Star Odyssey

Chapter 2615: Cheng Feng

Upon seeing the newcomers’ clothes, Yi Jun's face turned ashen. She turned and glared at Lu Yin. "Are you a part of the Bureau?"

Lu Yin lowered his teacup. "The Bureau’s acting Bureau Director, Xuan Qi."

Yi Jun suddenly felt all of her strength drain away. She lifted her head. Up in the sky, the video of her sending her last message was playing on repeat, again and again. It had perfectly captured what had happened. The words she had spoken, her tone of voice, the expressions on her face—everything had been perfectly recorded. How had Xuan Qi managed to pull this off? There had been a peak Void Brillium on Yi Jun Star right beside Yi Jun the entire time, constantly monitoring her situation. It should not have been possible for Xuan Qi to watch Yi Jun without being noticed.

The woman racked her brain, but she could not understand how Xuan Qi could have done this.

Yi Jun’s peak Void Brillium protector had already been captured. The old woman had once received Yi Jun's kindness while on the Endless Frontier, and she had voluntarily moved to Yi Jun Star to assist the young woman. Whether the old woman had been a spy or not would only become clear after an investigation.

Lu Yin had not found any information suggesting thethat old woman had been a spy in Yun Wu’s memories, but the moment that Yi Jun had been exposed as a spy, the woman’s emotions had fluctuated greatly. From that reaction, Lu Yin believed that the old woman had most likely not been a spy for Aeternus.

...

Many people were left shaken after the Bureau proved that Yi Jun was a spy and took her away. This was especially true of those who had sought to court her. They became focused on the Bureau, and they did their best to dig up the most recent information about the bureau. The Bureau received unusually close attention.

At this time, people started to piece things together, and it was realized that Yun Wu might also have a connection with the recently captured spy. After all, immediately after Yun Wu arrived to visit Yi Jun, the second woman had been revealed as a spy, and Yun Wu had not made an appearance after that. Her absence quickly led to people drawing various conclusions.

Lu Yin called Yun Yun to apologize, while also reassuring her that the Bureau would continue to keep the fact that Yun Wu was a spy a secret. Yun Yun understood that he had had no choice, as the situation had involved Yi Jun. However, the young mistress of the Cloudview clan did ask if Yun Wu could claim what had happened as a contribution to mankind.

Lu Yin did not have an answer for that question.

Countless obstacles appeared in the wake of arresting Yi Jun. All captured spies claimed to be under Cheng Kong’s control, which made it hard for the Bureau to make decisions regarding proper punishments.

It was impossible to simply execute all of the spies, as many of them were truly under Cheng Kong’s control. Such people had been forced into becoming spies against their will. Such people’s family and friends, and even the public, felt that it would not be right to execute all of the spies. No one could guarantee that anyone they knew would not one day also be controlled by Cheng Kong.

Lu Yin quickly understood that Cheng Kong was an Aeternal powerhouses who was one of the Sixverse Association’s primary concerns.

Naturally, interrogating Yi Jun was handed over to Ning Ran. Ning Ran had not expected Xuan Qi to actually be able to arrest Yi Jun. Not only had the woman been arrested, but the evidence that had been produced was also irrefutable. It was impossible for anyone to argue the woman’s innocence.

As she looked at Ning Ran’s Poison Toad, Yi Jun remained surprisingly calm. She had already been proven to be a traitor, and thus she had no intentions to further protest her innocence. However, she also refused to say anything. The only words out of her mouth were, “I was controlled.”

Of course, Ning Ran could not trust those words. Everything would become clear during the interrogation.

In the Bureau’s headquarters city, Xu Ji exclaimed in surprise, “I didn't think that you’d be able to capture Yi Jun so quickly. She’s connected to many important people.”

“Including you guys,” Lu Yin replied.

Xu Ji said nothing.

Xu Yue gave Lu Yin a strange look. “I didn't know that you had these kinds of skills. You must've been putting on an act in the past as well. How sneaky.”

Lu Yin solemnly answered, “When it comes to dealing with traitors, there are no methods that are off the table. Do you want spies to run rampant?” The debut release occurred at N-ov3l=B(j)n.

Xu Yue glared back. “Stop accusing me unfairly.”

