The World's Test

"Nothing unusual happened downstairs; the killer hasn't been seen again."

Nan Gengchen spoke softly through the Bluetooth headset.

"There's nothing unusual upstairs either," Zhang Tianzhen added. "However, I saw an oil drum in a room on the 18th floor. It looks like someone deliberately put it there. I suspect there are some downstairs too."

"Yes, Liu Dezhu and I will come down to meet you now. Tianzhen, you can come downstairs too," Qing Chen said.

Nan Gengchen said, "Brother Chen, the fire downstairs is already huge. It looks like they're trying to burn us alive. Going down now is too dangerous."

"It's alright," Qing Chen glanced at Liu Dezhu, then said into the Bluetooth headset, "They don't know we have a C-Class fire-type Awakened. We'll meet on the 9th floor."

When the fire was raging, the flames shot upwards, igniting all the building materials.

In this situation, the flames shot upwards, and no one could get through the flames below.

This might be the plan of the Kamiyo assassins: if they can't kill the sniper, they'll burn him alive; no one can escape this building alive.

Qing Chen's expression turned cold. The other party had gone too far. He had to remember that there were thousands of office workers in the Borui Building; that meant thousands of lives...

The other party also brought in oil drums.

If the fire is not stopped, everyone in the entire building will die.

As the crowd frantically fled to the rooftop, only Bai Zhou calmly walked down, a scene that looked particularly eerie.

The left and right sides on the same staircase seem like two distinct worlds.

When Qing Chen arrived on the 9th floor, it was already filled with thick smoke. Black smoke was swirling along the ceiling, as if countless black faces were roaring inside.

They did not encounter any other assassins, and everyone successfully reached the 9th floor to reunite.

"Brother Chen, the smoke is too thick, we can't get through," Nan Gengchen said.

Liu Dezhu also looked at Qing Chen: "I can absorb heat, but I can't withstand this smoke."

Zhang Tianzhen looked at Qing Chen, but he didn't ask a question like the other two.

Qing Chen looked at Zhang Tianzhen: "Aren't you going to ask anything?"

"No need to ask, you told us to come down and meet up, you must have a plan," Zhang Tianzhen said, not knowing why she had this inexplicable trust in Qing Chen.

Qing Chen said to Liu Dezhu, "Open the toolbox I asked you to carry."

Liu Dezhu was stunned for a moment. After opening the box, he was surprised to find eight fire dust masks inside. These masks could last for half an hour in heavy smoke.

Zhang Tianzhen and the others were stunned for a moment. "You already guessed they would set the fire? And did you also anticipate having Liu Dezhu protect you and detonate the bombs?"

Qing Chen corrected, "It was the boss's idea."

However, this time Zhang Tianzhen began to have doubts.

It wasn't for any other reason than that Qing Chen was too calm.

Only those who are truly strategic and capable can remain so calm.

At this moment, Qing Chen glanced at them and said, "Before the battle begins, no one can predict what the assassins will do or how much they are willing to pay, so it's always good to be prepared."

He added, "The world never tests what you've prepared, but what you haven't prepared."

Being unprepared could mean death.

After saying that, Qing Chen put on a smoke mask and led everyone toward the fire.

Liu Dezhu walked at the front, and suddenly, all the heat began to gather on his body. The flames seemed to come alive, and like long dragons, they drilled into his body made of flames.

Wherever it passed, the flames quickly went out, leaving only scorched marks on the ground.

The three people behind them watched this scene, and even Qing Chen found it amazing.

If cultivators are born to fight, then Awakened are born to amaze people.

The abilities of the Awakened are so strange and novel that they inspire envy in others.

When the members went downstairs during the day, the fire had just reached the 6th floor.

Liu Dezhu tirelessly absorbed the flames into his body, and after more than twenty minutes, he finally extinguished them completely.

Moreover, after the heat from the combustion was absorbed, the temperature inside the building also dropped significantly.

It makes you feel cold.

Qing Chen suddenly wondered, is the essence of a fire-type Awakened the application of energy, rather than simply being able to manipulate flames?

He had been misled by the term "Fire Awakened" in the Inner World and hadn't thought much about it. Now he realized that this way of addressing people was ridiculously wrong.

Combustion is simply a violent oxidation-reduction reaction of matter; flames are the manifestation of combustion, but energy is the essence.

Because the phenomenon of releasing energy is mostly related to fire, and the way Awakened release their abilities is most conveniently through fire, people call these Awakened "fire-type Awakened".

