Let them offer their loyalty!

'He actually made it...!'

Although since learning that Qiu Tu was plotting to become the Head of the Political Department, a premonition lingered in Yan Chen's mind.

But when it all became reality, he still found it hard to believe.

Today's weather in Xinjie City was fine, but because the curtains were drawn in the office, the light could only struggle through the gaps in the curtains, barely providing a glimmer of brightness to the spacious office.

Sitting in this piece of territory that belonged solely to him, Yan Chen leaned back in the mahogany chair, his whole person cloaked in darkness.

He closed his eyes, tilting his head back, silently contemplating in the dim environment.

'Something's off, something's really off...'

His mind raced, and he proceeded to sort through everything that had happened recently.

'Qiu Tu's promotion was just too fast...'

'It's as though a hand is orchestrating everything.'

Yan Chen recalled the year he had known Qiu Tu.
Experience new stories on My Virtual Library Empire

He felt the initial Qiu Tu was somewhat clever, but he was still honest and simple at heart.

But... since a few months ago, Qiu Tu had become a completely different person, entirely unlike his former self.

It was just that because the original impression was too ingrained, he had continued to see Qiu Tu as the young man from the bottom of the Disaster Zone.

Now, setting aside all first impressions, Yan Chen re-evaluated Qiu Tu and was shocked to discover that in just a few months, Qiu Tu had completely fooled all the powers within Xinjie City.

Uniting allies, driving the wolf to devour the tiger, leveraging forces against each other, all kinds of political strategies were played out fancifully by him.

And what was more important was, he seemed to have no political bottom line, for the sake of promotion, he even got involved with Tang Feifei and climbed into her bed...

Such tactics, such ruthlessness, were definitely not something a lower-class individual could achieve.

And thinking back to the starting point of all these changes... Larilo's descent, when he performed the "Spirit and Flesh Convergence Ritual"...

Yan Chen slowly opened his eyes, his murky gaze fluctuating incessantly...

Memories surged.

Yan Chen remembered that day; everything had been going very smoothly.

His ritual had been initiated, Larilo's consciousness descended, converging with his daughter Yan Yan's clone...

Then suddenly, the sky drastically changed, and the ritual shattered.

At that moment, as though in a trance, Yan Chen's Spiritual Perception was automatically triggered, and it seemed as though he saw the corresponding area of Xinjie City and the Boundless Heart Sea engulfed by howling winds, dark clouds swirling, layering, forming a raging vortex!

Following that, a roar like that of an ancient beast echoed within the coiling storm.

Accompanied by that roar, bolts of lightning struck down from the heavens, cleaving the sky, shattering the storm!

When the vision dissipated, the only thing lingering in Yan Chen's retina was the lightning dancing like silver snakes across the heavens...

After this incident occurred, Yan Chen never mentioned it to anyone.

He always felt as though he had inadvertently triggered something, and he remained restless.

But he had been keeping an eye on Xinjie City and the Boundless Heart Sea for this period and had not noticed any changes.

Initially suspecting his intelligence system was inadequate, he obtained an advantage over President Tian and upgraded the Political Department's surveillance and eavesdropping systems.

Still, no discoveries were made...

Now, he suddenly had a flash of insight: could it be... that day's celestial changes actually manifested on Qiu Tu's body?

And because it's often darkest under the lamp, he had failed to notice this?

Thinking of this, Yan Chen's crumpled face tightened with some confusion.

But... what exactly was the relationship between Qiu Tu's changes and those celestial changes?

Could it be that some high-level Evil God noticed his ritual and took advantage of it to seize Qiu Tu's body using some method?

Or perhaps, that celestial change awakened some Catastrophe Power within Qiu Tu, causing his abilities to advance by leaps and bounds?

At this thought, Yan Chen's aged hands slowly clenched tighter.

If this were true, then he felt that many of the recent incidents might have a new explanation...

For instance... he had never understood who had been calculating against him beforehand.

Now it seemed... it must be the 'changed' Qiu Tu.

After all, only this possibility could explain why people like Tang Fei, Liu Xiongyuan, who were not adept at conspiracy, managed to scheme against him so thoroughly.

Not only did it lead to the complete failure of his plan to Devour Larilo and advance to Fourth-order Catastrophe-Evolver, but also all his efforts ended up benefiting Liu Xiongyuan, Ye Mingfeng, Dai Yukang, and others.

The more he thought about it, the angrier Yan Chen got.

If Qiu Tu were in front of him right now, he guessed he could slap Qiu Tu to death! Letting Qiu Tu know the consequences of angering an Investigation Bureau Chief!

However, thinking of this, Yan Chen suddenly realized: Qiu Tu was already the Head of the Political Department.

Although the appointment hadn't come down yet, since Yue Zaitian had sent a message that represented failure, it was probably irreversible.

So... he couldn't harm Qiu Tu at all anymore.

Even, not to mention harming Qiu Tu, he now had to face him in a more equal manner.

After all, the Head of the Political Department was one of the nine senior executives of the Investigation Bureau. He could participate in the Bureau's senior meetings and had voting rights and decision-making powers on various major issues.

And what's more... the Political Department was just too important.

The Political Department was essentially a secret police force, holding all the spies of the Investigation Bureau, wielding the power to supervise various departments, and most crucially... also controlling the Investigation Bureau's intelligence network!

To be frank, as an Investigation Bureau Chief aiming to control Xinjie City, he could not do without the Political Department.