Chapter 849: Chapter 849

Rodan Republic · Capital City of Eren

The faint dawn light scattered across the bright streets as He Ao walked through the scattered shadows between trees, reaching the front of the office building.

The facial recognition device of the office building emitted a soft beep, and the glass doors opened to either side.

This was the headquarters of the Rodan Republic Research Institute.

"Good morning, Minister He."

Just as He Ao entered through the glass doors, a gentle voice with a hint of warmth came from behind the door.

He Ao looked up and saw a woman with a neat short ponytail, wearing silver round glasses, dressed in a white shirt under a small suit jacket, a pencil skirt paired with matte black tights, and sharp, thin-heeled black high heels, within his field of view.

At that moment, the woman was holding a thick stack of documents, gazing at He Ao, her eyes shimmering slightly behind the lenses.

He Ao looked at the woman dressed like a professional beauty, slightly startled, then quickly remembered, "Yan Yue? When did you arrive in Eren City?"

Although the Rodan Republic was now said to be jointly managed by the Research Institute, Moonlight, and World Tree, it had actually become led by the Research Institute.

The other parties would consult the Research Institute’s opinion before taking any actions; therefore, as the temporary head of the Research Institute in Rodan, He Ao was now the de facto person in charge of the entire Rodan Republic.

However, He Ao himself did not want to manage people, and he also did not know when he might leave Rodan, so he asked Li Cheng for a ’secretary’ who possessed management skills and was willing to come to Rodan.

Li Cheng recommended Yan Yue.

Yan Yue herself was a D-Rank Transcendent, had been to relics, and had also been the head of a large coastal city in the south. Within the Research Institute, her codename was "Organizer," and her resume showed she had extensive management experience.

He Ao had no objections and had her appointed directly, but according to the original plan, Yan Yue was supposed to arrive in the capital city of Eren today.

Yan Yue nodded solemnly, then opened the documents she was holding, "I took the time last night to organize all the recent materials."

"So you didn’t sleep last night?"

He Ao glanced up at her.

Yan Yue seemed not to expect He Ao to focus on this; she paused her actions and then explained, "I slept a lot on the plane, and I needed to adjust for the time difference once I got here, so I just did these tasks."

He Ao glanced down at the files in her hand, took them from her, and as he walked forward, he asked, "So, is there anything big that needs my attention recently?"

"All the details are in these documents,"

Yan Yue’s expression returned to serious, and she followed He Ao’s pace in her high heels, explaining as they walked, "There are two matters that are particularly important."

He Ao flipped through the files while nodding, indicating for her to continue.

"The first matter is that over the past few days, there have been many disappearance cases in Enke City on the border of Rodan and the Yika Republic, directly under the jurisdiction of the Research Institute,"

"According to the local head, the gendarmerie initially thought it was some transnational kidnapping gang committing crimes, but after a long investigation, they found no clues, and the missing persons are all suspected of having received calls from ’deceased friends’ or ’relatives’ before disappearing."

"A call from ’the deceased’? Sounds like some sort of covert force is at work,"

He Ao paused his flipping for a moment and commented, "So they reached out to us?"

At this point, they had reached the hallway of the office area where frosted glass walls divided the office into different rooms.

Staff continuously passed by, greeting He Ao warmly.

Yan Yue nodded, responding to He Ao’s comment, "But after a long investigation by the local head, they couldn’t find any clues, suspecting that a C-level covert force was ’consuming people,’ so they sent the files here, hoping we would send someone to investigate."

In Rodan, the local heads of departments were mostly D-Rank, even many E-class, so basically, C-level supernatural incidents were beyond their capability.

He Ao nodded lightly, stopping in his tracks, "Arrange a car to Enke City for me, I’ll go there directly."

Yan Yue also stopped, surprised at He Ao’s decision.

"Now that I’m the only C-Rank in Rodan and they suspect a C-Rank covert force, it’s naturally most suitable for me to go,"

He Ao smiled, closed the files in his hands, "Besides, Enke City is a famous tourist city in Rodan, if there’s nothing serious, I’ll just treat it as a trip."

"Do you need to arrange accompanying personnel?"

Yan Yue pulled out a small notebook and removed the pen stuck on it,

"No need, I can go by myself."

He Ao shrugged his shoulders and then turned to look behind him.

Two casually dressed girls who looked like Zhongtu people were following not far behind him; as soon as he turned around, the two girls immediately turned their heads away and pretended to be discussing something.

"Did you just transfer from Central Earth? Is there something you need?"

He Ao looked at the two young girls with confusion; they had been following him ever since he entered the office area.

Upon hearing his question, both girls shivered simultaneously, then turned around awkwardly and looked at He Ao.

Then, nudged constantly on the shoulder by the girl on the left, the girl on the right slowly walked over with a face red and heated.

She pulled out a postcard and a pen, handing them to He Ao with nervous, trembling hands, "Minister He, could, could you sign an autograph for us?"

He Ao lowered his head to look at the postcard.

It was printed with the photo of him looking back during the Velora incident, which was also the most popular photo of him on the Research Institute’s forum.

