Chapter 1539: Chapter 833: Homecoming

In the dark room of the Storm Fortress.

The Black Spider slowly walked in and closed the alloy gate behind her.

Before entering, she had dispersed everyone except the mechanical guards to prevent anyone from hearing the sounds inside the dark room.

The Duke of Storm City still wore his black robe embroidered with gold thread, seated on a large sofa. His height of about 2.2 meters made him look like a sculpture on a throne.

The Black Spider, standing at 1.7 meters, seemed like a fragile toy before him.

The Duke of Storm City picked up the whiskey by his side, swirling the amber liquid, and finally drank it all in one gulp: "Why hasn’t the Joker been found yet?"

The Black Spider gently removed her high heels and knelt before him: "The opponent is cunning, I am thinking of a new strategy."

"Why does it seem like you’re intentionally letting him go?" The dim light above the Duke of Storm City cast shadows onto his forehead, and everything below his deep eye sockets was shrouded in darkness: "The King has already inquired about this matter. A Drama Master prophesied that an uninvited guest from across the ocean will bring great calamity to the kingdom. The Roosevelt Kingdom’s flag will fall, the sea will overturn, and the sky will collapse. The King has ordered Black Water City to quickly find the culprit of the church attack, and I must kill the arriving Joker. Now, I ask you, are you seriously capturing him?"

The Black Spider’s fingers trembled slightly, she lowered her head and said: "Duke, I am doing my best to capture him."

"Accept the punishment," the Duke of Storm City said coldly.

At this moment, the Black Spider took off her outer clothing, revealing the wounds on her back that had not healed from yesterday’s whipping.

She walked to the wall, allowing the Duke of Storm City to lock her in the shackles mounted there.

Sounds of a whip striking skin echoed in the dark room. No one screamed, as if the woman inside was long used to all this.

Two hours later, the Black Spider weakly said: "I have confirmed that the White Light Person in the Superconductor World is the Joker. Next, I will confirm the login time of the White Light Person, then see who uses virtual glasses and virtual warehouse at that time, eliminating targets step by step to identify the final suspect."

The Duke of Storm City put away the whip: "Do not disappoint me this time, or I will send you to the Giant Dynasty; they will be very interested in you."

The shackles were released, and the Black Spider fell to her knees, exhausted.

Slowly, she got up, dressed herself, and walked out.

As she stepped out of the gate, her expression returned to its icy demeanor, and outsiders could not detect anything unusual.

She arrived at the conference room and summoned all the elders of the Arbiter Organization: "Re-lock all targets. Once the White Light Person is online, I need to know who else is online at the same time!"

After everyone had left with their orders in hand, the Black Spider stood alone in the vast conference room, expressionless, not knowing what she was contemplating.

...

...

In the flat apartment of the Seventh District.

"You want to open the Key of Gate?" One sat up on the sofa, curiously asked: "I have heard of the Key of Gate. It’s said to take you to where you want to go most. So have you decided where you want to go?"

Within the Wizard legacy, the Key of Gate is also known as the Door of Heart’s Desire.

When a cultivator becomes confused or can’t find life’s direction and place, this door will take you to your most desired location.

For other family members, Luo Wanya and others could use lofty promises to entice their deepest desires, but money, fame, and power could not attract Qing Chen, so he did not know where his Key of Gate would lead him.

Qing Chen was silent for a moment: "Actually, I don’t know where I most want to go either."

If he could, he would choose to return to Prison 18. Back then he hadn’t experienced all that came after, hadn’t killed, hadn’t walked the hardest journey in life; there was only a mentor who treated him very well.

Or he might wish to return to the apartment in City 10, where upon opening the door, he could smell the realm camellia fragrance and hear a voice saying welcome home from someone on the sofa.

Back then his brother hadn’t left yet.

Nowadays, the further he walked, the less he knew where to go.

Like a drifting wanderer, already lost without a home.

One saw his expression and understood everything and then sat across from him, smiling: "Give it a try. Only by trying will you know where you’ll go. Whether tired of fighting, opening the Key of Gate in a secluded forest, or missing someone and opening it beside him or her, it matters not. What matters is understanding your heart through the Key of Gate."

Even if the Key of Gate doesn’t open in City 5, it’s fine. Even if it doesn’t open on Earth, it’s still fine. One felt Qing Chen was too fatigued, and seeing the heart’s haven after wandering so long was most important.

Qing Chen stood up, holding the Golden Eye of Truth on the bedroom door, gently turned it ten circles clockwise.

A ripple spread across the door, and after hesitating for a few seconds, he stepped through.

In the next moment, Qing Chen saw the humble little house of City 5, the place where he had lived with his brother, sister-in-law, and father in dreams.

In the dream, he wasn’t the Master of Daytime, his brother wasn’t a Shadow, and his father wasn’t the Qing Clan House Master. They lived simple lives, ate plain food, worrying about tomorrow’s living.

However, what Qing Chen didn’t expect, was that the dreamland left by his brother gradually became the anchor of humanity in his heart, became the home in his heart.

