Stranger

"Did you hire those thugs?" Wang Wen's expression turned cold.

He found it a bit strange; judging by how that group fought, it didn't look like a simple scuffle between students.

That was why he had never suspected his classmates at the academy before.

But if Yu Zhi really was the one who found them.

Then this woman had gone too far and was completely reckless!

"Don't be angry, I, I'm sorry..." Yu Zhi explained cautiously. "That guy said he liked me, and since I was in a bad mood at the time, I just mentioned you to him. He said he wanted to vent my frustrations, and I thought it was just..."

"Leave." Wang Wen turned his head and said indifferently, "I will stay far away from you from now on. I definitely won't make you angry again."

Yu Zhi's voice grew tearful in her panic. "I really didn't mean it, please don't be like this, I'll go back and scold—"

"Go." Wang Wen's tone was very flat, so flat it was devoid of emotion, as if he were speaking to a stranger.

Yu Zhi walked away, crying as she went.

The moment she stepped out of the hospital room, she felt as if she had lost something.

She had seen that trace of undisguised disappointment on Wang Wen's face at the end.

Pah!

A failing student!

It was clearly you who chased after me!

What right do you have to be disappointed?

What right do you have to be disappointed in me?

Yu Zhi kept comforting herself with these thoughts.

Yet, the tears just wouldn't stop falling.

The once-proud princess was now crying like a child who had lost her candy and been abandoned.

Back at the academy.

A boy approached Yu Zhi, rubbing his hands together with a grin.

Yu Zhi ignored him, tossing her long hair as she walked away.

The boy chased after her, saying with a bitter face, "Are you still unhappy?"

Yu Zhi flew into a rage. "What kind of people did you hire? Were you trying to kill someone? Do you have any idea that Wang Wen and the others almost died?"

The boy looked helpless. "I just had a friend arrange it. Maybe he took it too seriously because we're close and went straight to guys from the streets. I couldn't help it if they were too heavy-handed."

"Forget it." Yu Zhi recalled the look of disappointment in Wang Wen's eyes at the hospital and lowered her gaze. "Your friends are too terrifying. Stay away from me from now on; I'm scared."

The boy reached out, feeling lost, but Yu Zhi dodged him.

Watching the girl he loved turn and walk away without a shred of mercy, the boy felt heartbroken and shouted after her, "Zhi'er, do I really not have a single chance?"

There was no response.

Yu Zhi's figure disappeared straight into the teaching building without a moment's hesitation, just as if she were treating a stranger.

All day.

Wang Wen slept in the hospital for the entire day.

After being discharged, he returned to the academy to have a meal with the thin boy, went to the Dean's office to report he was safe and express his thanks.

Then, he left the academy.

Holding the pass for the Intelligence Department, he traveled through the teleportation portals all the way to the base of the First Consortium's headquarters.

The First Consortium truly lived up to its name.

The first-floor lobby even had a dedicated reception desk.

And the young ladies at the reception were exceptionally beautiful.

Dressed in sky-blue uniforms with flawless, delicate makeup, they looked poised, confident, and sweet.

Wang Wen walked up and presented his pass to register his name.

The young lady glanced at him, picked up the desk phone to make a call, and then gestured toward an electric tour cart to the side, instructing the driver to "go to the Intelligence Department."

Wang Wen sat on the tour cart.

The small vehicle sped across the clean, polished marble floor.

It passed through the lobby, skirted around an indoor soccer field, went by a patch of artificially cultivated primeval forest, and then glided across a lake.

Finally, the damp tour cart drove into an elevator at the end of a corridor.

Ding.

The elevator rose to the second floor.

Before the alloy doors opened, the tour cart driver straightened his collar and gloves.

Finally, he shed his drowsy appearance and officially perked up.

Wang Wen, sitting in the back row, saw the driver bracing himself as if facing a formidable enemy.

He raised his left eyebrow.

He couldn't help but grip the vehicle's handle tightly.

A few minutes later.

The driver was ready.

He had donned a bulletproof vest and helmet.

He started the tour vehicle and carried Wang Wen through the streets and alleys.

He soared through the sky and dove into the earth.

He drilled through fire, crossed soil, charged through water, and dodged wood.

