Ch 199: Is There Really Such a Good Thing? [QT]

Gao Lang was extremely curious about Zhang Yang’s rebirth, especially after returning from the supernatural dimension and coming into contact with metaphysics. This only made him more intrigued by such matters.

Zhang Yang refused to cooperate, either remaining silent or spouting lies. But Gao Lang wasn’t in a hurry. He used various strange and creative methods to provoke and torment Zhang Yang—without actually causing him any physical harm.

Then, at Zhang Yang’s weakest moments—whether he was exhausted, furious, or in pain—Gao Lang would suddenly throw in a crucial question. Zhang Yang, caught off guard, would instinctively blurt out the truth. No matter how vigilant and guarded Zhang Yang tried to be, he couldn’t withstand the sheer variety of Gao Lang’s tactics. Eventually, Gao Lang caught something significant.

With excitement in his voice, Gao Lang said, “In your past life, you possessed a traversal system and used it to trade antiques and treasures with other dimensions, amassing a fortune. You made investments everywhere and became a major businessman. Then, more than a decade later, you died and were reborn just before the meteor shower. After that, you gave the system to Shen Yunxuan but wanted to control her?”

Zhang Yang’s eyes went blank. He never imagined that his deepest secret would be exposed just like that. He had been reborn for less than half a year—was it all over already? Would they take him away for dissection and research?

Fear crept into Zhang Yang’s heart. He looked up at Gao Lang and said, “I’ll tell you everything I know, but I want to sign an immunity agreement. Once I’ve told you everything, you have to let me go and grant me my freedom.”

Gao Lang had no authority to grant immunity. Besides, Zhang Yang was originally captured by Xu Wenyu, who suspected him of being a spy. This matter had to be reported to Xu Wenyu first.

Previously, Xu Wenyu had arranged for Zhang Yang to be interrogated in shifts. However, after analyzing the results, she concluded that Zhang Yang only knew about business-related matters and posed no threat to national security. As a result, she hadn’t used any extreme measures on him. The only reason he was still detained was to see if he might reveal more information.

Now, Gao Lang had uncovered Zhang Yang’s status as a reborn individual, which greatly shocked Xu Wenyu. For a moment, she felt as if she no longer recognized the world she lived in.

A world she had spent decades in suddenly revealed the existence of a traversal system—then, a reborn individual appeared. And these two just happened to know each other.

If that was the case… were there more anomalies out there?

Xu Wenyu immediately wrote a report and submitted it to Elder Chen and Elder Xu before escalating it to higher authorities. Soon, new orders came down from the top.

The Bureau was instructed to allocate personnel to establish a specialized investigation team to review unsolved and bizarre cases across the country. The goal was to determine whether any of them involved time travelers, reborn individuals, or other anomalies.

As for Zhang Yang, he could be released after a full debriefing. After all, he had not committed any crimes and was not the suspected spy they had initially thought. However, as someone like Zhang Yang could pose a risk, his activities and financial transactions would be closely monitored. If he showed any signs of treasonous behavior or engaged in illegal activities, he would be arrested immediately and prosecuted accordingly.

With these orders in place, Gao Lang no longer held back. He first had Zhang Yang sign the immunity agreement, then used the highest-grade lie detector to extract a complete account of his past life—down to the finest details, from his previous death to his rebirth.

Since this was connected to the traversal system and Zhang Yang had firsthand experience using it, his insights could be valuable to the Bureau. The interrogation room was set up so that Zhang Yang sat alone, facing a mirrored wall. He couldn’t see outside, but Shen Yunxuan, Elder Xu, and others observed him from the adjacent room.

Shen Yunxuan was actually quite curious. She had only speculated on how Zhang Yang had used the system, though she felt her guesses were probably accurate. But hearing it directly from Zhang Yang himself was far more concrete and detailed. Since he was willing to reveal everything, she was more than happy to listen.

More importantly, Shen Yunxuan had never hidden any details about the traversal system from the Bureau.

Every item she retrieved, the storage space limits, the settlement of dimensional currency, the system marketplace’s pricing—she had been completely transparent about all of it.

However, despite her honesty, she was the only one who could see the system interface, and not everyone necessarily believed her.

