Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups Chapter 995 - 498: Five-Star Review—A Price Worth Paying

"Yes."

Facing the elder’s inquiry, the young man’s brow furrowed slightly, his tone carrying a hint of undisguised annoyance:

"It’s still about that Chen Family case."

"This time, they’re adamant, asking explicitly for detailed information on all task takers of the ’Tian Nan Province Chen Family curse case,’ especially the one who completed the task last."

The elder turned around, his slightly clouded yet fathomless eyes falling upon the young man:

"Just a noble family from a frontier province, though they have some money, in the eyes of a giant like the ’Ideal Land,’ they’re just some slightly fattier meat."

"Why are they so invested in this matter? Have the reasons been clarified?"

"Investigated."

The young man responded immediately, clearly reporting:

"The informants from Tian Nan Province just sent back the news; the Ideal Land seems to be implementing a secret plan in Cui City, trying to achieve a certain goal by controlling the Chen Family."

"But just a week ago, the parties completely broke off face, engaging in a high-intensity extraordinary combat in a five-star hotel in the city center, even causing a considerable explosion incident, alerting the local police and Special Search Team."

He pondered briefly, as if organizing his thoughts, then made a speculation:

"From the currently gathered scattered intelligence, the curse case commissioned by the Chen Family is very likely the handiwork of the ’Ideal Land.’"

"Moreover, this case and the hotel’s conflict should belong to the same lineage."

"That plan was very likely disrupted by the final task taker dispatched from our platform."

"Oh?"

The elder’s white eyebrows slightly raised, a hint of interest appearing on his face:

"Able to ruin ’Ideal Land’s’ plan and still retreat unscathed?"

The young man nodded, continuing:

"Previously, the task takers we dispatched either suffered severe casualties and were forced to give up, or retreated after realizing the difficulties, leaving things unfinished."

"I was preparing to adjust the difficulty of this task to S-Class, unexpectedly, it was smoothly completed by that person, also involving the ’Ideal Land.’

He paused, then deliberately added:

"The Chen Family just sent someone yesterday to settle the commission, not only confirming the task completed but paying the remaining amount as agreed, also giving that task taker a five-star review."

Upon hearing this, the elder’s lips slightly curled:

"Who is that person? Any detailed background information?"

"Specific information is temporarily unclear."

The young man pulled up the holographic projection panel in front of him, pointing to a shadow emitting faint golden light with blurred facial features:

"This person is codenamed ’Xiao Bai,’ male, approximately 1.85 meters tall, his blood and spiritual power are extremely vigorous, able to shield our Naihe Bridge’s core system’s deep exploration."

"From my perspective, he should have undergone body and spirit synchronization Enhancement, being a rare dual S-Class power user."

Upon hearing this, the elder nodded slightly, the interest in his eyes deepening.

The young man observed and perceived, seeing him in a mode of focused listening, thus continued reporting:

"This person first appeared in Night City in the early hours of April 19th, led by an intermediary named ’Yuan Datou’ to Naihe Bridge, where he took the task at the No. 2 service window, also as the final task taker."

"Interestingly, before accepting the task, he deliberately inquired if anyone else purchased intelligence on this case, seeming to be a particularly cautious veteran."

"Judging by current intelligence, the person in charge of the ’Ideal Land’ in Tian Nan Province has likely folded, the plan completely collapsed."

"Hence, they’re now frantically trying to find out this ’Xiao Bai’s’ background from us for retribution."

Saying this, the young man hesitated momentarily, tentatively asking:

"Great-grandfather, should we trace the registration clues to investigate this person’s identity in reality?"

"Investigate what?"

The elder’s face suddenly darkened, letting out a cold snort:

"Do they really think our ’Naihe Bridge’ is their family-run backyard? Investigate whoever they want?"

"But..."

The young man spoke worriedly:

"The people of the Ideal Land are all madmen, acting without reservation."

"They’ve come twice already, implicitly suggesting that if we don’t cooperate, they might target our several bases in reality. Is it wise to offend them for an unknown task taker...?"

"Foolish!"

The elder suddenly flung his sleeve, though a Spiritual Body, causing a chilling wind that rustled the book pages in the study.

"Shuhuan, you must remember, what are we doing?"

He pointed to the floor beneath, his voice firm and resonant, reverberating strongly:

"We ’Naihe Bridge’ are an intermediary organization, a transaction platform, and one of Night City’s order maintainers!"

"Why are our fees exorbitant, even adding a 50% channel fee, yet clients still pinch their noses and accept it?"

"Is it because our service attitude is good or because we look kind and benevolent?"

The elder chuckled lightly, raising a dry finger and shaking it:

"Neither! Only because our endorsed reputation is strong enough, able to provide ample security guarantees!"

"We sell not only intelligence and tasks but absolute confidentiality of client identity, an absolute money-washing procedure."

"This is the fundamental basis for our ’Naihe Bridge’ to establish our foothold!"

He gazed intently into the young man’s eyes, earnestly instructing:

"If today we cower at ’Ideal Land’s’ threats and sell the client’s information, tomorrow this matter will spread through the entire underground world."