: The Storm Is Brewing

Qiao Yuan was immediately in a bind. He had originally planned to sneak into the VIP room of Dongjun while Boss Zhao was venting on the phone, and pretend he hadn't run into them.

But as Hu Tu and Qin Xue shouted, the restaurant, which was already quiet, was immediately looked over by Boss Zhao, whose gaze fell directly on him, and the air froze instantly.

Actually, it's not a big deal, because Yu Jin has already closed the case, and Yan Baobao was involved, so he doesn't need to care.

But if we assume that it was because he took the keepsake that he fought with White Rose, leading to the murder of Boss Zhao's daughter that night, then the situation would be completely different, even bordering on a blood feud!

Although this old man has some perverted fantasies, he still has a lot of affection for his own flesh and blood.

That night, he went back in time and could feel the other person's pain and anger.

There's no need to guess; any normal person would find it unbearable to hear the devastating news of their daughter's death.

However, the other party hasn't contacted him in the past few days, so it seems there's no need to overthink it.

Qiao Yuan was feeling uncertain at this moment; his intuition told him that it couldn't be anything good.

He had already reached into his pants pocket and hidden the belongings.

At that moment, Boss Zhao's eyes fell on him, and his expression clearly changed. His lips twitched slightly, and he even hung up the phone.

The four burly bodyguards around Qiao Yuan immediately became wary and alert.

Qin Xue and the others in the room were not quite aware of what was going on, but Hu Tu was standing right in front of him. He quickly realized what was happening and saw Mr. Zhao, dressed in a white suit, striding over with a gloomy expression.

"Hey, who are you?"

Although the other party had four bodyguards, they also had more than a dozen classmates. Hu Tu never backed down when it came to loyalty, and he didn't retreat an inch.

Qiao Yuan's expression shifted slightly as he wiped his left hand in his pants pocket, preparing to materialize a stand-in at any moment and enter the past or future timeline.

Just then, Qin Xue, who had wispy bangs, walked out of the private room.

Others, including Jiang Qi, Charles, and sports committee member Zhou Bin, were also attracted.

Just as tensions were about to rise, Boss Zhao coughed twice and forced a smile: "Don't be nervous, Qiao Yuan is my employee. I didn't expect to run into him here tonight. What a coincidence."

"Looks like you're all students, having a get-together here. Well then, I won't bother you any longer. Have fun." Mr. Zhao patted Qiao Yuan's shoulder meaningfully, his eyes revealing a deep meaning that we both understood. Then he went downstairs with four bodyguards.

Even though the other person had clearly left, Qiao Yuan's heart was not completely at ease.

He guessed correctly.

The other party's daughter died, and it was related to his behavior that night. This is really troublesome.

Qin Xue asked curiously, "Qiao Yuan? Who is he? Is he really your boss?"

Hu Tu also looked suspicious: "Your boss who used to be the surveillance operator at the Rebirth Hotel? I felt he wasn't a normal person, he had a kind of restrained ruthlessness."

Qiao Yuan listened quietly, took a deep breath, and decisively chose to process one timeline count.

[Anchor point: Being targeted by Zhao Hu.]

[Time: Five seconds later.]

The scene before him remained largely unchanged, but he himself had arrived, standing beside Zhao Hu as they descended the stairs; he now belonged to the future.

Zhao Hu, his face grim, ordered his bodyguard, "I should kill him! If it weren't for the fact that Yu Jin has been watching me these past few days, ha, what a joke, the murderer who killed my daughter is living a really good life, even able to afford the Four Seas Music Restaurant, damn it, having a sister in Yu Jin is just too much."

Qiao Yuan walked beside him the whole way, his brows furrowing more and more. It seemed that his background had been thoroughly investigated by the other party.

So, when White Rose's subordinate said in the elevator that Zhao Hu had suffered a concussion at the beginning of the year and forgot where he had hidden, he must have been tricked. The other party probably wanted to use him as leverage to get his daughter back.

But after he got involved, they all died.

He continued to listen beside Zhao Hu, when he noticed a bald, burly bodyguard cautiously speaking up: "Boss, the young lady hasn't been buried yet, that might not be appropriate, and besides..."

"Nonsense, do you need to tell me? Damn it! If it weren't for Xinran, damn it, if he had handed over his belongings, none of this would have happened. It's all his fault!"

Zhao Hu cursed and walked out of the Sihai Music Restaurant to the floating vehicle parked at the airport. Finally, he hesitated and said, "Okay, A Bao, you go and check Warehouse No. 4 first. There's no rush these few days, but if I'm going to take action, I won't leave any trace. I also need to retrieve the relics and clean them up, since her sister is a member of the Embers."

The bald bodyguard's eyelids twitched instinctively, and he quickly replied, "Don't worry, boss."

As he spoke, he got off the bus and rode onto a hover motorcycle next to him.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Qiao Yuan's eyes. Seeing that Zhao Hu's hovercar was about to leave, he narrowed his eyes, decisively activated his flying backpack, and drove it to maximum power. He followed behind Ah Bao's motorcycle, speeding down the Meilin Building.

Gradually, the two of them left the Merlin Commercial District, flew over countless floating buildings, and arrived at the Rhine Commercial District, located in the eastern part of Huanxi State. It was the place where Yan Baobao had brought him beef pineapple buns and crab roe noodles, about fifteen kilometers away.

