Biochemical Martial Arts: Supreme Heavenly Venerate

"There's no need for such formalities, Lord Zhao, as I've said before, the innocent shall clear themselves."

Lin Rui still spoke in a businesslike tone, but his expression had become more amiable.

After all, this was his boss's grandfather, and it wasn't good to be overly pretentious.

However, his voice soon took a turn, "But Lord Zhao, don't celebrate too soon. Although Yu Wendan is undoubtedly an outsider Heavenly Demon, the petition he presented to me two days ago stated thirteen suspicious events involving Heavenly Demons since you began your service. After careful examination, I feel that four of them are indeed quite questionable.

This matter is of great importance, so I will submit the situation here along with Yu Wendan's deposition to the Divine Envoy's office for the Emperor and the Divine Envoy to decide whether to initiate an investigation against Lord Zhao!"

Linghu Mingde couldn't help but chuckle at these words, thinking that this young official was really meticulous and leak-proof in his work.

He wasn't worried at all about Lin Hao's report; the Emperor and the first and second Divine Envoys in the Divine Envoy's office wouldn't trouble him unless there were enough benefits and absolute certainty. The third Divine Envoy was currently his ally, in need of his support to reform the court, and would not seek trouble at this time.

Moreover, should the court show any intention of investigating him, all the righteous Imperial Censors would be up in arms.

Neither the Emperor nor the three Divine Envoys could suppress the world alone, and many things required compromise with the court officials and the righteous faction.

"I understand," Linghu Mingde nodded, still with a pleasant demeanor, "Should Lord Lin need my assistance in the future, whether for public or private affairs, as long as it does not violate the country's laws, feel free to seek me out.

As for your sworn sister Zhou Yunxi, she is the daughter of my old subordinate Zhou Rang. I have been guilty for not protecting Zhou Rang during the court upheaval years ago. I sent my grandson to visit, wishing to do all I can to support and look after the descendant of my old subordinate. Please, Lord Lin, don't avoid meeting my grandson due to this case."

"Let's talk about Yun Xi's matter another time," Lin Rui shook his head, then pointed to the two people lying unconscious on the ground, "However, there happens to be a matter here where I need Lord Zhao's help. I would like to ask Lord Zhao to assign a few capable men to help me escort these two to the Divine Prison Department."

The projection of the 'Majestic Heavenly Dragon' he summoned was utterly awesome.

Not to mention those at the seventh level, even those at the eighth level with slightly weaker bloodline powers were no match for the projection of the 'Majestic Heavenly Dragon'.

Lin Rui finally understood why his predecessors could swagger through the capital city.

But to be on the safe side, Lin Rui still decided to ask the Imperial Censor's office to send a few people to help him with the transport.

Upon hearing this, Linghu Mingde gave a slight nod, his tone growing colder, "It's part of the duty!"

He would never allow these two to be rescued or to escape.

Since the Jin family didn't manage to overthrow him this time, it was his turn to strike back.

Since Jin Bolong had made a move against him, he would have to pay a price.

He would let the chairman of the Jinhao Starship Trading Company understand what it meant to be a leader of the righteous faction and a veteran minister of three dynasties of the great Song Empire!

※※※※

Meanwhile, in the office of the chairman at the Jinhao Real Estate Group's headquarters located in the ninth base city.

Jin Bolong's face was as white as paper, the Jade Ruyi ornament in his hand had been crushed into powder by his grip.

After a long while, Jin Bolong turned to look at his old friend and advisor, 'Lu Hanyuan,' the independent director of the Jinhao Real Estate Group. His eyes held a trace of bewilderment, "Hanyuan, what's going on?"

Lu Hanyuan thought to himself that he also very much wanted to know what was going on.

He opened up the company's internal communication system and started to meticulously review the reports of various links in the chain.

"Yu Wendan couldn't have been compromised; he's a devoted agent that we've painstakingly cultivated. There's no reason for him to betray us. Yu Wendan's life could be exchanged for a billion in cash and a bright future for his four children."

"The surgeon who operated on him is also someone we trained internally, extremely reliable, and the whole process was recorded."

"It couldn't be our spellcaster either; he wouldn't dare to gamble with his own life."

Lu Hanyuan and Jin Bolong looked at each other, perplexed. If there was no issue with any of these, then where was the problem?

Jin Bolong rubbed his temples, his gaze sharp as a knife, "Could it be that Commandant of Espionage?"

"Lin Hao? It's possible," Lu Hanyuan considered thoughtfully, then shook his head, "Unlikely though. The key issue is that he has neither the motive nor the opportunity to tamper. Although he sent his advisor to the Divine Prison Department to supervise, as far as I know, this person spent the entire day in the surveillance office reading, separated by a grille, without any contact with Yu Wendan."

Lu Hanyuan frowned, increasingly puzzled, "We have our people inside the Divine Prison Department, and there are other powers too. With so many eyes on him, that advisor couldn't have tampered with anything. He did inspect Yu Wendan's food and clothing, but he didn't touch them; he supervised several jailers in the Divine Prison Department to carry out the check."

The crucial question was, why would he do such a thing? It didn't make sense for him.

Even if the third Divine Envoy wanted to protect her ally Zhao Yang, she wouldn't instruct her disciple to do such a thing.

"You're right," Jin Bolong forced down the shock and anger in his heart; "Lin Hao is not very likely. The problem might be in the Divine Prison Department, someone must have interfered in a way we don't know about. The Imperial Censor Song Lian, who presided over the Heavenly Demon Test, is also very suspicious."

