Sin

Yue Shi struggled to wake from a daze.

He had actually dreamed?

How incredible.

The moment he regained consciousness, the scenes in the dream faded rapidly, leaving only a lingering sense of strangeness.

He frowned, unable to remember anything that had happened in the dream.

But it had been very comfortable.

After this sleep, he could clearly feel that the chaotic state within his body had finally stabilized.

Although the arrow in his chest continued to emit a persistent erosion and the cracks on his body had not receded, at the very least, his strength had recovered slightly.

It was enough.

Yue Shi slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his chest.

He did not pull the arrow immediately. Instead, he raised his right hand and traced an invisible line in the air before him.

Countless mirror surfaces emerged, isolating any abnormal phenomena that might occur when the arrow was pulled.

The snow leopard, waking up alongside Yue Shi, seemed to sense what was about to happen. it stood up, lightly leapt a few steps away, and crouched down to watch.

The preparations were complete.

Yue Shi took a deep breath and raised both hands. His right hand gripped the end of the arrow shaft, while his left hand pressed against the edge of the wound on his chest.

The moment he touched the shaft, he felt it was scorching hot; the arrow was rejecting his touch.

Yue Shi let out a muffled groan. The cracks beneath his skin suddenly lit up, and his entire body jolted violently.

But he did not let go. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he condensed power from within his body to slowly counter the arrow's energy.

Within the extra-dimensional space, silent ripples surged frantically. The floating mirror surfaces shattered one after another, only to be continuously repaired.

Yue Shi's body became a battlefield, with the arrow's power resisting him directly.

The skin on his right hand, which gripped the shaft, began to disintegrate, revealing a pitch-black substance beneath that was not flesh.

Thick droplets of black mist seeped from the edges of the chest wound.

The pain reached its peak, nearly drowning out his reason.

Yue Shi's gaze grew increasingly vicious and cold.

Now!

His right hand suddenly yanked the arrow outward.

Puchi.

The arrow that had nearly pinned Yue Shi to his death was forcibly pulled from his chest.

The moment the arrow left his body and lost continuous contact with his essence, it flared with brilliant golden light, emitting a dangerous aura.

Yue Shi casually tossed it into a corner.

At the exact moment the arrow was removed...

The dense network of cracks covering Yue Shi's body rapidly faded and vanished.

The wound healed in an instant, and the original power within him immediately resumed its smooth flow.

A cold, sinister, and evil aura radiated from him. One look at him felt like it could cause a person to explode, and even the extra-dimensional space trembled slightly because of it.

Yue Shi slowly stood up and stretched his neck, producing a series of sharp cracking sounds.

He touched his perfectly restored chest and felt the power surging within him. A smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Finally recovered.

He was quite afraid of pain.

He wondered if the Five-Metal Mooncake could still be used after being shot through.

Bending down to pick up the arrow from the ground, he studied it for a moment. A look of deep thought flashed in his eyes before he put it away.

This is a treasure.

The snow leopard nimbly jumped back to his feet and rubbed against his leg.

Yue Shi leaned down and picked up the snow leopard.

“Let's go. Let's see where we've ended up.”

With a thought, he left the extra-dimensional space.

Outside, on the eastern side of the Clotho Archipelago.

The gale and torrential rain continued. Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and raindrops splashed loudly against the accumulated water at the bottom of the crater.

Yue Shi stood at the edge of the pit. The rain was repelled a moment before it could touch his body, as if he were enveloped in a dry, transparent sphere. Even the howling wind became powerless when it blew near him.

Looking out, he saw an island shrouded in a rainstorm, its vegetation swaying violently in the wind.

In the distance, the faint outlines of simple buildings were visible, and beyond that lay the vast ocean.

Yue Shi was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he released several ravens to scout the island.

At the same time, he used the Heaven-Defying Fate-Changing System to secretly observe Jiang Kun.

...

Jiang Kun's life had been going quite well lately.

A disaster had occurred, and many people in the Bureau had died. This was a tragic event.

However, the resulting power vacuum had happened to give him an opportunity to rise, which was a joyous thing.

On the day of the earthquake, the system had issued a very simple task. After completing it, he had unlocked the system's points mall.

His eyes had turned red with envy at the sight of the dazzling array of items in the mall.

Then he saw the prices. Heh, he couldn't afford them.

Over the past few days, the system had not updated any tasks. Jiang Kun was busy enjoying his new authority; he was now an official high-level investigator.

Just then, the cold system notification suddenly rang in his mind.