He raised his hand, signed his name on the postcard, then handed both the postcard and pen back to the girl behind him, "In the future, you can speak up directly. Working in a foreign land together, we can help each other. If you are not accustomed to living here, you can also apply to be transferred back, but remember not to let emotions interfere with your work."

The girl took the postcard, nodded earnestly and heavily, "Minister He, I will work hard!"

"Did they transfer here with you?"

After watching the two staff members leave, He Ao turned back to Yan Yue.

Yan Yue nodded, her expression remaining serious, "We were on the same flight, the same batch over here, but we don’t know each other. They are probably staff from Dongdu."

"How many of the new employees came because of me?"

He Ao rubbed his temples.

He still remembered that there was a post titled ’How to Transfer to Minister He’s Team’ on the forum’s hot list for a long time.

Hearing his question, Yan Yue paused for a moment, then slowly said, "A portion of them."

"They must all be capable people,"

He Ao turned around, continuing forward, "But decisions made out of admiration and affection are often impulsive, and the reality is that they need to work in a foreign land where the conditions differ, which can easily lead to disillusionment and discomfort. I won’t always be in Rodan, so I will need you to handle such coordination."

Yan Yue raised her head, looked at the side profile of He Ao, then nodded, "Alright."

He Ao also nodded slightly, then asked casually, "You mentioned there were two matters; besides the business in Enke City, what’s the other one?"

"The other matter is not as important as the Enke City situation, but it is related to Central Earth,"

Yan Yue explained, "Lin Chichi, a special correspondent from the Research Institute, applied to come to Rodan the day after tomorrow to conduct an investigative interview about the tripartite joint management."

He Ao seemed slightly startled upon hearing the name.

"It’s the girl you saved on the Velora."

Of course, He Ao remembered Lin Chichi.

This girl had helped him unravel a murder mystery on the Velora, although somewhat clumsy about it, but at the critical moment, she had entrusted her life fully to He Ao.

Of course, at that time, He Ao was using the identity ’Hao Yi.’

Lin Chichi and ’the real He Ao’ only met at the end of the Velora, when the real identity was involved in the rescue.

"She’s a special correspondent now? What is she doing currently?"

He Ao nodded, asking offhandedly.

"According to what I’ve asked from a friend’s schedule,"

Yan Yue opened her notebook and glanced at it, "Before she comes here, her schedule was to ’interview’ Hao Yi in Newland City-State."

These matters were outside the scope of work for the Rodan Institute branch, but within the potential range of inquiries by ’Minister He,’ so she had also prepared in advance.

"Mm, I understand," He Ao nodded. He also remembered that the Research Institute had mentioned they needed to interview ’Hao Yi’; he just didn’t know that Lin Chichi was in charge of it.

At this moment, the two of them had already arrived in front of He Ao’s office door.

A thin layer of dust coated the door handle; he knew this office but had scarcely spent time here.

His hand on the doorknob, he casually said, "Is this interview part of the promotions? Let her come over; our department here will try to accommodate her as much as possible and also notify Moonlight and World Tree about it."

Yan Yue nodded her head.

By that time, He Ao had already turned the doorknob and pushed open the office door.

Suddenly, Yan Yue by his side called out to He Ao.

"Is there something else?"

He Ao turned back to look at her.

Yan Yue’s delicate fingers flipped open a notebook, revealing a three-inch postcard inside, which she held out to He Ao, "Could you sign this for me?"

Seeing the look in He Ao’s eyes, Yan Yue’s serious expression softened slightly, and she diverted her gaze with a somewhat breathless voice, "It wasn’t entirely an impulsive decision."

Newland City-State · Wenlan Island

In a quiet seaside cottage, He Ao’s Hao Yi clone was taking a nap on a lounge chair in the yard.

Due to the time difference, the morning in Rodan was the afternoon in Newland City-State.

Twilight sprinkled over the undulating sea surface, and the sounds of the waves gently echoed as they lapped against the pebbles.

The seas in the Main World were much calmer and gentler than those in the Copy World. Although there were still storms, they were not as omnipresent as in the Storm Sea.

The slightly moist breeze caressed He Ao’s cheeks like tender hands.

This seaside cottage had already become He Ao’s ’residence’ on Wenlan Island.

The Three Major Organizations had already ’gifted’ Newland City-State to ’Hao Yi’, making the entire city-state theoretically under the management of ’Hao Yi’.

This management differed from Rodan’s loose ’management,’ as He Ao could intervene in all the affairs of the entire city-state, and he had indeed built his own management team.

However, as the de facto ruler of this city, he still preferred to sit in the seaside yard and enjoy the breeze.

A crisp knock sounded from outside the gate.

The visitor opened the door cautiously, peeking inside the yard until she saw He Ao sitting at the center of the yard and smiling at her.

The girl entered the yard, closed the door behind her, and quickly walked up to He Ao, excitedly spinning around.

Her light floral dress fluttered in the wind, revealing her delicately fair legs, "Hao Yi brother, it’s me! Surprised or not, unexpected or not!"

