Third Category Bureau

It wasn't until it reached 120% that the energy stopped increasing.

Su Ti looked astonished. This spinal worm had actually provided him with 60% energy.

Although this was the least energy he had ever obtained, far less than what Cursed Antiques provided, it was also the first time he had gained energy from something other than a Cursed Antique. This was undoubtedly a major breakthrough!

It meant that his means of obtaining energy were no longer limited to Cursed Antiques. He had gained another new channel.

More importantly, when he thought about it more deeply, both the strange worm and Cursed Antiques could provide him with energy. There had to be some shared connection between them!

If he figured that out, he might even be able to uncover the true nature of the energy absorbed by the modifier!

At that thought, Su Ti felt a faint surge of excitement. Cursed Antiques were difficult to collect in the first place, but if he understood the nature of the energy absorbed by the modifier, perhaps he could obtain energy in bulk and improve his martial arts.

However, the thought passed in an instant. Su Ti quickly restrained himself and did not dwell on it, because now was not the time to think about such things.

His most important goal right now was to save people.

At this point, both kidnappers, Wang Jiu and Lian Wei, had already been beaten to death by him. No one could stop him any longer. Su Ti rushed to the van, opened the sliding door, and saw the unconscious Su Qiaoqiao and Su Yuwei.

The two lay in the back seat, breathing evenly. They were merely unconscious, with no visible injuries, and their clothes were neat and intact. Su Ti finally let out a sigh of relief.

After closing the door, he swept his gaze around the area, his brow furrowing slightly.

Wang Jiu's corpse was still tolerable, but Lian Wei's death was truly miserable. Su Ti had smashed him so badly that flesh and blood were scattered everywhere.

That was not the key issue. The key issue was that he had killed people, and he had done it under his own identity.

"Although these two were most likely kidnappers sent by Su Corporation, killing them will still bring me some trouble."

Su Ti's eyes flickered.

First, the police would investigate. Although he had acted in self-defense, it would still be troublesome if his family found out. He did not want to drag them into the circles of the inner world.

Second, he would expose himself to the person behind Su Corporation. For now, Su Ti did not want to get entangled in that mess. His conflict with Li Zong was troublesome enough already.

With that thought, he began cleaning up the traces at the scene.

He first wiped away all his fingerprints and shoeprints, then removed and crushed the dashcam. After that, he took the phone from the dead Wang Jiu's clothes and called the police.

More than ten minutes later, after watching the police arrive and rescue Su Yuwei and Su Qiaoqiao from the vehicle, Su Ti finally withdrew his gaze and left from the shadows.

After leaving, he did not call a car directly, because that would leave behind a ride record and expose what he had done tonight. Instead, he chose to walk home.

By the time he got home, half an hour had passed. His family was already clearing the table, and Su Zihao was nowhere to be seen.

After asking around, he learned that Su Zihao had received a phone call and his expression had changed drastically. No matter how they questioned him, he said nothing and offered no explanation. He only said that he had an urgent matter to deal with before hurrying away.

It should have been a ransom call from the mastermind.

Su Ti thought to himself.

His reasoning was simple. They had kidnapped Su Qiaoqiao and Su Yuwei, clearly intending to extort and threaten Su Zihao into handing over something. Otherwise, would it not have been simpler to kill them directly?

Su Zihao had returned to the family roots and become a billionaire with his own publicly listed company in just five years. His rapid rise had inevitably encroached upon the interests of Su Corporation's other relatives.

But for someone to openly tear off all pretenses and resort to kidnapping with such ugly greed, they were either a madman or someone driven into a corner, determined to risk everything.

And Su Zihao did not want to implicate Su Ti's family, so he had left immediately after receiving the call.

That was Su Ti's guess.

And the truth was indeed not far from what Su Ti had guessed.

More than ten minutes earlier.

Inside Su Zihao's company.

Su Zihao held the phone, his entire body trembling.

On the phone, the middle-aged man who had spoken with Wang Jiu earlier began speaking with a smile.

"We're family. Why would I hurt my two adorable nieces? As long as you transfer all the assets and shares under your name to me within one month—remember, all of them—I'll make sure they come back safe and sound."

Upon hearing that, Su Zihao flew into a rage.

"Su Luo, I called you big brother, and this is what you do? Are you even human?!"

The moment those words came out, Su Luo became even angrier than him.

"You forced me to do this!"

"Before you came along, Sheng Hui Electric Appliance was all mine! Mine!"

"The old man played favorites and gave my things to you. I'm only taking back what belongs to me!"

Su Luo's furious voice came through the phone.

Even in major families, kidnapping was an extreme violation of the line. Once discovered, the family would never tolerate it. Su Luo believed he had only done this because he had been pushed too far.

Hearing those words, Su Zihao trembled with rage.

"When I first came home, Dad did give me some Sheng Hui shares and asked me to handle its operations, but those shares added up to only ten million!"

