Chapter 67
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Even if the boss was handsome enough to make people envy, it couldn’t erase the resentment in the tone of the working man, Assistant Qin.
Lou Yan walked to his boss chair without changing his expression, ignoring Assistant Qin’s fiery gaze, “Don’t talk nonsense, can the boss be considered late?”
Assistant Qin couldn’t even force a smile anymore, “Boss, you’ve only been to the company twice this month. You’ve spent less than sixteen hours in total.”
Lou Yan leaned back leisurely, crossing his slender fingers on the table. The ruby on his cuff sparkled with the generous light of a wealthy man. He said casually, but irresistibly, “I’ll give you a bonus.”
Although Lou Yan rarely spent time at the company after his rebirth, he had taken care of some paperwork at home in his spare time, freeing up a lot of work for Assistant Qin to handle. If it weren’t for the money to continue stockpiling supplies and secretly preparing to deal with the resurgence of anomalies, Lou Yan wouldn’t have cared about the company’s affairs at all.
Fortunately, he had an all-around Assistant Qin.
“Thank you, boss,” Assistant Qin instantly put away his other emotions, entering work mode in a second, and said crisply, “Boss, I’ve almost completed the tasks you assigned to me earlier. Thirteen large supermarkets have been acquired nationwide, and there are twenty-three storage warehouses. Various survival props such as rice, flour, oil, canned food with a shelf life of over ten years, strong alcohol, seasonal clothing and gear, inflatable boats, tents, first aid kits, telescopes, and other equipment have been stored. I’ve also found partners for the solar cooker, generator, water purification equipment, and a series of instrument devices you need, and signed contracts with them at prices below market value.”
Assistant Qin placed the relevant documents in front of Lou Yan, not asking anything professional—even though he thought the things his boss bought were useless.
Lou Yan finished reading the documents, nodded in satisfaction, and showed a hint of a smile, “Well done, Assistant Qin.”
Assistant Qin smiled slightly, about to speak, when a voice came through the earpiece. After listening, Assistant Qin frowned slightly and reported to Lou Yan, “Boss, there are two public officials who want to meet with you alone. They forced their way up to the building and are now outside the door. These two gentlemen came to the company two days ago looking for you, but you weren’t here, so they left.”
Two days ago was the day Lou Yan destroyed the red coffin and broke through the nightmare illusion, leaving Liushu Village with the villagers.
Lou Yan probably guessed who had come to find him. He casually nodded and sat up straighter, “Please let them in.”
Assistant Qin walked out of the office, and a few seconds later, he brought two men in. The two men were sturdy, dressed in plain clothes, with bright eyes and steady steps, clearly martial artists. The older man looked like he was under forty, with a calm and reserved demeanor. The younger one was in his twenties, exuding a righteous and vigorous aura.
They walked to Lou Yan’s desk, one after the other, without waiting for Lou Yan to say anything, the older man first showed his credentials and looked Lou Yan straight in the eye, saying, “Mr. Lou, we have something to discuss with you in private.”
Lou Yan looked at the words “Anomaly Control Bureau” on the credentials and nodded, “Assistant Qin, please leave. Don’t let anyone else in without my notification.”
After Assistant Qin left, Lou Yan gestured for them to sit down. “Please sit.”
Once the two public officials were seated, they briefly introduced themselves to Lou Yan. The middle-aged man was named Lin Feng, a team leader stationed in Chengjiang City of the Anomaly Control Bureau, while the younger man was named Lin You, Lin Feng’s disciple and team member.
After listening to their names, Lou Yan discreetly glanced at Lin You.
This young man sat up straight, with a military-like posture, exuding a military aura. Lou Yan knew him; Lin You came from a special forces background and was transferred to the Anomaly Control Bureau for duty. In his previous life, Lin You was quite famous. He led the Anomaly Control Bureau to persevere in the apocalypse, making many beneficial contributions to humanity, killing many anomalies and cultists.
