At the base of the bank building housing the Heaven's Punishment New York County branch, six black business vans navigated the flow of traffic and pulled into the parking area below.
Sean Meade, the Executive Minister, and Osido William, Deputy Minister of the Inspection Department, along with elites from both departments, had long been waiting by the entrance of the bank building. Standing straight as ramrods, they silently watched the motorcade arrive and park.
From the bulletproof van in the middle, a chauffeur in a black suit and white gloves hurried out and opened the door.
Next, a pair of black thick-soled tall boots stepped out of the vehicle. Above the boots were loose camouflage trousers, a dark green tactical vest, and a light jacket.
Their owner was a young woman. Her tawny-brown hair was tied in a brisk ponytail. Her lips were thin and rosy, her nose delicate and straight, and her eyebrows long and direct. Her bare, makeup-free face was valiant and handsome, exuding a striking heroic aura.
Clack, clack...
Her combat boots tapped crisply against the ground. Chris Gustav walked expressionlessly toward the members of the Heaven's Punishment New York County branch. Behind her, suit-clad headquarters spirits stepped out of the vans one after another.
"Young Mistress!" Sean Meade greeted her, his polite tone carrying a hint of deference.
Although he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Heaven's Punishment branch and held great power, before this young mistress, he still had to remain humble and respectful.
Heaven's Punishment was formed by eight major financial groups. Chris's family was none other than Gustav, one of the eight. Furthermore, her grandfather was the top leader of Heaven's Punishment's board of directors, and she herself was an heir of the Gustav Financial Group.
Chris was currently a Level 8 Dominator of the Siren profession. Once she advanced to peak Dominator, she could directly enter the central leadership and become one of the most powerful figures in Heaven's Punishment.
Chris did not respond. Instead, she looked behind her, where a middle-aged woman in a business suit came over carrying a small fishbowl.
Inside the fishbowl was a palm-sized, multicolored goldfish.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
The goldfish blew a string of bubbles, swam a lap along the glass, then floated upward, poking its head out of the water. It spoke in a human tongue, its voice crystal-clear like water, like that of a young girl:
"Hello, Uncle Sean! Hard work, colleagues! Thank you all for waiting here for my master. Allow Ruth to dance for everyone."
With that, the multicolored goldfish began dancing gracefully within the glass bowl.
Once its dance was done, it surfaced again and chirped sweetly, "Please take good care of us in our upcoming work!"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
The little goldfish glanced around, then suddenly grunted:
"Where's that bitch Winnie? Where's the bitch who fought with my master over a man?!"
Osido William, Deputy Minister of the Inspection Department, coughed lightly.
"Young Mistress, Minister Winnie used the Eye of the Sky and is temporarily blinded. She has returned home to recuperate."
Chris let out a cold snort and strode haughtily into the bank building, the accompanying headquarters members hurrying after her.
Osido William took a few steps closer to Sean and lowered his voice:
"Can the young mistress not speak?"
There was a world of difference between the authority of a deputy minister and a minister. The Chief Prosecutor and Chief Executive had to travel to headquarters every year to report on their work, but deputy ministers did not, so Osido had never met Chris before.
Sean Meade glanced back at him. "The young mistress is a Siren, so she needs a mouthpiece with high emotional intelligence."
The Siren temperament was irritable and arrogant, ill-suited for socializing. Yet given her status, workplace emotional intelligence was indispensable—so she kept a sweet-talking goldfish to serve as her mouthpiece? Osido let out a long "Ohhh."
Inside the VIP elevator car, Chris, Sean, Osido, and the middle-aged woman carrying the fishbowl ascended rapidly.
The goldfish glanced at the floor indicators. While blowing bubbles, it asked sweetly,
"Uncle Sean, where is the traitor Channing? Master wants to deal with him first."
Sean Meade said, "Interrogation Room 101 on the 107th floor."
Chris pressed the button for the 107th floor. Three minutes later, the elevator doors opened with a ding. The young mistress strode out of the car, with Sean and the others following behind.
The 107th floor was the Inspection Department's domain, a place dedicated to detaining and interrogating internal disciplinary violators. It featured steel walls equipped with anti-teleportation formations and resistance against artillery shells and high-intensity damage skills.
