When Luo Yang’s voice crashed down, the entire underground space froze.
Liang Shen was the first to move. His right hand dropped to his waist, and the air around his hip rippled for a moment, as if a piece of glass had been dipped into water and pulled back out.
A moment later, a dagger was firmly slotted into the sheath at his waist. The guard was cold-forged, a grayish-blue with no visible pattern. But the moment it appeared, the surrounding air chilled by half a degree, and a hint of metallic scent mingled with the musty smell of the basement.
Luo Yang leaned against the frame of the small door, not even changing his posture.
His right hand was shoved in his jacket pocket, while his left hung loose, fingers relaxed. The cold white light from the lamp above glided across his lenses, splitting the reflection in his eyes in two and making it impossible to see them clearly.
But Liang Shen knew—there wasn't a shred of goodwill in that gaze.
The two remained in a standoff.
The distance from the stairs to the long table was barely five or six meters. No one spoke, and the atmospheric pressure was so heavy that even the faint hum of the iron ventilation pipes became audible.
Luo Yang hadn't drawn a weapon or released a single wisp of blood energy, yet Liang Shen’s hand, resting on the dagger’s hilt, refused to pull away.
The atmosphere in the room turned incredibly strange.
The two black-robed elders sensed it as well. They silently stepped back half a pace, their hems sweeping across the concrete floor without making a sound.
However, their chins tilted upward, turning several degrees toward Luo Yang.
Just by these two standing in the room, the air in the underground space grew tight.
“Luo Yang!”
Qiu Shubai’s voice finally broke the silence.
She sprang from her chair and crossed the distance between the stairs and the long table in three strides, positioning herself between Luo Yang and Liang Shen.
Her speech was twice as fast as usual.
“Chief Liang, this... this is my classmate. He’s also an external expert for the Ability Bureau.”
She turned her head, her gaze flickering over Luo Yang’s face before returning to Liang Shen. She knew the rules for unauthorized personnel appearing at a Special Division outpost—kill on sight.
Liang Shen didn’t look at her. His eyes were fixed on Luo Yang as if nailed in place.
“Someone from the Ability Bureau shouldn't be here either.”
He spoke in a steady voice. He wasn't reasoning with Qiu Shubai; he was stating their rules to Luo Yang.
But Luo Yang laughed. It was a light sound, devoid of warmth or courtesy, the kind that made the hair on the back of one's neck stand up.
He pulled his hand out of his pocket and began descending the stairs one by one. His soles tapped against the metal steps with a series of soft clicks.
At the bottom, he passed by Uncle Zhang.
Uncle Zhang’s hand was still on the doorframe. Luo Yang reached out and gave his wrist a gentle push.
It wasn't heavy, but it was enough to nudge Uncle Zhang half a step to the side.
Uncle Zhang was stunned, not quite processing what had happened.
Without looking back, Luo Yang walked straight toward Liang Shen until he was nearly face-to-face, at an extremely close distance.
He was close enough to smell the faint, almost imperceptible scent of disinfectant on Liang Shen’s collar. Close enough that when Liang Shen looked straight ahead, all he could see was the bridge of Luo Yang’s nose and his plain glass spectacles.
Liang Shen’s grip on the dagger hilt tightened another inch.
Logically, at this distance, as a Chief of the Internal Affairs Department and a genuine Star Initiation rank, he shouldn't feel threatened by a Clear Heart rank kid standing so close.
Yet he didn't dare to strike. The pressure radiating from Luo Yang forced the thought of attacking back down into his gut, as if something were whispering a warning in his ear: If you dare move, things will get much uglier.
Luo Yang looked up. Blood energy twisted into a fine thread between them, like an invisible pipe, channeling his words directly into Liang Shen’s ear canal.
The black-robed elders, Uncle Zhang, and Qiu Shubai—none of them heard what came next.
“Chief Liang,” Luo Yang said.
“If I were just a minor expert from the Ability Bureau, I wouldn't have come to a place like this on my own.”
He paused for half a beat, his tongue lightly pressing against his back molars.
“But what if I said I represent the Luo family?”
The moment those words hit his ears, Liang Shen’s pupils constricted violently.
His face remained a cold, hard mask, but his right hand on the dagger hilt loosened for a fraction of a second before he forced his grip back.
The Luo family? The one from the capital?
Liang Shen’s breathing involuntarily slowed. His lowered gaze slowly rose, reassessing Luo Yang.
This time, the scrutiny was swift—from the lenses to the jawline, from the shirt collar to the jacket sleeves. He took in every detail.
Luo Yang’s face was too young, so young that one might subconsciously overlook his actual rank. But the things in his eyes weren't what a normal student should have.
