Chapter 507: Jiang Xinwu

Ling Chen glanced at Xu Dong, whose face was full of surprise, and said, "Go to their company tomorrow and tell their boss that I strongly dislike this person. If he knows what’s good for him, he should know what to do."

"Understood."

"Also, spread the word that, within East Sea City, any company that dares to hire him cannot offer a salary higher than two thousand. If anyone dares to go against my wishes, don’t blame me for being unkind. Did you get that?"

The young man replied, "Very clear."

After listening to Ling Chen and the young man’s conversation, Xu Dong’s face turned pale instantly. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he couldn’t utter a word.

"Feifei, let’s go."

Having dealt with the trivial matter, Ling Chen stood up and walked towards the door. When passing by Xu Dong, Ling Chen stopped and said, "Mr. Xu, since you’re more capable than me, I believe you will surely find a satisfying job in East Sea City."

Leaving Starbucks, the cold wind outside grew sharper. Ling Chen wrapped up his collar and looked at Leng Feifei, whose cheeks were red, and said with concern, "I’ll take you home first."

"It’s not necessary, you go about your business. My home is nearby." After speaking, Leng Feifei bit her lip, her expression shy and bashful as she said, "Ling Chen, sorry for the incident just now, don’t take it to heart."

Ling Chen smiled lightly, "It’s fine, I’m not that narrow-minded."

"I’m going back then, let’s chat again when you’re free."

"Okay."

Watching Leng Feifei’s retreating figure, Ling Chen did not linger long in the Old City District and took a car back to Wealthy Manor by himself.

Upon arriving at the gates of the manor, he saw many reporters still outside, having stood there all day refusing to leave. With no other option, Ling Chen had to enter the Nanrong Family residence through the side gate of Wealthy Manor.

It was already seven o’clock in the evening when Ling Chen entered his home, and the fragrance of dinner instantly filled the air.

Nanrong Wanqing, who came down from upstairs, saw Ling Chen return and asked, "Where have you been today? I haven’t seen you all day."

"A friend had an accident, and they called me to help."

Nanrong Wanqing nodded and did not ask any further.

The next day.

Just after noon, when Ling Chen was about to take a nap, he received a phone call from Hu Fei, who said that he had some leads on the investigation he was asked to look into.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Ling Chen immediately drove to the Old City District.

At the courier company, Ling Chen walked into the office and asked, "Fatty, any results?"

"You asked me to look into the cases of missing persons over the past ten years, right? I spent the whole night on it, and though I haven’t finished looking through everything, I think there’s no need to continue."

"Why?"

Hu Fei picked up a rough set of data he had compiled, "I accessed the database at the Ministry of Public Security and started looking back from ten years ago. I’ve only gone through two years' worth of missing person cases so far. According to my investigation, out of these missing persons, there are over a hundred martial artists from different regions and cities, and without exception, they all disappeared without a trace, as if they vanished into thin air."

"So many martial artists missing in just two years can’t be a coincidence. Moreover, whoever is behind this is very cautious. They only strike once in each city and will never do so again in nearby cities to avoid drawing suspicion from the authorities."

After hearing Hu Fei’s report, Ling Chen furrowed his brows. It seemed his guess was right; the experiment codenamed ’Lucifer’ was using martial artists as basic test subjects. If the transformation of the test subjects was successful, their strength would increase significantly.

No wonder Blood Wolf said in the video that only Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had the power to stop this.

A Tiger List expert undergoing the experiment could potentially approach the strength of a Dragon List expert. By extension, what level of power would an Earthly List expert reach if they completed the experiment?

At this thought, Ling Chen’s back broke out in a cold sweat.

"Fatty, have you found out anything about Jiang Xinwu’s whereabouts?"

"Not yet, that guy is hiding deep. Unless he shows himself, it’s hard to pinpoint his location."

"We must find a way to track him down."

Ling Chen said. From the video left by Blood Wolf, it was evident that the Lucifer experiment had not made progress a year ago. But now, a year later, with Jiang Xinwu reappearing in East Sea City as one of the missing persons, could it mean that the Lucifer experiment had succeeded?

This was crucial intelligence; he had to clarify it.

"By the way!"

At this moment, Hu Fei seemed to recall something and handed a piece of information to Ling Chen, saying, "I’ve done a deeper investigation on Jiang Xinwu’s information. His parents, as well as his closely acquainted friends from before, are all recorded in this document. Have a look, it might be useful to you."

Hearing this, Ling Chen carefully flipped through the document. Soon, his gaze was arrested by a name on the paper.

What a coincidence!

"Fatty, you keep busy, I’m going out to make a call."

Leaving the office, Ling Chen walked alone to the balcony and took out his mobile phone to dial a number.

Beep... beep...

The call connected, and a hearty voice immediately came from the other end of the phone, "Ling Chen, how come you have time to call me today?"

"Mr. Ye, there’s something I’d like to consult with you about."

Ye Liangyong asked, "What’s the matter?"

"Do you know someone named Jiang Xinwu?"

"Jiang Xinwu... yes, I know him, but that was a long time ago. Xinwu was a promising youngster, trained in martial arts from a young age, and had solid foundations. I met him at a local martial arts exchange and we hit it off, so we kept in touch. Later, I even invited him to my home as a guest. It’s just unfortunate that Xinwu disappeared ten years ago and has been missing ever since. Sigh, after so many years, he’s likely in grave danger."

Ye Liangyong sighed, then curiously asked, "Ling Chen, why are you suddenly asking about him? Did you run into him?"

"Jiang Xinwu is not dead; not only is he in East Sea City now, but he has also injured my friend. Luckily, I arrived in time to save my friend’s life."

"That’s impossible! Xinwu would never do such a thing."

"Mr. Ye, you haven’t seen him for ten years. People change, and moreover... I suspect he has something to do with the God Organization."

"Are you sure?" Ye Liangyong asked gravely.

"I only suspect it at the moment; there’s no proof yet. Mr. Ye, when you knew Jiang Xinwu, how skilled was he?"

"He was about on par with me. With his talent, as long as he worked hard, he could have advanced to the Tiger List in ten years."

Tiger List...

Ling Chen nodded to himself. Judging from the footage from that day, Jiang Xinwu’s demonstrated ability was enough to contend with a Dragon List expert.

It was evident; Jiang Xinwu’s formidable strength after ten years could only be attained by unusual means.

Could it be... the God Organization’s Lucifer experiment had already succeeded?