City No. 10's Food Chain

"If only I could never see those living devils again."

This was Li Menglin's greatest wish after leaving that awful place, Intelligence Department One.

To make this wish come true, he even considered waiting for a shooting star by his own window.

Li Menglin naively believed that shooting stars could actually grant people's wishes.

But he knew very well that as long as he lived in City No. 10 and within the Federation, this wish could never be fulfilled.

Therefore, we can only resort to metaphysics.

These days, Li Menglin is terrified every time he answers the phone, fearing it's from Intelligence Department One, asking him to report back to Intelligence Department One.

Fortunately, those living devils seemed to have forgotten about him. As long as he reported the conglomerate vehicles entering and leaving City No. 10 on time every day, no one paid any attention to him.

This truly relieved Li Menglin.

Just when he thought life was returning to normal, he unexpectedly encountered that King of Hell again here.

Could this King Yama have taken a fancy to my daughter? No, with Song Niaoniao around, what chance does my daughter have?

Although Li Zhaoen is also an 80 out of 100 in appearance, she pales in comparison to Song Niaoniao.

Li Menglin was lost in thought.

Meanwhile, the celebrities, including his daughter Li Zhaoen, were all staring at Li Menglin in shock.

This was because the usually imposing Immigration and Customs Administration was so humble and cautious in front of the boy, and even stuttered.

What did Li Zhaoen see at home growing up? It was always people lining up to ask her father for favors.

Now, she finally saw the humble side of her father.

Li Zhaoen looked at Qing Chen, who was clearly an extraordinary high-ranking figure in the Federation.

Not only was Li Zhaoen emotionally affected, but everyone, including Song Niaoniao, looked at Qing Chen differently after experiencing despair, salvation, and a turnaround.

They understood that celebrities were just celebrities, while these powerful figures were the ones who truly held the power of life and death in the Federation.

Qing Chen looked at Li Menglin and said calmly, "I'm here because there are black market human traffickers who have their eyes on your daughter and her friends. I've been watching these people for a long time, and today I've finally caught them."

"Huh?" Li Menglin didn't expect this to be the case. Only then did he take his eyes off Qing Chen and realize that his daughter and the other celebrities had been restricted in their movements by finger locks.

On the ground, two middle-aged men lay limp, their thigh bones broken by Qing Chen, making escape impossible.

The scene is right here, there are seven witnesses, and the facts are undeniable.

Li Menglin first led people to unlock the celebrities' fingers. At that moment, nothing was more important than loving his daughter.

He quietly inquired about his daughter's well-being, asking what had happened.

Qing Chen waited silently. Soon, just as Li Menglin and the others were unlocking everyone's locks, the sound of running footsteps came again from outside. Everyone inside the house tensed up, fearing that the middle-aged man's accomplices had come to provide support.

Only Qing Chen remained calm.

The next moment, Yang Xuyang from the Intelligence Department One also arrived with more than twenty brothers from the Seventh Group.

After the group of more than twenty people entered the house, they immediately surrounded Qing Chen and used pistols to force Li Menglin, Li Zhaoen and others to retreat to a corner, protecting only Qing Chen.

This scene was so shocking that Li Menglin and the others were somewhat at a loss.

"Boss, we're here," Yang Xuyang said in a low voice. "Should we take all these people back?"

In fact, Yang Xuyang had already gone home to prepare for his rest. Everyone had been working overtime for ten days and wanted to take a good rest and spend some time with their wives.

However, as soon as Yang Xuyang heard that the inspector was in trouble, he immediately brought more than 20 brothers over without saying a word of nonsense.

This is the influence Qing Chen currently wields in the Intelligence Department One.

The Seventh Group the Intelligence Department One should be considered Qing Chen's first truly loyal unit.

Qing Chen looked at Yang Xuyang: "The two people on the ground are human traffickers from the black market, and the rest are hostages. You handle the rest. There are still seven people in the parking lot; remember to bring them back to Intelligence Department One as well. Remember, I want them alive. Be careful on the way back; someone might kill them to silence them. After bringing them back to Intelligence Department One, I'll give you three days. I need to know who their customers are and how many customers they've had. Yang Xuyang, your important task next is to find out all these scum who traffic in people as slaves."

Yang Xuyang was deeply moved upon hearing this. He straightened his posture and said in a loud voice, "I guarantee I will complete the mission!"

Qing Chen then looked at Li Menglin and said calmly, "You don't even know your own daughter's phone is being tapped? Come to the Intelligence Department One, and I'll have someone arrange some basic counter-surveillance training for you."

After explaining everything, Qing Chen turned and left.

The others in the room watched him leave, with Yang Xuyang and the menacing detectives following behind the boy.

Qing Chen didn't take the opportunity to deepen his relationship with Song Niaoniao, nor did he make any demands on the celebrities. It was as if the young man had simply saved some insignificant people and done something trivial.

As the celebrities watched Qing Chen's departing figure, they thought to themselves, "This is Song Niaoniao! Has she completely ignored us?!"

Li Zhaoen rubbed her fingers as she stood up and looked at Li Menglin: "Dad, who exactly was that person just now?"

