Chapter 163 : Zhang Chiguo’s Conspiracy
Chapter 163: Zhang Chiguo’s Conspiracy
Han Su had to admit—even he was starting to feel scared.
He used to think Miss Ai was a bit too secretive, lacking straightforwardness and boldness. But now, all he could think was:
Wasn't Miss Ai getting a bit too blatant?
These were all B-Level commissions...
Previously, Zhang Chiguo had even lectured him for lacking reverence toward these anomalies, explaining the classification standards of each task level.
C-Level commissions already belonged to the meat grinder of the Executioners. B-Level commissions were the kind that even Investigators had to risk their lives for. If something was categorized as B-Level, it was because its inherent threat had reached a level that posed a serious blow to the defenses of reality.
But now, why did it all seem cheaper than cabbage?
Even writing the reports had to be padded out with extra words—those few lines just didn’t feel worthy of the level.
On the first day, he completed four commissions.
On the second day, he broke the record—completing six commissions in a single day.
On the third day, Han Su had handled a massive backlog of cases, completing seventeen commissions.
He broke the record of a certain freak who had once injured fourteen types of anomalies in three days and had since become an Independent Investigator. Han Su became the new record holder in the Disaster Management Bureau's three-year history. In just three days, the name “Butcher Investigator” overshadowed the entire Bureau.
And during this process, his mental activity was rapidly increasing.
By the end of three days, it had reached 69%.
Just days ago, the Divine Domain still seemed impossibly distant and unfathomable to him—yet now, he was only a step away.
This progress left Han Su, who had always struggled to survive, feeling a little disoriented...
Of course, compared to Han Su’s shock, the undercurrents within the Disaster Management Bureau had already been stirred into a raging storm.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
“It's a setup—definitely a setup!”
He was just a rookie. A rookie who had joined the Disaster Management Bureau less than two months ago. How had he managed, when even veteran Investigators were subtly refusing to take on missions, to solve so many on his own in such a short time?
Not only sudden incidents, but also many difficult, backlogged high-difficulty commissions—each involving no minor anomaly—were all resolved by him alone?
All attention and praise went to a single person. What was that supposed to mean?
If a rookie could handle this many cases, what was the point of having so many Investigators?
Due to some subtle psychology, the Investigators who initially planned to pressure the Bureau began to feel threatened. They couldn’t stall any longer—or rather, they started to feel afraid of stalling...
The united front they had painstakingly formed through countless secret discussions and negotiations was crumbling—before it had even been put to use...
…
…
Meanwhile, in Zhang Chiguo’s office, the man who now had a few more white hairs over just three days, took the report from Secretary Cui Qiao, his face dark.
He already knew that some people who didn’t welcome him were trying to force him out through passive resistance, so he had mentally prepared for a mess in Qinggang.
But when he opened the report, his eyes suddenly widened.
“Seventeen?”
Zhang Chiguo almost spat out the tea in his mouth.
He was already expecting a dismal report—aware that certain Investigators had begun secretly allying against him.
But the report Secretary Cui Qiao handed him—why did this data look...
…even higher than before?
Facing Zhang Chiguo’s hesitant gaze, Secretary Cui Qiao expressionlessly said:
“You’re not seeing things. I reacted the same way when I first saw it.”
“But the data from the past few days is just like that. Not only has it not dropped, it’s actually gone up.”
“And the one who carried the load is that precious nephew of yours!”
“Yes, don’t give me that look. It’s all in the report. He solved seventeen commissions in just three days… I haven’t had time to look at how he did it, but there are seventeen task reports, all signed by him!”
“Among them, eleven were B-Level, four were C-Level, one D-Level, and another one was submitted as B-Level but later resubmitted by him as A-Level, with a request for appropriate compensation due to the task’s unexpectedly high value.”
“…”
After rattling off all that in one breath, she looked deeply at Zhang Chiguo:
“Congratulations to you…”
“You’ve discovered a star Investigator…”
“…”
“How is this possible? How could he be that capable?”
Zhang Chiguo couldn’t even bring himself to be happy—his first reaction was one of worry:
‘Did this kid throw away all caution and risk his life just to help me?’
As he continued flipping through the report, Secretary Cui Qiao added:
“Don’t bother. He didn’t show any abnormal signs.”
