Chapter 66

Chapter 66

A week later, Li Xuyin accompanied the NA04 Team to extradite Li Xuyang back to China.

Even now, the Li family had no idea what was happening—a stark reminder of Li Xuyin’s merciless methods. By the time Zeiss’s subordinates arrived at the São Paulo villa, intending to interrogate Li Xuyang on-site, they found that Li Xuyin had already worked him over as thoroughly as possible.

Apart from his bones and organs remaining intact, Li Xuyang was covered in visible torture marks. When Xu Changying saw him in the interrogation room, he barely recognized the man.

*King.*

From the moment Li Xuyang was captured, it took Li Xuyin a week to pry a confession out of him.

The irony was that Li Jiayu had no clue about Li Xuyang’s true identity. Li Jiayu only knew that his biological father—Li Tianyue—was a key figure in LEBEN, but he couldn’t confirm whether other family members were users of David City. He’d always been excluded from the family’s dark dealings, relegated to low-level tasks, and aside from Glory, he’d never enjoyed any of LEBEN’s resources.

Moreover, it was unclear whether Glory was a reward for Li Jiayu or merely a leash used to control him.

Through harsh interrogation, Li Xuyin obtained a recorded confession from Li Xuyang, which became the basis for the AGB and domestic police to arrest him.

At midnight, Xu Changying encountered Li Xuyin in the same corridor. The typhoon season had passed, and the downpour from before had ceased.

As usual, Li Xuyin was impeccably dressed, sitting on the metal chair like a shadow in the darkness. As Xu Changying approached, he noticed that Li Xuyin had gotten much thinner, his stern demeanor even more pronounced than before.

After two weeks, Xu Changying could barely limp short distances. He walked over slowly, waving away the smoke in front of him before sitting down. “Guess this is my fault for overworking you. How’d you get so skinny?”

Li Xuyin held a cigarette between his fingers, turning his head to look at him. “Why are your injuries worse instead of healing?”

Xu Changying patted his leg. “Hanging in. One more week, and the cast can come off. Can’t be helped—work, you know.”

Li Xuyin offered him a cigarette, but Xu Changying waved it away. “Trying to quit *again*. If I don’t smoke, my leg might heal faster.”

Li Xuyin smirked around the cigarette. “Last time your leg was bad too, but you didn’t care. Since when do you value your life? Someone nagging you?”

Xu Changying rubbed his nose sheepishly. “Wouldn’t say that.”

“The AGB officer who visited you said you put in a lot of effort to help Li Jiayu quit his addiction,” Xu Changying said quietly, eyes on the cigarette butt. “How’s it going?”

“Not great,” Li Xuyin exhaled slowly. “First, we tried rehab doctors, then research doctors. Nothing beat strapping him down.”

“Xia Qing told me Glory is a synthetic neuro-drug. Once detox starts, you can’t show weakness, or relapse will be worse than before,” Xu Changying leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he eyed Li Xuyin.

“You didn’t go soft, did you?”

Li Xuyin took a drag and turned his head, meeting Xu Changying’s scrutinizing gaze. After three seconds of silence, he replied, “No.”

Xu Changying looked away. “Good. If you flip-flop and let him backslide, it’s better not to detox at all—not just for his hormones, but he’d lose his mind for good.”

“I know,” Li Xuyin stubbed out the cigarette.

“What’s your plan after this? Won’t the Li family come after you?” Xu Changying’s tone carried a hint of concern.

Li Xuyin scoffed. “They already cut me loose. Why bother? Even if Qing Yuan collapses, it’s none of my business.”

Xu Changying chuckled. “Maybe it’s because of your attitude that the whole family kept their fringe beliefs from you. What about your father?”

Li Xuyin said, “I haven’t spoken to him yet. I’m certain he doesn’t know about LEBEN either. Our branch might just exist to mop up after Li Jiahao and Li Xuyang.”

Xu Changying had some understanding of the Li family’s affairs. During high school, Li Tianyue had favored Li Xuyang’s father, Li Jiahao. But in college, a bridge project overseen by Li Jiahao collapsed due to poor construction quality, bringing Qing Yuan to its knees.

