Ch 120: TGCIR

Originally, according to Shen Cheng’s thinking, since this task involved clues to the Institute’s subsequent research, it was obvious that Chen Jie must possess crucial evidence from her various instances of covering up for the Institute.

In such a task where success was the only option, the specified five days would naturally be closely tied to Chen Jie.

But after Li Weilan said, “Let’s go do something else first,” it was apparent they had decided to truly go do something else.

As one of Chen Jie’s promises to him, the Storm Team had arranged a fake base pass for Li Weilan, with his new name “Lan Cheng” on it.

The first time Shen Cheng heard this name, she was taken aback. After thinking for a while, she realized that Li Weilan had clearly combined his own name with hers.

So whenever those people called him “Lan Cheng,” Shen Cheng couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable.

The Storm Team deposited some money into the pass. Li Weilan wandered around the J City base alone, occasionally chatting with people who looked like locals.

Despite being in the apocalypse, the residents’ gossiping spirit hadn’t diminished at all. Especially when discussing scandals and stories about ability users, they were full of excitement. Li Weilan patiently listened, occasionally offering a smile or a comment.

At first, Shen Cheng thought he was just idling around. But in the game interface, the task records kept refreshing.

[The main character has understood the distribution of forces in the J City base.]

[The main character has obtained the internal power distribution of the Storm Team.]

[The main character has obtained potential danger 1 information about Chen Jie.]

[The main character has obtained potential danger 2 information about Chen Jie.]

From the beginning to just a fragment of information, after the system prompts finished flooding, Shen Cheng found in the task prompt that “J City force distribution,” “Top List of J City base elite ability users,” and the internal power distribution of the Storm Team were all marked as readable.

Shen Cheng was stunned. She secretly thought that Li Weilan was indeed a good candidate for intelligence work. Just by chatting for a while, he had gathered all this information.

Originally, Shen Cheng thought that now that they had collected all the clues, they should go back. However, Li Weilan didn’t seem to be in a hurry. He found a seat in a restaurant opposite the base, ordered the cheapest post-apocalyptic clear soup noodles, and sat there without moving.

Shen Cheng looked at him calmly sitting there, and she couldn’t understand his behavior. The noodles served in the restaurant were mediocre in both appearance and ingredients, far inferior to the food stored in their own space. Shen Cheng didn’t understand, what was he trying to do?

She couldn’t help but ask when Li Weilan began to eat, “Lanlan, when are you going back?”

Li Weilan smiled and took the first bite of his meal. “No rush, let’s wait and see.”

Wait and see what? Shen Cheng thought. Wasn’t Li Weilan afraid of failing the mission?

Li Weilan had just sat down for a while when a loud explosion came from across the street, followed by several people fleeing in disarray from the Storm Team’s base. Other customers in the restaurant heard someone shout, “A fight has broken out!” and some curious ones ran out to watch the commotion. However, Li Weilan remained calm and continued eating his noodles calmly.

He wasn’t in a hurry. Although Shen Cheng was confused and didn’t understand his logic, she inexplicably calmed down and didn’t urge him further.

Li Weilan glanced at the time. “Cheng Cheng, it’s time for you to eat too.” His voice was gentle and calm, seemingly unaffected by the “commotion” outside. “Have your meal first, don’t worry.”

Shen Cheng didn’t expect him to be concerned about her mealtime at this moment. She looked at the time and indeed, it was lunchtime. But still…

Perhaps realizing her hesitation, Li Weilan raised his head, and his gaze became focused and serious as he looked in her direction. “Eating is more important than the mission.”

“But…” Shen Cheng looked at the chaotic scene across the street and finally couldn’t help but say, “But won’t the mission fail?”

There was a slight hint of dissatisfaction in Li Weilan’s voice. “Cheng Cheng, go eat. Your life is more important than this.”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

This was the first time he made a domineering little request to her. Shen Cheng could feel the care behind his words and suppressed the thought of finishing the show before going to eat. She sneakily picked up the chopsticks in front of him and scooped up a bite of noodles, stuffing it directly into his mouth. Seeing the widened eyes of the cub, she couldn’t help but feel satisfied with her revenge. With a joyful heart, she happily went offline to eat.

In the game, Li Weilan slowly chewed on the noodles in his mouth, and once again, a deep dimple appeared on his lips. Little girl’s revenge is always soft. What she didn’t know was that this was not really revenge at all; it was more like encouraging him to pay more attention to her in the future.

“Why did you betray me, He Jun?” Chen Jie leaned against the wall, panting continuously. The ice shield between her and the deputy captain of the team, He Jun, was gradually thinning, a sign that her ability was weakening.

Facing her was He Jun, the black-clad man who Chen Jie referred to. As a wind ability user, he had bought off the only fire ability user in the team. With the wind aiding the fire, the flames grew stronger and stronger. The ice shield was gradually melting under the flames, and Chen Jie showed signs of collapse.

