Chapter 120: Private Lessons with Teacher Youya

Page (1/3)

Youya continued sharing what she knew about the various departments within the Inner City. Soon, Ye Chen realized that her knowledge was even more detailed than that of Qiao Mucao, the so-called King of Gossip.

“Recently, the Logistics Department appointed a new chief director named Song Yi. He has no other hobbies—he just loves money.”

“But he has a grudge against Yang Ji, the head of the Construction Department.”

“Song Yi originally wanted to transfer to the Trade Department, but the Personnel Department simply wouldn’t let him.”

Hearing this, Ye Chen was momentarily taken aback... One was greedy, the other lustful; the Logistics and Construction Departments disliked each other because of conflicting pursuits. So it made sense that Yang Ji, with the help of his bedmate Wen Yu, slapped Song Yi—a perfectly reasonable move.

Ye Chen was thoroughly enjoying the gossip!

But suddenly, he felt something was off... How did his thoughts get derailed by the teacher? A greedy man, a philanderer—what relevance did that have to the case?

“You’ve been badmouthing them for so long, but why do I feel like we’re drifting further off-topic?”

As expected, women loved gossip, and it had nothing to do with looks—it was pure nature.

The teacher’s expression faltered as she pretended to sip her coffee... Uh-oh, she’d accidentally gotten carried away!

The topic quickly returned to the main point:

“If there were orders from above not to let you investigate deeply, who do you think would be the most capable of suppressing this matter?”

The teacher suddenly posed a question; the student was stunned on the spot... Was this a test already?!

After some thought, the student guessed in surprise, “Could it be the City Lord’s Mansion?”

The teacher pushed up her glasses, nodded approvingly—this student was promising.

“There’s another department, also a trusted branch of the City Lord’s Mansion. Can you guess which one?”

Guess what? Time’s tight and you’re addicted to lecturing!

“It’s the Research Department!” The teacher’s expression turned to one of extreme disdain.

The Research Department?

If he remembered correctly, their hobby was cattle breeding, benefiting humanity’s palate.

The inner essence mineral extract he possessed was also confiscated by the Research Department—they were generous and magnanimous.

Ye Chen’s impression of them was fairly good.

But why did the mention of the Research Department make his teacher seem as if she harbored a deep grudge against them? Ye Chen quietly wondered.

“I don’t think the Research Department is that bad; what they do is somewhat similar to our Supernatural Department,” a naive student offered a small defense.

Page (2/3)

From across the room came the teacher’s sarcastic voice:

“They can hardly be compared to the Supernatural Department.”

“If it were the Research Department of the Steel City, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Whether it’s mechanical prosthetics or the portable armor you’ve seen, all have improved people’s survival capabilities.”

“But the Research Department in the Energy City? What they do is simply too...”

The teacher, it seemed, was a science whiz but poor in the humanities, running out of words after just a few sentences.

“Too outrageous?” the student tried to fill in the blank.

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly it!”

What on earth had the Research Department done to provoke such anger from Youya?

But the teacher’s next sentence stirred a storm within the student’s heart.

“The Research Department has been conducting horrific live experiments on prisoners from the city jail!”

Prison... live experiments... Zhang Jingye?

Ye Chen’s heart pounded wildly in his chest, blood rushing to his head; his face flushed red as he asked tremblingly:

“Did they develop a creature that’s half human, half beast?”

The beautiful teacher looked at her student in surprise: “You actually know about the mutated synthetic beasts?”

“Yes, not only that, but I’ve even fought one. Here’s what happened...”

The student briefly recounted the capture of Zhang Jingye, all the while watching the teacher’s reactions closely.

Only after he finished did Youya slowly speak:

“Yes, you guessed right. The mutated synthetic beasts are a creation of the Research Department, not something from the prison.”

“So, from here you can pretty much infer that the city jail is tightly controlled by the City Lord.”

“When I first arrived in Energy City, they invited me to tour their facilities and hoped I would join their research.”

At this point, Youya paused; Ye Chen’s gaze burned into her beautiful eyes.

“But I refused!”

He exhaled deeply, feeling relieved that his teacher was not an accomplice to the cruel experiments.

Had she been involved, his own position might have become awkward.

But then he immediately thought of another issue—what was the truth behind the missing children?

Page (3/3)

Trying to piece together the fragments, Ye Chen added another possibility to his growing list of suspicions.

Could the missing children be connected to the Research Department?

Given their history of experimenting on living subjects, if previous materials were adults, might they have switched to children this time?

If so, those children missing for over 24 hours were likely in grave danger.

Moreover, based on Youya’s earlier description of relationships, the Patrol Department was one of the City Lord’s trusted branches, meaning the City Lord had full power to keep the loyal Patrol Department silent.

If the Inner City Patrol Department was pressuring his side, everything began to make perfect sense.

So, the crucial question remained: what experiments was the Research Department currently conducting?

Approaching the Research Department directly was nearly impossible, but perhaps the teacher knew something.

The student asked eagerly:

“Teacher, can you tell me what the Research Department in Energy City is actually researching?”

“I mean beyond the mutated animals seen at the last expo.”

The teacher leaned back in her chair, her long legs clad in black silk naturally crossing as she licked her lips with interest.

“Oh? You want to know more?”

“That information isn’t free. After all, it’s classified—I got it from my brother. So you’ll have to...”

Here it comes, the free trial’s over; now it’s pay-to-play.

And you said you couldn’t stand the Research Department’s live experiments—aren’t you just as eager to get me to spill? Am I not a living person too?!

“My current rank is D-level, with an inner essence value of 375.”

One sentence stirred a thousand waves!