“How do you plan to deal with Yi Jun?” Xu Ji asked.

Lu Yin felt a bit curious. “You seem to care about her quite a bit. What is it? Do you like her?”

Xu Ji replied, “Arresting her is one thing, but punishing her is another. If you handle this matter as incompetently as the bureau has in the past, there’s no point in us joining.”

“You never mentioned that when you joined,” Lu Yin retorted.

Xu Ji stared back. “Don’t disappoint me.”

Lu Yin had no words. Where was this fellow getting his confidence from? He had heard Xu Ji say these words so many times that they were starting to sound like a catchphrase, just like Ling Gong’s. Both of them also felt incomparably arrogant whenever they said such things.

"I need to go into seclusion for a little while. I'll leave the decisions regarding Yi Jun's interrogation to you two. If you can't handle it, then wait for me to emerge from seclusion."

"You're going into seclusion? For how long?" Xu Yue asked.

"Not long."

Lu Yin had no choice but to go into seclusion. How else was he supposed to find more spies? It would not be easy to interrogate Yi Jun, and even then, she would not give them any usable information. As for Lu Yin, he was not really a prophet.

After finding a quiet place, Lu Yin took out the skeleton of a hunched bird, pulled voidforce energy out of it, raised a hand, and then brought out his die. Tapping it caused the die to slowly rotate: Possession.

Lu Yin's eyes went wide from surprise. Possession on the first roll?

His consciousness arrived in the strange dark space, and he looked around. This time, the best orb of light that he could find was not particularly bright, but he had no other choice.

When his eyes opened, he was standing in the middle of outer space. There were only a few stars in sight. As the memories started to flood in, Lu Yin's expression grew increasingly grim.

He had not Possessed a spy, but that did not make this person any better than one. He was a selfish madman who had plotted the collapse of clans and sects for his own benefit. Countless people had died to this man’s schemes or at his hands. He had fought on the Endless Frontier in the past, and those memories were the most valuable pieces of information that Lu Yin could glean from the memories, but there was nothing more.

The fighting and death that happened on the Endless Frontier was due to the fighting between humans and Aeternus. Unless forced to a dead end, humans usually would not turn on each other, but the man that Lu Yin had Possessed specifically went after other humans so that he could seize their resources and strengthen himself. While not a spy for Aeternus, the man was actually even more despicable.

Lu Yin’s brow furrowed. Simply Possessing this man left Lu Yin feeling dirty and disgusted. There was no hesitation as Lu Yin committed suicide with the man’s body.

When his consciousness returned to his own body, the black and white mist revolved in his chest before growing slightly denser. He had forgotten about this. Committing suicide while Possessing someone increased his own death energy. It was also the only method that Lu Yin knew of to increase his death energy.

The only other option was for him to seek out death energy that had been left behind by the God of Death.

Eliminating that man had been a good thing. After all, he had possessed a level of strength approaching the six-tribulation Envoy level, which was powerful enough to cause significant harm. Given the opportunity, the man would have very likely eventually betrayed humanity.

Lu Yin raised his hand again to resume rolling his die.

...

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. During this time, Ning Ran worked her skills on Yi Jun. The Poison Toad produced truly terrifying effects. While there were no visible injuries on Yi Jun's body, her will steadily weakened. The pain induced by the Poison Toad was simply too intense. Despite the Bureau’s less than stellar reputation, it was actually quite capable. No matter what, it was an organization that spanned the entire Sixverse Association, and thus they had access to abilities from all six universes and were not limited to just the Voidforce Universe.

Yi Jun remained relatively stubborn, but by the second month, she found herself unable to stop herself from revealing some details, the most important of which was a list of people that she had interacted with. The Bureau could have gathered this list elsewhere, but having Yi Jun give it up was a promising start.

Yun Wu had always interacted with Yi Jun in person, and based on that, it was very likely that Yi Jun had met with other spies in person as well. Even so, they were unable to find the spy that she had reached out to from the peak of her mountain. If Lu Yin had not live-streamed the process of Yi Jun sending the message, it would have been nearly impossible to pin the blame for the leaked information on Yi Jun.

Lu Yin remained in seclusion, and there was no sign of him emerging anytime soon.