【Detected that the host has preliminarily joined the bureaucratic system of the Investigation Bureau.】

【Long-term mission officially activated.】

【Main Quest: Climbing the Ladder of Power】

【Mission Description: Within the Zhongzhou Investigation Bureau system, continuously elevate your position, authority, and influence. From investigator to regional manager, and eventually into the core high-level decision-making layer of the headquarters. The higher you climb and the more power you hold, the more generous the rewards will be.】

【Stage Rewards: Tied to job promotions. Each time a milestone position is reached, you will receive points, attribute points, talents, supernatural knowledge, or items matching the importance of the position.】

【Final Goal Reward (reaching the Bureau's decision-making layer): ??? (Insufficient authority, currently locked)】

【Note: Power is the best catalyst and the ultimate protective talisman. Only by standing at a high enough position can you see the true scenery and seize the true treasures.】

Jiang Kun was stunned.

Climbing the ladder of power?

Rising within the Bureau?

This seemed somewhat different from the 'heaven-defying fate-changing' he had imagined, which he thought would involve directly obtaining world-destroying power.

Shouldn't the system be issuing various adventure, treasure-hunting, or combat missions to make him strong quickly?

Why did it want him to pursue a career in the establishment?

He couldn't figure it out. Was the system generating main quests based on his current situation?

If he resigned right now to do another job, would the main quest change accordingly?

Having finally made it into the establishment, he wouldn't easily try to change tracks unless something unexpected happened.

When he looked closely at the description of the stage rewards, his breathing couldn't help but quicken.

System points and attribute points were the foundation of becoming stronger, of course. But talents, supernatural knowledge, and items—those were the real treasures!

Especially the question marks behind the final goal reward and the 'insufficient authority' prompt made him itch with anticipation.

What kind of reward would he get for reaching the Bureau's decision-making layer?

Although he didn't understand why the system had arranged things this way, his doubts were quickly tossed aside in the face of such enticing rewards.

In any case, he already needed a legal identity and a platform. Promoting within the Bureau would allow him to gain system rewards while simultaneously increasing his actual status and resources. Why not?

Jiang Kun decisively accepted the mission.

Just as he was about to start thinking about how to use his existing conditions to seek promotion as quickly as possible, new mission entries quietly appeared on the system panel. They were slightly darker in color and labeled as 【Side Quests】:

【Side Quest 1: The Hidden Promoter】

【Mission Description: Without exposing yourself or the system, use any feasible method to secretly help the Wang Group promote their mechanical ██ prosthetics, which are equipped with special sponge filling materials.】

【Progress Indicator: Counted by individuals who successfully complete the modification surgery.】

【Stage Rewards: Milestone rewards will be granted upon reaching certain promotion numbers.】

【Note: Popularizing technology benefits all living beings.】

...

【Side Quest 2: Spreading the Doctrine of Winning】

【Mission Description: Promote the core concepts of 'Yingxue,' including but not limited to how to define victory, prioritizing stance over facts, the logic of 'comparing who is worse,' and the Ah Q spirit. The system will automatically track the number of affected individuals and the breadth of concept dissemination.】

【Progress Indicator: Create Yingxue-related quotes or articles, make Yingxue a trending topic online, and develop Yingxue mentors.】

【Stage Rewards: Milestone rewards will be granted upon reaching certain promotion numbers.】

【Note: Although I can't outrun you, we aren't competing in speed but in posture, so I've won till I'm numb~】

...

【Side Quest 3: Project Rainbow】

【Mission Description: Promote the public visibility and social rights issues of the LGBTQ+ community. Create themed content, drive policy discussions, promote gender diversity, and popularize gender reassignment surgery across all age groups. The system will score based on the conflicts and confrontations between groups.】

【Progress Indicator: Ensure minority groups are no longer discriminated against and that adolescents have the right to freely choose their gender and express their sexual orientation.】

【Stage Rewards: Milestone rewards will be granted upon reaching certain promotion numbers.】

【Note: Please do not assume my gender; inject diverse colors into civilization.】

Jiang Kun was stunned once again.

These three side quests... were so bizarre.

Promote the Wang Group's mechanical members? And do it secretly?

He knew of the Wang Group, of course—they were a giant in mechanical bionic prosthetics in Forging City.

But why was the system interested in promoting products with... adult entertainment nature?

And why promote the rights of the LGBTQ+ community?

And what on earth was Yingxue?

The more Jiang Kun thought, the more confused he became.