At this moment, a mute servant was wiping furniture inside the house. He picked up a photo of Shadow and Ning Xiu on the dining table, and silently shed tears while wiping the frame.

When he realized there was an extra person behind him, the mute servant was startled!

When the mute servant saw it was Qing Chen, he immediately became excited and made incoherent sounds. He took out his phone and sent a message to Ke Rouli, the Chief Butler of Ginkgo Manor: "The Family Head is back! The Family Head is back!"

...

...

In the meeting room of Ginkgo Manor, the elders from various Qing Clan factions were sitting inside, and the Family Head, who hadn’t come down the mountain for more than a decade, was actually sitting in the chief seat.

At this moment, all Qing Clan factions were already used to it, but when the old man appeared at the meeting some time ago, everyone was extremely shocked.

They didn’t even know what had changed the old man, prompting him to make such a significant transformation.

At a certain moment, they even recalled Qing Xun from more than a decade ago, the Qing Clan House Master who dared to sign an alliance with the Fire Pit as an ordinary person.

The old man was flipping through an economic report while instructing: "Qing Kun, why have 47% of the 171 companies under you not met the standard?"

The so-called standard here means each enterprise must include at least ten Parent Association Members internally, with 30% of the management being Parent Association Members.

This has also caused a great stir within Qing’s Family, because what the Family Head did wasn’t just absorbing the Parent Association, but actually turning Qing’s Family over to them.

Although the leader of the Parent Association is the current Family Head of Qing’s Family, it was a revolutionary change.

However, though everyone had complaints, they didn’t dare say anything, considering that now everything in Qing’s Family was a united front, with the army entirely under the control of the Patriarch Faction. If you oppose today, you might suddenly die in your home tomorrow; who could bear that?

Qing Kun responded with a bitter face: "Family Head..."

The old man casually replied: "I am now a professional manager, a worker, no need to call me Family Head."

"Ah... okay," Qing Kun continued to complain: "We only have so many Parent Association Members in our country, they are developing too slowly, there’s not enough for each company. A while ago, two companies fought in the street for talents, what kind of conduct is that."

The Parent Association hadn’t expanded as quickly as it initially did, they insisted on a half-year trial and half-year probation, meaning that now for an ordinary person, unless they make significant achievements, it was very difficult to join the Parent Association, though there were quite a few probationary members.

So, Qing Kun and others didn’t want to not execute the policy, it’s just that the members of the Parent Association were not enough!

It’s quite ridiculous!

Qing Kun muttered: "Old man, can’t you have them relax the entry policy, a year is too long."

"No way," the old man shook his head: "I’m not a member of the Parent Association, I can’t manage that, it’s not under my control."

Qing Kun was momentarily speechless, now the old man was good at refusing to take responsibility; whenever he encountered anything that could be dodged, he’d directly say he’s not the Family Head, he’s just a worker, hoping the Elder Qing would not make things difficult for a worker...

Qing Kun couldn’t help but laugh and cry, if you’ve become a worker, then who among us isn’t a worker? Why should workers make things difficult for other workers!

At this moment, the old man’s tone shifted, and he pointed to Ke Rouli, who was sitting in the corner of the meeting room: "You all know who she is, she’s the private secretary to Chairman Qing Chen, Chief Butler of Ginkgo Manor, don’t keep calling her Little Li, is Little Li something you can call her?"

However, just then, when everyone looked at Ke Rouli, they found her engrossed with her phone.

Someone frowned, playing with a phone during a board meeting? That’s not a good habit.

Before they could say anything, Ke Rouli, dressed in a white suit, stood up, walked over to the old man, bent down, and whispered something.

In the next second, the old man slowly stood up: "Meeting adjourned."

The elders were completely baffled, what was going on, why did the meeting suddenly end?

They suddenly realized that Ke Rouli wasn’t just playing with her phone, she must have received some very important news, news that even the old man considered important!

So, what kind of news now could make the old man react like this? It could only be news about Qing Chen...

But everything seemed calm at Ginkgo Manor, showing no signs of unusual activity.

Ten minutes later, Qing Ji received a notification, directly opened the Door of Shadow, and walked into the void. Not long after, he returned carrying a security door, followed by a smiling Qing Chen.

Ke Rouli stepped forward and asked: "Boss, have you had dinner yet? The mute servant from the kitchen has prepared 36 dishes... Will you be staying overnight at the manor tonight? I’ll go change the bed linens for you and make your bed..."

Qing Chen’s eyes looked past her, focusing on the old man behind her, and Ke Rouli wisely stepped aside, not saying another word.

The old man asked calmly: "Have you found your footing? Quite fast."

Qing Chen replied with a smile: "Not settled yet, that’s why I’m back to get some help, I’ve got a general understanding of the situation, the West Continent is not truly impenetrable, they too are facing internal and external struggles, I think there’s an opportunity."

The old man seemed uninterested in these matters; he was silent, and Ke Rouli helped to ask: "Did you suffer?"

The old man’s expression lightened somewhat, this Ke Rouli had a good sense of the situation, saying out loud what the old man couldn’t easily express...

Qing Chen laughed: "Don’t worry, I didn’t suffer much."

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