As Lin Mo pushed open the office door, he saw a row of people standing inside.
Perfectly lined up, as if they were here to welcome him.
The heavyweights from all three core departments—Combat, Command, and Intelligence—were all present.
This kind of turnout was something even the family clans couldn't always muster for their meetings.
But today, they had all gathered for Lin Mo.
Xu Wendong was there too.
Lin Mo gave him an extra glance.
This fellow still hadn't been arrested. Apparently, the internal process at Yanhuang Awakening required three rounds of memos, approval at every level, and eight stamped seals before anything got done.
But other people's business wasn't his to worry about.
The moment he stepped in, applause broke out.
It was rhythmic and enthusiastic, but no one spoke. They were all waiting.
Long Tianqi came around from behind the desk, her steps unhurried, her elegant face carrying a look of admiration and composure.
"I knew you could handle that witch from the Korean side, but I didn't expect you to wipe out the Super Youth Corps entirely, and even get the Shouxin Society—the organization behind them—on the watchlist of the Divine Eye Bureau."
She paused. "The North has been under pressure lately, and now they can finally breathe easier."
No sooner had she finished than a few department heads chimed in.
"Consultant Lin's performance this time, frankly, exceeded all our expectations."
"Exceeded expectations? It was off the charts."
"Single-handedly turning the tide on the peninsula—that's not an overstatement, is it?"
Lin Mo listened, his face showing nothing special.
Praise was fine. It wasn't like he hadn't been praised before.
At the rescheduled awards ceremony, Teacher Bai had heaped plenty of praise on him.
But he noticed that while these people spoke flattering words, there was something complicated in their eyes—admiration, yes, but wariness too.
They weren't just wary of Lin Mo; they were wary of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect behind him.
No matter how hard they probed, they couldn't find anything about that power, and the less they found, the more unnerved they were.
A force capable of producing a monster like Lin Mo—who wouldn't be scared?
But based on Lin Mo's actions, this Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect was probably a friend of justice.
So despite the calculations running through everyone's minds, they kept their faces friendly and warm.
After a few rounds of praise, Lin Mo figured that was enough.
He hadn't just gotten off a plane and come here to be showered with compliments.
He glanced at Long Tianqi and gave a nod.
Long Tianqi said nothing. She reached under the desk and pressed something.
A low mechanical hum came from all directions.
Metal shutters dropped over the office doors, seals sealed the gaps, and the vents in the ceiling closed up.
Within five seconds, the entire office had become a sealed chamber.
Top-level confidentiality protocol.
Everyone else immediately turned serious.
Lin Mo pulled a USB drive from his pocket and tossed it casually onto the desk.
"It's all organized. Take a look."
Xu Wendong was the first to pick up the drive.
He glanced at Lin Mo, said nothing, turned and plugged it into the USB port on the desk panel.
Three large screens slid silently down from the walls, and an embedded terminal rose from the center of the desk.
Xu Wendong worked fast, opening the file directory in a few clicks.
A list of city names appeared.
He clicked on the file for Tianjing.
The screen filled with content instantly.
Names scrolled across it, along with information and intel on each person.
He scrolled down several screens and still hadn't reached the bottom.
Xu Wendong's hand froze on the mouse.
The room went silent for three seconds.
"This list!" Xu Wendong's eyes went wide.
An ultimate, fully compiled spy list?!
The other department heads stared at the names on the screen—many of them were familiar.
"This is intel I gathered from the Super Youth Corps," Lin Mo said.
One city, Tianjing, and over a thousand names on the list.
That number alone was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
Minister Chen from the Intelligence Department reacted first. He strode over to the screen in two or three steps, his eyes nearly pressed against it as he scanned line by line.
His lips moved, silently mouthing the names.
After about two minutes, he turned back and looked at Long Tianqi.
"Very high credibility. Every key target we're currently monitoring is on here. There are also at least twenty-plus people we've suspected for years but never managed to get solid evidence on."
He swallowed hard. "This list is more detailed than three years of work from our entire Intelligence Department."
Even saying that out loud made his face sting.
But facts were facts.
Long Tianqi stared at the names and data scrolling endlessly across the screen, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.
"That's too many."
She furrowed her brow. "And the reach is too broad—military, politics, business, academia... Some of these people hold sensitive positions. We can't just cut them all off at once. Those with value need to be kept, and those who need to be purged can't be handled with a soft hand. The balance..."
As she spoke, Director Long turned her gaze to Lin Mo, her eyes full of conflict.
"Don't look at me," Lin Mo said as he sat down on the sofa. "How you deal with these people is your problem. Arrest them, play the long game—whatever. It's none of my business. I don't have the time or the interest."
"Wait," Minister Chen interrupted.
The head of Intelligence began searching through the other cities in the directory and found a problem.
"Hey, Consultant Lin, why are there no cities from Guangdong on the list?"
The others looked at the screen as well. Sure enough, the directory had Tianjing, Shanghai, Chuancheng, Xiangnan—but not a single city from Guangdong.
Lin Mo blinked.
"There are some."
"Then why..."
"They're in my head."
Minister Chen froze.
Lin Mo said, completely serious, "I just didn't put them up there. The ones in Guangdong—I'll handle those personally. After all, that's where I live."
The department heads exchanged glances. This sort of move was technically against protocol.
But this intel was his. The entire Intelligence Department of Yanhuang Awakening had done three years of work that didn't amount to what was on this USB drive.
Under those circumstances, who was going to argue protocol with him?
Even though Lin Mo was clearly running the show now, they still couldn't help but look at Long Tianqi.
Several pairs of eyes turned toward her at once.
Long Tianqi was silent for a moment, then waved a hand.
"Fine."
She said it plainly, then added, "Dongfang Shuye will go back to Guangdong with you. He'll serve as Yanhuang Awakening's overall commander there. Chen Lai gets reassigned to her old post."
Translated: "Do whatever you want—I'm sending someone you trust and I trust to go with you. One, to back you up in your operations. Two, to clean up the messes you leave behind."
Lin Mo thought it over and didn't object.
"Alright. It's settled then."
He stood up, walked toward the door, then stopped and glanced back at the screen full of names.
"Oh, and one more thing—move fast, and keep it quiet. Don't come crying to me if the rats scatter."
With that, he pulled open the door and walked out.
In the office behind him, the several department heads exchanged glances. Then all eyes returned to the dense list of names on the screen.
Added together, these name lists came to tens of thousands of people.
There was plenty of work to be done.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