Side Quest 1, promoting mechanical members, was completely nonsensical.

As for the other two side quests, they looked like they were doing good deeds at first glance, but upon careful consideration, they seemed to carry some sort of subtle malice.

Currently, he didn't quite understand where this malice came from, but he just felt something was off.

But so what?

Jiang Kun looked at the missions. One main quest to make him climb the official ladder.

Three side quests to make him secretly promote certain things.

Although they all seemed suspicious, the rewards were real.

He gritted his teeth.

Forget it. I don't care if there's any harm; as long as there are rewards, it's fine.

The system wouldn't harm him... right?

...

Clotho Archipelago.

Yue Shi quickly finished issuing the tasks and cut the connection with the system.

The missions he issued were, naturally, full of ill intent.

The main quest encouraged Jiang Kun to scramble for power and profit, aiming to plant a nail within the Zhongzhou Investigation Bureau.

The side quests were purely intended to spread poisonous ideas within Zhongzhou, quietly poisoning the ideology of the populace.

The mechanical members had unknown hidden dangers and were already a form of infiltration into Zhongzhou by foreign powers.

As for Yingxue and LGBTQ+, those who knew, knew. Even if they weren't originally poisonous, they would gradually become tumors under the guidance of those with ulterior motives.

Yue Shi was not the type to suffer a loss and swallow his pride. He would start by throwing in a few maggots to see what happened.

If Jiang Kun wasn't discovered by the Bureau, Yue Shi might create more systems and add more side quests.

For example, promoting harsh taxes, animal protection, decriminalization, city lockdowns, legalization of prohibited drugs, abolishing the death penalty...

These were all highly toxic and full of malice. Once a healthy society was tainted by them, it would be impossible to shake them off.

Holding the snow leopard, Yue Shi's mind flashed with one disastrous scheme after another.

He strolled casually across the island, untouched by the wind and rain, his pace leisurely.

The ravens flew through the rain curtain, quickly observing some unusual things.

This island seemed ordinary, even somewhat backward. At first glance, the residents appeared to be of simple and honest character.

But the ravens glimpsed from afar that in the backyard of one islander's house, there were several naked people. They all had disabilities—missing hands or feet—and some were mindless and covered in wounds.

They all wore collars around their necks and were chained together.

Another raven heard a piercing scream coming from a large warehouse.

The raven landed on the windowsill and looked inside through the glass.

Inside, a butcher was slaughtering 'pigs.'

Those 'pigs' were plump and strong, looking as if they had been meticulously raised.

The butcher's technique was excellent; one could see that practice had made him perfect.

In ancient times, Pao Ding carved the ox; today, the butcher carved the 'pigs.'

While slaughtering, various internal organs were removed separately. These were all good things and were placed in different preservation containers.

Every part of a 'pig' was a treasure. Besides the internal organs, 'pig' blood could be used to manufacture blood plasma. 'Pig' fat, after processing, had wide-ranging uses. 'Pig' bones were also excellent materials or could simply be made into skeletal specimens. The 'pig' meat was, of course, delicious.

Finally, the remaining scraps could be used to feed fish or buried in the soil to make it more fertile.

Below the warehouse was a basement, from which came suppressed sobbing, filled with terror and pain.

The raven heard several islanders guarding the warehouse entrance talking in low voices, mentioning things like 'consignees,' 'handling trouble,' and 'top-grade goods.' As they spoke, they began to laugh, and the warehouse was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

At several hidden high points on the island, surveillance cameras were hidden in the trees, and signal jammers were installed in certain places.

In the wind, besides the scent of rain and the ocean, there was a faint, lingering smell of blood that was almost undetectable after being washed by the storm.

Yue Shi's eyebrows arched. This was no ordinary fishing island.

This was clearly a den of sin.

A criminal syndicate's base disguised as a mundane fishing village.

Beneath the facade of simple and honest character lay nothing but blood and violence. Those seemingly ordinary islanders likely all had blood on their hands.

Yue Shi stopped walking and stood on a high slope overlooking most of the island's coastline.

The torrential rain acted like a curtain, washing over the island and its bloodiness.

No wonder he had fallen here. It turned out he had been drawn by evil, feeling that this place was safe and familiar.

Yue Shi looked down, gently stroking the head of the snow leopard in his arms, the smile on his lips gradually deepening.

“It's an interesting place, but it lacks a bit of spice. I'll add some for them~”

The snow leopard, in his arms, lightly licked its paw, its eyes reflecting the hardworking and busy figures below in the wind and rain.