Isolation

Walking into a trap...

Although he realized something was off, the young License Holder still nodded honestly. "That is the case!"

Lan Junxian's pace quickened, a rare sight.

At this moment, the refined and composed air of nobility he usually carried had vanished entirely, replaced by a singular desire to see this person of interest as soon as possible.

Safe House No. 7.

The room was spacious and bright, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering a bird's-eye view of the bustling traffic below.

These windows were specially crafted; they appeared as transparent glass from the inside, but from the outside, it was impossible to see into the room.

The entire interior was minimalist, as if the occupants wanted nothing more than a single table and chair.

If not for the homey decor of the room, Jiang Qian would have assumed it was a "packaged" interrogation room. Of course, that was understandable.

Jiang Qian sat at one side of an ivory-white long table.

He held a cup of coffee, head bowed in deep thought.

His right arm had been treated; the swelling and bruising had subsided, and it was now neatly wrapped in layers of white bandages, looking well-cared for.

At this moment, he was recalling the middle-aged man who had brought him here, known as "Team Bear."

This Team Bear was clearly the leader of some special official operations unit.

He was tall and round with a genial smile, and his potbelly gave him a steady, reliable image that made people instinctively want to trust and get close to him.

One might even want to rub it...

Jiang Qian struggled to suppress the urge to summon his Secret-Seeking Notebook right there. What's the rush? There will be plenty of opportunities later.

Team Bear was also very kind.

After the initial routine statement, he had even specially hand-brewed a cup of coffee for Jiang Qian. Throughout their conversation, they had exchanged some pleasantries unrelated to the case.

Come to think of it, the coffee tasted quite good—much better than the vegetable juice his aunt made.

It wasn't until someone knocked on the door outside that Team Bear hurried away.

Outside the safe house door.

Lan Junxian's arrival caused Team Bear's round face to take on a look of seriousness as he prepared for the handover.

"Is he the brave soul?"

Lan Junxian had solemnly used the term "brave soul," which clearly showed how much he valued a License Holder who had cleared "Whispers of the Inner Demon."

"Yes," Team Bear nodded.

Lan Junxian peered through the monitor at the young man sitting inside the safe house, his inner astonishment exploding bit by bit.

A talent who had shattered a nightmare-level trial dungeon—he never expected the other party to be just a student-looking youth.

He looked to be about twenty, in the prime of his youth.

And it wasn't just that he was handsome; the most important thing was—he was physically intact!

One had to know that a monster capable of fighting their way out of the "Whispers of the Inner Demon" dungeon was already a rarity in terms of talent and destiny.

If such a person could also maintain a sound body, clear features, and a mental state that showed no obvious abnormalities... even someone like Lan Junxian, who held a Noble Card, could not help but feel a sense of awe.

"No wonder 'Whispers of the Inner Demon' was locked down; he actually managed to walk away unscathed."

Inside the safe house.

Jiang Qian had removed his blood-stained coat, wearing only a short-sleeved shirt. With bandages wrapped around his forearm, he sat at the long table holding his coffee.

His movements were relaxed and natural, his expression serene and distant. At a glance, he appeared completely at ease and unguarded.

This indicated that despite being in an unfamiliar environment, he felt no restraint.

He looked every bit like someone who had everything under control.

Considering that this person might have already engaged in a real fight with the Peacock Spider and survived twice, the word "terrifying" immediately surfaced in Lan Junxian's mind.

After a long while.

The look of astonishment in Lan Junxian's eyes faded, replaced by a deep, keen interest.

"How did the chat go?"

"He's not easy to deal with!"

Team Bear handed over the statement with a grave expression.

He continued, "This is his basic information and the content of the statement, recording the cause and effect of this incident. The key information matches up; it can be almost confirmed that he is the License Holder who promoted from 'Whispers of the Inner Demon.'"

"I've also recorded the cause and effect regarding the Peacock Spider case. As for the specific truth or falsehood, I'm afraid you'll have to look into it yourself."

"But you said he's not easy to deal with." Lan Junxian took the statement and flipped through the pages.

It contained Jiang Qian's personal information pulled from the archives, as well as details related to the Peacock Spider case and the clearing of the "Whispers of the Inner Demon" dungeon.

"Yes. Although this kid is just an ordinary college student with no issues in his family background or personal records, and he has been very cooperative in all aspects. Aside from keeping silent about the process of clearing the dungeon, all other testimonies have been directly or indirectly verified."

However, his tone shifted:

"But my intuition tells me that this person is very calculating; he is not as harmless as he appears on the surface."

"He admits to being the one who cleared 'Whispers of the Inner Demon' but refuses to speak a word about the process. As for questions about his Identity Card or clearance rewards, he avoids the important and dwells on the trivial. No matter how I tried to pry, he wouldn't let anything slip. He seems to know exactly what can be said and what shouldn't. While he appears to trust us on the surface, the string in his heart hasn't loosened one bit."

Lan Junxian looked up.

The intuition of a veteran License Holder was often more reliable than tangible evidence.

But the sharp eyes behind Lan Junxian's gold-rimmed glasses were filled with a smile. "That is actually a normal phenomenon, Team Bear. Someone capable of clearing 'Whispers of the Inner Demon' wouldn't easily reveal their cards to others."