"Later, because you mismanaged the company and left it with too many losses, you sold it off cheaply. I took out bank loans to buy the company back. Over all these years, Yuwei and I worked tirelessly to revive Sheng Hui."

"Out of consideration for our past relationship, I gave you shares and paid you dividends every year. Over these years, you've gotten far more than ten million from my company—thirty or forty million at least!"

"I called you big brother and gave you dividends, yet today you kidnapped your two nieces and demanded all the shares in my company and all my assets. Su Luo, ask yourself honestly—are you still human?!"

"You kidnapped my two daughters and turned on your own family. You've already crossed the family's bottom line. If Dad finds out, he'll definitely expel you from the family and send you to prison!"

Not only was Su Luo not afraid in the slightest, he let out a confident sneer.

"Then tell the old man. Go ahead and tell him. Since I dared do this today, I've already made all the preparations. If you don't care about your two daughters' lives, then go ahead and tell him."

"You!"

"What, you?! You're just a bastard. What gives you the right to stand on equal footing with me? When I was building my business empire, you were probably still somewhere playing in the mud!"

Su Luo roared.

Intense jealousy filled Su Luo's mind. He was the third son of Su Zihao's father, a legitimate son. Before Su Zihao came into the family five years ago, he had been glorious and prominent.

Five years later, his business had declined, and even Su Zihao, the bastard he had once despised, was now able to ride over his head!

He no longer had any chance of making a comeback. He could either spend the rest of his life being looked down upon, or take a desperate gamble, grab the money, and flee abroad. Su Luo chose the gamble!

He could not afford to offend, nor did he dare offend, the legitimate descendants of the Su family. So he set his sights on Su Zihao, the bastard who had joined the family.

It could be said that part of the reason he targeted Su Zihao was the intense jealousy and resentment born from his own fall from grace while Su Zihao, whom he had once despised, lived better and better.

The other part was that Su Zihao had entered the family as a bastard and was not well regarded by the clan. Even if something truly happened to him, no one would support him.

Although Su Zihao was furious beyond measure after hearing this, he did not dare act rashly.

He could choose to go down with Su Luo, expose everything he had done to the family and the police.

The recording of what Su Luo had just said alone was enough evidence, but he could not do that.

He had lost his wife early in life and had only these two daughters. Nothing could happen to them.

Without realizing it, tears streamed down Su Zihao's face. His fingers clenched around the phone so hard that his knuckles turned white. At that moment, he even regretted joining the Su family. If he had not, he would not have fallen to this point and put his two daughters in danger.

He wiped away his tears and roared through gritted teeth.

"Fine, Su Luo. I'll give you everything. Give my two daughters back to me."

"Hahaha, wouldn't it have been better if you'd done that from the start?"

Su Luo laughed loudly. Just then, another call came through to Su Zihao's phone.

This was no ordinary call. It was from the police.

A police call.

Su Zihao's tears stopped, and he froze. He had not called the police.

Could it be...

A possibility nearly burst forth in his mind. At that thought, he immediately hung up on Su Luo and answered the call from the police.

"Hello, is this Mr. Su Zihao?"

A steady male voice came from the receiver.

"Yes, it is. May I ask what this is about?"

Su Zihao forced himself to remain calm, but his voice trembled. He did not dare take the initiative to tell the police about the matter, afraid that Su Luo would take desperate action and harm his daughters. At the same time, he held onto a tiny sliver of hope, yet feared that it would lead only to endless despair.

"This is the Mingguang City Public Security Bureau. We just received a report that your two daughters were kidnapped. By the time we arrived at the scene, they had already been successfully rescued. Please don't worry."

"R-Really?"

Hearing that, Su Zihao felt as if he had instantly risen from hell to heaven. His whole body trembled.

"Yes. I'll put them on the phone now so they can speak with you."

After saying that, the other end of the line fell silent, as though the phone was being handed to someone else.

The few seconds of waiting felt like an entire century to Su Zihao.

"Dad, don't worry. My sister and I are fine."

Only when his daughter Su Yuwei's familiar voice came through the phone, sounding like heavenly music to his ears, did Su Zihao's eyes redden with tears. His whole body shook as he choked out,

"Good, good. As long as you're alright. Where are you now? I'll come over immediately."

"We're at the police station. Come over right away, Dad."

Then Su Qiaoqiao's voice came from the phone as well. Her young, clear voice carried an obvious tremble and fear.

And upon hearing his younger daughter's voice, Su Zihao burst into tears. A powerful strength surged from within him, and he immediately grabbed his coat and rushed outside.

"Qiaoqiao, Yuwei, don't be afraid. Wait for me. Dad will be there right away!"

Everything that followed went smoothly. Su Zihao successfully met Su Qiaoqiao and Su Yuwei at the police station.

The father and his two daughters embraced through tears, only coming back to themselves after a long while.