"There’s a seat in front, I reserved it for you."

He Ao raised his hand and pointed at a chair opposite him.

"Eh eh eh! Aren’t you surprised to see me?"

The girl pouted and sat opposite He Ao, then took out a small, neat 13-inch laptop from her shoulder bag, "I went through a lot of trouble and even asked the dean not to tell you it was me coming."

He Ao looked at the girl’s cunning eyes, like those of a little fox, and gently nodded, his voice perfectly flat, "Very surprised."

"Wow, that’s really an emotionally full surprise," Lin Chichi glanced at the kettle on the stove in front of her on the table, lifted the lid, and found it empty.

Then she naturally took some tea leaves with one hand, pouring them into the pot, and with the other hand, she picked up a water pitcher nearby and poured water into the kettle,

"Hao Yi brother, do you prefer your tea weaker or stronger?"

"Should I make something light?" she asked.

As she spoke, she poured tea leaves while glancing at He Ao’s face. Once she confirmed he didn’t show any change of expression at the mention of "light" meals, she carefully stopped what she was doing, turning on the stove to brew the tea.

After she finished making the tea, she reached into her bag and took out a thermal lunch box, placing it on the table with a giggly smile at He Ao, "Mister Hao Yi, guess what this is."

He Ao glanced at the lunch box and casually responded, "Soup dumplings?"

The girl’s eyes instantly widened slightly, and then she quickly blinked and lifted the lid of the lunch box, revealing the steaming soup dumplings inside.

"Mister Hao Yi is so smart, there are no surprises then."

"Where did you get the soup dumplings from?"

He Ao raised his hand, and the girl naturally took out a pair of chopsticks from her bag and handed them to him.

On the Velora, the dishes he had ordered were only three types: twice-cooked pork, Mapo tofu, and soup dumplings. It was clear that Lin Chichi remembered his preferences.

The first two were obviously main dishes, and it was past mealtime, plus Lin Chichi couldn’t be sure whether He Ao had eaten or not.

Only the soup dumplings could be considered a warm snack, and by the way Lin Chichi handled the lunch box lightly, it was clearly not heavy like the dishes that tasted best when hot like Mapo tofu and twice-cooked pork, so He Ao had directly guessed soup dumplings.

"This is Chichi’s little secret."

Lin Chichi watched as He Ao picked up a soup dumpling and chuckled.

He Ao gave her a look as he lifted a soup dumpling to his mouth, asking no further questions.

The soft, thin wrapper was instantly torn open in his mouth, releasing a richly flavored soup.

The skin was light and fluffy, likely made from freshly kneaded dough and wrapped recently, and had not been out of the steamer long, kept fresh in the thermal lunch box.

Newland City-State had one or two Zhongtu restaurants making soup dumplings, which He Ao had tried and found not to be very tasty. The ones made by Zhongtu restaurants in the Tia Empire were mostly altered; these must be made by a true Zhongtu chef.

He looked up at Lin Chichi. "Did you bring a chef with you?"

"It seems I can’t hide anything from you, Brother."

Lin Chichi blinked her eyes, not denying it.

He Ao glanced at her bag. "You didn’t just bring one pair of chopsticks, right? Let’s eat together."

The girl didn’t refuse, taking out another pair of chopsticks from her bag, picking up a soup dumpling, and putting it in her mouth, her eyes squinting into crescent moons. "Delicious!"

He Ao looked at her and laughed, "You’re full of tricks."

If she really wanted to offer a treasure, she would have taken out the lunch box the moment she came in, but she held back, took out her computer, and even brewed tea before she took out the lunch box.

She wanted to divert He Ao’s attention first and then surprise him, showcasing her ’thoughtfulness’.

"Chichi doesn’t have many talents, and isn’t strong,"

Lin Chichi blinked her eyes, grabbing another soup dumpling. "So I put my effort into other areas."

She quickly finished the dumplings and then watched He Ao eat all the dumplings. After he put down his chopsticks, she swiftly packed up the lunch box and poured him some brewed tea.

When everything was finally in place, she rested her hands on the keyboard, looking seriously at He Ao,

"So, esteemed Mister Hao Yi, shall we begin the interview?"

He Ao smiled as he gazed at her.

The evening breeze of twilight blew across the rippling tea, brushing through the hair of the people in the courtyard.

On the sedan heading to Enke City, He Ao picked up his old phone and glanced at the time.

Yan Yue had acted quickly, arranging a ride for him in a short period. However, the journey from the capital Eren City in Rodan to Enke City in the north wasn’t easy. Most likely, it would be close to evening when they’d arrive.

He yawned and glanced at his palm.

The delicate blood-red lines beneath his skin were still faintly visible, a "damage" left from using the Eye of Truth.

However, in cases of minor damage, his body could repair itself.

With each breath he took, a constant flow of energy emerged from the jade pendant on his chest, feeding his Martial Arts Training.

His physical fitness was gradually improving over time.

He picked up the "missing case" file next to him and began to flip through it page by page.