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Li Jiang also received some information, “Yes, he has dealings with the drug lords in Colombia.”

“Go check who’s buying poppies and whether the people involved in the transactions have any connection to Chen Rushi,” Lu Zhiyuan said indifferently. “Do we have any agents nearby? Send someone to investigate.” “The quickest we can get there is five hours.”

“Have him go and investigate without alerting anyone.” “Understood!”

“Do you suspect they might be heading to the Pentagon?” Jiang Junlin asked, having no fondness for the place himself. It was impoverished, backward, and morally corrupt—a haven for criminals. He had spent a lot of effort cleaning it up back in the day, but it seemed to have risen from the ashes.

“There’s something… I’ve never told you!” Lu Zhiyuan glanced at Jiang Junlin.

Jiang Junlin had a premonition that he wouldn’t be pleased with what he was about to hear.

Lu Zhiyuan said, “The Pentagon is controlled entirely by Black Hawk, a criminal organization I used to lead and nurture.”

“What did you say?” Jiang Junlin slammed his hand on the table. “Lu Zhiyuan, do you realize what you’re saying?”

“I and Tang Mingzhou disagreed on how to manage Black Hawk, so we went our separate ways. 1 wanted to kill him to eliminate future trouble. At the time, you were planning to clear out the Pentagon, so I used that opportunity to get rid of him. I thought the Pentagon was engaged in various criminal activities, so the police would sweep the place, and 1 could use it to my advantage,” Lu Zhiyuan recounted the past with a calm tone. “This is a secret known only to the former leaders of Black Hawk. He single-handedly controls the Pentagon, and I was young and had supernatural abilities, so I was ruthless. Tang Mingzhou thought 1 was like him, so he shared this information with me. Since then, I’ve wanted to kill him. 1 thought the Pentagon was involved in so much wrongdoing that it needed to be eradicated, so when the police were planning to raid the place, 1 seized the opportunity.”

Jiang Junlin’s eyes reddened as he stared intently at Lu Zhiyuan.

The past felt like a knife lodged in Jiang Junlin’s heart.

Lu Zhiyuan said, “Don’t look at me like that. Black Hawk nurtured the Pentagon for many years, and I had no connection to it. If 1 hadn’t been the leader of Black Hawk, the Pentagon would still be standing today. When you obtained so much intelligence back then—terrain, troop deployments, weapons caches wasn’t one of those pieces of information incorrect? Did you think it was a gift from heaven, specially delivered to you?”

“Does Chi know?” Jiang Junlin’s voice trembled.

Lu Zhiyuan, rarely silent, shook his head. How could he bring himself to tell Ji Chi? Ji Chi had suffered for eight years in the Pentagon, and now he was loyal to Black Hawk.

Now, he might not be able to keep it a secret any longer!

The thought of Ji Chi learning this information made Jiang Junlin’s heart ache. “Chi has always wanted to destroy the Pentagon, to escape it, but in the end… he accidentally ended up in Black Hawk. He’ll be entangled with Black Hawk for the rest of his life. Lu Zhiyuan, how could you?”

“What choice did I have?” Lu Zhiyuan was also frustrated. “1 did a good deed by saving him. When I saved him, he was on the brink of death, half-dead and half-alive, with nowhere to go. He had been locked up in the Pentagon since he was a child, and what he saw and heard was not what a normal young person would experience. If I let him go, how long would he survive? How many people would he harm? Have you thought about that? When he didn’t even understand right from wrong, he thought killing a person was no different from squishing an ant. He wasn’t a normal young person. I had to tell him the truth about the Pentagon being controlled by Black Hawk. Otherwise, he would have harbored hatred and resistance, and he would have gone out into society on his own. What kind of life would he have led then? Have you thought about that?”

Jiang Junlin closed his eyes and turned away, losing his composure.

Chi, now that you know, it must be heartbreaking!

“Ji Chi recuperated for a long time, and after he recovered from his illness, he asked if he could stay by my side, just to have a meal. Originally, I didn’t want to keep him. I had made proper arrangements for the survivors of the Pentagon, except for Ji Chi. Oh, he wanted to find you, but unfortunately, you left him a false name. Even if you had given him your real name back then, I would have sent him to you!” Lu Zhiyuan said, deliberately needling Jiang Junlin, knowing full well that Jiang Junlin had been an undercover agent in the Pentagon, so he couldn’t provide Ji Chi with his real name.

“You!” Jiang Junlin turned angrily, fully aware that Lu Zhiyuan was provoking him. Jiang Junlin couldn’t control his anger, though. During his time undercover in the Pentagon, he couldn’t have given Ji Chi his real name. Zhang Qiang said, “Master, calm down!”

Lu Zhiyuan said calmly, “Jiang Junlin, you must admit that staying with me back then was Ji Chi’s best choice. There was no better place for him. Otherwise, a few years later, the Ji Chi you would have encountered wouldn’t be the Ji Chi you know today.”

Jiang Junlin knew rationally that what Lu Zhiyuan said was true. Keeping Ji Chi by his side was the best choice, but he felt a deep sense of unease and guilt in his heart. It was like a stone pressing on his chest, impossible to move. In his mind, he recalled the innocent smile on Ji Chi’s face when he left the Pentagon, the smile of a child who had suffered unimaginably. He knew the cruel nature that lay beneath that innocence. Children raised in the Pentagon had no trace of kindness, but Ji Chi had given him all of his smiles and innocence.

He had let Ji Chi down!

“Jiang Junlin, do you love the Ji Chi from the Pentagon?” Lu Zhiyuan ruthlessly pointed out the truth. “No, you love the Ji Chi as he is now!”

The Ji Chi from the Pentagon was a little devil.

Now, the little devil had grown up, with a tough and adaptable personality, knowing how to pretend to be what others liked.

Jiang Junlin’s eyes reddened, but he didn’t refute Lu Zhiyuan’s words.

The Ji Chi from the Pentagon was someone he had left behind, and for many years, he had felt regret and sorrow when he thought about it. Time could gradually diminish such regrets. It was a fleeting infatuation in his youth, one that hadn’t had time to take root and grow. Ji Chi had knocked on the door of his heart, but had left abruptly, and he hadn’t even realized what that feeling was before it came to an abrupt end.

He liked him and regretted it, thinking Ji Chi shouldn’t have grown up in such an environment and feeling sorry for the suffering he had endured.

This liking and the feelings he had now were worlds apart.

Ji Chi had truly entered his heart after they reunited.

Jiang Junlin quickly regained his composure, steadying his turbulent emotions. “If Tang Mingzhou has taken them to the Pentagon, Chen Rushi will undoubtedly establish a new base there. Zhang Qiang, go and investigate. Find out where the major construction projects have been in the Pentagon in recent years, and check the local construction teams.”

“Understood!” Zhang Qiang complied. Jiang Junlin ordered his men to enlarge the surveillance map. On the surface, the town didn’t appear to have anything unusual, and poppy cultivation was legal. He shifted his focus to the old location of the Pentagon.

There, a temple had been built. It was ironic!

Lu Zhiyuan couldn’t help but admire how quickly Jiang Junlin had regained his composure. “Jiang Junlin, was your alias in the Pentagon back then ‘Lin Shen’?” “How did you know?” Jiang Junlin asked.

Li Jiang thought to himself, Third Master, your personal emotions are quite evident.

Lu Zhiyuan explained, “When Ji Chi was unconscious back then, he kept calling that name. Li Jiang once checked all the people named ‘Lin Shen’ in City A and had him try to identify them one by one, but he couldn’t find the person he was looking for..”