Chapter 149: The Terrifying Probability Engine

"How is this possible?"

Thorn, standing nearby, found it completely unbelievable.

However, Councilors Zhou Ze and Huang Long, standing right behind Jichen, served as the most undeniable endorsement.

If he weren't the Speaker, who could possibly make these two powerful figures willingly walk behind him?

The entire room instantly fell into a dead silence.

Only the sound of Jichen and his entourage walking in echoed softly.

Everyone held their breath, watching in quiet awe as the untouchable figures of their usual imagination took their seats one by one.

That extremely high-status Miss Chen now acted more like a servant, scurrying around to serve tea and water before finally standing respectfully behind the young man in the center.

Within the organization, the people most frequently discussed were usually Defense Minister Zeng Hang, Finance Minister Yin Bai, and others; even when occasionally speaking of Awakened individuals, their voices would be lowered with reverence.

Yet before them now were two councilors, and even the Speaker of the Port City Federation.

This overwhelming impact left several of them mentally dazed.

"Everyone." Jichen's sharp gaze swept across the five people before him, lingering particularly on Suyi for a moment longer. "I'll ask you just two questions."

With that single sentence, the atmosphere in the room tightened instantly.

Chen Qian dutifully pulled a lie detector pen from her pocket, gave it a flick, and placed it on the table in front of the sofa.

Naturally, Jichen did not need to trouble himself with such preparations.

"Please... please go ahead..." the tallest Black Island member trembled, not daring to make eye contact with the terrifyingly young Speaker.

"Who is the leader of your branch?"

"A rather plump, middle-aged man."

Chen Qian opened her laptop, tapped a few keys, and turned the screen toward them. "Is it him?"

"Yes," everyone chorused in unison.

"Aside from him, who else knows the location of the Black Island headquarters?" Jichen asked again.

Over the past two days, he had interrogated another batch of prisoners repeatedly, trying every method imaginable, yet he simply couldn't pry open that middle-aged fat man's mouth. Threats, temptations, hypnosis, and forced voice commands had all been employed.

Whether due to deep brainwashing or some other reason, the moment the conversation touched upon the headquarters' location, the man would refuse to utter a word.

Driven to his wits' end, Jichen had no choice but to pin his hopes on this group instead.

"We don't know." The group replied in unison once more.

Only Suyi wore a strange expression and remained silent.

"I wouldn't have thought we used to be colleagues on both sides," Jichen looked at her and couldn't help smiling.

Suyi was startled, failing to react immediately. It was Thorn beside her who first grasped Jichen's meaning and explained, "She isn't a member of our organization. She's the daughter of the Port City branch leader."

"Does that mean you might actually know the location of the Black Island headquarters?" Jichen suddenly stood up.

"I'm not sure if I know..." Startled by Jichen's sudden movement, Suyi shrank back like a frightened little fawn. "Actually, I just suddenly remembered something."

"Go on, don't be afraid," Jichen tried his best to display what he imagined to be a gentle smile. "We're so familiar with each other, are you still scared of me?"

"I'm not," Suyi looked at Jichen's face, shook her head earnestly, and said,

"Well, it's like this. When I was little, my dad would often take me somewhere to draw blood, and he would always blindfold me along the way.

"Until the very last time, I had no idea where that place actually was.

"Coincidentally, though, it was quite windy during that last trip."

Hearing Suyi use the word "coincidence," Jichen couldn't help rolling his eyes inwardly.

Probability Engine big brother, you truly are something else.

"You know... I've always been very interested in various aspects of mining regions. Even though I was young and didn't understand much back then, I had studied chapters on wind directions.

"It was winter at the time, and the monsoon was blowing from the inland toward the Tu'nan Sea. The forward direction I felt in the car was moving along with the wind.

"If the place I went to when I was little really was the Black Island headquarters, its location should be further south of Port New City."

Suyi finished in one breath and cautiously glanced at Jichen. "Does that help you?"

"It should..."

Jichen fell into contemplation.