She had saved Elder Xu’s life, and now the Xu family played a major leadership role in the Bureau. They were willing to trust her. Her sincerity had also helped her build strong relationships with many personnel, making everything seem stable and harmonious.

But this situation wouldn’t last forever.

As time passed and the department grew in importance, things would become more complicated. Ambitions would rise, and people’s perspectives would shift. At that point, the first thing they would question would be the system itself—whether she had ever lied about it.

People had both good and bad intentions. Different perspectives meant different priorities. Having spent decades navigating the business world in her past life, Shen Yunxuan understood this better than anyone. She had already been contemplating how to keep the Bureau’s operations stable in the long run.

She had even considered the worst-case scenario—if one day, relations with the government soured, she might have to fake her own death and disappear entirely.

Of course, that was a last resort. If it came to that, she would have to spend her life in hiding, never able to live freely again.

So, she took the initiative to compile and teach cultivation techniques.

First, this improved the safety of personnel during traversal missions.

Second, it helped her gain more allies. The faith people placed in her translated into faith energy, which strengthened her abilities.

Third, it demonstrated her irreplaceable value to the nation.

As long as she remained valuable enough, questioning her wouldn’t be easy. In fact, people wouldn’t dare to doubt her, as doing so would be more trouble than it was worth.

Now that someone had suddenly discovered Zhang Yang was reborn, and Zhang Yang was even willing to talk, Shen Yunxuan decided to guide him into describing the internal workings of the system. This would be enough to prove that her own explanations about the system had always been completely truthful. It would instantly resolve a major issue for her. She never expected that this disgusting person, Zhang Yang, would actually end up indirectly helping her this time.

The interrogation began. Zhang Yang started speaking according to his own train of thought, carefully avoiding certain details. Everything he said was technically true, but he left out crucial parts. When he finished, he noticed that the lie detector hadn’t reacted, indicating that he hadn’t been caught lying. He let out a breath of relief.

But before he could feel too pleased with himself, he heard Shen Yunxuan ask in a deliberately low voice, “The mercenaries you took to the post-apocalyptic dimension—where did they go after returning? What did they do?”

Because of the way she lowered her voice, Zhang Yang couldn’t tell who was speaking. Feeling nervous, he replied, “I don’t know.”

As soon as he spoke, the lie detector went off, signaling that he was lying.

Gao Lang and Shen Yunxuan exchanged glances, both suddenly realizing something—Shen Yunxuan had been very worried about their safety before. But Zhang Yang had terrible character. If he had traveled to a dangerous dimension, what would he have done?

Gao Lang immediately thought of the answer. He grabbed the microphone and asked, “Did you use them as human shields and get them killed?”

For a long time, Zhang Yang remained silent.

Whether he answered “yes” or “no,” the lie detector would reveal the truth. He had no way out. Facing the authorities, he couldn’t just admit that he had caused people’s deaths—especially since he had actually gotten many people killed in his past life.

Elder Xu frowned and tapped his fingers on the table before suddenly saying, “Your crimes from your past life will not be prosecuted. As for your actions in this life, you have already signed an immunity agreement. You don’t need to carry any psychological burden.”

Elder Xu’s voice carried an air of authority—clearly the voice of a high-ranking leader. Zhang Yang tensed up at first, but then, realizing the pressure on him was now much lower, he thought it over.

Since he had already decided to trade the truth for freedom and had an immunity agreement in place, he might as well confess everything at once. After all, with the lie detector present, he couldn’t lie anyway. He hadn’t undergone training to memorize which details to say and which to withhold, so any attempt at deception would be full of inconsistencies. He figured it would be easier to just be honest—it might even spare him some suffering.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yang admitted, “Yes. When I traveled to a Level 4 post-apocalyptic dimension, people there had supernatural abilities, and zombies were classified by levels. It was terrifying. I was too scared, and the situation was extremely dangerous. So I grabbed the people around me and used them as shields. After that, I hid until the traversal time ended, and I returned.”

“Not all of them died because of me,” Zhang Yang continued. “Some of them simply couldn’t handle the situation and were killed on their own. I should also clarify—I paid them an extremely high price to work for me. At that time, I was already very wealthy, and I didn’t care about money at all. I only cared about secrecy and my own safety. That’s why I hired them for such a high price. They were supposed to risk their lives to protect me.”

