News that Cai Yue'er had arrested the Evil Soul Master Ye Zhaolu went viral overnight.
Shrek's official account and the Shrek Law Enforcement Team directly released footage of Cai Yue'er dragging Ye Zhaolu into a vehicle.
For a moment, the entire Soul Net exploded!
First, the Holy Spirit Cult had besieged Long Xiaoyao, a War God of the War God Temple, in full view of everyone at West Mountain Tunnel; now, a senior official of the Federal Research Institute was an Evil Soul Master.
People across the net could no longer sleep that night. The Holy Spirit Cult and Evil Soul Masters had always been hot topics that drew the attention of the entire continent.
Two earth-shattering incidents had broken overnight. Even the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Ling Empire, far away on the other two continents, turned their attention over.
[The deputy director of the Federal Research Institute is an Evil Soul Master? Has the Holy Spirit Cult infiltrated the Federation?!]
[My god! Have all the Federation's higher-ups been corrupted by the Holy Spirit Cult?]
[H-how has the Holy Spirit Cult stretched its hands so far?!]
[Director Ye is actually an Evil Soul Master? Surely not! Her human regeneration technology has saved so many people!]
[Heh, you can know someone's face without knowing their heart. Everything before must have been her disguise!]
Discussion raged across the net.
At the Speaker's compound, Li Chen had just returned home after placing Long Xiaoyao in a recuperation pod. The news left him completely dumbfounded.
His father, Speaker Li Yuntian, was immediately woken from bed by a call from his secretary.
Ye Zhaolu was the director of the Federal Research Institute, as well as one of Parliament's 241 members.
Her being an Evil Soul Master was a major affair that could shake the Federation's entire leadership!
"Li Chen, something urgent has come up. I have to go out. Don't go anywhere tonight. Mingdu isn't peaceful today, and those two Dark Heavenly Kings haven't been caught yet. Stay safe."
Li Yuntian dressed as he walked.
He was under immense pressure as well. An Evil Soul Master had appeared in the Federation Parliament, and she had been caught by Shrek's law enforcement team, no less.
If this was handled badly,
Shrek might use the excuse that the Federation's leadership had been corrupted by the Holy Spirit Cult to move into the Federation!
In other words, before Li Yuntian could make a move against Shrek, Shrek's hands would instead reach into Parliament!
"Dad! Ye Zhaolu isn't an Evil Soul Master!"
Li Chen shouted.
"What? Do you know the inside story?"
Li Chen hurriedly nodded. "Dad, she might have an evil Martial Soul inside her, but that doesn't mean she's an Evil Soul Master!"
"I've spent time with Director Ye. I know her."
Li Yuntian pondered for a moment. "Then come with me. Fill me in on the way. Shrek may have gotten this incident wrong."
"All right!"
Li Chen immediately followed, and father and son raced straight toward the Federation Court.
Barring anything unexpected, the Shrek Law Enforcement Team would file a public prosecution seeking Ye Zhaolu's execution within a week. In that case, Ye Zhaolu should currently be held in the Federation's temporary prison.
On the way, Li Chen immediately told his father about his interactions with Ye Zhaolu over the past two days.
Halfway through, Li Chen suddenly sensed something was wrong.
"This is bad! With Cai Yue'er arresting Director Ye at a time like this, I'm afraid she'll pin the Holy Spirit Cult's attack on Long Xiaoyao at West Mountain Tunnel tonight on Director Ye!"
Li Chen suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
After hearing him out, Li Yuntian fell into thought.
"Li Chen, but War God Long was just attacked, and two Dark Heavenly Kings of the Holy Spirit Cult slipped into Mingdu without any trouble. There was clearly a mole."
"If Cai Yue'er identifies Ye Zhaolu as their inside accomplice, that would make logical sense! And if Ye Zhaolu really does have an evil Martial Soul, that would practically nail the chain of evidence shut."
Now even Li Yuntian's mind was reeling.
Even as Speaker, he had no way to refute the charges Cai Yue'er might bring.
Li Chen suddenly spoke. "Dad, I need to get out! I'm not going to the Federation Court for now. Just go take a look yourself. You have to make sure Director Ye stays safe!"
The car stopped,
and Li Chen pushed the door open.
Li Yuntian grabbed Li Chen.
"Wait, where are you going at a time like this?! Those two Dark Heavenly Kings are still in Mingdu. You could run into danger wandering around!"
"Dad, I'm going to look at the place where Sister Ye was arrested. Her evil Martial Soul wasn't exposed even back at Shrek. There's no reason for it to have suddenly been exposed now."