After that, Li Xuyin’s father, Li Jiaping, resigned from the military academy and gradually became the de facto leader of the Li family. Yet, it remained a mystery how much influence Li Xuyin’s family truly held under Li Tianyue—slaving to clean up Li Xuyang’s messes and revive Qing Yuan for years, only to be kept in the dark about the family’s dirty work.

Totally unlucky and downright chilling.

"What about you?" Li Xuyin turned his head to look at Xu Zhangying.

Xu Zhangying tilted his head slightly. "What?"

"Xia Qing," Li Xuyin chuckled. "He helped you send Li Xuyang to prison. Won’t his mother have objections? Li Xuyang worked hard to butter up Madam Lin in the Li family."

Xu Zhangying mused, "Come to think of it, Xia Qing isn’t even remotely close to Li Xuyang. But this morning, Lin Shuhua found out about this and went ballistic."

Li Xuyin raised an eyebrow. "Would he be angry at you because of Li Xuyang?"

"You’ve got it backward," Xu Zhangying said, both amused and exasperated. "He’s furious that Li Xuyang turned out to be a criminal. He’s worried this man might taint their Lin family’s spotless godly reputation in the slightest. I bet if he hadn’t kept his cool, he might’ve called to persuade Lin Hanshan to divorce Li Jiahao."

Li Xuyin was amused by Xu Zhangying’s words, and a hint of life finally broke through his cold expression. "The empire is crumbling, and the only ones who might emerge unscathed are the Lins."

At that moment, Xu Zhangying still hadn’t grasped the metaphor in Li Xuyin’s words. Li Xuyin checked his watch and stood up. "I need to go back."

Xu Zhangying looked up at the tall alpha, surprised. "Aren’t you going to rest for a bit? You just got off the plane."

Li Xuyin’s expression remained calm, but a flicker of something complicated passed through his eyes. "I need to be back by sunrise."

Only then did Xu Zhangying realize he was heading back to São Paulo. He froze slightly. "Is Li Jiayu not doing well?"

Li Xuyin said, "Same old, same old. Once he’s tied up, he’s locked in there."

"But you can’t keep him tied up forever, can you?" Xu Zhangying recalled the *glory* addicts he’d seen at the LSA Medical Center—none had succeeded, and their conditions were horrifying.

Li Xuyin forced a faint smile. "He’ll be given a sedative at dawn. That keeps him under for five hours."

"Alright." Xu Zhangying didn’t know what else to say, so he simply nodded.

"Zhangying," Li Xuyin turned back to look at him in the hallway. "Did Xia Qing ever say there’s a possibility of quitting *glory*?"

"Xia Qing has a team under his name working in the lab to synthesize *glory*. We can wait a little longer. Once it’s cracked, there might be a specialized treatment." Xu Zhangying gazed at him quietly.

"Good. Appreciate it."

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, leaving Xu Zhangying with a strange sadness, unsure when he’d see Li Xuyin again.

But when Li Xuyin later sent over all the interrogation videos, Xu Zhangying finally understood what he meant by "the empire is crumbling."

Li Xuyin’s private villa was near the coastline of São Paulo. He cut off all communications there, drew Li Xuyang across the border, and directly escorted him to the villa. It took three days for Li Xuyang to realize no one in that house had his back.

Only then did the real interrogation begin.

In the video from the final day, Li Xuyang rattled off four names from the Li family and three from the Tang family—including even Li Tianyue and Tang Xinyi, Tang Youning’s father.

According to Li Xuyang, after coming of age, he was introduced by Tang Xinyi into a North American club where most members were nobles in Life. Then, through Tang Xinyi’s maneuvering, he obtained his own title—initially, like Li Jiayu, he was a marquis.

Soon, under Li Tianyue’s direction, Li Xuyang began attending secret gatherings in various regions worldwide. These were extravagant affairs, and though they included some shady and messed-up "games," they weren’t flat-out illegal.

Li Xuyang paid sky-high entry fees each time, but Li Tianyue instructed him to provide an additional large sum to the organizers beyond the attendance cost.

Every dollar counted toward his "dues." Before long, after being promoted to duke, he was dragged into a whole new scene—a different aristocratic organization apart from David City: Babylon.