Everyone listening frowned. They felt deeply uncomfortable but remained professionally composed. Still, it was clear to everyone—Zhang Yang’s character was utterly despicable.

Shen Yunxuan also frowned, but her concern was on a different matter. “You said Level 4 has a post-apocalyptic dimension? Where people have abilities, and zombies are categorized by levels? Explain in detail.”

There was nothing sensitive about this information, so Zhang Yang described it. It was like a zombie movie—horrifying scenes filled the streets.

Level 1 zombies moved slowly and only knew how to bite. Level 2 zombies started developing agility and strength. Level 3 zombies began to have supernatural abilities. He had heard rumors that higher-level zombies even had psychic powers, but he had been too busy running for his life to investigate further.

Humans were also divided into ordinary people and ability users. Level 1 ability users could have strength-based, speed-based, or elemental powers such as metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. However, their abilities were weak, and even killing zombies was difficult. Level 2 ability users could start using attack techniques. The higher the level, the stronger they became. Zhang Yang had even heard about spatial abilities and healing abilities.

The only thing in that world that gave him a bit of relief was that animals and plants hadn’t mutated—it was purely a battle between humans and zombies. Otherwise, he really might not have survived.

Level 4.

Shen Yunxuan’s system had just upgraded to Level 4.

In a little over twenty days, she would be forced to travel to a Level 4 dimension.

It was highly possible that she would end up in a post-apocalyptic dimension like the one Zhang Yang described. If his mercenaries had been completely wiped out, then even their elite special forces soldiers would have no advantages there.

They needed to prepare much more thoroughly.

At that moment, everyone realized—letting Gao Lang interrogate Zhang Yang had been an incredibly wise decision! Forcing Zhang Yang to reveal everything about his past life had been extremely valuable. At the very least, they now had a clear understanding of how dangerous the next traversal could be. They could mentally prepare in advance.

Right now, their only advantage was that they had learned light footwork techniques.

The fragrant swan steps was incredibly powerful. If they really ended up in a post-apocalyptic dimension with supernatural abilities, wouldn’t that mean they could be considered speed-based ability users?

At the very least, if they couldn’t fight, they could use their footwork to dodge and escape.

As long as they brought high-powered weapons, they should have some level of security.

Shen Yunxuan asked another question. “You hid and waited for the traversal to end. How long was that wait?”

Zhang Yang replied, “Level 1 is about one to two hours—I don’t remember exactly. Level 2 is eight hours. Level 3 is a full day. Level 4 is three days. Level 5 is five days. Level 6 is ten days. Level 7 is fifteen days. Level 8 is thirty days. I had just reached Level 8 and traveled twice before I died.”

“The later levels are unclear, but since the forced traversal happens on the 1st of every month, I’m certain that the duration won’t increase further. I suspect that the difficulty will skyrocket instead. Plus, if you’re only back for a month before being thrown into another dimension, there’s no time to prepare, and you can’t even choose where to go.

So I believe that after reaching Level 8, death is inevitable. I was incredibly lucky to be reborn.”

Gao Lang was getting angry. “So you thought the system was a harmful thing and deliberately made Shen Yunxuan bind to it? Didn’t you say you liked her? How could you do something so malicious to her?”

Zhang Yang had already guessed that his capture had something to do with Shen Yunxuan, so he immediately said, “Did Shen Yunxuan bribe you all with medicine or treasures she bought from the system, so you caught me? Are you really the police? Or is this some kind of black op—”

“Enough!” Elder Xu frowned. “When we signed your immunity agreement, it bore the official government seal. You’ve been detained here for days without a single injury. Use your brain and think.”

This was practically calling Zhang Yang brainless. Elder Xu was furious at Zhang Yang for trying to harm Shen Yunxuan. On top of that, Zhang Yang was even slandering her. Shen Yunxuan had outstanding character—was she the type to bribe people?

If it were anyone else who had only a superficial connection to Shen Yunxuan, those words could have been used to attack her. After all, Zhang Yang had known her for decades, from childhood to adulthood. If anyone understood her, it should have been him.

Shen Yunxuan herself, however, wasn’t angry. She simply said, “Just answer the questions. Talking nonsense will only delay your release.”