The inferior version of the Mental Recovery Syringe, developed based on the Mental Recovery Syringe in the hands of the cultists, was also researched with the help of Lin You.
Lin You’s faith was unwavering. He firmly believed that the resurgence of anomalies would eventually be ended by humanity, and that humanity would triumph in the end. He was a spiritual beacon in the apocalypse, never defeated by despair, never succumbing to the rule of anomalies. Lin You gave many people the strength to persevere. But in the end, such a figure was killed by the cultist traitors hidden in the Anomaly Control Bureau, buried in the mouth of the anomaly.
Lou Yan’s gaze shifted to Lin Feng.
In his previous life, he had heard that Lin You had a master, and this should be him.
“We came this time mainly to understand the unusual situation in Liushu Village,” Lin Feng looked at Lou Yan inquisitively and said straightforwardly, “We heard from the villagers about what you and your friend did. Upon further investigation, we found out that you, Mr. Lou, and your friend named Lu Haoxiu, are not strangers to the supernatural. Your former residence in Lishui Community experienced a supernatural event. That night, someone reported to the police about the release of a biochemical weapon in the Lishui Community. Was that person you, Mr. Lou?”
Lou Yan raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect you to find me just now.”
Lin Feng smiled bitterly and said straightforwardly, “Don’t laugh at me, Mr. Lou. We’ve been busy for the past month. Thanks to your phone call, we discovered the anomaly in the Lishui Community for the first time and learned about the existence of anomalies at the fastest speed. But just confirming the existence of anomalies consumed most of our energy and time. After learning about the anomaly, we urgently established a department, mobilized manpower, and built research institutes…”
“The anomalies in Chengjiang City came one after another, not to mention the anomalies nationwide. Our department has just been established, and manpower is extremely tight. We are also very unfamiliar with new types of terror disasters like anomalies. We need to devote all our efforts to research, prevention, and probing. If it weren’t for you and your friends solving the anomaly in Liushu Village, we might still not know to come to you.”
He spoke sincerely, indicating that the organization behind Lin Feng had a good impression of Lou Yan. Lou Yan nodded with understanding and sincerely told them about the anomalies in Liushu Village—the information about the “red coffin and nightmare.”
“You mean you destroyed the red coffin, but the nightmare escaped?” Lin Feng frowned tightly. “Mr. Lou, is recognizing that it’s a dream created by the nightmare the only way to wake up, as you said?”
Lou Yan shook his head. “I’ve only found this one way, but I’m not sure if there are any other ways. Leader Lin, I’ve only had one encounter with the nightmare in total, and my understanding of it isn’t deep.”
Lin Feng said worriedly, “Being able to unknowingly draw people into dreams, if you hadn’t noticed the details at the last moment, you might not have been able to come out. This ability of the anomaly is really hard to guard against… Thank you, Mr. Lou, for providing us with information. There is one more thing I hope Mr. Lou can cooperate with us to answer.”
Lou Yan remained calm. “Please go on.”
“What is Mr. Lou’s talent?” Lin Feng’s eyes were keen. “And Mr. Lou’s friends, they should also have talents, right? Please tell me as much detail as possible about your talents.”
Lou Yan furrowed his brows.
Lin Feng could tell from his expression that he didn’t want to say. Lin Feng sighed and explained, “Mr. Lou, rest assured, we will keep it confidential. I could have gone directly to your friends to request their cooperation, but I know you wouldn’t want to see us privately approaching your friends, so to show sincerity, we came directly to you. Mr. Lou, I’ll be frank with you. Our department intends to recruit talented individuals to form a team of talented individuals specifically to eliminate anomalies and explore the secrets of anomalies. You and your friends are on my recruitment list.”
Lou Yan said decisively, “I refuse.”
Lin Feng wasn’t angry. He was just puzzled. “Why? I can offer you good conditions.”
Why?
The reason is simple, because there are undercover cultists in your Anomaly Control Bureau.
