Let them offer their loyalty!

```

With those thoughts, Qiu Tu stepped away from Yan Chen's City Center Garden Villa.

However, just as Qiu Tu had walked three or four meters away.

Suddenly, he heard Secretary Bai's voice behind him, "Qiu Tu."

Hearing Secretary Bai's voice, Qiu Tu couldn't help but turn around, looking at Secretary Bai with a bit of surprise, not understanding why Secretary Bai had called out to him.

Then he saw Secretary Bai quietly looking at him for two or three seconds before slowly beginning to speak,"The Bureau Chief's wife died a few years ago, and the Bureau Chief was devastated by grief."

"At that time, the Qin Family approached him, took away the Bureau Chief's wife's genes, and then resurrected her..."

After speaking that inexplicable sentence, Secretary Bai turned around expressionlessly, returned to the villa, and closed the side door.
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As the side door closed with a clang, the entire street became instantly silent.

In the pitch-dark night, Qiu Tu stood alone on the street, his gaze still on the spot where Secretary Bai had stood, filled with astonishment!

Although Secretary Bai seemed to have revealed nothing and merely related an anecdote, the significance of this anecdote was too great!

Before this, Qiu Tu had already known that Old Master Qin had been buying over middle and high-level managers of the Planning Area and the United Front using the "Cloning Female Body" technology.

He also knew that Old Master Qin once helped a general of the United Front "revive" his wife.

But he really hadn't expected that the genes used for "Qin Shuman's" body would actually be Madam Yan Chen's!

The implications of this were utterly different.

If "Qin Shuman" was just a regular mistress, even one created by the Qin Family to please Yan Chen, at most she would still be a 'plaything'.

If Qiu Tu's position was high enough and the benefits were big enough, there could always be room to mitigate this matter.

Yan Chen would not have a conflict with Qiu Tu over a mistress or 'plaything' with whom he had no emotional foundation.

The thorn between the two men, along with time and their cooperation, would eventually vanish.

This had always been Qiu Tu's plan.

But... now, Secretary Bai had burst his "beautiful dream."

If "Qin Shuman's" body truly originated from Yan Chen and carried his emotional attachment, then that grudge had become very real indeed!

'Damn it!' Qiu Tu cursed silently in his heart and knew he would have to adjust his strategy towards Yan Chen.

He couldn't think about slowly reconciling as he had before...

With these thoughts, Qiu Tu grumbled to himself while making several turns, and got into his car.

Driving the car and following the address given by Lin Zuo, Qiu Tu soon arrived at the entrance of a small villa near Longshan Road.

He turned off the engine, stopped the car, and got out.

Approaching the front door of the villa, Qiu Tu knocked.

Soon, the door was opened from the inside.

One of Qin Shuman's subordinates, the new chief of the Investigation Department at the Security Bureau, Lin Zuo, stood in front of Qiu Tu.

Still with his cold and aloof manner, Lin Zuo's eyes showed no flicker of emotion upon seeing Qiu Tu, as if Qiu Tu owed him five million yuan.

After opening the door for Qiu Tu, he turned and walked towards the living room.

Qiu Tu closed the door behind him and followed along.

Arriving at the living room, there sat a small, exquisite black safe on the coffee table.

Lin Zuo sat down on the sofa, took the safe, began to input the code to unlock it, and asked in a seemingly unconcerned manner,"Do you know... Jia Shu is dead?"

Hearing Lin Zuo's words, Qiu Tu was not surprised.

Compared to the Investigation Bureau, the military's intelligence network was clearly more developed.

Moreover, Jia Shu was one of Xinjie City's high-level officials, a person of interest to all sides.

So when something happened to him, all parties in Xinjie City immediately knew, which was not surprising.

However, knowing it was one thing, guessing it was related to oneself was another matter.

Inwardly, Qiu Tu raised Lin Zuo in his estimation and then denied it, "What? Minister Jia is dead? How did he die?"

As a seasoned actor, Qiu Tu's acting was quite excellent.

So when Lin Zuo examined Qiu Tu's face for several moments, he still couldn't see anything amiss.

He could only continue probing,"He was ambushed by a group of men in black."

"He didn't even get to use his cataclysmic ability before being covered by concentrated fire and killed."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu said with a look of shock,"That group of criminals is too bold!

"To actually dare to ambush a former high-level official of our Investigation Bureau!"

"That's clearly disrespect for our Investigation Bureau!"

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Lin Zuo took a deep look at Qiu Tu and said,"Last time, Jia Shu was plotting to kill you. Shouldn't you be happy that he's dead?"

Qiu Tu looked at him with a smile,"How could I not be happy? I'm just short of setting off firecrackers to celebrate."

"But... private matters aside, official matters should remain official."

"Although Minister Jia and I had a grudge, he was indeed a former high-up of our Investigation Bureau."

"His death pleases me, but it also shocks me."

Qiu Tu's response and performance were flawless, and Lin Zuo could not spot any flaws.

Just then, the safe had been opened. So Lin Zuo fell silent, instead taking out a very finely crafted small bowl from inside.

The small bowl was made of white jade, pure and flawless, with a pool of clear water inside.

Lin Zuo introduced it,"The 'Purifying Jade Bowl,' a somewhat special Cataclysmic treasure."

"It has only one function: to remove the positioning marks left by cataclysmic creatures."

"It's also because we had this cataclysmic treasure that we dared to let you take the risk of contacting Larilo."

"After all, even if you encountered any danger with Larilo, we could cut your connection with her any time."

With that, Lin Zuo carried the bowl to the villa's first-floor bathroom where Qiu Tu followed.

Upon arrival, the bathtub was already filled with hot water.

Lin Zuo poured the water from the 'Purifying Jade Bowl' into the tub.

The water, originally transparent, turned a pale gold as soon as it blended with the other water in the tub, quickly spreading throughout the entire bathtub and turning the whole tub golden.

Seeing this, Lin Zuo put the bowl back into the black safe and then told Qiu Tu,"Alright, just soak in it for 10 minutes, and all the marks from cataclysmic creatures on you will be cleansed."

