held her coffee, “According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, polluted monsters usually aren’t monsters before contamination.
So were insects, so animals, so…
ordinary humans.
For reasons unknown to us, they suddenly mutate into twisted monsters and begin attacking humans.
“Strictly speaking, the polluted monsters die the mont they beco monsters.
They lack reason, driven solely by the twisted and insane desire for slaughter within their souls.
They share one common trait: they prey on humans.
“Usually, most polluted monsters will hide in dark corners, attacking humans who are alone, devouring their bodies and souls.
“However, these corner-hiding polluted monsters are generally quite weak, only below or at F-level in strength.
When there are many people around, even a few fully ard gang mbers can easily kill them.”
“These polluted monsters don’t seem to all be weak beings.”
He Ao slowly tore apart the fried chicken, speaking slowly.
Vite wasn’t like the weak common people who could be easily killed.
“Yes,”
YiXiya nodded,
“Polluted monsters have a very peculiar structure; they absorb the power of the people they devour.
Polluted monsters that consu more humans beco more powerful.
“Even a very weak polluted monster, after hunting sufficient prey, can ascend to E-level, and even terrifying monsters at D-level or C-level.
“To prevent the birth of such horrifying creatures, an organization must continually clear out weaker polluted monsters to eliminate them while they are still weak.
“This way, while protecting ordinary humans, it also prevents these monsters from growing into an unrivaled terrorist threat.”
“Is this what your organization does?”
He Ao put down the intact chicken bone from his hand, picked up the spicy sauce on the side, looked up, and gazed at YiXiya.
“Yes, the full na of our organization is the Pollution Cleaning Departnt,”
She paused, looking at He Ao, and added, “Kajet Consortium’s Pollution Cleaning Departnt.”
He Ao’s hand stopped moving, as he watched YiXiya, “Are you part of the Kajet Grain Industry Group’s corporate militia?”
“Yes,”
YiXiya paused, looked down at the hamburger before her, knowing that the man opposite her didn’t have much of a liking for the Kajet Grain Industry Group,
“Although we bear the na of the Kajet Consortium, in reality, we are an entirely independent organization, funded only by the Consortium Alliance led by the Kajet Consortium.
“In principle, we aren’t governed by the Kajet Consortium, nor do we work for the Kajet Consortium, and we don’t take orders from the Kajet Consortium branches in various cities,
“We have our own council responsible for decision-making; our main task is to eradicate polluted monsters and handle related events, not to take care of any other business-related affairs.”
“Do they provide you with support?”
He Ao dipped a piece of chicken into the spicy sauce, coating it evenly, “Like ‘securing’ you so powers from the city council, city governnt, or the city police departnt?”
“They do,”
YiXiya looked at He Ao, nodding gently.
“Kajet Consortium now essentially controls Saint Joen City,”
He Ao pondered, “Which ans, in effect, your organization in this city is also considered a ‘semi-official’ entity?”
He paused in his speech, reflected for a bit, then, recalling that YiXiya had ntioned ‘Kajet Consortium branches in various cities,’ continued asking,
“Apart from Saint Joen City, are there other cities where polluted monsters exist?”
“I don’t know about other cities, but in the eleven cities where the Pollution Cleaning Departnt operates, there are polluted monsters,”
YiXiya stated, “To be precise, the Pollution Cleaning Departnt exists because polluted monsters do.”
“Are these eleven cities all controlled by the Kajet Consortium?
He Ao regained his composure, took a bite of the chicken, and asked.
“Not all of them,”
YiXiya shook her head, “However, the Kajet Consortium has branch offices in these cities, and the Consortium organizes local major consortia to ‘invest’ in the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, securing support from local officials through these ‘shareholder’ consortia, which also enter the Pollution Cleaning Departnt’s council.”
“Is the Kajet Consortium your Pollution Cleaning Departnt’s largest ‘shareholder’?”
He Ao asked in a low voice.
“Yes,”
YiXiya nodded.
In the vast majority of organizations, the person who provides the money often has decision-making power.
So it wasn’t strange that the Pollution Cleaning Departnt was directly under the na of Kajet Consortium.
This was, in fact, a way for Kajet Consortium to declare ownership.
But from what I heard, the Pollution Cleaning Departnt was a purely “public welfare” organization with no comrcial activities, and they had invested a lot of manpower and material resources to clean up Polluted Monsters.
Would the consortium make a loss-making deal?
He Ao looked down at the fried chicken on his plate.