Lou Yan didn’t explain because he didn’t know if Lin Feng was worth trusting. But if he had to find someone in the Anomaly Control Bureau whom Lou Yan could trust, it would undoubtedly be Lin You, who had been sitting quietly beside him all along.
Lou Yan turned to look at Lin You. “I have something to say to you alone.”
Lin You’s eyes showed surprise as he looked at his master. After a moment of thought, Lin Feng nodded slightly, and Lin You immediately stood up straight and followed Lou Yan into the rest area of the office.
The rest area was not large. After Lou Yan closed the door, Lin You asked straightforwardly, “Comrade Lou Yan, what do you want to tell me?”
Lou Yan smiled, poured two glasses of water, and handed one to Lin You. Lin You glanced at the water and shook his head, refusing, “I’m not thirsty.”
“Comrade Lin You, you come from a special forces background, right?” Lou Yan didn’t mind. He leaned against the armrest of the sofa, gently swaying the glass of water. “Your parents are both deceased, and you have a brother who is a police officer. Last year, he died in the line of duty while chasing criminals. You used to belong to the Cheetah Team, where you were the captain, codenamed Black Panther, right?”
A calm expression on Lin You’s face was instantly replaced by sharpness. His whole body tensed up suddenly, and he emitted a fierce and intimidating aura, like a loaded gun. He stared at Lou Yan vigilantly, already poised to attack. “Comrade Lou Yan, how do you know all this?!”
Lou Yan smiled faintly, lightly pointing to his eyes. “This is what I see.”
Lin You’s pupils shook violently, and he subconsciously retorted, “That’s impossible!”
Ignoring his reaction, Lou Yan continued calmly, “I can tell you now, this is my talent. It allows me to see part of the past and the future.”
Lin You was half skeptical, half believing, and his vigilance towards Lou Yan did not decrease because of his words.
Lou Yan said, “I know you don’t believe me, but I believe in you. Because from my talent, I know that you are a person worthy of my trust, Lin You. I called you here alone for this reason. Regardless of whether you believe it or not, you must remember every word I say next and keep it to yourself. Don’t reveal it to anyone else.”
Pausing for a moment, regardless of how Lin You reacted to this statement, Lou Yan said calmly, “There is a traitor hidden in your Anomaly Control Bureau, and your master will be killed by the anomalies within the first year of the anomaly’s resurgence. This is also the reason why I don’t want to tell you and my friends’ information, and also the reason why I refuse to be recruited by you. Once our information is registered by you, it is equivalent to the cultists knowing our specific information.”
Lin You’s pupils trembled violently, and he subconsciously retorted, “That’s impossible!”
Lou Yan didn’t care about his reaction and continued calmly, “I can work with you and the Anomaly Control Bureau, but this cooperative relationship should only be known to you. Remember not to act rashly, because in the ‘future’ I ‘see’, you will also be betrayed and killed by cultists.”
Lou Yan took a sip of water and pulled out a syringe from the pocket of his suit pants. He tossed the syringe to Lin You.
Even in shock, Lin You reflexively raised his hand and caught the syringe with great precision. Lou Yan lowered his voice. “This is the mental recovery syringe from the cultists. One injection can restore ten points of mental energy without any side effects. I’m giving this to you. Find a way to get the research institute to develop an identical serum.”
After Lou Yan obtained five mental recovery syringes, he distributed one to each of the three, leaving one for himself, and originally intended to keep the extra one for the authorities.
Presumably, this time, the official research institute that could obtain the mental recovery syringe in advance should not produce such inferior quality drugs anymore.
Lin You was stunned by a series of significant information, but Lou Yan didn’t say much more. He walked to the door and prepared to open it to leave.
“Lastly, I remind you,” Lou Yan turned slightly and looked at the bewildered Lin You, “do not tell anyone what I said today, and the Anomaly Control Bureau also needs you to help me deal with them. Don’t let them pay too much attention to me.”
With that, Lou Yan opened the door and walked out.
Lin You watched his figure, his eyes complicated. He glanced down at the syringe in his hand, hesitated for a few seconds, but still hid the syringe close to his body. Then he followed Lou Yan out of the lounge.