```

"After this, Larilo won't be able to pull you into a dream anymore."

Hearing Lin Zuo's words, Qiu Tu sincerely expressed his gratitude, "Thanks a lot."

Lin Zuo nonchalantly waved his hand, "No problem. I was just following orders."

After saying that, he turned around and was ready to exit the bathroom.

However, just as he had one foot out of the bathroom, he suddenly paused.

He said, "Qiu Tu... there are actually some taboos on the political scene. For example... you can defeat but not kill."

"The assassination of Jia Shu may very well touch the nerves of all parties involved."

After speaking, he didn't wait for Qiu Tu's reply or reaction, and turned around to leave the bathroom.

Watching his retreating figure, Qiu Tu maintained a poker face, but inside, he shook his head with a wry smile.

He didn't know the huge repercussions of killing Jia Shu?

But if he had other choices, why would he possibly choose this path?

Was it like he willingly became an enemy of Yan Chen?

If it weren't for the intelligence provided by Secretary Bai tonight, he probably would have even considered finding an opportunity to make a complete reconciliation with Yan Chen...

Thinking this, Qiu Tu shook his head, then locked the bathroom door from the inside and began to undress.

After undressing, Qiu Tu found that the bathroom was well stocked with towels and a change of clothes.

'It seems Lin Zuo really has the potential to be a great steward. He's taken care of every detail.'

While thinking this, Qiu Tu stepped into the bathtub.

The golden liquid slowly submerged his body, washing away all the marks of the Evil God...

In a daze, Qiu Tu seemed to hear Larilo's piercing scream and curses!

Clearly, Qiu Tu had first "betrayed", plotted to kill her most important follower, and now had cleansed the traces of her dream entry, completely breaking free from her control, infuriating her greatly!

For Larilo, tonight was a huge failure!