Even if Kajet Consortium was willing to engage in such loss-making deals, would those brought in by Kajet Consortium to “invest” agree to them?
Consortiums invest with the first data point they look at being the return on investnt.
The Pollution Cleaning Departnt is not an overt organization, and their activities are not known to the public.
Investing in such an organization wouldn’t even yield goodwill.
So, what could they gain?
If they hadn’t reaped any benefits from the Pollution Cleaning Departnt itself, then they must have obtained benefits elsewhere.
YiXiya watched He Ao’s expression closely.
She knew that what she had said might be hard to believe.
In fact, she was just as surprised as He Ao when she first learned the Pollution Cleaning Departnt belonged to a consortium’s forces.
She organized her words and continued,
“Elderly Sir, I know this might sound hard to believe, but based on my experience joining the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, there might be so minor issues within the departnt, but it really doesn’t operate like Kajet Group does.
“The Cleaning Departnt has always been diligently carrying out their task of cleaning pollution, and since its establishnt, many people have sacrificed their lives in the mission to clean up Polluted Monsters.”
“Let’s continue talking about Polluted Monsters,”
He Ao set aside his doubts for the mont.
Things that seem abnormal often have their unknown internal laws.
He looked at YiXiya and continued to ask,
“You ntioned earlier that after I ca into contact with a Polluted Monster, I’ve been imbued with its essence.
Does this contamination lead to any severe consequences?”
“You’ll be more susceptible to attacks from Polluted Monsters,”
Hearing He Ao’s words, YiXiya knew he wasn’t fully convinced about the Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
She didn’t delve further into her previous point but took the cue from He Ao to talk about,
“These Polluted Monsters carry an essence that we still can’t understand, which adheres to people who’ve been in close contact with them, making other Polluted Monsters more easily recognize such individuals.
“Usually, the purer and stronger a person’s soul, the more of this essence they bear, and the higher their ‘deliciousness’ is in the eyes of Polluted Monsters.
“Polluted Monsters tend to target those who have their essence on them.”
“Like a ‘prey’ marker?”
He Ao glanced at Jia Xi beside him and asked, “Is there a way to remove or conceal this mark?”
Since the Pollution Cleaning Departnt constantly deals with Polluted Monsters, having their mbers marked is unavoidable.
If they can’t remove these marks, it could lead to targeted attacks by monsters and unnecessary casualties.
As he asked this question, He Ao also briefly activated Super mory.
He didn’t observe the external environnt but concentrated the power of Super mory towards his soul.
Usually, things that defy common detection are related to the soul.
This ‘introspection’ caused a montary, swollen pain in his soul, but He Ao’s perception was quick.
In a very brief period, he swept through the state of his soul.
There were no problems with his soul, nor any changes.
This was consistent with his lack of extra contamination or erosion.
He Ao continued to expand his search.
Soon, on the outermost surface corner of his soul, he found an almost imperceptible dot with a strange essence.
The dot was extrely tiny, sticking to the outermost part of He Ao’s soul without affecting his state, so He Ao hadn’t noticed it before.
If it wasn’t for YiXiya’s warning, this dot might have remained hidden there indefinitely.
He Ao gathered Super mory’s power and shattered the dot.
Then his gaze swiftly swept over Jia Xi’s soul.
Quickly, he spotted a similar dot on her soul, although it was much fainter and weaker than his own.
He Ao quickly shattered the dot covering Jia Xi’s soul.
Then he turned off Super mory.
The exhaustion from the vast power being drawn rushed back.
But at this mont, with his body’s constitution reaching 9 and with his continuous practice of Martial Arts, he could barely withstand such a draw.
Indeed, this was not the first ti he had used Super mory today; he had also used it when killing the worm monster earlier.
When activated for a short ti, Super mory doesn’t impose such a heavy burden on the body.
“Yes,”
And at this ti, YiXiya also took out a glass bottle spray from her pocket.
The liquid inside was semi-transparent purple, “This is a scent-masking spray secretly made by the Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
Spray it on the forehead, and one spray will last for a day.”
“What are the conditions for obtaining this item?”
He Ao glanced down at the glass bottle of spray.
Since Polluted Monsters abounded, there were certainly no shortage of people who had been attacked by them.
Not all of these people joined the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, but they were likely to be marked by the Polluted Monsters.
To avoid being attacked again, they definitely had a need for this kind of spray, and the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, in order to prevent the Polluted Monsters from gaining strength by devouring people, would also have a need to provide this spray.