He zigzagged through the air, struggling even at his maximum speed of 35 km/h. Fortunately, airborne vehicles were subject to traffic control, and the blond Charlie ahead would slow down from time to time due to traffic jams. Eventually, he arrived at a prosthetic body recycling station.

On the surface, it looks ordinary, with metal prosthetic debris scattered all over the place, a mess, and a tattered light sign hanging at the entrance, flickering with electric arcs.

Qiao Yuan's gaze was icy as he followed Ah Bao into the recycling station, into the inner room, and then down a staircase.

The downstairs area is more spacious, but it's mostly a storage room filled with various spare parts.

Until Ah Bao opened a hidden door.

Sure enough, there was more to it than met the eye. Below was a very hidden biological laboratory, filled with bottles and jars, and various organs. He also saw a group photo of Zhao Hu, Bai Meigui, and two others on the wall. The other person with a gloomy face was probably Bai Meigui's man, Zhang Hai, who was now covered in dust.

"This must be their secret base. Interesting," Qiao Yuan said, then returned to reality with a cold expression, not lingering for long.

There was a pool next to it with five or six crocodiles, each two or three meters long, all motionless. They probably wanted to capture him and destroy the evidence.

That's quite cautious.

In reality, once you fall off the floating city, you're basically doomed, or you can be killed and your body disposed of.

Standing outside the private room of "Dongjun," he smiled at Hu Tu and Qin Xue's questions and said, "Yes, it's nothing."

He then walked into the private room, nodded slightly to the other students, and casually found a seat to sit down.

Charles Ivan, dressed in a black fitted suit and with blond hair and blue eyes, was chatting and laughing with Qin Xue and other girls as the organizer of the reunion.

As a fallen nobleman from the main city, he still had considerable connections and wealth in Huanxi Prefecture, and he was admitted to Galaxy University.

Charles Ivan, like the White Rose, is a genetically sublimated mist sequence that can condense mist, becoming a man in the mist, killing people invisibly, and even transforming himself into a mist state after higher-level sublimation.

The guy next to him, Jiang Qi, whose family knows the [Twilight Group], is also riding high. He's a mechanically advanced individual, with implanted prosthetic hands and lungs. It's said that the air pollution in Huanxi Prefecture has lessened its impact on him.

As for Qin Xue, she, like Hu Tu, also experienced psionic sublimation, but was in the Storm Sequence.

As the object of Hu Tu's secret crush, the class representative Qin Xue is sweet-looking and very quiet. She has always been conscientious and responsible in class and especially admires Yan Baobao, completely being her little fangirl.

Qiao Yuan gave a brief greeting and then found a chair to sit down. He had no intention of attending the class reunion anymore. He was considering whether to tell Yan Baobao about the warehouse or to report it anonymously himself.

"Qiao Yuan? Are you alright?"

At that moment, Charles smiled at him and said, "If anyone bullies you, tell me. We're all old classmates. I heard that Yan Baobao is incredibly successful in Ember, and she's even the class monitor. I'm ashamed of myself."

"Yes, Qiao Yuan, don't worry," Qin Xue reassured him. "Everyone's here, shall we order?"

Qiao Yuan nodded slightly. Although he had a so-so relationship with Charles in school, it was normal for Charles to be so approachable now.

After all, Yan Baobao is already a law enforcer.

These wealthy children are all very shrewd and don't easily flaunt their power like they do in movies and TV shows.

In fact, Charles had already shown off. He just said to come to him if there was any trouble, which was a demonstration of his great power. He could easily make people willingly become his underlings with just a few words. His words implied this.

Overall, he was quite satisfied with the atmosphere of the class reunion; at least there wasn't any sarcastic or unpleasant atmosphere.

Hu Tu was drinking juice beside her, but his eyes were fixed on Qin Xue.

Everyone's waiting for their food.

However, there is one more thing today.

He nudged Hu Tu: "I've witnessed ancient martial arts at the Baihe Martial Arts School these past two days, and they're truly impressive."

"Ancient martial arts?" Hu Tu immediately perked up.

Jiang Bin, the tanned sports committee member standing next to him, immediately laughed and said, "I remember Charles also knows it, it's even aristocratic ancient martial arts, he's super strong."

"Yes, yes, Charles does." One girl said with envy.

Immediately, the other classmates started making a fuss, all hoping that Charles would show off his skills.

Charles, who always enjoyed being the center of attention, was in a great mood: "Haha, it's not that exaggerated, but it's definitely good."

As he spoke, he proudly displayed his two hands.

This was Qiao Yuan's purpose; as the saying goes, catering to someone's preferences was incredibly easy.

Although he knew Charles's aristocratic mindset and was now face-to-face with Charles, it was all hearsay and could not serve as a reliable reference.

Only when the other party demonstrates it personally can it be used as the basis for entering the past timeline to learn from others.

Just like the Spirit Crane Great Scattered Hand that Li Haoran had demonstrated earlier, Qiao Yuan's eyes were shining brightly as he was about to head to the past timeline when suddenly, a violent roar and tremor came from outside the private room window.

They were all startled and turned to look, including Qiao Yuan.

He stood up and went to the window, looking breathlessly toward the northern part of Huanxi State.

My heart started racing.