Then, Let Them Offer Their Loyalty!

Chapter 78: This Woman Has Transformed

But there was no denying it—Qiu Tu had become even more charming, making it easier to keep the conversation going...

So, despite the alarm bells ringing in her mind, Liu Fuping couldn’t help but ask, "What plan have you come up with?"

Qiu Tu’s eyes flickered before he smiled and asked, "Tang Feifei doesn’t know your true identity, does she?"

Liu Fuping hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded slightly, explaining, "She only leaked the secret to me because she was worried about how I might be affected due to my involvement in the interrogation."

Qiu Tu nodded, not surprised. After all, Tang Feifei was a high-ranking official in the Investigation Department. If she had knowingly leaked classified information to a spy like Liu Fuping, then it would have been Qiu Tu’s turn to rise through the ranks.

With this in mind, Qiu Tu looked at Liu Fuping and made a downward pulling motion with his hand. "Drag her down."

"Tell her about the anomalies in this case and get her to investigate."

Liu Fuping frowned slightly as she looked at Qiu Tu. "Is it that simple?"

"In addition, you need to steal as much information as possible. Share all the clues and details I uncover with her, and then, using her trust, extract various classified secrets from the Investigation Department."

Liu Fuping clearly didn’t understand. "Why would we do that?"

Qiu Tu gave her a deep look, his smile bright. "To make it look like she’s willing to betray the Investigation Department’s secrets in exchange for information with a spy like you just to take down Yan Chen."

Hearing this, Liu Fuping felt a chill run down her spine. She looked at Qiu Tu in shock. "You’re insane!"

"You’re setting up a high-ranking official!"

Qiu Tu walked over to her, gently embraced her, and whispered in her ear, "I’m just adding an extra layer of protection."

"If she sticks to the plan, then that layer will never come into play."

"But if she regrets it later and tries to reconcile with Yan Chen for mutual benefits, we’ll at least have something to prevent her from backing out."

Being held by Qiu Tu again, Liu Fuping’s body trembled slightly. But when she realized he wasn’t as rough as before, her body gradually relaxed.

As she listened to Qiu Tu, her expression shifted several times. After a moment, she gritted her teeth and muttered, "You’re despicable!"

Qiu Tu chuckled, looking out the window as he softly said, "Actually, I wasn’t always like this."

"In the past, I was very kind and naive."

"I believed in being kind to others and thought that enduring hardship would make me a better person."

"I drifted through life like that for many years. Until one day, when I injured my foot, someone brought me a bowl of pig’s feet, telling me, 'The ancestors said you should eat what you need to heal.' That was when I had an epiphany."

"Enduring hardship doesn’t make you a better person; it just makes life harder. Only by devouring others can you rise above them!"

He held Liu Fuping close. Her soft body felt like water in his arms, and his gaze became distant, lost in thought.

They stood together, staring out the window in silence.

After a long while, Liu Fuping slowly came back to her senses. This time, she seemed much calmer, no longer as "unprofessional."

She leaned against Qiu Tu’s chest and softly asked, "What if she doesn’t take the bait or refuses to get involved?"

Qiu Tu gently replied, "Some things aren’t foolproof before you act. You have to act first to see if there’s hope."

"If you don’t try, how will you know it won’t work?"

Liu Fuping remained silent for a while, then suddenly broke into a smile. "Alright~ I get it, Officer."

In that moment, she seemed to transform into someone else.

Qiu Tu looked down at her.

She suddenly turned around, wrapping her arms around Qiu Tu’s hands.

Qiu Tu reflexively tried to exert force.

But before he could, Liu Fuping playfully patted his handsome face, smiling sweetly, "Wouldn’t it be a waste to use all that strength now? Come over to my place tonight."

Qiu Tu froze for a moment, and Liu Fuping took the opportunity to slip out of his embrace.

After leaving his arms, Liu Fuping pulled down her collar slightly, revealing her fair chest.

She glanced at Qiu Tu, raised an eyebrow, and then walked out of the empty conference room with long strides.

Her upturned lips, full chest, and fiery red lips—all exuded an alluring charm.

It was as if she had undergone some sort of transformation within those few minutes.

Qiu Tu stared in surprise at the beautiful woman.

Compared to her previous half-hearted state, she now truly had the air of a female spy...

In the past, while Qiu Tu would occasionally tease her, he hadn’t been particularly interested.

But now... if something were to really happen between them, Qiu Tu wouldn’t mind becoming the Director of the Investigation Department, living in a garden villa, surrounded by beautiful women, and driving luxury cars!

After quietly musing to himself, Qiu Tu walked to the door, closed the empty conference room’s door, and locked it.

Although it seemed like Liu Fuping had truly had an epiphany, whether the plan could actually be carried out depended on her next actions.

While attitude played a role in one’s abilities, improvement required a step-by-step process.

So, Qiu Tu’s next step was to add a few more layers of protection for himself, ensuring he had other options in case the plan failed.

And what he needed to do was simple.

First, he had to continue investigating the case to see if the truth matched his suspicions.

Second, he needed to drag more forces into the fray to ensure his safety...

With these thoughts in mind, Qiu Tu took out Chen Feng’s communicator and called Lin Zuo.

“Ring... Ring... Ring...”

The call connected after just a few rings.

This time, before Lin Zuo could speak, Qiu Tu immediately said, "416."