“This is for sale to the public,”
YiXiya looked at He Ao with so surprise.
She hadn’t expected him to grasp the key significance of the spray so quickly, and she continued,
“The internal staff of the Pollution Cleaning Departnt can obtain it for free, while those who are not staff can acquire it by purchasing.
The price is not expensive, one hundred federal coins a bottle, which can last three months.”
Roughly costing over a federal coin a day.
“Are there any conditions for purchasing this?”
He Ao asked with a smile.
This was a consumable, and an essential one at that, the kind one could die without.
Thus, this consumable could beco a ans for the Pollution Cleaning Departnt to extend its influence.
“Yes,”
YiXiya nodded,
“To purchase this spray, one needs to sign a confidentiality agreent with the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, ensuring not to disclose any information about it or the Polluted Monsters to others and to register personal information in the Pollution Cleaning Departnt’s database.
This makes it convenient for the departnt to quickly review records and ascertain issues if anything happens.
“Usually, only the Pollution Cleaning Departnt’s main computer can access the records, and all identity verification actions are carried out by the main computer.”
She paused here,
“Of course, there’s also a way to get the cover scent spray for free.
Investigators like from the Pollution Cleaning Departnt are authorized to develop ‘Undercover Lines.’ Often, we need the help of Transcendents who have had contact with Polluted Monsters but are unwilling to join the departnt, so we provide the status of ‘Undercover Line.’
“‘Undercover Lines’ are not entered into the records of the Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
Their cover scent spray for every three months is obtained for free by their ‘Contact Person,’ who then passes it on to the ‘Undercover Line.'”
“Sounds good.”
He Ao said with a laugh.
By controlling the cover scent spray, the Pollution Cleaning Departnt essentially controlled a huge monopoly market, in a sense.
Moreover, this monopoly market is not negotiable; all who have been in contact with Polluted Monsters, if they do not have soul-disturbing powers like He Ao, will have a demand for this spray.
Even powerful Transcendents cannot withstand the relentless harassnt of Polluted Monsters.
Along with those ordinary people who must buy the cover scent spray upon entering the records, the Pollution Cleaning Departnt has effectively ford an influence over a vast number of people.
And these people have to be thankful to the Pollution Cleaning Departnt because, indeed, the cover scent spray they sell is not expensive, and they even give it away to powerful Transcendents.
The reason they need to obtain the spray often cos from their own misfortune of having encountered Polluted Monsters.
On the contrary, the Pollution Cleaning Departnt is the organization committed to cleansing the Polluted Monsters and might even have saved them at so point.
“Don’t get wrong,”
YiXiya realized sothing and quickly gestured, “My visit today isn’t to pull you into the Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
After all, you saved .
This is just the only thod I could think of to provide you with the spray for free.”
“The ‘Undercover Line’ you develop, do you need to report specific identity information to the Pollution Cleaning Departnt?”
He Ao asked softly.
Dealing with cover scent spray wasn’t within YiXiya’s control; it was rely the best thod she could think of, using her status.
“No need,” YiXiya shook her head, “but a code na is required.”
“Call it ‘Elderly.'”
He Ao extended his hand and took the cover scent spray from the table.
“Ah?”
YiXiya was startled, but she quickly caught on, “You’re willing to be an ‘Undercover Line’ for the Pollution Cleaning Departnt?”
“No, I do not trust the Pollution Cleaning Departnt,”
He Ao shook his head, looking at YiXiya, “But I can trust you.”
Whether the Pollution Cleaning Departnt was truly just, He Ao could not be certain.
But judging from her behavior from last night until now, YiXiya at least seed to be a kind person.
He Ao never confused individuals with their organizations.
On the side, Jia Xi, who was nibbling on a waffle cone and had her little mouth covered in ice cream, looked up at her grandfather.
“Thank you.”
YiXiya stared blankly at He Ao.
“Let’s talk about sothing else,”
He Ao put away the cover scent spray and smiled, “Now that I’m your ‘Undercover Line,’ can I know so more insider information?
Like why were you in Vite’s yard last night?”
“Ah, actually last night I was investigating a delivery person’s disappearance case,”
YiXiya spoke slowly, pausing for a mont,
“However, there is one piece of information we usually can’t discuss lightly.”
“Hmm?”
He Ao looked at her.
“About Vite and his fusion with the Polluted Monsters?”
“Yes, I just told you, Polluted Monsters can rapidly level up by devouring lives,”
YiXiya nodded,
“In fact, in a sense, Polluted Monsters also have the ability to ‘fuse’ with Transcendents.