But this terminology is not scientific; at least it doesn't get to the heart of the matter.

Qing Chen started to take it seriously.

Actually, when Liu Dezhu was throwing the bomb, Qing Chen was thinking that the essence of an explosion is that an object releases a large amount of energy, and what Liu Dezhu inhaled was also energy.

Thinking of this, Qing Chen looked at Liu Dezhu and asked, "Do you usually feel that you have the ability to manipulate energy, such as electromagnetic energy or mechanical energy?"

"No, you can only convert some kind of energy in your body into heat and release it. If you absorb it, it's also heat. The reason I was able to throw the bomb was because I absorbed the heat into my body before the explosives were fully burned. But before it ignited, my sense of it was very weak," Liu Dezhu said.

Qing Chen then asked, "Zhuzi, when you absorb heat into your body, do you feel a breakthrough?"

As Liu Dezhu absorbed the surrounding energy, he said, "No, I just feel suffocated and a little nauseous..."

It seems that the upper limit of Liu Dezhu's strength level is the upper limit of his ability to absorb and release energy. Releasing too much will exhaust him, and absorbing too much will make him want to breathe fire...

Qing Chen said, "Bear with it for a bit, let's find a secluded place to throw up."

"Okay..." Liu Dezhu replied.

When Lu Yuan and the others arrived, the fire in the Borui Building had been completely extinguished.

The way it was destroyed was even somewhat abnormal.

Inside the building, some people discovered that the fire had been extinguished and hurriedly went downstairs to escape.

Lu Yuan grabbed someone and asked, "Has there been any violent conflict upstairs?"

Someone responded, "There are bodies on the stairwell on the 16th floor and in the conference room on the 17th floor! We didn't dare go near them and don't know what happened."

"Thanks," Lu Yuan, leading his men uphill.

When they reached the 16th floor, Lu Yuan discovered the bodies of the assassins lying across the emergency exit.

When they arrived at the conference room on the 17th floor, only a few corpses remained, along with some "living" people who were still tied up.

Lu Yuan stepped over the survivor and looked at the explosion marks on the ground and the guns on the conference table.

He picked up the gun and glanced at it; there was a serial number on the gun.

Lu Yuan said, "These are the guns that Kunlun gave to Qing Chen before. Bai Zhou specifically returned them."

So there's no need to overthink it. This time, the Kamiyo assassins was indeed targeting Bai Zhou, and Bai Zhou once again resolved the problem on his own.

However, there should be more than one person who came during the day.

Xiao Ying looked at Lu Yuan: "Captain Lu, can you tell what happened?"

"It's very simple," Lu Yuan said calmly. "The Kamiyo assassins wanted to hunt down Bai Zhou's boss, but they ended up falling into Bai Zhou's ambush. Bai Zhou anticipated that the God Era would come, and they should have put out the fire downstairs."

Lu Yuan thought to himself, "So they got the hunter and the prey wrong from the start."

In this battle, Bai Zhou was the hunter, and his worries were unfounded.

Moreover, this time he once again accomplished his task and left without a trace, concealing his merits and fame.

Bai Zhou not only hunted down the assassins of the Kamishiro Family, but also left Kunlun with a gun and a survivor.

This Lu Yuan feel somewhat uneasy, as if everything they were going to do and wanted to do had been calculated.

The enemy had anticipated that the Kamiyo assassins would come.

They had anticipated that they would come to their aid.

They had calculated that they would find the conference room on the 17th floor.

They were certain that the gun wouldn't be taken away.

What if someone else picks up this gun? If someone uses it to kill innocent people later, then the blame will fall on Bai Zhou based on the ballistics.

However, no one came to pick up the gun. All the refugees hesitated when they saw the corpses scattered on the ground at the entrance.

What Lu Yuan know was...

There is no such thing as a truly foolproof plan in this world.

Just as Qing Chen said, the world never tests what preparations you've made, but rather what preparations you haven't made.

Qing Chen's personality has always been such that he prepares everything he can before facing the world.

Lu Yuan would never know that when the countdown first appeared on the boy's arm, he even prayed to Buddha.

At this moment, Xiao Ying glanced at his phone and said, "Team Leader Lu, the boss is back and wants us to go back to headquarters."

Inside the Kunlun headquarters deep within Lijing Gate, Zheng Yuandong and He Jinqiu each sat in a grand chair, one drinking tea and the other drinking coffee.

He Jinqiu exclaimed, "Kunlun's hospitality has improved. Knowing that I like to drink coffee to stay awake, they specially prepared coffee. However, the quality of this coffee is not very high. If it were not instant, hand-ground coffee would be better."

