Use first and repay later: Advance the future cultivation fruits

Chapter 54: 54, you are the informant.

Zhou Yang was already dead.

Lin Qing slightly furrowed his brows and walked step by step toward the safe, just in time to see that half-concealed, odd device on top of it, as well as the piston that was trembling faintly.

But when he looked closely, the piston blocking the pipe entrance wasn’t moving at all.

That was definitely not an illusion… this thought flashed through Lin Qing’s mind.

Remembering Zhou Yang’s incredulous and unwilling expression before his death, it was clear that this must be some kind of device capable of backfiring on him.

For example…

...

A high-speed jet of hypnotic gas, or poison?

But the device hadn’t been triggered, and that piston seemed to be suppressed by some unseen force…

Was there some invisible power secretly helping him?

Then he thought about his recent unexplained intuition…

At this moment, many thoughts emerged in Lin Qing’s mind.

Could it be… telekinesis?

A telekinesis awakener?

Lin Qing took a deep breath and reached into the safe to pull out a light blue syringe; the base below was the box used to contain it.

“So this is the Super Sensing Liquid? Is this for real…”

Lin Qing pretended to mutter to himself nonchalantly.

Then, that familiar intuition resurfaced in his mind, his subconscious seemingly reminding him… this was indeed real.

Lin Qing fell completely silent, expressionlessly staring at the syringe in his hand.

Could it be her?

…

“Uh…”

Inside the boxing gym, Zhao Jiayi endured the intense dizziness flooding her brain, gently rubbing her temple with one hand while steadying herself against the wall with the other, barely managing to stay upright.

“Little Zhao, what’s wrong?”

The team leader, Han, not far away, couldn’t help but frown slightly, “Why do you look so pale? Are you bleeding from your nose?”

“It’s nothing, just a bit dizzy…”

Zhao Jiayi shook her head and wiped off the nosebleed with a tissue.

Inwardly, she felt helpless; indeed, it was too much of a strain, and she had overexerted herself…

It was a shame she couldn’t reveal her abilities; otherwise, she wouldn’t need to exert herself covertly…

Hmm, I still need to watch more dramas to learn how normal friends interact. I’ve only been learning for a few months, so it can’t be my fault…

It seems that you need to visit each other’s homes often to be considered friends? But I was rejected by him last Spring Festival…

I heard there’s a new planetarium in the city. What if I invite him to go see the stars?

Hmm… it doesn’t seem interesting, though. I watched stars with my father in the cage for over ten years and never found anything good about them, so boring…

As she wiped her nosebleed, enduring dizziness, she pondered somewhat confusedly.

Just then—

“It’s open! It’s open!”

“Quick, go in!”

A burst of exclamation came from the direction of the boxing gym’s changing room.

…

After five and a half minutes, the forty-five-centimeter-thick alloy plate finally broke apart under the dual efforts of the plasma cutting machine and the General Captain.

The molten chunk of the heavy alloy plate was also directly kicked aside by the General Captain.

Inside the alloy-forged tunnel, the scorching high temperature still lingered.

Neither liquid nitrogen cooling nor cooling liquid was used as they would delay the rescue and could cause explosions in such a confined space.

Instead, the rescue team had the General Captain lay a layer of aerogel mats at the high-temperature point in the tunnel, which had an exceedingly low thermal conductivity and was highly heat-resistant.

As long as the Patrol Team didn’t touch the high-temperature metals, they could pass through quickly.

“I’ll lead the way, you are in charge of the search, confirm Lin Qing’s status.”

Without any further ado, the General Captain, after taking off his fireproof suit, charged down the tunnel.

“Follow me.”

And Xiao Peidong proceeded with a grave look, stepping quickly into the hot tunnel, his expression filled with worry, unease, anticipation… as if his heart was perpetually concerned for Lin Qing, whose life or death was still uncertain.

The rest of the Patrol Team quickly followed suit, passing through the fiery tunnel to reach the empty lounge below.

In the lounge, arrows were scattered everywhere, indicating there had been a battle.

When the Patrol Team hurried out of the lounge and arrived at the spacious and bright Underground Boxing Arena, they were all momentarily stunned.

Throughout the entire arena, from the boxing ring to the stands, corpses were everywhere, and nearly every body showed no external injuries, having died from bleeding from all orifices.

The whole arena resembled an execution ground, filled with a deathly silence.

“No wonder you dared to rush in here.”

At that moment, the General Captain’s somewhat playful snicker came from not too far away.

The Patrol Team turned towards the sound and saw Lin Qing sitting on a long bench near the boxing ring, still donned in his immaculate Patrol uniform.

Beneath his feet lay the body of a woman in a cheongsam, riddled with bullet holes.

Xiao Peidong was stunned.

The whole Patrol Team was stunned as well.@@novelbin@@

“Captain Xiao.”

Lin Qing suddenly looked at Xiao Peidong and spoke, “The person in charge of this underground boxing arena, Zhou Yang, she revealed to me before she died, saying that you are an informant for the Yuanhong Society.”

“What?”

“Informant?”

Lin Qing’s shocking words immediately stunned all members of the Patrol Team, who looked at Xiao Peidong in surprise.