"Chairman, I don't think now is the time to investigate this issue," Lu Hanyuan chuckled wryly, "Our urgent priority is how to protect the two major figures from our 'Jinhao Alien Body Company' and how to deal with Linghu family's retaliation."

Upon hearing this, a layer of green anger inevitably surfaced on Jin Bolong's face.

He thought to himself, what is there to protect now? Those two would be as good as dead once they entered the Divine Prison Department. From now on, they were destined to be impaled and hung in the Demon Suppression Forest.

In the past, the East Abyss captured the alien body of Scholar Huangfu and threw it into the Divine Prison Department for a full half-year.

At that time, the Earth Federation Government mobilized twenty-two ninth-level beings to rescue him with all their might, yet they were helpless, ultimately forced to watch Scholar Huangfu being hung in the Demon Suppression Forest.

Of course, the situation was different now. The East Abyss didn't pay attention to this matter, and Lin Hao wouldn't possibly send these two people to the lowest level of the Divine Prison Department, but the difficulty of the rescue was still very high.

Ever since the Earth Federation made contact with the Heavenly Demon Star people, there had been no successful prison breaks from the Divine Prison Department.

What Jin Bolong was even more worried about now was Linghu Mingde and the Linghu family.

This man was not only the Chief Imperial Censor of the Great Song Dynasty, holding immense power within the dynasty, but he also had an alien body company and a starship trading company under him. Although their overall strength was not as strong as the Jin family's, they were not to be underestimated.

Linghu Mingde was also an alien body walker of the first generation, possessing substantial influence and appeal among the first two generations of alien body walkers.

This individual also wielded extremely strong power in both political and business circles. Linghu Mingde once served as the principal of Mingde University for 50 years, and many of his students held important positions within the Federation.

If he decided to seek revenge after freeing himself, the Jinhao Group would surely face a storm of blood and violence.

While Jin Bolong was secretly feeling the chills, he received a video call request.

"Mayor?"

Jin Bolong's complexion tightened slightly; it was a call from the mayor of the Ninth Base City.

After Jin Bolong answered the call, he saw a middle-aged man with a dignified face, wearing the uniform of a three-star federal reserve marshal.
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The man looked at him sternly and said, "Chairman Jin, I regret to inform you that the projects on your company's Third Avenue No. 421 and Seventh Avenue No. 239 must be terminated. Additionally, several other ongoing real estate projects need to be halted. The government has received a large number of citizen complaints, and the Environmental Agency, along with the Parliament, must restart ecological and environmental investigations on these projects. At the same time, several government projects contracted to your group's construction company are to be suspended."

Upon hearing this, Jin Bolong, with an icy expression, responded, "Mr. Mayor, our company's projects were all obtained through legal procedures. If your government decides to stop them abruptly, that's an illegal act."

"I'm informing you, not discussing with you. Chairman Jin, if you have any complaints, you can sue in court."

The 'mayor' in the video spoke without any expression, "Also, the Municipal Civil Servant Oversight Committee has received reports suggesting that several of your company's projects may involve economic crimes. The Federal Investigation Bureau and the Federal Homeland Security Agency's Economic Crimes Department have been ordered to set up a special investigation team to look into related issues concerning your company."

After hearing this, Jin Bolong clenched his fists tightly, and veins bulged on his arms. He asked, word by word, "Is it Linghu Mingde?"

"I'm not sure, but I've been under significant pressure," the mayor said with a slight shake of his head. "Chairman Jin, you should understand what's going on. You should solve these problems yourself."

After speaking, he directly ended the communication.

Jin Bolong's eyebrows furrowed deeply, but he dared not harbor the slightest resentment against the mayor.

The official title of the Mayor of the Ninth Base City is actually 'Executive Officer of the Special Administrative Region of the Ninth Base City of the East Asian Republic', not fully determined by election.

Therefore, Jin Bolong lacked the means to pressure the mayor.

After a long silence, he stood up and said, "Hanyuan, I'll leave these matters to you. I give you full authority to resolve these issues as soon as possible."

"Rest assured, Chairman, I will take care of these matters before the stock market opens tomorrow and calm the public opinion at the same time," Lu Hanyuan also stood up, his eyes filled with shock. "I miscalculated; I did not expect Linghu Mingde to still wield such great influence in politics 30 years after his retirement."

It was not so much a miscalculation as that they had never considered the possibility of their plan failing.

Jin Bolong, too, was secretly alarmed and equally relieved. Thankfully, that old timer was caught in the decline of the Five Decays of Heaven and Man and was about to perish; this incident significantly affected the old timer's connections, his influence had dwindled much, otherwise, the strength of this counterattack would have been even greater.

Jin Bolong then walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the bustling street scene below.

Actually, these troubles inside the Ninth Base City didn't amount to much.

Although Linghu Mingde's power was considerable and his actions were swift and fierce, Jinhao Group also had significant power in the political realm.

They even fostered their own political party, 'Urban Construction Party', which held 9% of the seats in the City Council.

Jinhao Group definitely couldn't prevent the 'Civil Servant Oversight Committee' from forming an investigation team, but they could interfere with the investigation's outcome.

Whether it's the Prosecutor's Office or the Security Bureau, they had ways to exert influence.

Moreover, those halted projects could also have their relationships reopened to get government clearance.

What Jin Bolong was truly worried about was the internal issues within the Heavenly Demon Star.

That was Linghu Mingde's home ground, and Zhao Yang's accumulation of over 700 years was not insignificant. It just happened to coincide with the third Divine Envoy's preparations to purify the imperial court.