Zheng Yuandong picked up his teacup and said calmly, "You're overthinking it. This coffee is just free instant coffee that Kunlun members brought back from the hotel when they went to Xiancheng on a business trip last time. Not only coffee, but also free shampoo, shower gel, and soap."

He Jinqiu was taken aback. "Are you all so frugal? Kunlun isn't that poor, is it? I know Kunlun has quite a few sources of funding. How come it's all being spent on Ni Ergou's intelligence system?"

"No need to worry about that. Tell me, what brings you here this time?" Zheng Yuandong was still wearing his Zhongshan suit, as calm as ever.

"It's nothing else," He Jinqiu said. "It's just that Jiuzhou is operating within our territory this time. I hope the old squad leader won't mind too much. After all, these people are Time Walker controlled by Kamishiro and Kashima, and they should indeed be under the jurisdiction of Jiuzhou."

"You're overthinking it," Zheng Yuandong said calmly. "This time, Kamishiro and Kashima seem to be going all in. Every bit of strength they have will ensure the safety of the people. When it comes to national interests, there's no distinction between 'yours' and 'mine.' What we're facing now isn't a power struggle, but rather someone challenging our bottom line."

He Jinqiu put down his coffee and stood up. "It's best that you think that way, Old Squad Leader. Then I won't bother you any longer. As for the intelligence, Tang Keke and Ni Ergou will handle the handover. At times like this, the two organizations should share intelligence. By Lu Yuan way, please tell Lu Yuan, Old Squad Leader, not to keep bothering Keke. She's one of our Jiuzhou people."

Just then, Lu Yuan rushed back from outside. Upon hearing this, he shouted before even entering the courtyard, "Boss He, you're meddling way too much! Don't you know about freedom of choice in relationships?"

He Jinqiu smiled and said, "Commendable courage. Alright, let's go."

After saying that, he ignored the Lu Yuan and got into the van parked at the door.

Lu Yuan muttered, "Jiuzhou is really extravagant. They even bought the best commercial vehicles. Boss, is Jiuzhou's money ill-gotten?"

"Don't make wild guesses," Zheng Yuandong said. "They make money overseas, that's their skill, as long as they don't harm our own citizens."

In fact, since the time travel incident began, Jiuzhou has been making a lot of money overseas, and it has done so by any means necessary.

Compared to ordinary mercenaries, Time Walker are like adults beating up children; apart from the Time Walker from the United States, no one can do anything about them.

However, everyone knows this is an open secret. Kunlun is an organization within the territory and cannot do whatever it wants like the Jiuzhou.

So the money came in a bit slower.

At this moment, Zheng Yuandong put down his teacup. "Let's get down to business. Everyone else, please leave. Xiao Ying and Lu Yuan, you two stay."

After all the Kunlun members left.

Zheng Yuandong said, "Xiao Ying, tell me again what happened the night Li Changqing was attacked."

The Xiao Ying carefully recalled the events, then thoughtfully recounted all the details.

However, surprisingly, after hearing the whole story, Zheng Yuandong suddenly said, "It's confirmed, Qing Chen is Bai Zhou's boss."

"Huh?" Xiao Ying was taken aback. "Why, boss? He didn't leave the Banshan Manor at all that night. After Li Changqing gave me my new identity level, I checked immediately, and his name wasn't on the entry and exit records. He was in Baopu Tower that night."

Zheng Yuandong thought for a moment and said, "Tell me, what kind of place is Baopu Tower?"

"The residence of the Head of the Li Clan," Xiao Ying said, "Is known throughout the entire Federation."

"Yes, that's the key point," Zheng Yuandong said. "Although it's hard to believe, Qing Chen now does have the qualifications to enter and leave Baopu Tower, and can even participate in family meetings like the second generation of the Li family, and even has a certain say. I don't know how he did it, but he really did it."

"And then?" the Xiao Ying asked, puzzled.

Zheng Yuandong replied, "The problem lies with Baopu Tower. Someone who could enter and leave Baopu Tower when Old Master Li was critically ill, couldn't he have altered his entry and exit records? In other words, couldn't Baopu Tower lie for him? From this point, I'm not saying he altered his entry and exit records, but that the records can no longer serve as his alibi."

"But why are you so certain that he is the sniper, and also Bai Zhou's boss?" Lu Yuan asked, puzzled.

