White Deer, torn to pieces.

Heart Core, soul shattered.

Ruins... the Ruins are still alive!

Even when Lu Feng brought him out, there was only half a body left, a Hot Blade Kinetic Axe stuck in his forehead, both hands pinned with an Anchor Armor-Piercing Bomb, and an electromagnetic impact rod clamped in his mouth, yet after all this 'eating and taking,' he still had a breath...

And after a shot of spiritual supplement, could even cry out loud.

"Don't, don't hit me anymore, don't hit me!" Wan Wu sobbed, his broken tongue wriggling, struggling to produce a garbled sound: "I'll confess, I'll confess everything... I... I took the money... the one who instructed me is..."

"Shh!"

Ji Jue smiled, patting the dog's head, raised a finger to his lips—don't say anything, no need to explain.

Just feel it with your heart.

Ji Jue was neither interested in nor cared about what he had to say.

Though it might be wise to recognize the situation, and Brother Feng had already pried open his mouth, the person was dying, making it hard to discern truth from falsehood in his words.

Who would believe that?

Anyway, I already have a list of suspects, might as well go through it from top to bottom.

By then, those who die deserve it, and as for those who survive... if they can still be around, there's definitely something wrong!

In the brief wait, there was a knock at the door.

The person outside took off his hat, holding it with both hands, and gave Ji Jue a simple smile: "Sorry, I'm late."

"Just in time, come in, please."

Ji Jue made way, "You've been a great help."

This is the expert brought by the little gold furball.

With rough skin, a dark face, patches of sunburn, grizzled stubble, muscular, like an old fisherman, cautious and humble.

In Xinquan, he'd be inconspicuous, seen everywhere.

If there was anything distinctive... it was only the seemingly deliberate sense of distance.

Even when he smiled, he avoided eye contact with anyone.

Enough to be called 'polite.'

For a Heart Core Chosen One, this was a kind of courtesy only shown to esteemed guests, to indicate one's harmlessness...

No choice, facing the Heart Core faction, the general attitude of the Chosen Ones was averse or opposed, even if better informed, they'd respectfully keep their distance.

After all, those guys are too shady!

There's a saying that human imagination is limitless, just looking at the development and fantasy surrounding certain abilities on a certain light green forum, it's clear why the Heart Core faction has such a bad reputation.

One prerequisite for Awakening the Heart Core, is an abnormally violent and turbulent desire within the heart compared to ordinary people!

Imagine having such a person living next to you, who could sleep soundly!

Without complete trust, who could accept a Heart Core as a friend? Even with complete trust, how can you tell if that trust comes from his efforts, or his ability?

The so-called trust is such an annoying thing, once doubt arises, even the slightest, everything can be gone.

Additionally, since Heart Core operations are maxed out in all shady places, their combat strength on the surface equals ether, yet they can't outrun ether.

You should know, if you're planning to wipe out ether tomorrow, ether might have fled yesterday.

Even hiding in the dark, you can't hide from Mirror. After all, even if you painstakingly catch a Mirror, it might just be a mimicry disguise they've crafted.

Moreover, they can't easily seek shelter like craftsmen in workshops.

Therefore, most Heart Core Chosen Ones generally don't reveal their identities lightly, hiding securely, observing from the shadows, possibly using several layers of isolation to ensure their own safety.

Then, this further deepens everyone's stereotype of Heart Core as cunning sly foxes...

No choice, if you talk about shady, indeed they are shady.

If a man's prejudice is a mountain, then the Heart Core's is the world's highest peak... Numerous tragic precedents have successfully forged Heart Core's reputation of notoriety, even securing the lowest rung on the Twelve Superior's disdain chain, saving Embers from chaos.

'Old Fisherman' is his code name.

In the wilderness, interactions are not about origins or the past, and the partnership between Old Fisherman and the Desert Market has lasted many years, to prevent the golden-haired simpleton from messing things up, Chen Xingzhou specifically sent him as an external brain.

Considerably trustworthy, one can say.

Yet even if trustworthy, it's hard to develop any special relationship, just a colleague-level connection at most.

Now that he's here, there is no reason to waste time.

No questions asked, no unnecessary glances.

After taking off his hat and understanding Ji Jue's requirements, he rested his hand on Ruins' head.

With a pull, a myriad of consciousnesses like a mesh were drawn out from the soul, those countless mixed thoughts and memories tangled together, a chaotic mess.

Yet the Old Fisherman's fingers were incredibly nimble, deft as a real fisherman, casually separating the broken ends, unraveling the knots tangled together, like tidying a fish net.

Tracing upwards from the ends, reading.

"Hmm, indeed there are several settlements meddling behind the scenes..."

He repeatedly reviewed the memories in his hand, confirming beyond doubt: "Five people in total came, with two waiting at nearby settlements, three hijacking and killing the people who came to fetch the goods on the way, impersonating them, and sneaking in.

There's a mole in Xinquan, bought off, hmm, from the start they were sent by someone."

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