Every person in the Bureau was working on investigating the people that Yi Jun had listed. None of the people that she had been in contact with were simple individuals. Given Xu Ji's identity, there was no one whom she had been unable to meet with.

While people might look down on the Bureau, they also could not ignore the bureau’s presence.

However, while the bureau was able to meet with the people who had been in contact with Yi Jun, it was of no use. Without being able to identify who was a spy, these efforts were futile.

Xu Yue complained that Xuan Qi had left all of the troublesome matters to them while going into seclusion.

Xu Wuji visited the headquarters once, marveling at Lu Yin's efficiency in arresting Yi Jun. The man was not particularly concerned with how the bureau was handling the captured woman, as there was no denying that she was a spy.

Time passed as several months went by. The Bureau had not completely failed to make progress. Even before Lu Yin joined, they had managed to capture a considerable number of spies.

The persistent investigation finally bore a bit of fruit, and the bureau managed to capture two spies who had been nurtured by Yi Jun. However, a third person left them stumped. Not even Xu Ji could arrest this person.

In the Bureau’s headquarters, Old Dian and the other team captains met with the Bureau Manager, Xu Ji, and Xu Yue to discuss their next plan of action.

"Do we really need to capture him?" Old Dian rarely spoke, but this time, he appeared unusually serious.

Boss Guan looked stern, and was silently brooding.

Ghost Three cautiously suggested, "I believe that we should inform the Bureau Director."

"He is in seclusion," Xu Yue replied.

Ghost Three countered, "I mean the actual Bureau Director."

The others exchanged glances. They all felt like they had no other choice.

Xu Ji knitted his brow. Xuan Qi had asked him to join the Bureau because of his ability to deal with people with influential backgrounds, including people with connections to Void Supremas. Xu Ji was certainly capable, but this particular person was beyond even his abilities.

"Why are you all gathered here?" Lu Yin suddenly showed up.

When everyone saw that Xuan Qi had emerged from seclusion, a sigh of relief passed through Ghost Three and the other team captains. They no longer needed to make the decision, as there was someone else who could shoulder that responsibility now.

"Bureau Director, it's only been half a year since you went into seclusion, right?" Boss Guan asked.

Lu Yin nodded. "My periods of seclusion usually don’t last very long, and they only take place when I have some particular insight or epiphany."

Ghost Three quickly started flattering his boss. "An epiphany? I guess that should be no surprise, since the Bureau Director crossed the Void Pass. For ordinary people, epiphanies are practically impossible to encounter."

Xu Yue just rolled her eyes. "He’s just bragging."

Lu Yin asked, "I just heard you talking about needing to arrest someone?"

The people glanced at each other, and eventually, Xu Ji answered. "We were able to identify two spies from the people who were in contact with Yi Jun. The rest are still being investigated."

Lu Yin's expression sharpened, and he was surprised to hear that two spies had been found. Typically, spies very rarely contacted each other, and it was very hard to identify them. Discovering two spies from among Yi Jun’s contacts only meant that the Voidforce Universe was absolutely riddled with Aeternus’s spies.

"There is one more person we suspect to be a spy, but arresting him will not be easy," Xu Ji continued.

Lu Yin asked, "Who is it?"

"Cheng Feng," Xu Ji muttered softly.

The mere name left the others in the room a bit more somber.

Lu Yin arched a brow. Cheng Feng? That person was definitely a spy. After spending half a year rolling his die, Lu Yin had managed to Possess quite a few people, some of whom were spies. Interestingly enough, one of those people had been recruited by Cheng Feng. Cheng Feng had never revealed his identity, but the spy had managed to figure it out himself. That spy was rather clever, and he had never shared what he learned with anyone.

Hearing Cheng Feng’s name mentioned, Lu Yin understood why there was such a problem with arresting the man. Lu Yin already knew quite a bit about Cheng Feng, but he still needed to feign ignorance. How could someone like him, who had only recently arrived in the Voidforce Universe, be familiar with Cheng Feng?

He was not a random person. Rather, his identity was beyond extraordinary.

"Why is he difficult to arrest? Even you can't get this done?" Lu Yin asked Xu Ji, acting very curious about this matter.