It was the gaze of a superior, someone accustomed from childhood to having others bow their heads and listen when he spoke.
Liang Shen also constricted his voice, sending his reply back through the same blood energy thread into Luo Yang’s ear.
“Mr. Luo...”
He spoke tentatively, weighing every word.
“Might you... have some relation to Officer Luo of SPACO?”
Luo Yang shrugged, the movement excessively casual.
“There is indeed a bit of a relation,” he said.
“That’s my old man.”
Liang Shen’s pupils dilated completely.
He was nearly fifty years old and had spent eight years as the Chief of the Internal Affairs Department. He had seen his fair share of storms. But the moment those two sentences landed, his mind went blank for a solid half-second.
Luo Changhe, the genuine number one of SPACO and the current head of the Luo family.
The Luo family was famously low-profile. Among the great clans of the capital, the Luo family was always the most restrained. They didn't form factions, they didn't take sides, and they never acted without cause. Outside of formal public occasions, the core members of the Luo family never showed their faces.
Consequently, almost no one in the capital had ever seen the face of the Luo family’s only son. Even Liang Shen had only heard a few rumors.
The most outrageous version claimed that when the Young Master of the Luo family was studying in the capital, he didn't use his real name at all, and all his identification information was completely forged.
Why would a young master who was so carefully hidden away come to a run-down Special Division outpost in Yuanxing City?
Liang Shen stared at the excessively young face before him for several seconds.
He didn't believe it.
Such a thing couldn't be believed based on words alone. If it were him, and some stranger came up claiming to represent the Internal Affairs Department, he would definitely pin them down and interrogate them first.
“Young Master Luo.”
He kept his voice within the blood energy thread, maintaining a basic level of decorum.
“Pardon my bluntness, but you...”
“I know. I didn't expect you to believe me just because I said so,” Luo Yang interrupted.
He stepped back half a pace, easing the pressure slightly, though Liang Shen’s shoulders remained tense.
The smile remained on Luo Yang’s face, but there was no mirth in his eyes—a classic case of a skin-deep grin.
“You are more than welcome to have your people check. See if you can find me in your Special Division database.”
Liang Shen’s expression shifted slightly.
The Special Division database.
It was one of the highest-level databases in all of Shenzhou, containing the true files of countless top-tier figures. Access was divided into seven levels, and the highest level he could access as Chief of Internal Affairs was near the top.
Without another word, Liang Shen pulled out his phone and walked a few steps toward the other end of the long table.
He didn't go far, turning his back to Luo Yang in a gesture that said, “I am making a call and am not on guard against you.”
The call was connected quickly. He recited a string of internal identification numbers and ordered the person on the other end to search for Luo Yang’s name in the highest-level database.
There was a silence on the other end, followed by the sound of footsteps, and then the rapid, chaotic clatter of keyboard keys leaking through the receiver.
Liang Shen’s finger tapped unconsciously against the phone case, twice as fast as usual.
Time ticked by, second by second. No one in the underground space made a sound. Qiu Shubai stood where she was, her gaze shifting back and forth between Luo Yang and Liang Shen. Uncle Zhang had regained his composure, but he opened his mouth and ultimately asked nothing.
Over a minute passed before a voice came back from the other end.
“Chief, I found several people with the same name.”
The voice was very low, as if the speaker didn't dare speak up.
“The vast majority don't match—age, background, place of origin, all incorrect.”
“There is only one file... where the general information matches perfectly.”
Liang Shen’s finger stopped tapping.
“Age eighteen, origin capital. The notes section says: Currently studying at Yuanxing City Punisher Academy.”
“But—”
The voice on the other end paused.
“Aside from that, we can't see anything. The specific contents of the file are under the highest level of encryption.”
“In other words, with your clearance, you cannot view it at all.”
A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on Liang Shen’s forehead.
In the entire Republic of Shenzhou, the number of people who could lock a file with that level of security could be counted on two hands.
The voice continued.
“Chief, for this level of encryption lock, regulations require me to report to you that this search has already been logged in the system. If the other party has placed a high-priority tripwire lock on the file, then this query will be recorded in the highest-priority logs.”
“Which is to say, the other party probably already knows someone is looking into him.”
“...I understand.”
Liang Shen’s voice went hoarse for a second. He hung up before the other person could reply, clutching the phone in his palm, which was now damp with sweat.
Luo Yang walked over and stopped half a pace behind him. The thread of blood energy once again silently connected to Liang Shen’s ear canal as Luo Yang’s voice drifted in, slow and deliberate.
“Chief Liang, do you believe me now?”
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