After confirming that the two were safe, intense fury and hatred burst from Su Zihao's eyes.

"Su Luo!"

Su Luo's methods had crossed Su Zihao's bottom line. After confirming that his daughters were safe, he did not contact Su Luo again, nor did he contact the Su family. Instead, he immediately handed Su Luo's call recording to the police station and filed a report. He did not even notify his biological father!

Su Luo had completely trampled over Su Zihao's bottom line. Since Su Luo did not care about family ties, neither did Su Zihao!

Su Corporation was enormous and cared about its reputation. Family scandals were not to be aired outside, and they would very likely suppress the matter and handle it privately.

Moreover, Su Luo was the legitimate son of Su Zihao's father. Telling his father might instead lead to his father protecting Su Luo and suppressing the matter, inviting Su Luo's next retaliation. To protect his family, Su Zihao chose to report it to the police directly!

With conclusive evidence, the police immediately moved out and arrested Su Luo that same night at a villa in the outskirts of Huaiyang City, Nanfeng Province.

Meanwhile, in the police morgue, two middle-aged men in white protective suits stared impassively at the two corpses before them.

The corpses belonged to Wang Jiu and Lian Wei. Even the spinal worm that Su Ti had stomped into mush sat conspicuously on the autopsy table.

Outside the door stood Liu Xing, the police officer who had met Su Ti once and recommended Dragon Gate Martial Hall to him.

Liu Xing waited outside, with a young apprentice standing beside him.

"Third Category Affairs Investigation Bureau? Our country has an agency like that?"

The apprentice muttered, and Liu Xing immediately smacked him on the head.

"Keep your voice down."

Seeing his apprentice cover his head with a confused look, Liu Xing's expression turned serious as he lowered his voice.

"This is only the second time I've seen these people. Not only are their ranks absurdly high, and not only do they demand that our local police fully cooperate with their investigations unconditionally, but every one of them has strange abilities ordinary people like us neither know nor understand. For all you know, they can hear everything you say out here!"

The apprentice looked blankly at the soundproof door in front of him.

"Master, this is modern society. Do they really have to be that mystical?"

"Hmph, mystical? Didn't you just see those two corpses? The first one was fine, just beaten to death by brute force.

But the second one's body structure was practically inhuman. He was shot ten times, his skull was shattered, and his spine was pulled out, yet he still showed faint signs of life. This all falls within the realm of supernatural creatures. It's already beyond what we can handle. We can only leave it to professionals like them."

After hearing that, the apprentice swallowed and nodded.

"What do you think?"

Inside the autopsy room, one of the middle-aged men, wearing a blue uniform with a black triangular star emblem on his chest, asked the other man.

They both looked completely ordinary and were of average height. Aside from both being middle-aged, there was nothing remarkable about them.

However, the sharpness faintly visible in their eyes, the black skintight combat suits beneath their loose blue uniforms, and their callused hands all showed that they were anything but ordinary.

"One martial artist, one half-Evil Spirit. What else is there to think?"

Song Yi replied casually.

Zhou Jia glanced at Song Yi and gave up on the naive notion of getting useful information from this brute.

He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. After thinking for a moment, he took it back out and said,

"Judging by their injuries, both were killed by physical attacks. Based on the specific wounds, it was roughly the work of an Inner Refinement Stage martial artist. It probably has nothing to do with those matters. Since it has nothing to do with those things, we can just write a report and send it up."

He held the unlit cigarette beneath his nose and inhaled its scent. It was his habitual way of thinking.

"As for this Evil Spirit's parasite, it seems to be a martial art from a sect in Nanfeng Province. Their cultivation method involves symbiosis with Evil Spirits, so it carries a certain social danger, but—"

"But that sect has also been hiding all over the place, and it's hard to find their base. Write a report and toss it to our colleagues in Nanfeng Province. Let them worry about it themselves. Since it did not cause any major harm to the surface world, let's close the case."

Song Yi shrugged at that, took out a pack of betel nuts from his pocket, casually popped one into his mouth, and began chewing. The two had partnered for years. Song Yi had always been the one who hated thinking the most; he only cared about fighting and left everything else to Zhou Jia. So he asked again,

"Then do we still need to investigate the person who killed them?"

Zhou Jia shook his head.

"Since he used normal martial arts, he isn't under our jurisdiction. The Martial Arts Committee can worry about him. But judging by their rules, it'll probably be brushed aside anyway. What does that have to do with us? Come on, let's get off work and get a foot massage."

"Sound reasoning. I like it."

Song Yi chuckled, threw an arm around the other man's shoulders, and walked outside with Zhou Jia.

The Third Category Affairs Investigation Bureau was a violent agency tasked with investigating and forcibly managing all kinds of nonhuman entities to prevent them from endangering the social order of the surface world.

But if they had to get to the bottom of every matter, they would be worked to death. Passing the buck whenever possible was the way adults survived.