Ren glanced at Texas's side profile as she sat in frustration, then turned to scan the room for any other clues. He could understand part of her irritation, but he suspected there was something deeper fueling most of her anger…
That was when his eyes fell on the lifeless body of the Blood Demon lying on the floor. Notably, the man's hands were bound with several layers of strange-looking manacles.
Ren could faintly sense a familiar silver glow from them. Curious, he bent down for a closer look and realized the silver hue was exactly the same as the blade Lappland had once used to fight him.
"Could this silver light indicate Originium-resistant properties?"
However, upon closer analysis, Ren discovered that the mineral didn't resist Originium at all. Instead, it seemed to absorb and contain energy. But the amount of Originium it could store wasn't much—potentially volatile if overloaded. If he were to channel enough power into it, it could very well explode.
This meant the shackles probably had to be replaced after each use—and the office staff hadn't overlooked that detail.
Which also meant that the power stored within them now belonged solely to that Blood Demon.
"If I could see Lappland's memories through minerals on her body... could I also see this man's memories through his powers?" Ren thought to himself.
He decided to test it by absorbing a small portion of the energy into his body.
[Spirit of Stone – Memory Reading]
The system message appeared, just as Ren had guessed.
Suddenly, a vivid memory flashed in his mind—it was an image of the man, imprisoned in a cell, smiling with delight.
Ren heard him mutter repeatedly, "Finally found it." Then the memory faded.
Ren hugged his arms, covered in goosebumps, and rubbed them as his face went pale.
"That was disturbingly creepy…" He felt the man's unhinged obsession with his own twisted version of joy. It frightened him so much that he pulled his hand away from the chain—he didn't want to see any more.
"No way I can take it all in like that again... I'd go insane for sure."
Ren worried that absorbing the entire memory at once might negatively affect him—like what had happened with Lappland, when he took on so much it nearly changed his personality.
He didn't want to feel that again. It was too dangerous for his mental health.
"Then how about this…" Ren conjured a mineral and let it project a magnified image of the particles floating in the air—just like a movie projector.
And it worked. The system responded right away:
[Spirit of Stone – Memory Projection]
"Yes! This is it!" Ren exclaimed with joy upon seeing the projection from the stone in his hand.
Everyone in the room turned toward him, even Ch'en and Texas, who had been talking. Ren immediately dissolved the stone in his hand.
"What is it, Ren?" Texas turned toward him.
"I've figured out a way to find Senior Sora's location!" Ren wanted to show her right away, but he was still wary of the others around. He didn't want to reveal this secret—especially not to certain officers who might have their own agendas.
So instead, he planned to extract the Originium energy from the shackles and project it for her outside the room. He pulled out a mineral from his system—not one of his conjured stones, which disappeared when he could no longer maintain the elemental particles.
This particular mineral was Corlapis, a rectangular brown stone that looked like glass—something he had obtained by chance.
As soon as Ren summoned it, Ch'en furrowed her brow.
"Is that Originium? Where are you even hiding something illegal like that?" she asked.
"Is now really the time for this, Officer?" Ren shot back, annoyed. He couldn't help but complain—was this really the time to be nitpicking?
Ch'en flinched at his words and tried to suppress a sharp retort. She remembered how poorly she had treated him earlier, and knew the office was clearly at fault this time. She chose to stay silent.
The surrounding officers were also quiet, staring at Ren with admiration—he had dared to stand up to Lungmen's "princess" face to face, something none of them would even dream of doing.
"At the very least, could you explain to them what you're doing with that Originium?" Texas asked calmly, trying to mediate.
Ren understood and responded as he placed the stone near the Blood Demon's corpse, transferring the energy from the shackles into it.
"Actually… this stone isn't Originium. It's more like a personal energy container. I can use it to store energy flows from myself or others."
"I don't get it…" Texas replied, frowning, not unlike Officer Ch'en beside her.
"I'll show you later. Right now, we need to regroup with Exusiai," Ren said. After transferring all the power from the shackles into the stone, he put it in his pocket and stood up.
"..." Texas didn't say anything. She simply nodded and turned to leave.
But Ch'en stepped in to block their way.
"Wait—you're not going anywhere until you explain what's going on!"
"Please step aside, Officer Ch'en. Our business here is done, and we have no obligation to explain anything further," Texas replied. Delivering the letter had already fulfilled her duty.
Ren felt the same. He didn't want to stay a second longer and was desperate to go help Senior Sora.
"No! Our business isn't finished until you tell us what you know. We're Lungmen's security officers! We have both duty and pride in keeping this city safe! If you really care about your colleague's safety, you should share that information—not play the hero and charge into danger like some movie character!"
"This woman… is she serious right now?" Ren nearly snapped. If not for the crucial information he carried, he might have already summoned a stone pillar to crush her.
Texas stayed quiet, seemingly deep in thought, but Ren was boiling with anger.
"Are you seriously misunderstanding something, Officer Ch'en?" Ren glared at her. "To me, your so-called pride means nothing compared to my colleague's safety! And judging from how you handled things here, I have zero trust in you!"
"You bastard—!" Ch'en shouted, drawing her sword in fury.
Ren didn't back down. "What? You gonna cut me? Go ahead! If anything happens, I'll call it self-defense!"
