Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1402 636: Blood for Blood_3

A woman opened the door and saw three people standing outside.

She didn't recognize the two women, but she had seen the man before—he was a colleague of her husband.

She invited the three of them inside, slightly nervous, and asked, "Old Chen, why are you here? Where's my husband, Old Shen? Why hasn't he come home? It's been two days. Has he gone on a business trip again? Like last time, gone for half a month?"

Chen Changrui chose his words carefully and tentatively said, "Manager Shen had an accident, something like..."

"What kind of accident? Don't you guys sell electrical stuff? Isn't he your sales manager? What kind of accident could he have?"

"Yes, well, it was a safety accident. He was over by the workshop..."

"What was he doing at the workshop? Isn't he in sales?"

"He was taking customers to the workshop during work hours, and then there was an accident, and now he can't come back..."

Despite having prepared thoroughly and rehearsed several times, Chen Changrui stumbled through his explanation.

"Don't fool me, Old Chen. What do you mean he can't come back?" Shen Jingye's wife pulled out a fruit knife.

Haitang and Candy grew tense as Chen Changrui gestured with his hands.

He knew Shen Jingye's wife often used knives to hurt people, but in reality, apart from Shen Jingye, her knife rarely hurt others.

"I made his favorite wontons; when exactly will he be back?" Shen Jingye's wife grazed the knife against Chen Changrui's face.

"He... won't be coming back..." Chen Changrui's voice choked.

"Don't talk nonsense! Tell him to come back; I'm not mad at him anymore. I'll never use a knife against him again; if I break my word, I'll cut my own hand." She threw the knife away.

"Don't act impulsively; listen to me first."

"I truly know I'm wrong; he can hit me, curse at me, whatever, just have him come back!"

"Well, he can't... don't..." Chen Changrui was speechless.

...

Candy stayed at Shen Jingye's home to prevent his wife from taking any extreme actions.

Chen Changrui returned to the office, repeatedly massaging his temples.

The phone rang again; it was the higher-ups calling once more.

Chen Changrui had reported countless times; he didn't want to report anymore.

After work, Chen Changrui suddenly received a message with five words: "Haiyan's Call."

Chen Changrui wanted to reply, thought for a moment, and directly made the call.

"Is the information reliable?"

"Director Chen, no one can claim 100% reliable information; I can only say the source is fairly credible."

"Where did you get this information?"

"Don't ask about that; I risked my neck passing this intel to you."

"Tell me more..."

"I've said too much; I need to hang up now."

Chen Changrui looked at his phone once more.

Haiyan's Call.

He called his secretary Liu Ning: "Has Director Li returned?"

"No, he's been tirelessly investigating leads on Hundred Demons Workshop with Dumpling and Deng Pao'er; he's nearly gone mad, and no one can stop him!"

"There's an organization called Haiyan's Call; help me find their address."

Liu Ning had some familiarity with this organization: "Director Chen, this doesn't seem to be a Dark Energy User organization."

"Check it first and then report back."

Chen Changrui hung up on Liu Ning and immediately dialed the higher-up leadership.

...

The next morning, Director Gao, Gao Yina, arrived at the Dark Star Bureau. Chen Changrui briefed her on the intel once more.

Director Gao first asked, "Does Director Li Qi know about this?"

Chen Changrui shook his head, saying, "Director Li doesn't know. He's fully focused on investigating Hundred Demons Workshop's leads. If I give him this information, I'm afraid he'll take extreme actions."

Gao Yina sighed, "You also understand such actions are extreme?"

Chen Changrui shook his head and said, "I'm seeking higher-ups' approval to investigate Haiyan's Call organization first."

Gao Yina replied, "Haiyan's Call is a literary society formed by literary enthusiasts from Huan Country and Lavsha Nation. You're saying this literary society is the core of the Hundred Demons Workshop, but your outrageous claim should have some basis."

"I obtained this lead from special channels."

"Then disclose your special channels!"

"These channels can't be revealed."

"How do you expect higher-ups to approve your operation? The Hundred Demons Workshop incident has already put us under enormous pressure; we're now at the center of public opinion."

"We're at the center?" Chen Changrui was agitated, "Hundred Demons Workshop has created so many malignant events; they killed our director, and now we're facing criticism from public opinion?"

"Director Chen, calm down. You have yet to provide any evidence showing that Hundred Demons Workshop is responsible for the series of malicious incidents. The current narrative positions Hundred Demons Workshop in the role of the victim!"

Chen Changrui raised his voice, "The incidents at Dark Star Bureau are precisely Hundred Demons Workshop's silencing actions!"

Gao Yina's voice wasn't quiet either, "Where's the evidence? You have absolutely no evidence! The only lead you have is the cause of death of this event's deceased, which you determined was due to Dance Cultivation Technique, similar to Du Wenming's method.

That doesn't count as substantive evidence. Even if you solidify this evidence and confirm Du Wenming's suspicion, you can't even prove Du Wenming is a member of Hundred Demons Workshop!

There's no substantive evidence connected to Hundred Demons Workshop, and now you want to investigate a literary society. How many international conflicts will this drag us into?"

Chen Changrui was lost for words.

Yes, it was his incompetence. Li Qi had captured a suspect alive, yet he couldn't extract a confession, being too indirect was pointless, being too direct might cause the suspect to explode.