Chapter 5, Chapter Five: The Crown of the Blazing Sun
"Of course," Di Shangming managed to squeeze out.
Shu Zhijing, Director of the Investigation Division of the Executive Office of the Inner World Bureau, and the chief disciple of the Kunlun Mountain Sect Master.
He was also a notorious fighting maniac.
Sword cultivators are often known for fighting beyond their level or defeating stronger opponents, and Shu Zhijing is one of the best among them, with ridiculously strong individual combat power.
Moreover, she was unafraid of getting hurt and became increasingly frenzied with each beating. However, if this madwoman were to suffer any serious injury, the Kunlun Mountain Sect Leader was not exactly a reasonable person.
Emperor Ming knew that the Black Market of Zhuri City auctioned off living beings, since the sale of living beings was extremely profitable with no initial investment. However, the living beings sent to the Black Market were all confirmed to be unrelated to anyone, so how could they be sold to Zhan Zhou's students?
The aircraft landed neatly on the open ground next to it, and two well-organized teams of investigation members emerged.
Zhan Zhou's teachers also followed the investigation team out, preparing to search for their students in the ruins.
"Teacher, we're here." Zhihe Qing led her team, covered in dust, as they crawled out of the ruins.
In that battle just now, if Zhihe Qing hadn't been a water-element cultivator, a disciple of Ao Wei, a descendant of a dragon, and if Ao Wei hadn't given her an ice-element magic weapon out of concern for her students' safety during their fieldwork, they would have all been burned to death in the ruins.
The Otherworld is really dangerous; Lin Cai is still somewhat shaken.
"It's alright, the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs has arrived, we should be safe now," Jian Yun said softly, noticing her unease.
"The Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs?" Lin Cai suddenly remembered that she seemed, perhaps, should be, a fugitive from the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs.
Everything went black before her eyes.
"Lin Cai!" The tiger cub, led by the elder, came over from the side and saw Lin Cai break free from the elder's restraints and run towards Lin Cai. "It's so good that you're alright."
“I just told the elder about our situation,” Tiger Cub said casually. “The elder said he would explain to the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs and then contact them to send you home.”
"Really?" Lin Cai was pleasantly surprised and hugged the tiger cub tightly. "Thank you, Little Orange! That's wonderful!"
"I only brought you here because of me, and besides, my name isn't Little Orange!" The tiger cub struggled in Lin Cai's arms. "My talent has awakened, and I'll be an adult soon, and I'll have a majestic name!"
"Little Orange is such a good name, so from now on you'll be called Little Orange!"
Elder Bai Zhai of the Tiger Clan ignored his own runaway cub and walked over to Shu Zhijing. “Little Shu is so big now that he can stand on his own,” he said, patting Shu Zhijing’s shoulder heavily. “Our Tiger Clan’s lost cub has been found. The Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs no longer needs to search.”
"He accidentally brought an ordinary person from the surface world into the inner world. We can send him home through the interdimensional gate later."
Shu Zhijing paused for a moment, then said, "Uncle Bai, don't hit me so hard. Humans and tigers have different understandings of power."
"The patrol reported to the enforcement office about an illegal transnational thief and his accomplices. The problem is, they escaped from prison."
Shu Zhijing said to Bai Zhai, word by word, "They escaped from the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs prison."
"If they were tiger cubs and an ordinary person from the surface world, how did they escape from prison?"
"Furthermore, in the last thousand years, there has never been a case of an ordinary person from the outer world entering the inner world. So how did the tiger cub bring people here?"
Bai Zhai: "Xiao Shu, the tiger cub's talent is spatial teleportation. He accidentally brought people here."
“We all know that space travel cannot bring ordinary people into the inner world; the world barrier will keep her in the outer world.”
Shu Zhijing said, "Elder Bai, let's handle this officially. I've already reported the location of the two escaped convicts from the Execution Department's patrol team. Ordinary people entering the Inner World is a major anomaly in the Outer World, and the escape is also a major incident for the Inner World's Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs."
"The head of the enforcement department is on his way."
Bai Zhai's face darkened, and he didn't say anything more. Instead, he turned and walked to a spot not far away to make a phone call to his clan.
As Shu Zhijing said, this was an unusual incident in both the inner and outer worlds, which even alarmed the powerful figures in the Executive Office of the Bureau of Alien Affairs. If things really escalated, he would need to report to his clan first.
---
The fighting finally stopped, but a lot of people showed up.
The moment the battle ceased, Yan Shi swiftly tore open the world barrier and jumped inside.
After all, the culprit behind today's drama is now in her hands.
Sheng Chunqiu was calling her.
“Chief,” came the rapid whistling sound on the other end of the line, “the Tiger Clan’s lost cubs have returned to the Inner World, along with a resident of the Outer World. They were captured by the patrol and taken to the Interdimensional World, after which they escaped from the Cero City prison.”
"We have now received a notification that they are at the Sunrise City black market. The information department has compiled the details of the incident and sent them to your email."
"I'm already on my way to the gate to the inner world."
“No need to come, Chunqiu,” Yanshi said. “I’m around here.”
"I will..." The sound of the wind on the other end of the phone suddenly stopped. "Director, you mean...?"
“I have something to do here, I’ll go myself. I’ll also take a look,” Yan Shi thought of the comic featuring Lin Cai as the protagonist, and wanted to give Sheng Chunqiu some hints, “The Child of Destiny.”
