Chapter 424
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 424: All Wrong
Lin Qiye did not rush to pick up the knife but turned around to look at the man.
“Why are you giving me this artifact?” Lin Qiye asked in confusion. “Even Wang Mian only took one forbidden item from Sequence 301. Why are you giving me such a dangerous knife?”
“Of course, it’s because Captain Lin is worthy,” the man replied with a smile. “Your potential is only greater than Wang Mian’s. The master believes that you… are the true rightful owner of this forbidden item.”
Lin Qiye frowned slightly, about to say something, when the man continued:
“Besides, the master might have a little personal interest.”
“What personal interest?”
“Someday in the future, if the Baili family encounters any problems, we will need to rely on your assistance…” the man said respectfully.
“So, this is just a transaction?” Lin Qiye understood his meaning and frowned as he asked.
“What’s wrong with a transaction?” The man smiled slightly. “We guarantee that this matter will be within your capabilities and will not violate the rules of the Night Watchers. It’s reasonable and fair.”
Lin Qiye fell into silence.
Indeed, in a sense, a transaction is more reassuring than a simple gift.
If what he said is true, helping the Baili family with something that does not violate the Night Watchers’ rules and is within his capabilities does not seem like an unreasonable request.
Moreover, this is after all the property of the chubby Baili family. If such a day comes when something happens to the Baili family, considering the relationship with the chubby Baili, even without compensation, he would likely lend a helping hand.
Thinking this way, the transaction seemed quite worthwhile.
“Alright, I agree.” Lin Qiye closed the black box and slung it behind him, speaking calmly.
Seeing Lin Qiye put away the “Zhanbai,” the man’s smile became even brighter, and he bowed deeply. “You and your team will be the Baili family’s eternal friends.”
When Lin Qiye walked out of the room with “Zhanbai” on his back, the other three had already chosen their forbidden items.
Cao Yuan picked a string of white Buddhist beads to hang on his hand, An Qingyu took a square iron box that was hard to identify, and Jialan chose a silver vintage bracelet, which she was playing with, clearly very fond of.
“It seems everyone has made their choices, so let’s head to the venue directly,” the man said with a smile.
The group left the collection hall, each carrying their selected forbidden items, and once again took the elevator.
This time, they went straight to the top floor of the main building, which was the 166th floor.
……
Shangjing City.
“Commander Ye.”
“Hello, Commander Ye.”
Dressed in casual clothes, Ye Fan walked through the corridors of the Night Watchers’ headquarters, and the passing staff actively greeted him. Ye Fan nodded slightly and continued walking forward.
“So, you think someone is deliberately withholding Baili Tuming’s entry documents to harm him?” Zuo Qing, who was beside him, spoke thoughtfully.
“Exactly,” Ye Fan nodded.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Zuo Qing frowned. “Baili Tuming is the heir of the Baili Group. If I were his competitor, I would want him to join the special team quickly, keeping him busy and unable to manage the group, letting me erode the group bit by bit. If he could die in battle, that would be even better… Why go through the trouble of withholding his entry documents?”
“That’s exactly what I find puzzling.”
The two arrived at the door of the archives room, presented their credentials in turn, and then entered.
The archives room housed many highly confidential documents, accessible only to the senior members of the Night Watchers, making the environment much quieter than outside. The two walked through the metal shelves filled with document bags, heading straight into the depths.
“There’s another possibility: the person withholding the documents is Baili Xin,” Ye Fan said while searching for documents on the metal shelves. “He is an honorary senior member of the Night Watchers and Baili Tuming’s father. If he doesn’t want his son to take life-threatening risks by joining the special team and withheld the entry application, then everything makes sense.”
Zuo Qing stood in front of the metal shelves, pondering for a long time before shaking his head.
“You and I both know what kind of person Baili Xin is… cold-blooded, ruthless, and profit-driven. If his son joins the special team, it would only give him greater influence in high-level meetings and even benefit the entire Baili Group. How could he possibly give up such a significant benefit out of concern for his son’s life?”
“Hmm…”
Ye Fan gently blew on a certain shelf of metal, stirring up the dust on the long-stored document bags, waved away the smoke, and slid his fingers over the stacked document bags, seemingly searching for something.
Finally, his finger stopped on a brand-new document bag.
“The situation inside this bag seems far more complicated than we imagined.” Ye Fan took the document bag labeled “Baili Tuming” from the metal shelf. “In any case, let’s start by checking Baili Tuming’s Night Watchers file, tracing back from when he joined the Night Watchers… to see which link went wrong.”
Zuo Qing nodded, his gaze falling on the document bag, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes.
“Strange, this document bag should have been stored for over two years, right? Why is it still so new?”
Ye Fan’s hand, which was about to open the document bag, paused slightly, his brow furrowing as he began to open it more quickly.
He pulled out a thick stack of papers from the document bag and started flipping through them carefully from the first page. The moment his gaze landed on the first sheet, he froze in place.
In his mind, the chubby figure sitting on the ice boat that day at sea resurfaced.
His brow furrowed tightly.
“How could this be? This is impossible…” He stared blankly at the document in his hand, confusion and disbelief filling his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Zuo Qing took the document from his hand and began flipping through it one by one. “These documents seem fine?”
“No, no! It’s wrong! Everything is wrong…” Ye Fan shook his head repeatedly.
He turned around and quickly walked to the innermost computer in the archives room, rapidly pulling up Baili Tuming’s electronic document. His expression grew increasingly serious as he scrolled through the document.
“The Baili family’s birthday banquet is on that day?” He turned to ask Zuo Qing.
Zuo Qing thought for a moment. “It should be today.”
“Where is the Fifth Reserve Team?”
“At the birthday banquet,” Zuo Qing answered matter-of-factly. “You personally approved their leave for these two days, didn’t you?”
“This is bad…”
Ye Fan shoved the document into Zuo Qing’s hands, speaking seriously. “I have an important meeting to attend shortly. Zuo Qing, you need to go to Guangshen for me!”
