Wang Wen Arrives

Section 12: Wang Wen Arrives

Wang Wen's shock didn't come from the scene before him.

He'd seen far grander scenes in his previous life.

He was shocked because the Intelligence Department Head had truly come to find him in person!

As an elite the First Consortium had devoted every effort to cultivating, Wang Wen had interacted most often with the Intelligence Department in the past. He knew very well what the First Consortium's Intelligence Department Head represented.

This elderly man, over seventy years old, held a status that surpassed even some regional rulers.

And a regional ruler was the equivalent of a sovereign king in ancient times.

Whenever the old man was present, even the Dean of The Academy had to stand obediently, let alone someone two ranks higher.

But.

Other people's attitudes toward the old man might be respect, fear, flattery, or reverence.

Wang Wen alone had tears filling his eyes the instant he saw the old man's figure.

No amount of composure or calm could erase how much he missed this old man.

In his previous life, Wang Wen had no family, and neither did the old man.

Both of their closest relatives had died in the World Tower.

One could say that countless people died in the World Tower every day. It wasn't anything remarkable.

But there weren't many like Wang Wen and the old man, whose families had been wiped out so completely and cleanly.

When they first spent time together, they bickered constantly and neither could stand the other.

Wang Wen wanted to inherit his parents' final wish: enter the World Tower, claim first place in the world, and preferably break through that damned thousandth floor to see what secrets the heavens were hiding.

The old man, meanwhile, particularly hated seeing Tower Climbers. As the head of the Intelligence Department, he'd seen too much intelligence related to the World Tower and too much deceit and intrigue.

With all his own loved ones having perished in the tower, his impression of the World Tower was even worse.

He believed it was an ominous place, and that all Tower Climbers were merely greedy for wealth and glory, willingly debasing themselves.

He remained in the position of Intelligence Department Head without stepping down not only because the consortium repeatedly begged him to stay, but because he wanted to see with his own eyes what kind of hell the World Tower would turn this world into.

Wang Wen had no desire to speak of the fate he carried on his shoulders.

He simply kept his head down, trained hard, and strove to be the best.

The old man hated Tower Climbers, so naturally he hated Wang Wen even more, since Wang Wen entered the World Tower every week without ever stopping.

He was always making things difficult for him, assigning him the most dangerous and exhausting intelligence testing work.

Wang Wen was stubborn too.

He never declined or refused, taking on every test no matter how difficult or tiring it was.

Without a word of complaint, he completed every single one to the highest standard.

After all, he believed his life would eventually be thrown away in the World Tower. Sooner or later didn't matter.

Back then, no one in the Intelligence Department could do testing work better than him. It was so extreme that even the Upper Group leaders had been personally trained by him, and every time they met, they respectfully called Wang Wen their master.

Wang Wen wasn't afraid of death, didn't mind exhaustion, feared no hardship, and never picked easy work over difficult work. He only resented the old man's deliberate attempts to make things hard for him, so he'd never shown the old man a pleasant expression.

And so.

The two argued every time they met.

One was an elite the consortium focused on cultivating, whose desperate level of effort was known and witnessed by all.

The other had devoted most of his life to intelligence work. He'd seen more intelligence than young people had eaten grains of rice, and sometimes, with a single glance at new intelligence, he could tell whether it was real or false and discern every detail.

Both were treasures of the consortium.

Taking either side would be unfair, so the consortium could only helplessly try to persuade them. Most of the time, it could only let the two fight until they were tired and disperse on their own.

They argued like that for many years.

Until the entire consortium grew used to it.

Until Wang Wen realized the intelligence he could access was reaching ever-higher levels.

Until every time Wang Wen prepared to enter the World Tower's teleportation gate, he could see the old man sitting by the floor-to-ceiling window high in the consortium building, pressed against the glass as he watched.

The old man always believed that from so high above the ground, that tiny ant-like figure surely couldn't see him behind the reflective glass.

What he didn't know was that after Wang Wen broke through the six hundredth floor, he could even see the eye gunk at the corner of a bird's eye as it flew through the sky.

That was an ability brought by the higher floors. The Intelligence Department's intelligence could no longer keep up with Wang Wen's progress.

The two still argued every time they met.

The old man still liked making things difficult for him.

And Wang Wen still never gave the old man a smile.

But the Intelligence Department had become like Wang Wen's home, with no restrictions on his comings and goings.

He could freely consult intelligence of any level.

The department's personnel also obeyed Wang Wen's commands without question. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought he was the Intelligence Department Head.

And the old man often found strange things added to his food or water cup.

At first, he thought they were pranks and casually poured a cup of "contaminated" water into the turtle pond.