For a moment, quite a few member of the Patrol Team subconsciously stepped aside, as if they feared being associated with Xiao Peidong.

Xiao Peidong also felt a darkness before his eyes and almost lost his composure.

But the qualities instilled by his undercover training allowed him to just pause for a moment before frowning and responding, “Captain Lin wouldn’t really believe the deathbed slanders of a criminal, would he?”

“People tend to speak truthfully when they’re about to die, right?”

Lin Qing smiled, “Moreover, she mentioned that she provided you with the EPS series High Energy Release Liquid. She also confessed that because I took the position of Deputy Captain, posing a threat to you, you hired Chu Tianyao to kill me, she spoke as if it was all true.”

He didn’t know the exact situation, but Zhou Yang had mentioned that the Super Sensing Liquid was prepared for someone else.

So he suspected it might be Xiao Peidong.

These were all logical deductions.

It was like playing Werewolf, the good guys have to scrutinize the logic thoroughly.

Besides… he still needed to use Xiao Peidong to conduct an experiment to confirm his suspicion.

“Captain Lin, please be cautious with your words!”

Xiao Peidong suddenly snapped coldly, solemnly saying, “Since I, Xiao Peidong, joined the Patrol Team, it’s been five years, and I have accumulated merits big and small more than a dozen times. If Captain Lin truly suspects that I, Xiao Peidong, am the type to knowingly violate the law and be colluding with criminals, then please produce the concrete evidence. I will, of course, admit my guilt.”

He spoke with a forceful tone, resolutely and powerfully, exuding an air of integrity that easily inspired trust.

“It’s good that Captain Xiao didn’t do it.”

Lin Qing smiled, “I’m just repeating the words of a dying criminal, why would Captain Xiao need to be so agitated?”

He didn’t give Xiao Peidong the chance to retort, immediately standing up and saluting Yuan Anping, saying solemnly:

“General Captain, although I haven’t known Captain Xiao for long and am not quite clear about his character, since Captain Xiao has put it this way, I think he must be innocent.

“Please, General Captain, I request that you immediately issue an order to thoroughly investigate this underground boxing arena, as well as Captain Xiao’s office and residence, to clear Captain Xiao’s name.”

He too appeared very serious, as if he was truly worried about wrongfully accusing a good colleague.

This kid… Yuan Anping’s eyes twitched slightly and he cleared his throat, saying, “Then a thorough investigation should indeed be conducted.”

He glanced at Xiao Peidong, who remained composed, and spoke, “Then let my directly subordinate Patrol Team search Captain Xiao’s office and residence, and you all will search this boxing arena.”

“Good.”

Lin Qing nodded slightly, then turned to the members of the Patrol Team, saying, “We haven’t had time to search this underground boxing arena yet, the tech team should disable the signal jammer and search for any suspicious information. Teams five and six, stay behind to verify the identities of these criminals, extract DNA for those you can’t trace, for on-site identification.”

“As for the tasks for the other members of the Patrol Team, team one…”

After he finished assigning tasks to each group, he instructed, “Remember, you must search this underground boxing arena carefully, leaving no corner unchecked.”

“Yes.” The members of the Patrol Team responded.

“Captain Xiao.”

Lin Qing looked at Xiao Peidong again and earnestly said, “I was just quoting exactly what was said by the criminal. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

Xiao Peidong sighed and shook his head, “Such things indeed need to be said. Don’t worry, I, Xiao Peidong, hate those criminals who make false accusations. Captain Lin is just straightforward, I am rather grateful to have such an honest colleague.”

“…”

Lin Qing was taken aback and could only respond, “I admire you, Captain Xiao.”

Regardless of whether Xiao Peidong was truthful or not, such a state of mind deserved admiration.

If he was truthful, that facade was truly contrived.

If he was lying, that acting was indeed very genuine.

“Let’s get started then.”

Lin Qing spoke, “Captain Xiao is experienced, come help with the search.”

After the members of the Patrol Team began their search, Team Leader Han approached, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, “Captain Lin, should I take team two to accompany Captain Xiao in the search, to assist Captain Xiao?”

Lin Qing couldn’t help but look at Team Leader Han.

He knew that Team Leader Han said it was to assist, but it was actually to ensure that if Xiao Peidong found any evidence, he wouldn’t hide or destroy it, therefore wanting to follow and monitor.

After all, he didn’t have any evidence to prove that Xiao Peidong was an informant, it was merely an empty probe.

“Never mind, Uncle Han, I will be careful,” Lin Qing replied with a smile.

“…Alright.”

Team Leader Han seemed to sense that Lin Qing had a plan and didn’t press further, only saying, “By the way, I saw your assistant, Zhao Jiayi, she seemed unwell, her complexion was terrible, and she was bleeding from her nose. You should check on her.”

After that, he left with team two.

A terrible complexion? Nosebleed?

Lin Qing frowned slightly, could it be related to his suspicion?

“Lin Qing, should I help with the search?”

Zhao Jiayi approached at this moment. Despite clearly looking exhausted, she still asked energetically.

Hearing her voice, Lin Qing was silent for a moment before turning his head to look at Zhao Jiayi and asked with furrowed brows, “You don’t look well. Why do you seem so listless?”