When Lin Feng saw his disciple come out, he gave Lin You a meaningful look, asking what Lin You and Lou Yan had talked about. Lin You didn’t say anything and walked to Lin Feng’s side, whispering, “Master, let’s go.”
Lin Feng frowned, glanced at Lou Yan not far away, feeling hesitant. He hadn’t finished asking what he wanted to ask yet. It was not easy to meet Lou Yan, and he didn’t want to leave now.
Lin You hesitated for a moment and added, “Master, let’s go first.”
Lin Feng noticed something unusual about his disciple and sighed. “Alright, let’s go then. Mr. Lou, thank you for providing us with information.”
He stood up, smiled at Lou Yan, thanked him, and then left the office with Lin You.
Lou Yan watched their backs and sighed softly.
Hopefully, Lin You can live up to the mental recovery syringe he gave him.
The entire morning, Lou Yan was busy with piled-up tasks. By the time it was two o’clock in the afternoon, Assistant Qin reminded him that it was time to inspect the work of various departments.
So Lou Yan brought a dozen people and briskly inspected the work of each department one by one.
A group of well-dressed people made the employees nervous as they passed by. Lou Yan always led the way, the tallest and most handsome among them, exuding the most imposing aura. His face showed no expression, making it impossible to tell whether he was satisfied or dissatisfied. The managers of each department waited nervously for their arrival, sent them off respectfully, and breathed a sigh of relief as long as they were not asked to make any corrections.
At around four o’clock, Assistant Qin brought Lou Yan to the studio.
“We invited a top celebrity to endorse our products a few days ago. Today is the time to shoot promotional posters for him,” Assistant Qin flipped through the files, speaking quickly, “He is a singer, very popular in the entertainment industry recently, with strong purchasing power among fans. After reviewing the progress of the studio shooting, today’s work will be over.”
Lou Yan exhaled a breath of hot air, unbuttoned the button at his collar, and casually asked, “What’s the name of this celebrity?”
“His name is Wen Jiu. Mr. Lou, have you heard his songs? His sister is the movie star Wen Yian, the one who’s exceptionally beautiful.” One of the team members behind him said with a smile.
Lou Yan paused his steps.
Wen Jiu?
He raised his eyelids and looked towards the direction of the studio, surrounded by layers of people. Some young girls covered their mouths, excited and blushing, trying to see the center of the crowd.
“Ah, it’s Wen Jiu! It’s really Wen Jiu!”
“Oh my god, he’s my idol! He looks even better in person than on TV!”
Not only some girls but also some young boys couldn’t help but stop working and take a few glances inside.
In the center of the crowd, a blond man stood much taller than the surrounding people, lazily standing there, allowing the makeup artist’s hands to handle him carefully on his face.
The man was wearing a pure black silk shirt with a bright red rose blooming in the pocket on his chest. His golden short hair slightly covered his eyebrows, and his angular jaw exuded a sexy and glamorous aura. His pale, almost translucent neck was tattooed with large black patterns.
The photographer was the first to notice the arrival of Lou Yan and his entourage, immediately stood up and greeted, “Good afternoon, Chief Lou!”
Hearing this, the staff who surrounded Wen Jiu and were reluctant to leave hurriedly dispersed, and the greetings of “Good afternoon, Chief Lou” kept ringing out in the studio.
Sensing the arrival of Lou Yan and his team, Wen Jiu also turned his head to look at them.
Lou Yan’s eyes met Wen Jiu’s golden, beast-like eyes.
Wen Jiu stared straight at Lou Yan, while the makeup artist’s slender fingers were still moving carefully on Wen Jiu’s face, inadvertently blocking Wen Jiu’s eyes, but revealing his high, upturned lips, a lazy, seductive, and flirtatious smile.
Lou Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.
He remembered the words Wen Yian once whispered in his ear.
“Never let my brother see you. Because he, he likes nothing more than ruining arrogant geniuses like you.”
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