Li Menglin glanced at his daughter, then at Song Niaoniao: "That's the new Young Inspector from the Intelligence Department One. Do you know how many people he's arrested recently? There are rumors circulating in the 'Frontline' that many officials have mysteriously disappeared. He's the one who arrested them, and most of them can't get out. You should stay away from him. He's a real monster within the Federation, a powerful figure in the Qing family."

Li Zhaoen thought to himself, "No wonder my father was so polite to this person. It turns out he is a big shot from the Qing family!"

She muttered to herself, "He looks so young."

"What do you know?" Li Menglin said irritably, "In a conglomerate, the younger the person who holds real power, the more it means that he has a bright future and will one day become a very important figure in the conglomerate."

Li Menglin was someone who was eager to curry favor with powerful figures, but Li Zhaoen was his precious daughter, and he did not want his daughter to have any connection with such a dangerous person.

He suddenly looked at Song Niaoniao, only to see her gazing thoughtfully at the empty doorway.

Li Menglin had a feeling that things weren't as simple as they seemed to be tonight.

Outside in the corridor, Qing Chen handed his personal belongings from his room to Yang Xuyang.

Yang Xuyang was stunned. "Boss, you stay here too?"

"Hmm," Qing Chen replied expressionlessly.

"Then what are you doing with so much stuff? Are you planning to stay at our Intelligence Department One?" Yang Xuyang asked suspiciously.

Qing Chen glanced at him. "We still have a lot of work to do. You can rest, but I can't."

Yang Xuyang was suddenly moved. "Boss, you've worked so hard."

In fact, Qing Chen insisted on staying in the Intelligence Department One because he didn't want to see Song Niaoniao anymore; it was just too embarrassing.

Although he had just patched up his own problems quite a bit, if the girl wasn't stupid, she would eventually figure things out.

Qing Chen planned to stay at the Intelligence Department One for a while longer, and then move to the house in the third district that Li Xiurui bought for him, so that he and Song Niaoniao would no longer have any contact.

"By the way, how are the preparations going on Qing Hua's side?" Qing Chen asked.

"Don't worry, Qing Hua, the trainee inspector, is a very experienced intelligence officer. He'll be fine," Yang Xuyang said cautiously.

"That's good," Qing Chen nodded.

Yang Xuyang continued, "Do you really want to investigate the mastermind behind this celebrity buying and selling? You know, the person who can buy Song Niaoniao must be of a very high status."

Qing Chen glanced at Yang Xuyang: "I know you mean well and are worried that I might get involved in some danger, but can anyone, no matter how high their status, be higher than Mr. Shadow? Don't worry, if there's anything I can't handle, Mr. Shadow will step in."

Qing Chen thought to himself, "Shadow has played so many jokes on me, it shouldn't be a big deal for me to cause Shadow a little trouble, right?"

Yang Xuyang became even more humble. It turned out that this boss was a close associate of Mr. Shadow, which made things even better.

At this moment, Qing Hua was strolling aimlessly along the bustling streets of the District 5.

He realized someone was following him, but he didn't care.

Tonight, many people from Intelligence Department One went home to rest, but Qing Hua did not, because Qing Chen had given him an important task... waiting for Kamishiro or Kashima to come and make a deal.

The Seventh Group has been hanging a whiteboard at the entrance on the third floor for seven days, Qing Chen has been arresting people for seven days as well.

Qing Hua once told that Young Inspector that he was afraid Jinshiro and Kashima would not come to make the deal.

But Qing Chen said that if the other party is unwilling to make a deal, it must be because we haven't captured the important person yet.

So we have to keep searching until we find someone important enough that they have no choice but to make a deal.

Two days ago, Qing Hua led his team to finally capture a core member of the Kamishiro Family. The man's father was one of the Kamishiro Family's representatives in City No. 10 and an important member of the Senate.

Such a legislator must cherish his reputation. If his son is tainted, it will inevitably lead to a loss of public trust in him. Therefore, he cannot stand idly by and watch his son go to jail.

Logically speaking, the councilor's son was already very cautious, but he just happened to run into Qing Chen.

This is Qing Chen's plan: I'll capture someone important enough to force you to make a deal with me.

This is an open conspiracy.

Qing Hua didn't know was that it wasn't just the people of the Divine Era who were following him.

Further away, Mr. Shadow, dressed in black, stood on the top floor of a building, observing the operation from the clouds.

Shadow was very interested in the operation arranged by Qing Chen, because he also found it very interesting that the Kamishiro Family was forced to break their alliance with Kashima at the Intelligence Department One.

At this moment, on the rooftop, a person stood respectfully behind Shadow and whispered, "Mr. Shadow, the person who bought Song Niaoniao is likely a powerful figure in the Chen family. If we really find out who it is, it could have serious consequences."

The shadow chuckled and said, "What are you afraid of? I'm still here, aren't I? You know, if you release a wild tiger into the forest, it will quickly devour all the animals in the forest, it will eat everything. Do you know why tigers do that?"

The person behind him paused for a moment, then said, "Sir, I don't know."

Shadow laughed, "Because it needs to know its place in the food chain, what it can touch, and what it can't. Do you think Qing Chen is reckless? Actually, what he's doing now is no different from that tiger released into the forest. He wants to know how much I'm willing to do for him, and where he is in the food chain."

The Internet conference has started. I'll be giving a speech on stage later, so I'm updating this chapter on my phone first. I'll write the second chapter when I get back tonight.