Chapter 182: Wen Shilin's Conflict

"No! I'm not lying!" A'Cheng struggled frantically against the chains. "Everything I said is true!"

Chen Ling gripped A'Cheng's neck, his five fingers gradually tightening, as if he were about to strangle him to death right there. At the same time, that chilling voice rang out again:

"How can you prove it?"

"I..." A'Cheng's voice was intermittent from being choked. "In the interlayer of my desk drawer at the newspaper office... I also hand-copied a backup... I really did leave the original at the meeting point... I don't know anything else..."

Chen Ling's eyebrows rose slightly.

Of course, he didn't know about any original, nor did he know where the meeting point A'Cheng mentioned was. But that didn't matter anymore. If that [Tan Xin] had really sent someone to the meeting point, the original had probably already been taken away.

However, the fact that A'Cheng had hand-copied a backup and kept it at his desk at the newspaper office was truly intriguing... It seemed this kid wasn't all that loyal to the forces behind him?

Then again, if he were truly loyal, he wouldn't have confessed so easily.

Having obtained the location of the backup, Chen Ling relaxed slightly and spoke unhurriedly:

"What is the 'Hand of Redemption' project?"

Chen Ling didn't know what the 'Hand of Redemption' project was, but judging by Wen Shilin's reaction, it seemed to be highly classified intelligence.

The moment he heard this question, A'Cheng was stunned, then, as if thinking of something, he spoke in astonishment:

"No... that's not right! You're not one of Officer [Tan Xin]'s men! Who exactly are you?!"

A'Cheng's heart plummeted to the bottom. He never expected that the other party would disguise themselves as [Tan Xin]'s men to trick him. No wonder they said they hadn't found the original; he had indeed fallen for it, and even exposed the backup he had kept... At this moment, he knew he was finished.

But he still didn't understand, which faction would do such a thing? Who would be interested in the "Hand of Redemption"?

"Does that matter?" Chen Ling sneered. "You have no other choice now. Either talk, or... die."

Since he knew A'Cheng wasn't completely loyal, and Chen Ling didn't want to play word games with him anymore, he simply laid his cards on the table and pressed the gun barrel against A'Cheng's forehead.

A'Cheng's face under the cloth bag was deathly pale. He gritted his teeth and struggled for a long time before speaking with difficulty:

"I don't know..."

Chen Ling narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, A'Cheng continued: "The security level for this project is simply too high. It's said that even among the top Enforcement Officers, there are no more than five people with the authority to know about it... I was just an undercover agent sent to lurk beside Wen Shilin. How could I possibly know the specific details of this project?"

"According to you, the 'Hand of Redemption' project has such a high security level, so how did Wen Shilin, a mere reporter, find out about it?"

"I don't know the specific details. I hadn't infiltrated his side yet at the time... He spent months investigating this project and was interrupted several times along the way, so he only found some fragmented clues, all of which were in those articles...

I remember most clearly that the 'Hand of Redemption' is suspected to be related to the fate of all humanity in the Aurora Domain... and will bring us redemption.

I only got the articles yesterday, and that's all I know. I really don't know anything else."

A'Cheng's tone was incredibly sincere. Since learning that Chen Ling wasn't one of [Tan Xin]'s men, his tone had become noticeably humble to the extreme. He knew his life and death were no longer in his own hands, or the hands of the forces behind him.

Related to the fate of all humanity in the Aurora Domain?

Hearing this, Chen Ling's heart stirred... Could it be the Aurora Lord? Or is it related to those frozen sea disasters outside the city? Or does Aurora City still have some hidden trump card?

Chen Ling tried to coerce him in other ways a few more times, but A'Cheng didn't provide any more useful clues. Knowing that asking further wouldn't yield any results, he simply gave up on the interrogation.

He looked at A'Cheng, who was still struggling bitterly while wearing the black bag, and gently pulled the trigger.

A minute later, the humming of the machines in the factory slowly stopped. Chen Ling pushed open the silent factory door, and a gust of cold wind blew away the faint scent of blood inside.

"This Wen Shilin is indeed interesting."

As if thinking of something, he chuckled, and his figure gradually disappeared at the end of the wilderness.

……

Wen Shilin couldn't sleep.

In his cramped room of just over ten square meters, he tossed and turned in bed. Every time he closed his eyes, Chen Ling's calm and silent face appeared in his mind, and all he could hear in his ears was the whistling of punches cutting through the air.

Wen Shilin didn't know what was wrong with him. The last time he had experienced this was when he was in school, experiencing his first love, and met a girl he shouldn't have... But this time, it was a man. Of course, he knew he didn't have any strange fetishes, but the impression Chen Ling had left on him was simply too deep.

At three in the morning, Wen Shilin still couldn't sleep. He simply got up and sat at the small table, lit the kerosene lamp in the corner, and prepared to record his experiences of the day.

But he was always absent-minded, and during the recording process, he would involuntarily drift off, stopping and starting several times. Wen Shilin remained silent for a long time, then sighed and took out the photo from the file bag.

The dim candlelight illuminated the words "Who stole your heart?" Looking closely, the brushstrokes were full of hatred, shocking to the eye.

This thing seemed to be one of the sources of his distraction...

Wen Shilin flipped the photo over and stared blankly at the strange boy's face in front of the table.

I don't know how much time passed, but he took out a blank sheet of paper and copied down the sentence from the back of the photo. Then his thoughts began to extend continuously, and one question-marked phrase after another was linked together, the most important of which were words like "heart," "organs," "hospital," and "organ trafficking?"

For some reason, Wen Shilin's thirst for knowledge about this matter was almost bursting. He was immersed in guessing all the meanings of this sentence, and when he came to his senses, the sky outside had already brightened.

Wen Shilin sat blankly at the table, watching the morning sun rise in the corner, feeling empty inside...

His peripheral vision fell on the file bag containing the job application information. A strong impulse surged into his heart. He impulsively stuffed the photo back into the file bag, hurriedly threw on his clothes, and rushed out the door toward the morning sun.

He wanted to see Chen Ling again! There were some things he had to ask.

He knew that perhaps Chen Ling didn't want to see him right now, but that lost file bag was a perfect excuse.

As for how to find Chen Ling... "Inadvertently," Chen Ling had already provided the answer.

He would go to Miracle Doctor Chu to treat his wounds. Given his injuries, he probably wouldn't be able to leave that clinic for a short time... So, as long as he went to Dr. Chu's clinic, he would definitely be able to find Chen Ling!