The organizer of Babylon was known as "Ophanim." Like Mephisto, no one had ever seen his true face. The biggest difference between this organization and David City was that Babylon was a VIPs-only "club."

If David City was Rome’s public assembly, then Babylon was the inner circle.

Babylon does not operate via the dark web. Different members are organized and led by different Emperors. Li Xuyang was unclear about the total number of Emperors, but his Emperor was Corbett from the North American Nolan family.

Every member admitted into Babylon must regularly pay exorbitant *taxes* to maintain their titles. Those expelled due to insufficient rank lose all future access.

In exchange for such a hefty price, members gain access to services beyond the reach of ordinary people—*immortality*.

In the video, Li Xuyang lay on white marble flooring, his hands bound behind his back. His body and the floor were soaked, likely after being doused with water repeatedly.

His face was swollen beyond recognition as he weakly stammered out details about the *immortality* services that both Li Jiahao and Li Tianyue had once received.

Beyond the known stem cell reinfusions, there was also the extraction of raw pheromones from prime Omega glands—an illegal human-derived supplement far more euphoric than synthetic alternatives.

Even more shockingly, Li Tianyue had received a kidney transplant from a 20-year-old beta-gender male five years prior.

When questioned about Zhao Lanyue’s murder, Li Xuyang finally admitted to leaking Shen Feng and Zhao Lanyue’s information.

He knew full well that Zhao Lanyue should never have been allowed to live "happily" with Shen Feng—because he, too, had been among those who tormented her.

According to him, Shen Feng had *"introduced"* Zhao Lanyue not to anyone else, but to his own *master*—a young alpha from the Yan family.

Li Xuyang didn’t know his real name, only that he went by Eugene and had close ties to the Nolan family.

At the time, Li Xuyang lacked the standing to interact deeply with him. It was only during a gathering on the open sea that he encountered Zhao Lanyue, abandoned by Eugene.

Like any ordinary gathering, after assaulting her, they assumed she would be "transferred" through layers of handlers, eventually vanishing from their lives.

As for Shen Feng, Li Xuyang remembered him more distinctly—everyone at these gatherings knew Eugene had a highly capable *slave* who handled his dirty work.

So when, mid-celebration aboard a Pacific yacht, Li Xuyang heard the woman before him laugh about A Feng being with Zhao Lanyue, he immediately realized Eugene’s *slave* had gone rogue. He casually mentioned it to his Emperor, Corbett.

Thus, Li Xuyang insisted he bore no responsibility for Zhao Lanyue’s death—he had merely alerted Eugene to his *slave*’s disobedience, leaving their punishment to the rules.

At the video’s end, a suited man stepped into frame and kicked Li Xuyang square in the face with a leather shoe, sending blood spurted from his nose and mouth before he lost consciousness.

"Water..." It was Li Xuyin’s voice.

The video ended.

Li Xuyang was first detained by the Major Crime Unit before being transferred to a national special investigation team. The 523 case concluded with an unimaginable resolution—at least for now.

Both Xu Zhangying’s team and the Major Crime Unit were left with unresolved frustrations, but given jurisdictional and procedural limits, the *Living Artwork case* had to be forced to pause temporarily.

The biggest beneficiaries were the NA04 Team, who appeared late in the investigation. After just one day in China, they secured exclusive intel on David City from Xu Zhangying’s group.

Then, upon returning from São Paulo, they obtained intel on the 'Babylon' operation and the Nolan family’s crimes—all within another single day.

Xu Zhangying, however, never concerned himself with internal AGB resource exchanges, so he remained silent.

Looking back on the *Living Artwork case*—from the initial unidentified victims, to Zhao Lanyue and Shen Feng’s emergence, to David City and the revelation of *Life*—each step felt like an unexpected turn Xu Zhangying had never experienced before.

Standing on the police headquarters’ rooftop, Xu Zhangying gazed at the vast sky, the skyline, the familiar and unfamiliar landmarks.

This was the real world.

But what lay beyond it?

—Had something been overlooked?

For some reason, Xu Zhangying felt a gnawing suspicion.

- "Do you believe fate exists?"

The man with a travel backpack bent down to look at him. The 10-year-old Xu Zhangying couldn't answer, and the man gently ruffled his hair.

- "I don't believe in it."