Perhaps realizing that Chen Jie’s ability was at its weakest, He Jun’s face showed a hint of triumph. He sneered, “Isn’t it because you’re too old-fashioned? If you weren’t so old-fashioned, only trusting your little circle, our brothers wouldn’t have no room for advancement. You wouldn’t have ended up so isolated today. Everything we do is cutthroat; there’s no future without today. You’ve been holding us back, insisting on your righteousness and charity. Let me tell you, Chen Jie, your ways are outdated.”

A trace of sadness appeared on Chen Jie’s face. She turned to look at Tong Taining, the fire ability user who fought alongside He Jun. “Is this what you think too?”

“Boss,” Tong Taining still called her by her previous title, but as soon as he said it, he received an unsatisfied glare from He Jun. Tong Taining quickly changed his tone and sighed, “It’s not that I want to betray you, but your methods can’t convince everyone anymore. Chen Jie, why don’t you hand over the team’s resources and leave with your people in a dignified manner? Now that you’ve offended the Institute and our relationship with the official faction isn’t good, how can our brothers survive? You leaving is the best way out.”

There was a hint of sadness in Chen Jie’s eyes. Tong Taining was her childhood friend, and she had never thought that even such a long-standing friend would betray her.

What did finding a way out mean? It was just that they feared that they would have a difficult life and insufficient resources because they had offended the Institute.

Had Tong Taining ever considered how many brothers they had lost over the past year?

Wanting to withdraw was just about self-preservation. For Tong Taining, it was only when the knife was about to fall on himself that he felt the pain. He only saw the tangible benefits in his hands, but he didn’t expect the risks and crises hidden behind this huge benefit.

“Fine, I’ll leave,” Chen Jie said coldly. “If you want me to leave, you can discuss it with me. If you want to continue accepting tasks from the Institute, I can also split you into two teams to do so.”

“The Institute’s anger can only be quelled with your head.” Perhaps realizing that Chen Jie’s words had started to shake the determination of many people on his side, He Jun roared, and six wind blades suddenly swung out. They pounded onto the already shaky ice wall with a bang, causing it to collapse. Just as He Jun’s face was about to break into a smile, he saw that the six wind blades, which had broken through the ice wall, suddenly disappeared in front of Chen Jie, and not even her clothes were torn.

What’s going on? He almost doubted his own eyes.

Suddenly, a pain struck his chest. He Jun lowered his head to see blood seeping from his chest. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Chen Jie, who stood before him with a victorious smirk. “This is…”

Chen Jie didn’t bother with any idle talk. With a flick of her hand, the sunlight reflected off something, and everyone could vaguely see that it seemed like she was holding an invisible knife.

Tong Taining blurted out, “Ice Blade, you’ve been hiding your true strength.”

With the transparent shape and refraction, Chen Jie could actually make the ice blade almost completely transparent.

Her control over water was becoming stronger. The ice blade was at least a fifth-tier skill. If they had known that Chen Jie alone possessed such power, they would never have betrayed her at this moment.

Even if they had betrayed her, it wouldn’t have been so hasty, and they wouldn’t have done it without seeking external help.

Chen Jie turned to Tong Taining and said calmly, “Old Tong, leave. Considering our many years of friendship, I won’t kill you.”

When Li Weilan walked into the base of the Storm Team, the remaining people were dragging bodies out of the blood-soaked hall.

Chen Jie sat in the center, watching the scene. Her face was completely obscured by the shadow of the hall’s pillars, so her expression couldn’t be seen clearly from Li Weilan’s angle. But for cheats, it was a different story.

Shen Cheng, Chen Jie seemed gloomy, but in reality, there was a slight smile on her lips. She seemed surprisingly pleased watching the scene of death.

Finally, she understood why her friendship level was only 10 after the task ended. Chen Jie was so deep in her ways, intentionally cleaning house.

To raise the friendship level with such a person to 80 in just five days, Shen Cheng couldn’t think of any method.

Standing in front of Chen Jie, Li Weilan said to this smiling tiger, “Congratulations, you’ve successfully cleaned up your team.”

Chen Jie sighed wearily, shook her head low, and said nothing.

Her avatar’s head was covered with blooming little flowers, pretending to be melancholy even though she was apparently happy.

Shen Cheng particularly despised this kind of acting technique, except for her cub, of course.

She complained in Li Weilan’s mind, ridiculing Chen Jie’s acting skills. Li Weilan listened with a slight smile but didn’t say anything more. He nodded and left.

Now it was Chen Jie’s turn to suddenly look up, full of doubt and uncertainty.

Her head was filled with question marks, a tangled mess of confusion. Clearly, Li Weilan’s subsequent reaction was beyond the old fox’s expectations.

Shen Cheng understood now. She exclaimed, “Could it be that Chen Jie was waiting to bargain? She thought you were sent by Tang Lu to lure her over.” There had been rumors lately about some conflict between the management and the Institute at the J City Base. The word on the street was that the girlfriend of a scion of the management had been captured by the Institute.

After this task, Chen Jie decided to take a stand. She might have thought Li Weilan was sent by the official faction.

Moreover, she might not have known through what channels she confirmed her speculation. So, sitting in the hall just now, she was actually waiting for Li Weilan to come and negotiate with her, expecting to raise the price and make a high bid.

Shen Cheng couldn’t help but laugh. “Then she seems to be in for disappointment.”

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