“Because of this, many unscrupulous Transcendents try to ‘farm’ Polluted Monsters, and even directly fuse with them.
They continually hunt people to ‘feed’ the Polluted Monsters, thereby enhancing their own strength.
“And delivery personnel, food couriers, dostic workers—these jobs requiring ho services are the most susceptible to attacks.
So once there is a significant number of missing couriers, it often implies that soone is breeding Polluted Monsters.”
“So you followed the clue of the missing couriers and found Vite?”
He Ao asked, “Can you tell the details?”
The ‘encounter’ with YiXiya last night might not have been entirely coincidental.
“Yes,”
Although YiXiya didn’t know why He Ao was asking this, she still answered further, “Actually, I was investigating another case at the ti.
However, there was no progress in that case, but during the investigation, I ca across a new missing courier incident.
“There were multiple disappearances of delivery personnel near Saint Joen Ninth Street in South City.
Even though South City is already chaotic, the frequent and concentrated disappearances were still abnormal, so I went to investigate near Saint Joen Ninth Street.
“The investigation was not difficult.
I got the last delivery information from the takeaway companies and quickly discovered that these delivery personnel’s last orders were entering a few villas in the middle of Saint Joen Ninth Street.
“Normally, the villas in South City are sold to the leaders of the underground world’s gangs.
So, I found an underground world’s information trafficker and investigated the ownership of these villas.
“Soon, I learned that these villas all belonged to the Eagle Claw Gang, and I was inford that their leader Vite had recently displayed an irrational frenzy, which could be a sign of his will being eroded by Polluted Monsters.
That’s when I roughly confird the fact that Vite was breeding Polluted Monsters.
“However, I didn’t expect him to have reached C-level.
Based on my experience, Polluted Monsters hunting ordinary couriers tend to range between E-level and D-level in strength.
C-level ans that only hunting Transcendents can bring about significant growth.”
“How long did it take you to go from starting the investigation to finally suspecting sothing was wrong with Vite?”
He Ao asked.
“Less than a day.”
YiXiya quickly responded, “Many things about Vite were not hidden at all; it was easy to trace the breeding back to him.
My initial judgnt was that he had just started breeding and was inexperienced, and that the Polluted Monster should not be strong, so I went directly to him, not considering that his monster had already reached C-level…”
As she spoke, YiXiya’s words ca to a halt, she raised her head, and looked at He Ao, as if realizing sothing, “Is this a trap?”
From last night to now, she has either been lying in the hospital or staking out He Ao’s path, with no ti to reflect on the whole event.
Clearly, following the normal process, if He Ao hadn’t appeared last night, she would have likely died at Vite’s hands.
A person capable of breeding a Polluted Monster to C-level wouldn’t leave so many obvious clues.
This in itself was a trap targeting YiXiya.
But judging from what YiXiya said earlier, she had only recently arrived in Saint Joen City from Twilight City, so she shouldn’t have had enough ti to offend soone capable of setting such a trap for her.
Then the answer was clear, from the mont this young woman arrived in the city, she had stepped into certain no-go zones.
“Do you mind talking about the case you were originally investigating?”
He Ao asked softly.
YiXiya had ntioned she was investigating another case when she stumbled upon the one involving Vite breeding monsters.
At this mont, YiXiya seed to have co to her senses as well.
She looked up at He Ao and began to speak,
“That was a case that shouldn’t have been investigated,”
Her tone was slow, as if she were recalling and organizing her thoughts,
“I ntioned to you earlier, I was newly transferred to this city, and the reason I was transferred here was due to apparent personnel shortages in the city’s Pollution Cleaning Departnt.
“The Transcendent ‘Night Hawk,’ who was primarily responsible for the work in Saint Joen City, had been discovered breeding Polluted Monsters and fled.
“The head of the Pollution Cleaning Departnt ca personally to Saint Joen City to clean house, and I was transferred here as part of the personnel replacents.”
“Is the case you were investigating related to ‘Night Hawk’?”
He Ao continued to eat his fried chicken, asking quietly.
“Yes.”
YiXiya took a sip of her coffee.
“Is Night Hawk still alive?”
He Ao kept asking.
“No, he is dead,”
YiXiya shook her head, “According to the official announcent by the Pollution Cleaning Departnt, he was executed by the departnt’s head a few days ago.”
A few days ago.
He Ao’s motions paused.
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