And it also allowed Qiu Tu to finally relax completely: previously, he had put himself in the game, using himself as bait to lure Larilo and set up Jia Shu and Jia Wei, living in constant fear every day!

Worrying about being pulled into a dream by Larilo at any time, Qiu Tu didn't even dare to sleep at night!

And so, after completely dealing with the brothers Jia Shu and Jia Wei, Qiu Tu had finally removed the crisis of Larilo's dream invasion.

Thinking of this, Qiu Tu couldn't help but glance at the Crisis Countdown in the upper left corner of his vision.

After he had done all this, the countdown in the upper left corner indeed underwent some changes.

[Revenge of the Linked Formation (7 days)]

[Commitment to the Evil God (∞)]

[Threat in the Darkness (∞)]

The original [Commitment to the Evil God], which only had 2 days left, slowly became infinity, just like the Threat in the Darkness...

This was something that had never happened before.

Previous Crisis Countdowns either froze, or were completed and triggered the next one. It was the first time for such a direct change in time.

Looking at the display on the Crisis Countdown, Qiu Tu, submerged in the bathtub, stroked his chin and pondered slowly.

'Is this telling me... the crisis has been temporarily delayed by my actions, but it hasn't been overcome?'

'So... if Larilo finds another opportunity, as long as I don't provide any intelligence, she will still come to kill me?'

Thinking this way, Qiu Tu found the [Crisis Countdown] quite interesting.

After all... this really matched his understanding of Larilo— that Evil God clearly wasn't one to easily forgive, and given how he had schemed against her, she certainly wouldn't let him off the hook.

'Fortunately, I have made other preparations.'

With this thought, Qiu Tu indulged in the golden warm water, closed his eyes to rest, and began to recall and mentally rehearse the "Emotional Fraud Manual"...

...

Meanwhile, while Qiu Tu was soaking in the bath,

Lin Zuo was driving away from the secret base.

On the road, Lin Zuo's expression was profound.

Even though Qiu Tu hadn't shown any cracks in his expressions or actions from the time he entered until Lin Zuo left, he was, after all, a participant in the entire incident.

So, he was almost 100% certain that Qiu Tu was behind it all.

'Boldly attacking a former high official of the Investigation Bureau...'

'Such decisiveness and ruthlessness!'

Even Lin Zuo understood the importance of rooting out problems, but he also knew that if he were in Qiu Tu's place, he definitely wouldn't dare to make such a decision.

With this thought, Lin Zuo couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.

'That's what it means to be someone cut out for great things. I really can't compare...'

Thinking this way, Lin Zuo felt as if he had shed some burden, making himself feel much lighter...

...

After the bath and a rinse off, Qiu Tu dried himself and got dressed then headed to the bedroom and went straight to sleep.

Indeed, without the mark of the Evil God, Larilo could no longer harass Qiu Tu.

Thus, Qiu Tu's sleep was extremely sweet and secure...

The next morning, Qiu Tu got up feeling utterly refreshed, stretched his body, and felt that life was wonderful.

After washing up and having a simple breakfast, Qiu Tu took out the ancient coin he had received from the 'Lone Wolf' from his pocket.

When does a person's favorability toward another person increase the fastest?

Of course, it's... when you first let her fall into Hell, then lift her to Heaven.

Yesterday, Qiu Tu had completely cut off his connection with Larilo and added to that the killing of Jia Wei, Larilo must have felt like she'd lost her consort as well as her troops, probably so angry she couldn't sleep all night!

If he now contacted Larilo and "switched sides" back to her, how would she react?

And the Heretic Goddess Girl? Isn't she still a woman after all?

If she's a woman, then she can be manipulated emotionally with the "Emotional Fraud Manual"!

With this thought, Qiu Tu began to contact Larilo in the way he had seen in the Silver Key Bee, using the ancient coin...

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Three chapters with a total of 10,000 words haha. I will continue with 10,000 words tomorrow! Asking for your Monthly Ticket!