Lin Zuo paused for a second before asking, "What’s the matter?"

Qiu Tu succinctly replied, "I want to talk to her."

Lin Zuo got up, and after a moment, there was the sound of knocking, followed by a door opening, and then Lin Zuo’s muffled voice speaking to Qin Shuman, "What’s the matter?"

"It’s Qiu Tu."

"Alright."

A moment later, Qiu Tu heard a voice on the other end that was both unfamiliar and familiar, "Hello? Is that you?"

Qiu Tu couldn’t shake the feeling that Qin Shuman’s voice sounded a bit tired and downcast.

"Yes, it’s me," Qiu Tu replied, before adding, "Something has come up on my end."

"I might need your help."

Qin Shuman agreed immediately, without even asking what it was about. "Alright, I’ll come find you tonight."

A smile tugged at the corner of Qiu Tu’s mouth. See? Working with smart people was always easier. He only had to say a few words, and she already had a general idea of what was happening and where to find him.

With such an excellent partner, how could he not overcome the crisis ahead?

Satisfied with his thoughts, Qiu Tu hung up the phone and promptly deleted the call record from the communicator—not to guard against Jia Shu, but to protect Chen Feng.

After handling everything, Qiu Tu returned to the neighboring conference room.

Inside, several agents were still engaged in heated discussions about the case. However, Liu Fuping was nowhere to be seen.

Qiu Tu scanned the room but couldn’t spot her. He guessed she had probably gone to find Tang Feifei.

Unconcerned, he sat down, continuing to review Yin Caimei’s case file while patiently waiting.

Before long, Chen Feng and Wang Xi returned, informing him that the coroner was ready to begin the autopsy.

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tu didn’t wait any longer for Liu Fuping. He led the group to the dissection room, where the autopsy was to be performed.

Upon entering, Qiu Tu met the coroner: a young man in his late twenties, handsome but not as striking as Qiu Tu.

After a brief conversation, Qiu Tu learned some basic information about the coroner. His surname was Qin, and he was a collateral relative of the Qin family.

Before New Realm City was established, he had been a family doctor for the Qin family. After the city’s founding, he was sent to the Investigation Department to study autopsy and forensic medicine, eventually becoming a coroner.

Such identity shifts had become common in New Realm City over the past two years. The city’s major families and factions infiltrated the three main power structures in this way, gradually influencing the entire city.

Initially, when Qiu Tu learned of the coroner’s background, he felt a bit hesitant. After all, he had quite a few conflicts with the Qin family and wasn’t sure if the coroner would slack off or deliberately sabotage the investigation.

To his surprise, despite being from the Qin family’s collateral branch, the coroner didn’t harbor any ill will toward him.

In fact, as the coroner examined Yin Caimei’s body, he even chatted with Qiu Tu about the recent turmoil in the Qin family.

According to the coroner, after Fourth Master Qin fled, the Qin family’s black and gray businesses were wiped out and confiscated, affecting many collateral branches who then gathered to stir up trouble within the family.

If not for Director Qin stepping in to suppress the situation and provide them with new means of livelihood, a major incident might have occurred.

As for where these people were placed, it wasn’t hard to guess—they were all funneled into the legitimate businesses of Third Master Qin. After all, only his operations could absorb so many people.

However, since these individuals had previously been involved in gang activities and had a lot of underworld habits, they constantly caused trouble in their new roles, much to Third Master Qin’s frustration.

This led to numerous arguments between Third Master Qin and Director Qin, further destabilizing the Qin family.

Qiu Tu quietly observed the entire autopsy process while listening to the coroner’s information.

As he listened, something didn’t sit right with him.

He looked at the coroner and cautiously asked, "Which branch of the Qin family are you from?"

The coroner, with his blood-stained hands, glanced at Qiu Tu and grinned. "The fifth branch."

Qiu Tu immediately understood.

The fifth branch of the Qin family consisted of the half-brother to the four main brothers, known for being an uneducated playboy. Because he was born to a concubine and was much younger than his brothers, he had long been excluded from the Qin family’s core power structure.

No wonder the coroner took such pleasure in the misfortunes of the Qin brothers.

Qiu Tu nodded in understanding.

Under Qiu Tu’s watchful eye, the coroner soon completed the full autopsy.

After cleaning his tools and washing his hands, the coroner spoke as he walked out, with Qiu Tu following closely behind.

"Although there are still many samples that need testing, and everything is subject to the final autopsy report, based on my experience, there are no other injuries on the body, no internal organ damage, and no signs of poisoning."

"So, we can basically rule out foul play?"

"Could it have been an accident?"

Qiu Tu paused upon hearing this, a heavy sigh escaping him internally.

The coroner was unaware of the Cataclysm Artifacts, but Qiu Tu knew about them. The completely normal autopsy results actually confirmed, to the greatest extent, the possibility of "murder."

After all, if the body showed no fatal injuries, and it wasn’t murder or suicide, then maybe... it was the work of a cataclysmic ability or artifact that had caused a secretive death.

This realization made Qiu Tu hesitate.

If Yin Caimei had indeed been killed by a cataclysmic ability or artifact, then... who could have done it?

Even within the Investigation Department, there weren’t many Cataclysm Awakened—probably only a handful of directors and the four heads and deputy heads of the department.

The scope was too small, and the implications were too terrifying...

Author's Note