Chris waved her hand to dismiss the accompanying members, took the fishbowl, and entered the interrogation room alone.
The layout of the interrogation room was like that of a standard police interrogation room: low ceiling, no windows, glaring pale fluorescent lighting, and an overall atmosphere of oppression and silence.
In the corner, Chris saw Channing Lu. His hands and feet had been severed and wrapped in bandages. A pitch-black nail was driven into his chest, and his arms and legs were bound by silver chains anchored to the wall.
Channing Lu leaned weakly against the wall in the corner, eyes half-closed, expression haggard, and lips chapped.
A Level 8 Dominator possessed immense vitality; physical injuries were not enough to kill him. The root of his weakness was the nail in his chest.
Chris glanced down at the fishbowl. The multicolored little fish poked its head out and scolded sharply in its clear voice:
"Channing Lu, although you betrayed the organization and betrayed the board of directors, the board is still willing to give you a chance. Headquarters has already contacted Elder Crimson Sun Executioner of the Taiyi Sect. He will purify your soul with the sun's divine power. The success rate is under twenty percent."
A Level 8 Dominator was someone even the mighty Heaven's Punishment would not execute lightly if there was any chance of saving him.
Channing's cognition had been distorted, but he had not been tainted by evil forces, and his character card remained unchanged. Therefore, the all-purifying divine power of the sun stood a chance of bringing him back.
However, the sun's divine power also rejected powers of all other attributes; under its baptism, the far greater likelihood was being burned alive into a cinder.
Channing Lu turned his head away. "I will not change my faith. Chaos is the world's final destination; the Orderly will ultimately be reduced to ash."
The multicolored little fish stood upright in the water, resting its two pelvic fins on its hips, and huffed prettily:
"But I bet you want to live."
The room fell silent for several seconds. Channing turned his head back, looking at the woman and the fish.
"What must I give in return?"
Ruth, the multicolored little fish, immediately asked,
"When did you become a fallen spirit?"
"Seventeen or eighteen years ago," Channing Lu answered. "Back then, I was still a Level 7 Dominator, stuck at a bottleneck with no way to break through to Level 8, and my position within Heaven's Punishment had stagnated. Until one day, I met a woman named Catherine. She gave me comfort and encouragement, pleasure and tenderness. After spending time with her, guided by her, I began having frequent contact with the upper echelons of the Hunter Guild, and met the President of the Hunter Guild."
"You met the President of the Hunter Guild?"
"Yes! But that wasn't his real face."
"Do you know any other information about that President?"
Channing Lu recalled carefully for a moment and said, "I only know his name is Stephen Simpson. I know nothing else. I even suspect that isn't his real name."
Stephen Simpson... Chris silently committed the name to memory.
The little fish, Ruth, asked:
"You joined the Covenant of Freedom seventeen or eighteen years ago. Then do you know about the 2007 March Mountain summit earthquake incident?"
Channing Lu did not reply.
Ruth dipped into the water, blew two bubbles to moisten her throat, then popped out again and continued:
"After the earthquake occurred, headquarters dispatched commissioners to inspect the scene, only to find the March Mountain summit reduced to ruins. Everyone was buried underground, and several hundred meters of earth and rock formed a natural barrier. Excavating all the dead would have cost too much.
"Based on their experience, the commissioners assessed that the earthquake was triggered by a high-ranking Earth Monster of the Second District. Because of this, Heaven's Punishment and the Five Elements Alliance engaged in secret skirmishes for a period, nearly sparking a war between the two orthodox organizations.
"What was the Covenant of Freedom's goal?"
Channing said flatly, "Didn't you just say it? Nearly sparking a war between the two organizations. Instigating internal strife within the orthodox faction was the Covenant of Freedom's goal."
The little fish Ruth's tone turned cold. "It seems you have no desire to live. The following year, First Elder Di Hong of the Five Elements Alliance personally visited the March Mountain summit and discovered that March Mountain's ley lines had not been damaged. For an Earth Monster to trigger a mountain collapse and earth shattering, they must draw upon the power of ley lines. Ley lines are like blood vessels in the human body; if something went wrong, it would be unmistakable. If the Covenant of Freedom wanted to provoke infighting in the orthodox faction, they would at least have damaged the ley lines. How could such a clumsy method possibly incite internal strife between the Five Elements Alliance and Heaven's Punishment?"
