"Old Wang, want to grab a drink after work today?"

"Drink what? I'm practically eating dust, no way I can think about drinking."

"You don't have a woman, don't take care of kids, how the hell do you have no spare cash each month?"

"Why keep spare cash anyway? What if one day you just drop dead, and there's still money left unspent? That's the most painful thing in this world!

First thing I do when I get my paycheck is to head to Chunfeng Lou to see Xiaotaofu and spend it all."

"You'll die under a woman's belly one of these days, I can't figure how you think, leaving no spare cash, what if you get into an emergency and can't afford treatment?"

"Well, if that happens, then it's my time. When I die, I'll have spent all my money, no regrets.

But you, Old Xu.

I hear you save at least half your salary each month. What are you planning, saving all that cash?"

"Well, unlike you, I want to be prepared. Saving can one day save my life.

Plus, if I decide to settle down with a woman, I've got money to comfortably have a kid."

"Come on, in this world, raising kids is pointless. Honestly, any child born to us in this world must've sinned in their past life.

That's why they come here in this life to suffer.

Old Xu, I really advise you not to keep so much money lying around, spend it when you need to.

Hell, when you see a woman on the street, your eyes get glued to her, but you're too stingy to spend a dime at Chunfeng Lou."

"Forget it, spending all that money just for one little thrill is pointless.

If I spend it all, maybe one day because of that thrill, I won't have enough left to save my life."

"Come on, if you suddenly drop dead with all that cash saved, you won't be able to close your eyes."

"Like you said, I'd deserve it."

"Let's go, I'll treat you. Once we move all these corpses, let's grab a few dishes and some booze."

"Wow, the stingy bastard is finally spending!"

The two men carried the corpses into the transport truck, chatting and bantering as they worked.

Old Wang seemed a bit surprised, glancing at Old Xu.

Old Xu looked up at the sky and laughed, "Just craving a drink."

Old Wang hefted a body and tossed it into the truck, which rattled emptily with about seven or eight bodies.

These were prisoners who died in the dungeons of the Judicial Bureau and Finance Bureau.

The two men were professional corpse movers; in any era, this job was one many avoided.

Compared to other government jobs in the Ninth Special Administrative Region Government, this one paid a bit better.

"Geez, who's this guy? Looks young, died pretty horribly."

Hearing Old Wang's words, Old Xu glanced back, shook his head, and said, "You mean him? I've seen his files, seems he's called Zhou Shaoyang… not a good guy, a ringleader of some cult…but who cares, it's not the first young body you've carried."

Old Wang thought for a moment and shut the truck doors, revved the engine, and headed toward the incinerator.

In the Ninth Special Zone, there's no concept of preserving ashes; in some sense, the bodies of the deceased become a resource. Tossed into the furnace, the cremated body oil can stoke the flames further.

The remaining ashes are processed with various mineral slags.

For electricity generation and heating.

The pair bantered on about which taverns had the best booze, which tavern owners dressed provocatively, making drinking more exciting.

They didn't notice that their seemingly worthless corpse transport truck was being watched by multiple sets of eyes.

From a high building.

Chen Che stood by the edge, holding a loaf of bread, took a bite, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed.

Xia Na handed over a bottle of water.

Chen Che took it, drank a couple of sips, eyes locked on the corpse truck.

Bobby scampered over from behind, quickly saying, "Master Chen, those guys from the Apocalypse Society seem ready to move."

Just as Bobby finished, the transport truck reached a crossroads.

From both sides of the intersection, two modified four-wheeled vehicles suddenly emerged.

Despite their rough appearance and visibly rusty surfaces, the metal frames stood sturdy, making the corpse transport truck driver, Old Xu, instinctively hit the brakes.

This was government property after all. Crashing would likely cost them their jobs.

Just as the truck stopped, before Old Xu could curse, numerous figures emerged from the nearby alleys, armed with guns in their hands.

Old Xu felt a shiver run up his spine in an instant, several figures swiftly approached the truck, and one of them pointed a gun at Old Xu, shouting, "Get out of the truck!"

Old Xu and Old Wang knew nothing of such scenes; both were trembling with fear, unable to understand why this gang of thugs would rob a hearse.

Faced with orders from these thugs, neither dared to disobey, as their lives were on the line.

The two immediately opened the car doors and got out, pleading constantly, "Spare us, please spare us!"

