Chapter 51: Rewards

Chen Meng glanced at Wu Tengkong, then at Han Hao, fully aware that the matter concerning himself was not yet resolved.

After a moment’s thought, Chen Meng stepped forward and said, “Leaders, my name is Chen Meng, and I have something I wish to report.”

At this, everyone looked at him with curiosity, unsure of what he intended.

“You, kid? Now I remember—it was you who took down that cultist carrying the missile launcher, wasn’t it? Excellent marksmanship, and earlier, when facing Ji Wuli, your courage was commendable. You even dared to threaten Ji Wuli; I don’t have the guts for that myself,” Wu Tengkong said, looking at Chen Meng with genuine appreciation.

Chen Meng chuckled inwardly. So, standing up to Ji Wuli was just your kind of thing.

He didn’t expose this but instead declared loudly, “What about Ji Wuli? What about being a demigod? If he bullies my friends, I’ll make him pay. I may not be his match now, but as the saying goes, ‘Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west—never underestimate the young and poor.’ I’m still young and full of potential.”

“Well said! That’s the spirit!” Wu Tengkong exclaimed, visibly excited. He felt Chen Meng was perfectly in tune with him; those words echoed his very thoughts. What if Ji Wuli is a demigod? He himself is still young—when he becomes a demigod, he’ll make that old man pay, make him call him ‘grandfather’ instead.

Many bystanders averted their eyes, pretending not to have heard a thing.

“So shameless,” Han Hao thought to himself. “When Ji Wuli was here, none of you dared speak like this.” He resolved to keep his distance from these two brazen men—they were both impossibly arrogant.

“Uh, what was it you wanted to report?” Wu Tengkong finally recalled Chen Meng’s earlier statement.

“Oh, right. It’s like this.” Seeing Wu Tengkong in high spirits, and sensing their shared temperament, Chen Meng was not about to waste such a perfect ‘confession’ opportunity. He promptly said, “Director Wu, I have something to confess. I was the one who killed Wang Jie. Although it was in self-defense, I did take a life. I’ve felt deeply guilty for a long time, even wandering outside the Enforcement Bureau several times, unable to work up the courage to turn myself in. But today, after witnessing your heroic efforts in protecting Jiangzhou City and us ordinary citizens—how you single-handedly fought three cultist Protectors, enduring humiliation and fighting to your last breath, never yielding to the cultists—I was truly moved. With a Bureau Chief like you, what do I have to fear? It’s you who gave me the courage to confess everything.”

His speech was righteous and unflinching, leaving Han Hao and the others stunned.

Was this a confession or just blatant flattery?

Wu Tengkong was momentarily taken aback, then burst out laughing. “Well said! To think I’m so low-key, yet you still saw through me. Alas, I still haven’t done enough—otherwise, today I’d have captured not just three Protectors, but three Elders of the cult. As for your voluntary confession, that’s commendable. Our country needs more law-abiding, honest, and trustworthy youths like you. But since it was legitimate self-defense, it’s not a serious matter—just go through the regular procedures.”

“But it was still a life lost…” Chen Meng sighed quietly.

Han Hao could barely restrain himself from swearing. After all this mutual praise, Wang Jie’s death was settled just like that.

But he understood that things were probably just as Chen Meng described. Previously, the priority was finding Mouse Beibei; now that she’d been found, there was no reason to make things difficult for Chen Meng.

In the end, Wu Tengkong offered a few words of encouragement to Chen Meng before returning with his Enforcement Bureau team.

Chen Meng said goodbye to the old man and took the Bureau’s aircar back to Jiangzhou City.

To be honest, this was Chen Meng’s first time riding in an aircar. In the city, only government agencies, hospitals, and similar institutions were permitted to travel by air; private citizens were not allowed.

At the entrance to his neighborhood, Han Hao turned to Chen Meng and said, “After I clear up some things in the next few days, I’ll come find you to take a statement. The Wang Jie case isn’t officially closed yet.”

Chen Meng nodded; since it was self-defense and Wu Tengkong had acknowledged it, he knew the formalities would be nothing but a formality.

After bidding Han Hao farewell, Chen Meng returned home, only to find his parents looking worn and haggard.

The cultists had caused such chaos in Jiangzhou City the previous night, and he hadn’t come home. Heaven knew how worried his parents had been.

“Son!” his mother cried, embracing him tightly. Chen Meng, too, felt as though he’d survived a great ordeal.

This time, facing so many divine body beings, he’d truly felt his own weakness. Even though he’d managed to take down a second-tier divine body in the end, it was mere dumb luck; his opponent hadn’t taken him seriously at all. Had the man wanted to evade, Chen Meng would have stood no chance.

Thinking it over, and unwilling to hide anything, he told his parents the truth about Mouse Beibei.

When he finished, his parents were silent.

After a long pause, his mother finally said, “No wonder I kept thinking things were missing from the fridge. So it was Mouse Beibei eating them—I thought I was just being forgetful.”

His father, on the other hand, was concerned about something else: “The battles between divine body beings are just too dangerous. Honestly, I wish you could just be an ordinary person.”

Chen Meng smiled, a bit helpless. “In this era, being ordinary is not so simple.”

His father nodded in deep agreement; these were not peaceful times.

Chen Meng didn’t want to say more, and his father realized that he would likely face many such trials in the future.

Back in his room, Chen Meng stripped off his clothes and examined his injuries. Now that the adrenaline had subsided, pain surged through his body in waves.

Earlier, under the intense strain, he hadn’t noticed the pain. Now, relaxed, it felt like being stabbed by needles or gnawed by ants.

“If only I were a divine body, I wouldn’t have to suffer like this,” Chen Meng muttered through gritted teeth. For a divine body, these wounds would be nothing.

He rummaged for the undying pain relief patches Mo Xiaoyi had bought for him, slapping them onto his wounds. The spot on his thigh where Jiang Lan had shot him was badly swollen; he needed two patches to cover it completely.

With everything done, Chen Meng collapsed onto his bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

...

By evening, at the Enforcement Bureau—

“Director, here’s the summary of today’s operation. Some people have made significant contributions. Han Hao, for instance, killed two third-tier divine body cultists. Adding this to his previous merits, he’s almost accumulated enough points to redeem the fourth-tier divine body advancement serum,” a female secretary reported.

“That Han Hao is quite something. He’s a former soldier, but now he’s surpassed most of his peers who left the military at the same time,” Wu Tengkong nodded.

“Director, aside from our bureau staff, that Chen Meng also killed a second-tier divine body cultist. How should we handle this?” the secretary asked.

Wu Tengkong’s mood brightened at the mention of Chen Meng. He replied righteously, “What else? He made a contribution; naturally, he should be rewarded. Otherwise, we’d risk discouraging people and make the Bureau look stingy. Of course, he should be rewarded. Killing a second-tier divine body cultist is no small feat. Plus, he protected Mouse Beibei and led the cultists away from Jiangzhou City, preventing further casualties. That’s another merit. Combine all these, and—tsk tsk—he’s even qualified for a special admission to Jiangzhou University.”

The secretary was stunned. Since when was Wu Tengkong this generous? He wasn’t even this good to his own son.