Zhang Yang immediately took it seriously and, after thinking for a moment, vaguely said, “In my past life, Shen Yunxuan was very capable. She completely ignored me. I was unwilling to accept that, but I was also afraid the system would latch onto me again. The system happened to appear at the meteor shower site, so I just gave it to her without much thought.”

The lie detector instantly went off, signaling a lie.

Zhang Yang was dumbfounded. Nearly everything he had said was true, yet even the slightest falsehood was detected?

Gao Lang said coldly, “Answer honestly. The immunity agreement clearly states that if you refuse to cooperate, the agreement is void. We won’t ask anymore, and you’ll stay locked up.”

Zhang Yang quickly said, “I’ll cooperate! I didn’t give it to her without much thought—I deliberately used that opportunity to force the system onto Shen Yunxuan. I wanted to get back at her!

We grew up together, so why didn’t she like me? Why did she dislike me? I already had wealth and power, yet she wouldn’t even spare me a glance.

I deliberately let the women around me think she was my ‘white moonlight’ so they would go trouble her. I thought she’d give in and beg me for help. But instead, she found a way to climb up to a business tycoon.

Sure, I had money and connections, but I still couldn’t compare to those true business giants. Shen Yunxuan found herself a powerful backer, so I couldn’t do anything to her. But then she actually started competing with me in business, disrupting my deals. Every time one of my women harassed her, she’d retaliate by attacking my businesses.

And the worst part? She was exceptionally skilled at business. Several of her project proposals and bids became industry case studies. She stole a huge chunk of my market. Because of that, she became the right hand of a business mogul—she was incredibly formidable.

I was furious. If she was so capable, fine! Let the system bind to her. Let her experience what it’s like to be forced into traversals every month. I couldn’t force her into submission, but the system could. This time, no matter what connections she had, no one could save her.

I wanted her to feel the fear and uncertainty. I also wanted to see if she would become greedy, indulgent—just like she once mocked me. And she wouldn’t even know that after reaching Level 8, death was certain. With her competitive nature, she would surely push to level up. That would be her downfall.

But after she went through two traversals, she seemed fine. I started regretting it—was she handling it too easily? Meanwhile, I wasn’t making money as fast as I had through traversals. I became unwilling to let it go. I wanted to control her, make her do the traversals for me. That way, I wouldn’t have to bear the risks but could still reap the benefits.

I understood the system. She wouldn’t be able to lie to me.

But then she ran away. I had to hire a private investigator to track her down—only to suddenly get arrested.

Yes, I had bad intentions toward her. But technically, I didn’t commit any crimes. I only had the idea—I never acted on it. And as for the system? It has its pros and cons. Maybe she even enjoys it? Maybe she should be thanking me for giving her such an incredible golden finger.”

Elder Xu and the others were disgusted by his shamelessness. Now they completely understood why Shen Yunxuan had loathed him in her past life.

But in the midst of this conversation, they had also learned something both surprising and unsurprising—Shen Yunxuan was incredibly capable.

Even when Zhang Yang had the system and industry connections, she had managed to protect herself, quickly establish herself in the business world, and deal heavy blows to Zhang Yang multiple times. She was undeniably extraordinary.

In this life, because of the system, Shen Yunxuan had been traversing dimensions with them. She would likely continue doing so for the sake of the country, leaving her no time or energy to enter the business world.

The people in the room all cared deeply for Shen Yunxuan. At the same time, they all thought—

Was business actually what Shen Yunxuan truly loved and excelled at?

And had binding to the traversal system completely destroyed her path in business?

Shen Yunxuan saw what they were thinking, turned off the microphone, and smiled. “Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. That would have been another life—maybe a great and exciting one—but I think the life I have now is just as thrilling, stimulating, and interesting. Sure, it’s dangerous, and being forced into it isn’t pleasant, but I’ve been exposed to a far richer and more diverse world beyond my previous understanding. Whether or not death is inevitable after reaching Level 8, I think I truly enjoy the life I’m living now.

Besides, I get to serve my country and make a meaningful contribution, which I find incredibly worthwhile. What I’m most grateful for is that he bound the system to me and that I chose to trust my country and become part of the Bureau. If this system had fallen into his hands or someone else’s, who knows what kind of chaos it could have caused? So in the end, I believe everything has worked out for the best.”