The man spoke, and Xu Zhangying saw a bonfire-like spark in his eyes, like a flame in the night.

Then, he stood there, watching the upright figure walk out of his life without looking back.

"I don't believe in it either," Xu Zhangying whispered, his words carried away by the wind on the rooftop.

After standing for a while, Xu Zhangying turned around—and froze.

Xia Qing was standing by the stairwell entrance. He was dressed in a black shirt and black trousers today, making his skin appear even paler. The wind lifted the bangs on his forehead, revealing intense, bright eyes.

"Why are you here?" Xu Zhangying made his way toward him, leaning on a hiking pole-like cane.

As he reached Xia Qing, Xu Zhangying stumbled slightly. Xia Qing quickly steadied him, took the cane from his hand, and slipped an arm around his waist, taking the weight off Xu Zhangying’s injured right leg.

"I couldn’t find you, so I thought you might be here," Xia Qing whispered close to his ear. "Captain Fang just called too—he needs to talk to you."

"I was just taking a walk. I can hardly believe the case is finally over," Xu Zhangying leaned against Xia Qing and smiled, using Xia Qing's support as they slowly moved forward.

"Yeah, you've been through so much."

Xia Qing turned his face slightly to look into Xu Zhangying’s eyes.

They were standing so close together that Xu Zhangying could clearly see himself reflected in Xia Qing’s eyes. And in that moment, a feeling he'd suppressed countless times welled up uncontrollably in his chest.

"You too, Xia Qing. You’ve sacrificed too much time," Xu Zhangying said, laughing again, "and money."

Xia Qing’s gaze lingered on Xu Zhangying’s face. At this moment, they were so close it felt like an embrace.

This is already enough.

A voice whispered in Xu Zhangying's mind.

This is already far more than enough.

The voice continued.

But then, as if beyond his control, Xu Zhangying suddenly raised his left hand. He couldn’t resist the urge to confirm the reality of this world—so he gently touched Xia Qing’s cheek.

The young man’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he didn’t speak, letting Xu Zhangying’s hand remain against his face.

It’s real, Xu Zhangying thought to himself. No longer just a broken shadow from those confused dreams.

"Are you two filming a movie?"

A cold, mocking voice came from the stairwell.

Xu Zhangying jerked back to awareness and immediately withdrew his hand, panic flashing briefly in his eyes before he turned toward the stairwell with a puzzled expression.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Zeiss stood with his arms crossed, lounging against the railing. His handsome mixed features held an unreadable coldness. "You seem unable to separate work from your personal life."

Xu Zhangying leaned against the railing as he limped, then asked curiously, "What personal life?"

Zeiss straightened up and gave him a cold look, as if Xu Zhangying were some completely irrational person.

Then, Zeiss raised his eyes again to gaze at the top-tier alpha standing on the stairs. The other man met his gaze calmly, his eyes clear and composed, revealing not a trace of excess emotion.

Without another word spoken, Zeiss turned and marched away with a stern expression.

Xu Zhangying glanced at the alpha inspector striding away, then turned to look at Xia Qing, completely lost. Holding onto the railing, he followed behind Zeiss and complained,

"Man, your temper’s getting worse—did I even do anything to you? Our team even provided you with so much classified info!"

Zeiss strode through the emergency exit door toward the Major Crime Unit office at the end of the hallway. Xu Zhangying instinctively let go of the railing, and in the next moment, Xia Qing’s hand steadied him.

"Careful," Xia Qing said, looking down at him.

"Sorry," Xu Zhangying stumbled a little and grabbed Xia Qing’s hand.

Still dressed in his sharp suit, Zeiss continued forward without a backward glance. Xu Zhangying quickened his pace for a couple of steps but couldn’t keep up, so he stopped and silently watched the receding figure.

Xu Zhangying lowered his gaze and muttered, "Ridiculous."

*Tap.*

The footsteps halted. Zeiss stopped at the entrance of the Major Crime Unit and turned around, his eyes filled with icy disdain. He sneered, "Shouldn’t that be *my* line?"

Seeing Zeiss’s stormy expression, Xu Zhangying frowned. "Did I do something wrong? Zeiss, just say it outright—stop being cryptic. When have I ever mixed up work and private life?"