“This miraculous record was achieved thanks to electric baton, pistol, Executioners, intel, special equipment applications, and his bold yet meticulous nature.”
Zhang Chiguo said, “How is that even possible?”
Secretary Cui Qiao replied, “That’s what the report says.”
Zhang Chiguo listened, then surprisingly calmed down. He slowly tapped his knuckles and said lowly,
“There are no loopholes in the report, but it’s still too far-fetched.”
“So, you noticed too?”
Secretary Cui Qiao lowered her voice:
“Actually, the real solution to these tasks lies in Miss Ai’s powerful insight, data gathering, and analysis.”
“Only her computational power could accomplish this.”
“We’ve requested multiple times for the higher-ups to unlock one of her locks—even your reassignment here was meant to push that—but they kept refusing.”
“Logically, Miss Ai’s computational power should’ve been maxed out. Yet, now she’s operating with ease…”
“Could it be, unbeknownst to us, someone up top has already…”
“…”
Zhang Chiguo knew what she meant and slowly shook his head:
“They would never unlock her restrictions.”
Secretary Cui Qiao’s expression turned grave: “Then…”
Zhang Chiguo murmured, eyes shadowed with depth:
“Then perhaps Miss Ai had always hidden a portion of her computing power?”
“But if that’s true, why would she suddenly release it now, so openly?”
“…”
Secretary Cui Qiao looked at the stack of Han Su’s signed reports, and recalled something she’d long suspected—but which hadn’t been in her scope of duty, so she never pried into:
“Could it be that she had allocated that computational power to something else before, and now, only recently, made it available for these tasks?”
“…”
Zhang Chiguo remained silent for a long time. This was exactly what he feared most.
If Miss Ai always had a portion of unused computational power, it meant the higher-ups had completely misjudged her—and underestimated her all this time.
If she’d simply hidden the truth, that would be understandable. But now, she was openly showing it.
What did that mean?
That she no longer cared if the higher-ups discovered her anomaly?
Thinking deeper, the upper ranks had long known the Bureau’s rapid expansion had become bloated and distorted, yet they still refused to unlock Miss Ai’s restrictions—simply because they wanted absolute control over her.
Yet now, Miss Ai revealed that she had at least one spare lock’s worth of computational power all along.
So, could the higher-ups still restrain her?
More critically…
Zhang Chiguo’s expression grew heavy and serious:
Miss Ai’s computational power was their most mysterious weapon—so why was she using it on Han Su?
At the same time, Secretary Cui Qiao hesitated to mention something: recently, an Executioner code-named Sparrow had died accidentally.
The death of an Executioner wasn’t a big deal, even one who had potential to become an Investigator.
But she remembered—she’d recently let slip that Sparrow was the Deep Contactee from the D7 Assault Incident. And now, Sparrow was quietly dead, listed officially as a mission casualty.
Could it be that even Red Trench Coat could no longer protect her assistant in a C-Level mission?
There were too many suspicious points—but she didn’t dare to think further.
If her guess was correct, then this junior under Chief Zhang… might not be the egg breaking against a rock—but the rock itself...
…
…
“Star Investigator. Hah, what a ‘star Investigator’…”
In the Western District, the Drunkard Investigator had just purchased a bar as a new base.
The reason was simple—after Sparrow’s death, the Owner of the Lilac Courtyard became noncommittal, and everyone else grew cautious and stopped going there.
Looking at the flurry of completed commissions, the Drunkard Investigator knew exactly what it meant. He slammed the table in anger:
“Not even pretending anymore?!”
“…”
Others didn’t see it—just a young man who appeared at the crucial moment, stole the spotlight, and turned the Bureau’s turbulent undercurrents into a farce.
But he saw it clearly: It was all Zhang Chiguo’s conspiracy!
This damn rock… had finally become sentient.
He actually used this method to turn the silent rebellion of the Investigators into a joke.
Only now did he fully realize—from Zhang Chiguo’s reassignment, to his contact with the only survivor of that kidnapping case, to giving him the Investigator license in record time…
Step by step—calculating, ruthless—and striking him at his weakest point!
Whether it was that survivor’s unique identity or how they boldly “acted” without regard for public perception, it all showed a shameless swagger…
Even that dossier—appearing neither too early nor too late, dug out precisely at this moment...
Zhang Chiguo was forcing him down a dead end!