Hearing this, everyone felt a sense of relief. If the system had ended up in the hands of criminals, there was no telling what kind of damage it could have caused. The ability to traverse different dimensions could have been exploited for anything—even to endanger the nation.

Take Zhang Yang, for example—short-sighted, not particularly intelligent, and entirely consumed by wealth and indulgence, with no greater ambitions.

But what if the system had bonded to someone truly ruthless? Someone ambitious and malicious? That person might have used it to build their own empire while the government remained oblivious to the system’s existence. That would have been a real disaster.

For now, their best course of action was to slow down after the system reached Level 5. Once it reached that point, they could revisit previously explored dimensions at will. That meant they could selectively trade resources instead of rapidly accumulating dimensional currency. As long as they avoided collecting overly valuable items, they wouldn’t receive too many dimensional points.

That way, they could bring back more supplies while preventing rapid level-ups that would lead to more dangerous missions. And when they were forced into a high-risk dimension, they could focus on hiding and surviving until the time ran out, allowing them to buy time to grow stronger.

Applying for more powerful weapons would also take time since the higher-ups would have to carefully review and approve such requests.

Elder Xu summarized these points, and Elder Chen added a few more thoughts, discussing the safest approach with Shen Yunxuan.

Shen Yunxuan had no objections. She hadn’t even fully learned or absorbed everything she had obtained so far, and she had no particular interest in rushing to level up. There was simply no need. This approach would also maximize her safety, which suited her perfectly.

This was yet another unexpected benefit of Zhang Yang’s confession. Now that the government knew Level 8 meant certain death, they would prioritize her safety even more and wouldn’t pressure her to level up just to acquire better resources.

She suddenly found herself marveling at the irony—Zhang Yang, a despicable figure from her past life whom she had loathed to no end, had somehow become her lucky star in this one.

Zhang Yang also mentioned several other dimensions—magical worlds, interstellar battlefields, cultivation realms, beastkin societies, and more. These were places he had accessed as he leveled up. However, he had never explored them in depth. His survival strategy had been mostly hiding, stealing anything valuable, or deceiving people whenever possible.

As a result, his descriptions were vague and not much different from the content found in web novels. He provided little useful information. Moreover, his level-ups had largely been a matter of luck—it had taken him more than a decade to reach Level 8. He had actively avoided leveling up, fearing that any new skill or technique he acquired might earn him too many points and push him to the next level.

Because of this, he had stopped strengthening himself after a certain point. His intelligence score had been raised to 130, surpassing most people, but he had refused to increase it further. Instead, he spent his points on enhancing his charm, making himself more attractive to women and increasing the number of admirers willing to follow and devote themselves to him. He had greatly enjoyed this.

At first, he had carelessly converted all his dimensional currency into real-world money, spending lavishly. Later, he used some to boost his intelligence for business ventures. Then, he invested in charm to attract women. It wasn’t until much later that he realized how dangerous the higher-level dimensions were. By then, he had no choice but to use all his remaining currency on weapons and survival items from the system’s store. He never had enough left to enhance fundamental attributes like intelligence.

It was these life-saving tools that had allowed him to survive for over a decade. Without them, his limited strength would have doomed him much sooner.

As Zhang Yang spoke, he frequently mentioned details about the system. With a bit of careful prompting, Shen Yunxuan managed to extract a complete and thorough account of the system’s functions.

Elder Xu and the others had always trusted Shen Yunxuan and never doubted her words. However, whenever they submitted reports to the higher-ups, they had to be extremely careful with their wording. Things like dimensional currency, item purchases, and system mechanics often sounded too fantastical, almost like fiction. While they personally believed in Shen Yunxuan, the people above them might not be as easily convinced. Elder Xu often worried about the possibility of one day being unable to protect her.

Now, with Zhang Yang’s testimony recorded as official evidence, their reports would carry much more weight. For the first time, Elder Xu found himself looking at Zhang Yang with a degree of approval.

He turned to Gao Lang and said, “Continue interrogating him like this. Once he’s told us everything, we’ll let him go and set up surveillance to keep an eye on him.”

“Understood!” Gao Lang responded with enthusiasm.

🌸˚˖𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒✧🩷˚⋆