Fortunately, the surrounding thugs seemed not to have any intention of taking their lives.

After controlling the two, a few ordinary members of the Apocalypse Society quickly moved to the back of the car, placing their hands on the handle at the rear of the vehicle, ready to open the compartment.

Bobby watched this scene and clicked his tongue, saying, "Truly simple and violent, but quick; they should be able to take the bodies away, right?"

Chen Che squinted and said, "Things aren't that simple."

Sure enough, the second Chen Che finished speaking, the mechanical roar suddenly came from behind the Apocalypse Society crowd.

Bobby turned towards the sound, his face changing drastically as he cursed, "Damn it, why is it like a leech that we can't shake off? Damn!"

Out of nowhere, a large number of people emerged from every direction of the intersection, unhesitatingly pulling the triggers aimed at these ordinary members of the Apocalypse Society.

In an instant, the intersection was filled with loud gunfire, catching the ordinary members of the Apocalypse Society completely off guard; much of the group were turned into sieves.

"Damn it, it's an ambush!"

All at once, the members of the Apocalypse Society turned red-eyed, cursing wildly and raising guns to fire back at the government troops that suddenly appeared.

Bobby only needed a glance to recognize which government forces these troops belonged to.

Luo Qingtian's private army!

Inspection Division's troops!

He knew these people too well; many of Chen Che's goods had been seized by these troops.

Bobby's expression turned ugly, and he looked at Chen Che, saying, "Damn it, Master Chen. Something's off here! Why did Luo Qingtian suddenly send people? The timing is too perfect; could he have been waiting for us all along?"

Chen Che stared intently at the battlefield below, silent, until his communicator suddenly buzzed.

Upon connection, Arubic's exasperated questioning was heard: "Chen Che! What's happening?! Why is there an ambush? Whose people are these?"

Chen Che looked at the scene with a heavy gaze, a fleeting glimmer of coldness in his eyes, and he cursed: "Damn! We underestimated that bastard Luo Qingtian; he must have received some intelligence… he might know that Zhou Shaoyang faked his death!

Arubic, deploy all your people!

Zhou Shaoyang may not survive today!"

Upon hearing this, Arubic was overwhelmed with a chilling sensation.

…

Time rewinds to the previous night.

Luo Qingtian sat in his office, contemplating the development of the entire situation, feeling something was amiss.

Why did Chen Che suddenly change his attitude?

Was it to drag him into this mess as well, to share the hatred from the Apocalypse Society?

No, something just felt off.

But Luo Qingtian couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong.

He felt Chen Che's final change in attitude was intentional…

As Luo Qingtian was deep in thought, the rhythmic sound of high heels approached, and a woman walked alluringly into his office.

Upon seeing Song Xuejian, this seductive woman, Luo Qingtian temporarily set aside his thoughts and embraced Xuejian's waist, beginning to flirt with her.

Faced with Luo Qingtian's advances, a charming smile merely lingered on Song Xuejian's face. Just as Luo Qingtian leaned in to kiss her lips, she suddenly blocked him with a document, laughing, "Here's something you might want to take a look at."

Luo Qingtian, intrigued, accepted the file pouch Song Xuejian handed over, took it out, and saw there was a storage card inside.

Luo Qingtian shot a skeptical glance at Song Xuejian, unsure of what she was up to, and after pondering a moment, inserted the storage card into his device for analysis.

A moment later, a surveillance video appeared on the screen.

The surveillance video captured the entrance to the underground morgue at the Finance Bureau.

It showed a shadowy figure entering the morgue stealthily, returning out roughly two or three minutes later.

Seeing this, Luo Qingtian's eyes showed confusion, and he asked, "What's going on? Who is that? Why go into a morgue? What's the value of a pile of rotten bodies?"

"Bodies are naturally valueless, but what if there's a living person among them?"

Hearing this, Luo Qingtian raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

"When I saw this surveillance, curiosity and doubt emerged, so I investigated this person's identity. Can you guess under whose command this person works?

From the very famous Master Chen.

I was really curious why this Master Chen would send his own men into the morgue, so I personally checked the morgue myself and found that nearly all the bodies were untouched, except for one person's!"

"Zhou Shaoyang?!" Suddenly realizing something, Luo Qingtian's breath quickened.

"Correct, it's Zhou Shaoyang's body! No, he isn't dead, so how can it be called a body?"

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