The little fish Ruth dipped her head to moisten her throat again. "The organizer of the March Mountain summit was the Marshall family, an aristocratic political dynasty that had produced two presidents. In 2007, spearheaded by the federal government, the Marshall family invited official organizations, non-governmental organizations, and Spirit Realm clans to attend the conference. The Marshall family claimed that their patriarch had discovered a secret within the Spirit Realm concerning the global structure and the future course of the world, which would be unveiled at the summit. But before the secret could be revealed, everyone at the conference was buried underground forever. To this day, we still do not know what that secret was."
Channing Lu shook his head.
"Do you think I would know?"
The little fish Ruth widened her pretty fish eyes and stared at him. "I hope you can provide a clue, Channing Lu. This is your last chance."
Channing Lu fell silent once more.
Seeing this, Chris turned on her heel to leave.
Ruth remarked pityingly, "Uh-oh, the young mistress has run out of patience."
Just as Chris grasped the doorknob, Channing's voice came from behind:
"I only know that the person in charge of that operation was a Siren, with a level no lower than mine. His code name was 'Siren'."
Ruth said with satisfaction, "You will be sent to the Thunder Pool at headquarters to undergo baptism by the sun's divine power. That is your only chance of survival."
Click! Chris, who hadn't spoken a single word the entire time, turned the doorknob and left the interrogation room.
In the corridor, she saw a handsome young man pestering Osido, Deputy Minister of the Inspection Department.
"Mr. Osido, I have three items that need recharging."
"A petty matter like recharging... isn't that being a bit disrespectful to a Dominator?"
"Deputy Minister Osido, you wouldn't want the bank building's electrical circuit to burn out, would you?"
"...One hundred thousand federal dollars each time, otherwise you're disrespecting me."
"To express my respect for you, I am willing to accept this price, but I hope you can accept installment payments."
***
No. 69 Hamburg Street.
Zhang Yuanqing, who was currently enjoying Catherine's body, felt his heart sink. On the surface, he remained impassive and cool, gazing at her gorgeous face as he asked in a deep voice:
"Then why is it?"
Hooking her arms around his neck, Catherine beamed:
"Tongtian Jiaozhu, you have indulged in pleasure with me multiple times. It is time to pay the price."
Zhang Yuanqing, whose head felt as big as a bushel basket, instantly shrank back like a turtle pulling in its head, all his mood evaporating.
Although he knew this day would come sooner or later, actually hearing Catherine bring it up still gave him a sense of urgency and danger.
"What do you want?" Zhang Yuanqing asked coldly.
Catherine clicked her tongue. "Every man is equally greedy—wanting to sleep with a beautiful woman without paying any price."
*Aren't you just as greedy? Experiencing peak ecstasy while still wanting payment!* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled internally.
With her two shapely legs still hooked around his waist, Catherine's expression turned quite solemn. "The payment I want is a fragment of the Holy See jade plate."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing cupped Catherine's rounded buttocks and pressed her hard against the pool wall, mocking her mercilessly:
"Do you think your hundred-odd pounds of flesh are worth a holy plate fragment?"
Whether men or women, once they shared a bed, it was easy to act spoiled by favor and overlook the gap in status in reality. If it were any other female Dominator, Zhang Yuanqing certainly wouldn't dare act so brazen.
Catherine was different. Just moments ago, she had been shuddering and screaming under his vigorous onslaught, whispering explicit ramblings.
Moreover, his daring stemmed from the fact that few peak Saints remained in New York County, while Tongtian Jiaozhu was exceptionally powerful and had a good chance of advancing to Dominator in the year-end killing trial.
Catherine's tolerance for him was very high.
Catherine giggled coquettishly. "Just kidding, stingy man!"
Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, but could not bring himself to smile. Catherine was testing his attitude, or perhaps laying the groundwork. In the near future, the Hunter Guild might demand the holy plate fragment from him.
He had to accelerate the collection of the holy plate fragments.
"What is it really?!" he demanded coldly. "My patience is limited."
Catherine wiped away her smile, displaying an indignant expression. "The President has arranged a mission for you: seduce Donna of the Association of God of Beauty!"
Chapter 730