Cultivation Online

”W-What did you just say?” Mei Feng muttered, staring at the Ironwoman with a dumbfounded expression after hearing the results of her investigation, looking as though she had just been told a horrifying story.

The Ironwoman cleared her throat before repeating, ”Apparently, the Ember City has discovered a new Void Specter—one that rivals the Void Hunter in prowess. They also believe that Void Specter was the one fighting the Void Hunter for weeks.”

”A Void Specter fighting with the Void Hunter...? That sounds ridiculous,” remarked Mei Feng.

”I haven’t even told you the best part. According to Ember City, this Void Specter can perfectly disguise itself as a human.”

”What sort of nonsense is that?!”

”Moreover...”

”There’s more?”

”This humanoid Void Specter currently has the appearance of a soldier from our city.”

Mei Feng frowned upon hearing this. ”A soldier from our city?”

The implications of a new Void Specter with prowess on par with the Void Hunter were already troubling enough, but the fact that it supposedly bore the appearance of a soldier from Gaia’s Heaven made the situation even worse. Once word spreads, it could easily lead to unnecessary suspicion and discrimination against their soldiers.

”What do you think?” Mei Feng asked the Ironwoman a moment later. ”Is this information from Ember City trustworthy, or are they using this opportunity to damage our reputation? We’ve been at odds with each other for generations, after all.”

”Personally, I think it’s a misunderstanding.”

”What makes you think that?”

”Because they said this Void Specter took the appearance of a corporal.”

”A corporal?” Mei Feng raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled.

”Think about it. A lone soldier with the rank of corporal in the Black Zone...”

”Corporal Yuan?!” Mei Feng exclaimed in disbelief after realizing this.

The Ironwoman nodded.

”Of course, it could just be a coincidence. We’ll know for sure once we speak with him,” she said.

After a brief pause, she added, ”Speaking of him, any news on his return?”

Mei Feng sat back in her chair and sighed, ”He returned to the city two weeks ago.”

”Oh? What happened?”

”He gave his testimony and hasn’t left his living quarters since then. I’ll let you hear the recording of it later.”

”And the Scorpion Squad?”

”We were going to interrogate them again with the new information from Corporal Yuan’s testimony, but...” Mei Feng paused to rub her temples before continuing, ”We could not find them. They’ve completely vanished into thin air.”

The Ironwoman raised an eyebrow at this news.

”That’s a funny way to say General Gu got rid of them.”

”Even if that’s the case, we have no evidence. And quite frankly, I hope that’s what happened since it saves us the trouble.”

”With the Scorpion Squad gone, wouldn’t it be harder to make General Gu pay for his crimes?”

”It’s not like he won’t have other ways to weasel his way out of trouble. Unless we catch him in the act with irrefutable evidence, there’s nothing we can do to him,” Mei Feng sighed.

”Well, what are we going to do now? You think he’ll continue targeting Corporal Yuan?”

”I don’t know, but we’ll make it harder for him to target him.”

”How?”

”I’m going to promote him. I checked his records last week, and he has more than enough to be promoted to Sergeant. However, he’ll need to pass the examination for the Purple Zone before he fully qualifies.”

”When’s the next examination?”

”Today. In fact, he should be—”

Mei Feng abruptly stopped speaking when she received a call.

”What is it?”

”T-This is about Corporal Yuan!” A frantic voice responded.

”Did something happen to him?” Mei Feng frowned.

”Yes! He just finished the examination for the Purple Zone, and you won’t believe the results! A perfect score! He completely aced it!”

”That’s hardly surprisingly for someone like—”

”That’s not all!” the voice interrupted Mei Feng before continuing, ”He asked to take the examination for the Black Zone since he was already there, and the examiners agreed. In the end, he passed with perfect results, too! This is the first time anyone has aced the Black Zone exam!”

Mei Feng became speechless.

After a moment of silence, Mei Feng asked, ”Are you at the examination right now?”

”Yes, I am.”

”Is Corporal Yuan still there?”

”He left just a few seconds ago.”

”Go catch him and tell him to come to my office immediately.”

”Right away.”

Time passed swiftly, and half an hour later, Yuan showed up at Mei Feng’s office.

”You called?” Yuan said aloud as he walked into the room.

”Hm? You’re here, too?” he looked at the Ironwoman with a raised eyebrow.

”...”

Neither Mei Feng nor the Ironwoman spoke, merely gazing at him in silence.

”What is it?” Yuan asked again.

”First and foremost, congratulations on passing your exams with perfect scores,” Mei Feng said a moment later.

”Second, I have a few questions for you regarding your time in the Black Zone.”

”What sort of questions?”

”Have you encountered soldiers from the Ember City?”

”Ember City? Never heard of them.”

”They wear a red uniform,” the Ironwoman said, giving details of their uniform to him.

”Oh, them? In that case, yes, I have,” Yuan calmly admitted.

He wasn’t sure how they found out, but he had no reason to hide it.

”Is that so...” Mei Feng mumbled, leaning her head back as she rubbed her temples with a weary expression.

”Is this about me killing two of their soldiers?” Yuan asked. ”In that case, it was self-defense.”

”This is way beyond that,” said the Ironwoman, shaking her head.

”For some reason, they seem to think you’re a Void Specter.”

”Huh?” Yuan’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected accusation.

He had considered many possibilities regarding the situation, but being mistaken for a Void Specter was certainly not one of them.

Then he had a sudden realization.

’It was probably because of my affinity...’ he sighed inwardly.

”Well? Are you actually human, or are you a Void Specter disguised as one?” the Ironwoman asked a moment later, a hint of amusement in her voice.