"Not *your* work—*mine*," Zeiss said coldly, staring at him. "Did the Asia Branch send you the wrong files?"

Xu Zhangying’s temper flared, ready to snap *Do you have to speak in questions?* But then he caught the restrained emotion in Zeiss’s eyes and suddenly recalled all the recent oddities.

"Wait," Xu Zhangying hesitated, speaking slowly,

"You don’t mean… being assigned as the reinforcement officer responsible for my personal safety, do you?"

The hallway remained silent.

"What the hell, why would a second-grade inspector be responsible for *my* safety?" Xu Zhangying’s hair stood on end—he suddenly remembered how, since returning from São Paulo yesterday, Zeiss had been stuck to him like glue, even insisting on accompanying him to the hospital for a midnight dressing change.

Xu Zhangying’s anger turned to shock, then shifted into blame-shifting. "You should’ve *said* something—I thought you followed me to the hospital last night just to mock me."

Zeiss’s expression twisted with barely restrained fury, a vein throbbing at his temple. He shut his eyes tightly before reopening them to glare at Xu Zhangying. "I’ve been fulfilling my duties. *You’re* the one who blurred the lines between personal and professional matters, and now you’re blaming *me*?"

"Alright, I’ll admit—it was wrong of me to overlook that you were just doing your job, and I was rude earlier. My apologies," Xu Zhangying said sincerely.

But then he sighed helplessly. "Still, why do you keep saying I can’t separate work and private life? What private life do I even *have*?"

"Surely stepping out for air after work doesn’t count as private life, does it?"

The alpha inspector stood like a statue, silent and unyielding, his gaze locked onto Xu Zhangying’s eyes. His lips pressed into a thin line, the disapproval and letdown in his expression almost tangible.

"Hey, what’s *really* going on?" Xu Zhangying’s anger faded as he hobbled forward a couple of steps.

The beta agent’s face was full of confusion, but his tone softened as he walked. "Zeiss, you’ve been acting strange ever since you arrived from Hawaii this time. Last year wasn’t like this."

Zeiss stared at Xu Zhangying’s injured leg, his fists clenching. He shook his head. "How can you still say things like that? You truly disappoint me, Edmund."

Then his gaze shifted to Xia Qing standing behind Xu Zhangying, his eyes icy as he said coldly,

"—Or do you *dare* not admit that you got cozy with your fiancé during the investigation?"

"Thud!"

Before Zeiss could finish speaking, Xu Zhangying stumbled and face-planted hard onto the ground.

He fell so abruptly that even Xia Qing behind him didn’t anticipate it, rushing forward only after he had already collapsed to check his injuries.

Zeiss was also startled, standing rooted to the spot.

Xu Zhangying curled up on the floor, clutching his leg in pain, his face contorted in pain but flushed with rage. He shouted angrily:

"Zeiss, you lunatic! Have you lost your damn mind?! Who the hell told you that?!"

Alpha Inspector instinctively took two steps forward, but when he saw Xu Zhangying being held by Xia Qing, his steps halted. His gaze turned icy once more: "I didn’t believe Inspector Laura’s words before—that a beta extremist like you would get engaged to a high-tier alpha."

"If Professor Xia from LSA isn’t your fiancé, then who else could it be?"

*Clatter.*

A crisp sound rang through the hallway, cutting off Zeiss’s words.

For some reason, the noise seemed startlingly close. The Alpha Inspector slowly lowered his gaze, following Xu Zhangying’s line of sight, only to see a phone lying on the floor by the office door.

At that moment, a hand suddenly appeared, picking up the phone with deliberate slowness. The man wore an American-style striped notch lapel suit, standing out starkly from his surroundings.

Behind him stood Qi Feng and Yu Mei. After picking up the phone, all three kept their heads down, avoiding Xu Zhangying’s gaze.

"The hell are you doing here?" Xu Zhangying’s vision nearly darkened when he recognized the man.

"I came... because I needed to talk to you."

The man clutched the phone, trying to play it cool, but his eyes involuntarily flickered toward the Alpha Inspector at the door, who was giving off serious murder vibes.

Finally, he worked up the nerve and cautiously looked at Xu Zhangying, hesitating as he asked:

"Senior man... were you guys just... talking about me?"