He clenched his fists, ready to summon his stone pillar.
"People like you—driven only by emotion—I hate the most!"
"…" Ch'en gripped her sword tightly. Her fury had reached its peak, and she nearly lashed out—until a voice interrupted her.
"Stand down, Hui-jie."
Everyone in the room turned toward the same spot—the entrance to the bombed cell.
There stood a man with a beast-like presence, draped in a magnificent red cloak from head to toe. In one hand, he held a pipe and walked inside with elegance. Beside him was a red-haired female officer—Ren recognized her as the one who had previously stopped Ch'en.
"As this young man said… You really need to learn to control your temper better, Hui-jie."
"Yes, Lord Wei," Ch'en replied stiffly, forced to show respect in front of everyone even though she didn't want to.
At that moment, the other officers all stood at attention.
"Welcome, Lord Wei!"
"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Wei," Texas bowed politely as well, recognizing the ruler of Lungmen.
Seeing everyone's reactions, Ren also bowed slightly. He could tell this man held considerable authority—even if he didn't know exactly who he was. Thanks to his knowledge of history and media from his previous life, Ren understood one thing:
He had to choose his words carefully.
But then something unexpected happened.
As soon as the man saw Ren, he walked straight up to him… and did something that left even Ch'en and the other officers stunned.
He bowed his head.
"I must apologize on behalf of my niece, Officer Zhongli. It was my failure to raise her properly that caused you to witness such disgrace within our department. As an apology… as her uncle and ruler of Lungmen, if there is anything you wish for—anything at all—please, do not hesitate to tell me."
With a gentle voice full of undeniable leadership, he simultaneously conveyed both praise and apology—so convincingly that even the initially intimidated officers couldn't help but reveal looks of astonishment and admiration.
Even Ren, despite himself, felt stirred by his words—just for a brief moment, he almost saw the man as someone worthy of respect.
That is, if he hadn't immediately activated the Eye of the Mind the moment the man walked in and noticed the ashamed expression on Officer Chen's face behind him... he might never have realized just how two-faced this man was.
[Wei Yenwu] [Favorability: -10% (Distrust)] [Status: Neutral] [Emotion: Suspicious, Content]
"This guy's the king of all hypocrites, isn't he?"
On the other hand, when he looked at Officer Chen using the Eye of the Mind:
[Chen Huijia] [Favorability: 20% (Guilt)] [Status: Neutral] [Emotion: Ashamed, Angry]
"What is this... a tragic family drama where the family bullies the girl?"
Truthfully, Ren had no desire whatsoever to get involved in this uncle-niece drama. But seeing how the man heaped all the blame on himself for "failing to care for his niece," while simultaneously portraying himself as a victim and subtly blaming everything on the girl instead—it stirred a deep sense of disgust in him.
Still, he forced a cheerful smile and replied enthusiastically,
"Oh really? Well then, since you say so, Mr. Wei! Could you kindly let us go now? We actually have other urgent business to attend to."
Wei Yianwu's right hand trembled for a brief moment, as if something hadn't gone according to plan. Still, he maintained a friendly smile on his face.
"I understand your concern. I've heard bits and pieces of what happened from Chief Nine, which is why I came here personally. And as luck would have it, I overheard your conversation just now. Young man… don't you think that if we cooperate, we'd catch the culprit much faster?"
"So after all that talking, this is what he was really aiming for—to rope us into helping."
Ren blinked innocently, though in his mind, he was already cursing the old schemer to hell.
"So Mr. Wei, may I ask… how capable are you in handling these terrorists?"
"But of course. As one of the original founders of the L.G.D., I still have access to a few elite units stationed here. They could take care of these terrorists without breaking a sweat—all I have to do is give the word."
"Wow... in that case, Mr. Wei, forget what I said earlier. I'll cooperate with L.G.D. then."
Ren said this as he stepped forward. Wei Yianwu, pleased, raised his hand to shake in agreement—but his smile faltered when the young man simply walked past him, heading straight toward his troublesome niece.
"But I think I'd prefer to work with Officer Chen instead. After all, if your elite units aren't even here yet, they're probably not any more capable than the regular L.G.D. officers."
"Am I right, Officer Chen?"
"…"
Wei Yianwu's face froze. In contrast, Chen looked startled, staring at the young man before her.
At that moment, Ren leaned in and whispered softly to her,
"What are you waiting for? If you want to humiliate your uncle, now's the perfect time to agree. Then hurry up and get me and Texas somewhere quiet already."
It was clear that he said all this on purpose—to help her.
Chen remained silent for a moment… before nodding with determination and replying with conviction:
"This time, we won't let you down. I promise."
[Chen Huijia (Codename: Chen)] Favorability toward you has greatly increased. Emotion +1,000
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Now : (ZAW)System Acting Zhongli in arknights World? (Now Chapter 53)
Now : (INSL) I Never thought simulating life could screw me up this badly!! (Now Chapter 47)
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Coming soon : Texas Character Relationship Content (4 Chapter) *1 Chapter here*
Coming soon : Exusia Character Relationship Content (4 Chapter)
Coming soon : Lapland Character Relationship Content (4 Chapter)