Then he discovered that the little turtle that had eaten those strange things became exceptionally healthy. Its cracked shell and torn skin healed without medicine, and even a claw that had accidentally been broken off at the root grew back.

When he summoned someone and asked who had touched his water cup, the answer he received was that only Wang Wen, the young master of the Intelligence Department, would dare do such a thing.

Only a few days later would the Intelligence Department receive intelligence regarding items from the World Tower's higher floors.

For example, some precious and rare treasure that prolonged life, strengthened the body, and improved health.

When they asked where the treasure had gone, they would receive feedback that it had already been consumed by a high-floor team.

How many teams in the entire consortium had even reached floors above five hundred?

Not to mention above six hundred.

Other than Wang Wen's team, who would dare act first and report later?

Only the old man knew that the treasure hadn't been eaten by the team. In fact, it hadn't even been eaten by a person.

It had been eaten by that little turtle, which would surely outlive most people in the future.

From then on, the old man never dared casually pour out his water again.

Even if there was something in the water that looked like a fly, he'd close his eyes and drink it.

The facts proved he'd never drunk the wrong thing.

His body, which had been deteriorating with age, gradually became robust again.

The incurable illness that the consortium's medical experts had long diagnosed as leaving him only a few years to live somehow improved year after year.

Seeing this, the consortium's higher-ups clearly guessed something.

But no one exposed it.

The old man was a treasure to the consortium. Previously, they had spared no expense in using every precious medicinal ingredient available on the market to forcibly keep him alive, only hoping that he could continue working tirelessly for the consortium for a few more years.

But now, someone was helping sustain the old man's life.

The consortium didn't need to worry or spend effort, and it even saved the money it had spent buying medicine for him.

Was there really such a good thing in the world?

Who ate those treasures didn't matter.

Even if they were handed over, the final allocation would likely still go to the old man.

Only an idiot would kill a meritorious servant who had secretly diverted resources, then train a replacement from scratch.

Never mind whether they could cultivate another elite equally outstanding.

Just killing the meritorious servant who was sustaining the old man's life would be like killing two with one blow.

If he wanted to divert them, then let him divert them.

Wang Wen had accomplished what Tower Climbers all over the world had failed to do.

The world's number one had to have some privileges, or how could they keep him?

The two still argued every time they met.

The old man still liked making things difficult for Wang Wen.

Wang Wen still never gave the old man a smile.

Until many years later, when the old man passed ninety.

No matter how many treasures sustained his life, they couldn't overcome the exhaustion of his natural lifespan.

When the old man collapsed in the hospital, Wang Wen had happened to enter the World Tower not long before.

Old age was unlike illness. It always came without warning. Wang Wen had known nothing beforehand and had only entered the tower at ease after arguing with him.

Who could have known the old man would be gone the very next day?

Countless doctors had already run out of options and declared that the old man could pass away at any second, yet he stubbornly held on to his final breath.

Later, the old man's eyes could no longer see anything.

All the consortium's higher-ups came to visit his bedside, but no matter what they said, he gave no response.

The old man's clouded eyes moved slightly as they stared blankly upward, as though searching for something.

Everyone knew whom he was waiting for.

But there was nothing they could do.

Once someone entered the World Tower, they were cut off from the outside world. No one outside could contact those within.

All they could do was wait.

Wait alongside the old man.

That week was the longest week the entire First Consortium had ever endured.

The instant Wang Wen emerged from the tower, the employees who had been guarding the tower entrance immediately told him about the old man's condition.

Ignoring the pain, wounds, and exhaustion covering his body, Wang Wen threw down everything he carried. For the first time before the world, he displayed his extraordinary power, his figure vanishing as he broke the sound barrier.

When he appeared again, he was already outside the old man's hospital room.

Blood seeped from every inch of his skin.

Yet he seemed completely unaware. He gently opened the door and walked into the room, leaving a bloody footprint with every step.

Everyone inside rose in shock. Someone near the bed softly told the old man, "Wang Wen is here."

The old man, who could no longer see and had shown no response to sound, suddenly blinked and slowly opened his eyes.

At that moment, everyone in the room covered their mouths as tears streamed down their faces.

Wang Wen walked step by step to the old man's bedside.

The old man moved his eyes and somehow accurately found the direction of Wang Wen's face.

He tugged at his facial muscles, revealing an expression whose meaning no one could understand. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally let out a long breath and closed his eyes forever.

The all-capable Tower Climber Wang Wen was fluent in the languages of many countries. Naturally, lip-reading was no challenge to him.

He understood the old man's final words.

As long as you're safe.

That was the old man's final breath.

Once he saw him, he was at peace.

Once he said those words, he was at peace.

Everyone was crying, but Wang Wen was smiling.

He had never given the old man a smile. If he didn't give him one now, it would be too late.