"Something must have happened to her. There must have been some reason that drove her to reveal her evil Martial Soul. I have to take a look! There might be evidence there that can uncover the truth!"
Li Yuntian hesitated. "I'll send someone else. Stay with me."
"No. Right now, I don't trust anyone. I only trust myself."
Li Yuntian froze.
He had never wanted his son to get involved in this sort of thing.
And this incident even involved the Holy Spirit Cult!
Li Chen turned back. "Dad, Sister Ye said that the principles of justice wouldn't change just because of Shrek.
"Likewise, protecting every Federation citizen's rights from infringement is your duty as Speaker! That won't change just because I'm your son, either!"
Li Yuntian fell silent and released his hand.
Without looking back, Li Chen rushed to the other side of the road, flagged down a car, and immediately headed back toward the Federal Research Institute.
Li Yuntian started his car. Father and son headed in opposite directions, drawing farther and farther apart.
Li Chen soon reached the Federal Research Institute, then hurried upstairs.
When he reached the top floor and entered Ye Zhaolu's laboratory, he found the place in shambles.
But what made Li Chen frown was that when he went to the security room to pull up the surveillance footage, he couldn't find any at all. Cai Yue'er had clearly taken the surveillance recordings.
Left with no choice, Li Chen could only go inside and search for himself.
There was a large patch of blood on the floor. White tape outlined a body, clearly one whose head had been severed.
Scattered shards of glass, restraints on the hospital bed.
The coordinates of every piece of evidence strewn across the floor had been marked.
Li Chen looked toward the bedside again. The two machines that had originally stood there had been moved away.
"Am I a step too late?"
Li Chen's heart sank. Cai Yue'er had clearly discovered something and taken away all the evidence unfavorable to her.
With little hope, he could only keep searching, trying to figure out what exactly this place had originally been used for.
Why had Ye Zhaolu exposed her evil Martial Soul here?
Li Chen searched all around. Suddenly, he stopped. Bent low against the floor, he had spotted a tiny button-like object in a corner.
"This is..."
Li Chen reached out and retrieved the little button that had fallen beneath an equipment cabinet.
"A miniature recorder used for experiments at the research institute?!"
Li Chen was stunned.
He immediately switched on his communicator and connected it to the miniature recorder. Soon, footage from Ye Zhaolu's assistant's first-person perspective during the operation began playing.
"The first Martial Soul reconstruction experiment begins now."
In the footage,
the voice of her assistant, A Lan, rang out.
Then,
white light shone onto Ye Zhaolu as she lay on the bed. Her Soul Power dissolved, and she cried out in pain.
Li Chen's eyes widened.
"I get it... Ye Zhaolu was trying to rid herself of her evil Martial Soul!"
The recording cut out the instant Cai Yue'er entered. The viewpoint shook before finally rolling beneath the cabinet.
Li Chen continued playing it.
The button camera seemed to have suffered some damage when it fell. The footage afterward became intermittent, and the audio instantly began stuttering as well.
"Fuck!"
Li Chen cursed angrily.
This little bit of footage was nowhere near enough to prove Ye Zhaolu's innocence.
Li Chen could only take the button and quickly transfer the footage to his communicator, then upload it to the cloud.
Then he immediately went downstairs to find a professional to repair the miniature camera and see whether it could restore the truth of what had happened.
At dawn,
Long Xiaoyao woke inside the recuperation pod, his bearing restrained and his gaze deep.
He immediately got up and took out his communicator.
"Cai Yue'er, since I survived, I'm going to finish you off right now!"
Furious, Long Xiaoyao prepared to make a call and order the War God Temple to surround Shrek immediately.
But then,
the first news item that appeared was: [Ye Zhaolu is an Evil Soul Master. She may have masterminded the attack on War God Long!]
"What?!"
Long Xiaoyao swayed when he saw the news.
"How did my Zhaolu become an Evil Soul Master?! What nonsense are these people spouting?!"
Long Xiaoyao angrily scrolled through the news, only to discover that it was everywhere.
Even the Federation Court had announced that it had accepted the case and would hold a hearing in three days!
Most bizarre of all, Cai Yue'er had actually arrested Ye Zhaolu herself!
"This..."
Long Xiaoyao instantly exploded with rage.
He immediately realized that some sort of misunderstanding had probably arisen.
Then,
Long Xiaoyao immediately charged out!
"Cai Yue'er, you deserve to die even more than the Holy Spirit Cult!"