Yanjing Statistical Department Inspector Officer Chen Chen.

Grand Steward of the National Relief Association.

The recently resurrected Iron-Faced Monster No. 2.

Hidden Sword Assassin (Impostor)/Victim Le Yin.

The four who each harbored ulterior motives quietly took the same mechanical ladder from the sixth floor of the Platinum Tower to the seventh. Le Yu suddenly realized that now was the best opportunity to annihilate the group—no escape from the mechanical ladder, if he were to cut the chain beside him with one slash, the ladder would fall. With a sheer drop of seven floors, even if everyone didn't die, they'd be left crippled.

Although Le Yu wouldn't escape either, he didn't mind being crippled. With the Medical Bureau around, as long as Le Yu still had a breath, he'd be able to sit up in shock in his dying bed. This is the confidence mystical-level healthcare facilities gave martial artists—under normal circumstances, Yan Yi downstairs would become an incontinent disabled person, but with the Medical Bureau's help, she'd be back in the Imperial Academy as an unstoppable beautiful young teacher in a few days.

Even if, taking a step back, the mechanical ladder fell and didn't kill the Grand Steward and the Iron-Faced Man, without the ladder, how would they ascend to the seventh floor? Climb up from outside the tower?

However, just as Le Yu entertained this thought, the Grand Steward suddenly smiled and said, "I wonder if there's a big villain waiting for us."

"Huh?"

"Isn't it always like that in novels? When the protagonists have gone through so many hardships and lost countless comrades, and they're finally close to achieving their goal, a major villain appears to welcome them for the final showdown," the Grand Steward said. "We've faced traps and ambushes along the way, very much like an adventure novel plot, just a pity there hasn't been a single woman; otherwise, a romance subplot might have even developed."

Le Yu was a bit speechless: "You think we're the righteous protagonists?"

"Of course righteous, would villains ever call themselves villains? The only ones who genuinely wish for evil are those kids aged twelve to twenty, whose brains haven't fully developed yet. Adults, even when doing bad things, do it for a good purpose: for future life, for ideals, for love, for revenge… Even a madman wants to purify this chaotic world."

Click, the mechanical ladder arrived at the seventh floor, and the Grand Steward and Iron-Faced Man walked out first, leaving Le Yu with no chance of bringing everyone down together.

"Looks like there's no big villain waiting for us." The Grand Steward looked around the empty seventh-floor office, the soft blue moonlight gently spreading over the tables, chairs, and bookcases. He reached out and pressed the switch beside the door, and the wall lamps lit up one by one, making the seventh floor as bright as daylight.

"But there's no Holy Sword Radiance either," Chen Chen walked out and said, "It seems Holy Sword Radiance isn't in the Platinum Tower as you guessed, but I won't be refunding your money, you know?"

"Rest assured, the National Relief Association has never taken money back as a precedent, even though we deal with arms, slave trade, intelligence buying, and selling; debt collection has never been part of our business scope." The Grand Steward said lightly, "If unsatisfied, you want your partners to refund you; how's that any different from a free meal? We adhere to business ethics."

Le Yu asked, "Hasn't anyone ever owed you money and not paid back?"

"Of course there have."

"Then what do you do?"

"Retrieve the money in a manner consistent with business ethics?"

"What do you mean?"

The Grand Steward glanced at him, "Doing bad things without being discovered."

Le Yu nodded, thinking that Yanjing's merchants must be special, but their business ethics turned out to be non-existent, not much different from the Silver Blood Association.

The Iron-Faced Man stood motionless in the central area while the Grand Steward observed the giant birdcage of Cha Huan with interest, although the parrot wasn't here tonight, it seemed Cha Huan had sent it away in advance.

Le Yu exchanged a glance with Chen Chen and then watched the Grand Steward's actions, seeing him walk past the bookcase, bypass the desk, reach out, and touch Cha Huan's seat. As if casually sightseeing, yet he didn't search through any inside of any cabinets or take a closer look at any items.

"Even if the Holy Sword Radiance were a bookmark, you'd have to open a book to find it," Raccoon Slave couldn't help but say.

"An interesting suggestion," the Grand Steward smiled faintly, his scarred face looking even more fierce, "Indeed, nothing looking like a 'Holy Sword' is visible to the naked eye. If the Holy Sword could freely change size, using it as a bookmark seems like a wonderful choice. Hmm, if it were me, I'd place this Holy Sword bookmark in this book..."

He pulled a thick and exquisite tome from the bookshelf; Le Yu glanced at it, it was "The Chronicles of the Grand Ancestor."

"Compared to historical books like 'Radiance Chronicles' and '2000 Years of Light', 'The Chronicles of the Grand Ancestor' only records the battle events before the establishment of the Grand Ancestor state; the content isn't much, but among all historical materials, its description of the Grand Ancestor is the most detailed. But because the author of 'The Chronicles of the Grand Ancestor' is anonymous, the academic community has always believed the book's credibility to be low, whereas many folk plays draw inspiration from it, including popular novels. For instance, only 'The Chronicles of the Grand Ancestor' mentions that the Grand Ancestor had three brothers and even talks about his childhood stories, but completely omits the whereabouts of the Grand Ancestor's brothers as they grow up. Even official historical materials have no records of the Grand Ancestor's brothers, so many scholars consider it fabricated..."

"But in unofficial histories, there's plenty of tales about these three brothers, like wandering imperial envoys, pirate kings battling in the East Sea, and some even say the Grand Ancestor wasn't one person but four brothers taking turns playing the role, citing the evidence that he lived a full one hundred and fifty years, which was absurdly long for that time..."

Le Yu read similar novels because the theme "Born Again as the Grand Ancestor's Brother" was so easy to write: hugging the Grand Ancestor's thigh, slaughtering Central Plains demons, winning over talented ministers and generals, winning the hand of a beautiful wife and concubines, then after founding the country, becoming the king of all and the carefree marquis, perfectly hitting the sweet spot of people from Radiance, and even Le Yu found it quite satisfying.

"What are you trying to say!?" Chen Chen didn't have such divergent thinking as Le Yu and coldly interrupted the Grand Steward's speech, "Didn't you confidently say the Holy Sword Radiance was in the Platinum Tower? We've taken you to the Platinum Tower, and you can't find the Holy Sword Radiance? That's the level of your National Relief Association?"

"Inspector Chen, rather than ask me what I want to say, why not ask what you wish to ask," the Grand Steward said while reading the book, "Your doubts have reached your throat, why not ask them? Some secrets, if unasked, might never be known; not all stories are written in books."

Chen Chen was silent for a moment, glancing at the floor of the seventh-floor bookcase, "Platinum Tower..."

"Why are we so certain that the Holy Sword Radiance is in the Platinum Tower?" The Grand Steward laughed, "Are you puzzled by our judgment?"

He coughed twice, then said with utmost seriousness, "So why is the Holy Sword Radiance in the Platinum Tower? Because the Holy Sword Radiance is indeed in the Platinum Tower. You might find this surprising, but it's true, and I am quite surprised too. This is the matter concerning the Holy Sword Radiance in the Platinum Tower, do you have any other thoughts—"

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