Port New City was a city built at the northernmost river mouth where the Tu'nan Sea flowed into the ocean.

The Tu'nan Sea itself was an inland sea stretching deep into the mainland; apart from Port New City at the estuary, the rest of its southern coastline lay entirely within the wilderness zone.

Jichen turned his gaze toward Chen Qian, and as expected, she had already pulled up the topographical map surrounding the Tu'nan Sea.

"In other words, the Black Island headquarters is likely located in the narrow strip of land south of Port New City, sandwiched between the Tu'nan Sea and parts of the Spiral Horn Desert."

"Yet this area is so vast, and it's all wilderness. Searching blindly from end to end wouldn't that be like finding a needle in a haystack?"

The room grew quiet once more.

After a long while, just as Jichen was preparing to leave, Thorn spoke up.

"I remember something my mentor told me when I first joined the organization." She was still wearing her mask, but Jichen could sense she was smiling.

Thorn walked over to Jichen, squatted down, and raised her hand, blocking the light between Jichen and the room's ceiling lamp.

"She told me: Bring your index finger and thumb close together under the light. When they are about to touch but haven't quite made contact, you can see a shadow forming between the fingers, connecting them together.

"That shadow, which shouldn't exist, is Black Island."

"I get it." Without waiting for her to continue, Jichen cut in, excitedly pulling out the Black Island internal communicator.

The overlapping black semi-arc emblem on it was clearly visible.

"Zoom out the map a bit." Jichen held up the communicator, pressing it against the edge of the map on the computer screen.

"The coastline of the Tu'nan Sea is curved like a bow, and the Spiral Horn Desert resembles a conch shell, its southern boundary also forming a curve."

He tapped the computer a few times.

"After abstraction, it matches the two black semi-arcs on the communicator with astonishing precision."

"Therefore—the Black Island headquarters is right here."

With a single tap of his finger, he poked the exact spot where the two arcs intersected—the region where the Tu'nan Sea and the Spiral Horn Desert came closest together.

"Brilliant."

"Exquisite."

Zhou Ze and Huang Long praised simultaneously. They didn't know why Jichen was in such a rush to find the Black Island headquarters, but that organization had long accumulated deep-seated conflicts with all the city-states.

They supported going to war with Black Island ten thousand times over.

Furthermore, Jichen's quick thinking and deductive ability made them deeply feel that they had chosen the right person for the position of Speaker.

"You flatter me, you flatter me."

Jichen unhesitatingly claimed the credit that rightfully belonged to Shana and Anchan.

What was the difference between their analysis and his?

Still, Probability Engine big brother was truly terrifying...

He rubbed his chin and thought to himself.

......

A week later, inside an office at the Port City Command Building.

"Sister." Jichen lifted Luo Rao off his body. "I'm busy right now. Can I keep you company later?"

"A-Cheng, I was the very last to inject the second-tier gene serum, yet the first one to successfully breakthrough. Aren't you going to praise me?"

"Sister, you're amazing." Jichen took a sip from his teacup.

Tap, tap, tap—

The sound of high heels clicking against the floor rang out as Chen Qian walked into the office carrying a stack of files.

Hearing the footsteps, Luo Rao suddenly flashed a bewitching smile. "A-Cheng, you were amazing last night too~"

"Cough, cough, cough!" Jichen spat out a mouthful of tea. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Luo Rao chuckled seductively. "A-Cheng, you soaked Chen Qian's stockings all over. I think you should help wipe them clean for her."

"Go find Lingfei and the others to play with right now," Jichen squeezed out through clenched teeth.

After a flurry of chaos, Luo Rao finally departed the office.

"Boss, word has been sent that representatives from the other city-states are all back," Chen Qian said, handing over a file.

"The Awakened from the Red Eagle Republic and Anxi City have already arrived, the Blackwater Hanging City Awakened will arrive tonight, and the rest will arrive tomorrow. At the same time, they've brought along quite a few high-lethality weapons.

"This time, their determination is immense, and they are also showing you a great deal of respect."