Sheng Chunqiu was stunned. The chosen one?
In the end, she still had to work overtime. Yan Shi hung up the phone and sighed. Fortunately, her spell could be used again, which was still convenient.
However, the blazing sun crowns the crown.
She opened the box and tentatively reached for the crown.
Surprisingly, contrary to its appearance of flowing scorching flames, the Crown of the Sun does not feel hot to the touch.
It has a warm touch.
Yan Shi presented the crown.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the top of the crown was inlaid with a ring of rubies. Because the spiritual energy emitted by the gemstones was so intense that it had even materialized, the top of the crown appeared to be flowing with leaping flames.
It's dazzling and sparkling. But the excessive embellishment makes it look a bit like...?
Yan Shi gestured with a strange expression. Why did it look a bit like the Barbie princess crown that her grandma bought for her when she was playing house as a child?
The overall design is almost identical, and even the texture of the ruby is no different from the crystal plastic gemstones from my childhood.
She casually placed the crown on the table, intending to change her clothes before going to rescue Lin Cai. Suddenly, the crown flew up automatically, slipped onto her left wrist, shrunk to the size of a suitable bracelet, and then remained still.
"Huh?"
---
The investigation team is already systematically searching the ruins of the black market, verifying the identities of survivors, and detaining members of the merchant guild suspected of participating in the black market auctions for trial later.
When the battle broke out, the merchant caravan to which Jinwu belonged retreated first with the valuable auction items, but the most serious loss was the stolen Sun Crown.
The Zhihe Light Squad brought a recording device and took pictures of a lot of internal information before the black market was destroyed.
Therefore, even if there were no Jinwu merchant group in the ruins at this time, the evidence is conclusive that Jinwu presided over and participated in the black market.
Lin Cai, however, was restless inside the Investigation Division's aircraft.
She and the tiger cub had just learned from Elder Bai Zhai of the Tiger Clan that the series of things she had done in one day had alarmed the higher-ups of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs.
"It can't be that serious, can it?" Lin Cai was somewhat shocked.
Furthermore, according to the investigation team members' explanation, the files in the outer and inner worlds are synchronized. In other words, she now has a criminal record and may soon be going to jail.
"Will I be expelled from school for having a criminal record?" she murmured to herself. "I worked so hard for three years to get into this university..."
Bai Zhai patted the tiger cub's back. "No matter what, this matter started because of you, tiger cub. Our tiger clan will do our best to protect your voice."
Speaking of prison breaks, "Oh right," Lin Cai remembered, "where's Yanlan?"
"Let's go first," Tiger Cub whispered. "This guy is capable of breaking into the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs prison. With such a big commotion, he's probably already gone."
He had just secretly told Lin Cai that he hadn't told the elders about Yan Lan helping them escape from prison, because the elders thought that Tiger Cub's spatial teleportation had taken him and Lin Cai out.
“Yanlan broke us out of prison to save us, and if word gets out, she’ll definitely be hunted down by the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs,” Tiger Cub said. “I told her that I really wanted to get out, and then I suddenly realized my talent and took the two of us out.”
“I am a cub of the tiger clan, so the clan won’t put me in jail. In fact, the elders are very happy; they say my talent is exceptional.”
Words cannot express the gratitude. Lin Cai hugged the tiger cub tightly again, saying, "Little Orange, you're so good to me."
"I've already told you my name isn't Little Orange!"
Shu Zhijing stepped into the aircraft.
Lin Cai and Hu Zai immediately stopped playing around and sat up straight.
"The bureau chief has come in person."
"Your director?" Bai Zhai's expression was extremely serious. He glanced at Hu Zai and Lin Cai again. "It seems this really is a major incident for the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs."
As he spoke, a spatial rift suddenly appeared inside the aircraft.
A person emerged from the crack.
Because it was the Golden Crow's territory, the fire elemental energy within the City of Chasing the Sun was extremely volatile. As this person entered, the originally active fire elemental energy in the air calmed down and obediently stayed on both sides of her.
She was wearing a standard trench coat, with the buttons neatly fastened to the collar, and her hair was neatly tied back with a wooden hairpin.
She has a pair of extremely beautiful peach blossom eyes, with upturned corners, which should be a slightly flirtatious eye shape, but instead only make her appear calm and sharp.
"Yanlan?" The tiger cub was dumbfounded.
No, it's not Yanlan. Although they look very similar, he immediately recognized her.
Yan Lan always wore a smile and seemed nonchalant. While she also tore open space, Yan Lan relied on a powerful spell. She herself had no spiritual or magical energy fluctuations; she was just an ordinary person.
But the people around her are different; fire elemental power bows down to her. To be precise, it's very likely that all elemental power bows down to her.
All things have spirits. When the tiger cub was little and didn't want to cultivate, he heard the elders say that once you cultivate to a certain level, you no longer need to absorb spirits into your body through meditation and release them, or chant long and difficult incantations to summon them. The spirits in the air will be at the mercy of powerful beings.
But even the clan chief couldn't do that; he always thought it was just a myth or legend told to him by the elders.
The woman's gaze swept over Bai Zhai and Hu Zai in turn, finally landing on Lin Cai.
Shu Zhijing gave a very standard junior's greeting, "Director."
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