His gaze locked back onto Jiang Qian in the safe house, eager to test this young License Holder who had unexpectedly linked two cases together.

"But, Teacher Lan, if I may be blunt, before we found him, this kid had just come into contact with the Peacock Spider, and might have even fought her."

"It's hard to imagine what kind of reliance a first-state cognitive player who just promoted to License Holder could have to survive and enter our sights?"

The cautious Team Bear remained troubled by this.

By now, Lan Junxian was already walking toward the safe house, impatient to meet this heaven-sent talent who had "turned himself in."

Before pushing the door open, he turned back to the grave-looking Team Bear. "You aren't sure of his identity? You suspect someone set a trap and the real clearer is someone else?"

"I've been burned too many times. You know how treacherous and cunning those guys are."

Lan Junxian sighed and wagged a finger. "You can't be afraid. If you're afraid, you've already lost."

The door to the safe house opened again.

Jiang Qian looked up at the sound.

He saw a refined middle-aged man in a blue suit and gold-rimmed glasses walk in slowly, nodding at him with a smile.

The aura the man carried and his confident, fluid body language told Jiang Qian that this person was not to be underestimated in terms of either strength or status.

...He was above that Team Bear.

"You are the one who cleared 'Whispers of the Inner Demon,' Jiang Qian?"

"That's me." Out of politeness, Jiang Qian prepared to stand up, but the other man gestured for him to stay seated.

"Please, sit."

Lan Junxian's attitude was gentle as he sat opposite Jiang Qian.

He placed the statement on the table and got straight to the point. "Let me introduce myself. I am Lan Junxian, the person in charge of the Peacock Spider task force. Given the special nature of this case, there are some things I need to discuss with you privately."

"Alright, no problem." Jiang Qian's tone was neither humble nor pushy, equally poised.

This calm and composed attitude deeply impressed Lan Junxian. He stared at Jiang Qian with burning eyes, his gaze hiding turbulent emotions—curiosity, eagerness, admiration, and even a complex sense of pity.

"Mr. Lan?" Jiang Qian frowned slightly, trying to pull the other man's focus back to the main topic.

It was difficult to pretend not to notice such a predatory, fixated stare.

"Apologies," Lan Junxian coughed lightly and explained, "I'm just too excited to meet a talent who walked out of 'Whispers of the Inner Demon' alive."

He realized he had been acting too eager.

But what could he do?

Who doesn't love a brilliant talent?

"Right, let's get to the topic."

Lan Junxian opened the statement, his finger resting on a marked section.

"You said that the way you entered the Super-Species World was by receiving an invitation from the Peacock Spider License Holder, and according to her, that is a unique ability of her Identity Card."

"Yes," Jiang Qian confirmed.

Lan Junxian immediately stated, "That's no problem. That is her authority: the ability to connect ordinary people to the Super-Species World and obtain an Identity Card. However, that it threatens her life if she fails to recruit people? That's nonsense. That demoness only threatens other people's lives..."

Listening to Lan Junxian mutter, Jiang Qian remained emotionally stable; he was not at all surprised that the little girl's words contained falsehoods.

However, Lan Junxian's next words gradually sent a chill down Jiang Qian's spine:

"That's right, she does like to turn living prey into cocoons. It hides their life signs and keeps the food fresh."

"The fact that she didn't kill you immediately is probably thanks to you hiding the difficulty of the trial dungeon. That demoness usually toys with elites without mercy and disdains to act against trash. You know how to lie low; you're very smart."

"She even mentioned us to you? She encouraged you to join the official side? Heh, if she knew you cleared a nightmare-level dungeon, she'd probably regret it so much her guts would turn green."

Lan Junxian scanned to the end and slowly looked up.

His gaze fixed on Jiang Qian from over the top of his gold-rimmed glasses:

"So, you called the official authorities for help because that girl named Sun Lin can still be saved?"

As expected, Jiang Qian thought. "Sister Lin" wasn't her true face... Jiang Qian nodded. "Yes."

"Unexpectedly, you have quite a sense of justice."

"It was just a small favor."

Lan Junxian closed the statement, interlaced his fingers on the table, and looked at Jiang Qian, habitually clearing his throat.

It seemed he was ready to discuss matters not in the statement, but which were even more critical.

"May I ask a question?" Jiang Qian offered in return.

"Go ahead. I will try my best to satisfy the needs of a rare talent like you." Lan Junxian was amiable, but his kindness carried a hint of end-of-life care.

"When can I leave?" Jiang Qian asked calmly.

"Leave?"

Lan Junxian immediately showed a look of surprise, struggling to suppress his own pessimism. "No, I'm afraid you cannot leave yet."

"?"

This was different from what Team Bear had promised earlier.

"It seems Team Bear didn't tell you? You are currently the 'cocoon' of the Peacock Spider. If nothing goes wrong, within seven days, you will completely lose your personal will and become her sacrifice, or rather, her servant."

Lan Junxian stated the truth flatly, trying to catch a look of panic or loss on the young man's face.

"I am notifying you on behalf of the Peacock Spider task force: Jiang Qian, from this moment on, you are in isolation."