Amidst bursts of smoke, he desperately dodged stray bullets and flying explosive debris.

After two hours, they arrived safely at the gate of the Intelligence Department on the second floor.

Tong Xiaolei, the leader of the Central Group of the Intelligence Department, stood by the door with a smile, waiting.

"Mr. Mai, thank you for your hard work," she said, extending her hand from afar.

Wang Wen got out of the car, shook her hand, and nodded with a smile, "It was indeed a bit tiring."

The two walked inside together.

Wang Wen looked back to see the tour vehicle driving away as if it had narrowly escaped death once more, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why are there so many traps outside?"

When he joined the First Consortium in his previous life, there were no such messy things outside the Intelligence Department.

Although the experience was novel.

It wasn't exactly safe.

He didn't have the ability to be impervious to blades and guns now; if he had to go through this every time he visited the Intelligence Department, it would be hard to guarantee he could pass unscathed every single time.

To his surprise, Tong Xiaolei just pursed her lips and smiled, saying indifferently, "Those are just failed products; they'll be cleared out in a few days."

Hearing this.

Wang Wen recalled the trap array at the First Consortium's headquarters in the future, which was famously known as "Trespassers Die."

He finally nodded in realization.

So, the world-renowned trap array at the headquarters was actually developed by the Intelligence Department.

They even used their own floor as a laboratory in the early stages; they were truly the department the First Consortium relied on most.

Wang Wen silently gave the Intelligence Department a thumbs-up in his heart.

He followed Tong Xiaolei through the work areas of the various sub-groups of the Intelligence Department.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar face.

Very familiar!

The leader of the Upper Group!

In his previous life, he could be considered Wang Wen's only apprentice.

However, at this moment, that person was still wearing the uniform of an ordinary member, sitting quietly at his workstation, listening to the seniors of the same group bragging about various interesting anecdotes inside the World Tower.

Occasionally, he even had to pour coffee for the seniors who were tired from bragging.

Wang Wen smiled and brushed past his apprentice, who was busy pouring coffee, without showing any reaction, just like a stranger.

He entered the department head's office.

"Sit." The old man was wearing glasses and reviewing documents; he didn't look up to signal Wang Wen to wait a moment.

Tong Xiaolei turned and left after leading the way.

She had no intention of staying to help pour water or make tea.

Wang Wen didn't sit; he wandered around the room as if he were at home.

From time to time, he flipped through the books on the shelves.

He toyed with a few strangely shaped trap models.

"There should be a limit to how much you can make yourself at home," the old man's voice sounded, carrying an unforced authority. "Those are all lethal traps crafted with 1:1 precision; if you trigger one, you won't even have time to get to the hospital!"

Wang Wen curled his lip, silently mimicking the old man's words, while quietly restoring the trap he had habitually dismantled to its original state.

The old man put down his pen, took off his glasses, and spoke again, this time with concern: "How is your body recovering?"

"The hospital arranged by the Intelligence Department is beyond reproach," Wang Wen nodded. "The mattress was particularly comfortable—firm yet elastic, soft yet supportive. It had the vibe of a brand from a history book that claimed to be a sleep master."

The old man chuckled, "Did you go there for a sleep trial?"

"Of course. With a hospital room costing thousands of points a day, wouldn't it be a waste not to experience it properly?" Wang Wen said with a smile. "I personally suggest you go sleep there when you have time."

The old man paused slightly, then his smile faded as he shook his head, "Forget it. My health is excellent; there's no need to sleep on a hospital bed."

Wang Wen looked at the old man calmly, nodded with a smile, and didn't continue the topic, turning instead to say, "As I said before, I came here this time to discuss cooperation with the Intelligence Department."

"Don't talk about cooperation at your young age; you have no idea about the scale of the First Consortium," the old man warned him neither too lightly nor too heavily.

"Understood," Wang Wen nodded, accepting the advice. "Then let me rephrase: I came here this time to discuss with the esteemed Intelligence Department two ideas regarding a twenty-year elite team training plan based on ten billion points, high-level tower-climbing training methods, and a resource excavation and retrieval plan for the first six hundred floors of the World Tower. To be precise, there are two options to choose from."

The old man's dentures fell into his water cup.