Chapter 226: Salvation Hand

At the Enforcers' headquarters.

*Knock-knock-knock—*

"Come in," Tan Xin said calmly from his office, where he was reviewing documents.

As Chu Shiduo opened the door, a faint clamor drifted in from outside. He closed the door behind him to block out the noise, then spoke with a hint of helplessness: "Sir, Yan Shang has been waiting at the door for two hours now. Are you really not going to see him?"

"No," Tan Xin replied without looking up.

Chu Shiduo seemed surprised by Tan Xin's uncharacteristically firm stance. Given Tan Xin's usual skill in handling interpersonal relationships and maintaining balance, he asked, puzzled: "Sir, although the Stellar Commerce Guild's headquarters is ruined, their accumulated assets and influence within the Enforcer system are still intact. Also, the research at Aurora Base barely survives on their substantial investments. We're still counting on them to continue funding us. The Stellar Commerce Guild was a victim in this incident, so isn't it unnecessary to sour our relationship with Yan Shang like this?"

Tan Xin shook his head. "No, he won't be funding us anymore."

"Are you so sure?"

"Half a month ago, Yan Shang left the Aurora Realm with proof of the Stellar Commerce Guild's assets. What do you think... he went to do?"

Chu Shiduo froze.

Tan Xin slowly stood up and took down the countdown glow tube from the bookshelf. The flickering light reflected in his eyes; it represented the remaining lifespan of the realm. "Let him make a fuss. We don't have the time or energy to champion a deserter's cause."

Chu Shiduo nodded. "Still, this incident with the Stellar Commerce Guild is very peculiar... Do you really believe that a calamity invaded Aurora City?"

"The Aurora is still active. Logically, those calamities shouldn't be able to infiltrate the city so quickly. And if it truly was a calamity, why did it specifically target and destroy only the Stellar Commerce Guild?" Tan Xin stated calmly.

"Are you implying... this was man-made?"

"The Aurora Realm doesn't have much time left. Some are desperate to leave, others are secretly trying to get in... Have you forgotten the train that broke into the city?"

Chu Shiduo was startled. "Are you saying that besides Chen Ling, there are other members of the Twilight Society who have infiltrated Aurora City?"

Tan Xin didn't answer. He placed the glow tube back on the bookshelf, his gaze sharpening. "The Twilight Society's members are like lurking jackals; when you discover one, an entire pack might already be hidden in the shadows beside you. But no matter how many destabilizing elements have infiltrated this city—be they dragons or snakes—I will make sure they know who the true master is under the Aurora."

Chu Shiduo felt a terrifying aura briefly emanate from Tan Xin, making his heart race. But the aura quickly receded as Tan Xin gently brushed a speck of dust from the bookshelf, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

As if remembering something, Chu Shiduo spoke again: "Sir, one more thing... Han Meng's trial date is approaching. Do we need to intervene?"

Tan Xin's eyebrows raised slightly. He sat back in his office chair and asked with interest, "How has Han Meng been doing recently in the black prison?"

"Very well-behaved... or rather, very quiet," Chu Shiduo replied honestly. "No protests, no noise, no complaints about his situation... He eats on schedule every day, then closes his eyes to rest, doing nothing else."

"He hasn't changed a bit over all these years," Tan Xin chuckled softly. "Prepare the car. I'll go see him."

"Yes, sir."

***

Chen Ling woke up to find it was already night.

He slowly sat up in bed, preparing to get something to eat. As soon as he put on his coat, he seemed to remember something and pulled a few pages from his pocket. "Almost forgot about this..."

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. He walked straight to the desk and sat down, gently pulling the cord on the desk lamp. An orange-yellow light illuminated the dim room.

These were several pages of sloppily written manuscript. Under the lamplight, four large characters, heavily circled with lines, stood out most prominently:

—"Hand of Salvation."

Ever since retrieving Wen Shilin's article from the newspaper office, Chen Ling had been constantly on the move, only now finding the time to sit down and properly read this mysterious manuscript. He was also curious about what kind of secret could make Tan Xin, the Deputy Chief Enforcer, take it so seriously, even sending people to ambush Wen Shilin.

Because it was a manuscript, and appeared to be written in a hurry, the content was somewhat disorganized. Chen Ling could only decipher the text as best he could:

"Received news that a massive explosion occurred in West City yesterday afternoon. A truck suddenly detonated while driving, leveling two nearby factories and three roads. The entire West City heard the blast..."

"Regarding this explosion, the Enforcers' investigation concluded that flour loaded on the truck caused a dust explosion due to improper handling while in transit, deeming it an accident. Fortunately, it happened late at night; although the factories were severely damaged, there were no casualties. The matter was quickly suppressed..."

"Arrived at the scene this morning to investigate immediately and and found several suspicious points: First, although the Enforcers claimed it was a dust explosion, a detailed inspection revealed no dust residue at the scene. Considering the blast radius and the time elapsed since the investigation, a complete cleanup of all dust would be unrealistic. Second, based on the blast radius, if it were a dust explosion, the total amount of dust required would far exceed the truck's capacity, suggesting the fundamental cause of the explosion might not have been dust. Third, after two days of interviews, no factories in Aurora City had any record of flour transactions for that day, and due to a night-time transportation ban, it would be impossible for ordinary factories to transport goods at the time of the incident..."

"Therefore, I reasonably suspect the Enforcers concealed the true cause of the explosion. But why would they do that?"

"...I secretly investigated the license plate of the exploded vehicle. This truck belonged to the Enforcer system, meaning it wasn't on a commercial transport mission at the time, but more likely military transport?"

"I collected some debris from the explosion site and sent it to a friend for analysis. The results suggested the truck was carrying trinitrotoluene... Were the Enforcers secretly transporting explosive materials late at night?"

"What exactly are they trying to do??"