Lu Yuan used to work in criminal investigation, but Zheng Yuandong always had to unravel the mystery for them. It wasn't that Lu Yuan was stupid, but the truth about Bai Zhou was always deeply hidden. Qing Chen kept changing his identity and disguises, making it difficult for outsiders to see the truth.

However, Lu Yuan still didn't understand why his boss was so sure that Qing Chen was the sniper.

Zheng Yuandong said, "First of all, Qing Chen has an absolute feel for guns. Of course, there aren't many people who have an absolute feel for guns at 400 meters, but there are still quite a few. At least He Jinqiu and I can do it. But this is at least proof of Qing Chen's basic firearms skills. In the past, we always wondered if Boss Baizhou was a retired sniper from the military. After all, it's impossible for an ordinary person to train themselves to that level in just two months."

"However, Qing Chen proved to us that there really are people who can master absolute gun control in a short period of time. I'm willing to believe that such a special person can achieve absolute gun control at 400 meters in a short time."

Zheng Yuandong continued, "Secondly, I believe in a woman's intuition."

Lu Yuan: "???"

Xiao Ying: "???"

They were just about to hear the reasoning when the boss suddenly started talking about metaphysics with them.

"I'm serious," Zheng Yuandong asked, "Do you understand Qing Chen better, or does Li Changqing understand Qing Chen better? She has spent every day with Qing Chen, so she definitely understands him better."

"Do you know more secrets about Qing Chen, or does Li Changqing know more? Li Changqing definitely knows more."

"Therefore, the fact that Li Changqing went to the Autumn Leaf Villa immediately after the incident is enough to show that in her mind, the sniper who appeared at the Jinmao Building that night could only be Qing Chen, or at least that's what she thought."

"Finally, if we assume that Qing Chen is the boss of Bai Zhou, then many things will make sense."

Xiao Ying and Lu Yuan looked at each other in disbelief. They hadn't expected their boss to make such a startling prediction so soon after returning from his business trip.

Zheng Yuandong stood up. "This time, I only trust my own judgment. Even if there is any evidence to prove that Qing Chen and Boss Baizhou are not the same person, I will not believe it. It would only be a facade created by Qing Chen. Remember, only the three of us know about this. It is one of Kunlun's top secrets."

At this moment, Liu Dezhu and his group, with Hu Xiaoniu's help, had returned to Villa No. 12.

However, at this moment they discovered that Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen had not yet returned.

They left the scene separately.

After Hu Xiaoniu met Liu Dezhu, he even found him a place to breathe fire, which took a long time to finish. Logically speaking, Qing Chen Nan Gengchen should have been home by now.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to Brother Chen Nan Gengchen?" Liu Dezhu then started calling Qing Chen "Brother Chen," just like Nan Gengchen used to.

"Make a call," Zhang Tianzhen said, "And see if you can get through."

For a moment, all the members of Daylight became tense.

Today is a very dangerous day. What if Qing Chen Nan Gengchen encounter enemies again after they leave?

The call connected, Qing Chen asked, "Are you home yet?"

Liu Dezhu: "We're home, we're home."

"Have you finished spitting fire? Is there anything unusual?" Qing Chen asked.

"I'm done spraying. Nothing's wrong, just a little bit of a fever, and my urine is a bit yellow..." Liu Dezhu asked, "Brother Chen, why aren't you guys back yet?"

"Oh, we're just taking care of something. It's nothing, don't worry," Qing Chen said.

"Okay," Liu Dezhu hung up the phone with An Xin, "We were overthinking it, they're fine."

"Well, it's good that you're alright," Hu Xiaoniu said.

Just a moment after hanging up the phone, Qing Chen turned to look at the traffic police officer in front of him.

But the other party patiently said, "Remember not to carry passengers on your electric bike in the future. Also, you must wear a helmet when riding an electric bike, you know? This time I'm only giving you a verbal warning because you are students, but next time you will be fined."

Qing Chen and Nan Gengchen: "Okay, traffic police officer..."

The reason they haven't gone home yet is because they were pulled over and educated by the traffic police for riding an electric bike with a passenger on it without a helmet...

The chapter is 5,000 words long. 10,000 words have been updated today. One chapter was added to the Haihunyi, and one chapter is still owed.

Thanks to Xiaobaibaimiao, LLjiangattibujin, Feimojibai, Baiyejiguang, and Fuyibushipuyi for becoming new allies of this book.

Thank you, DaBai, for becoming a new Silver Grand Alliance member for this book.

Bosses are generous, and bosses never get sick!

Old debts unpaid, new debts added, a bittersweet experience...