Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 733: Money for Buying Lives (Seeking Subscription)

Facing Pei Yan's brazen and shrewd demeanor, Bai Ze had no choice but to pull out a ring from his coat and toss it onto the table. "This should contain what you want, enough to satisfy your greedy appetite."

Pei Yan casually picked up the ring and didn't rush to inspect it. After fiddling with it in his hand for a while, he said indifferently, "Quite the bold claim. What's inside this?"

"Haven't you always wanted to explore the wonders of the Mechanical Puppetry Art in the Daoist Realm? Inside is the spoils from our raid on the Celestial Secret Pavilion last night. Not only does it have their precious Cultivation Technique, but most notably, it contains a Mechanical Puppet considered a Divine Artifact by the Pavilion. Alas! Ever since that brilliant predecessor from the Pavilion exhausted his life force to create it in a contest of skills with the Mo Sect, and later passed away, no amount of research by his useless successors has managed to control this puppet. Otherwise, defeating the Celestial Secret Pavilion would not have gone so smoothly, and now you've benefited." Bai Ze said as he sat back in his seat, observing Pei Yan's changing expressions with interest.

Sure enough, Pei Yan's eyes lit up briefly at Bai Ze's words. Although he quickly regained composure, Bai Ze caught a glimpse of his uncontainable joy, causing Bai Ze's lips to curl into a meaningful smile.

"Would you be so generous? Sending me this great gift for free before the competition to enhance my combat strength, making it harder for you to win the championship? There's no catch to all this, is there?" Pei Yan glanced sideways at Bai Ze while checking the items in the ring. There were seven Mechanical Puppets in total, each damaged to varying degrees. He quickly identified the one Bai Ze mentioned—it was so unique that it instantly caught his attention, emanating a bizarre aura as if calling for him to merge with it.

Forcing himself to snap out of the eerie sensation, Pei Yan glared at Bai Ze with irritation: "I thought there was something fishy about it—either you tampered with this sinister thing, or you couldn't do anything with it." Saying this, Pei Yan pulled out several scrolls from the ring and quickly perused them. Not long after, he raised his head sharply and demanded, "Why is there only how to operate and run the puppet, but no method to create it?"

"Junior Brother Pei, as you said, would we give you such a lavish gift for nothing before the competition?" Bai Ze spread his hands and asked with a smile. Seeing Pei Yan on the verge of erupting, he quickly added, "Pei Yan, there's no such thing as a free lunch. All it took was a little effort to broker a deal that earned you a sect's prized treasure; what more do you want? If it were easy to subdue, would it sit collecting dust in the Celestial Secret Pavilion? Would it be handed to you so effortlessly? Don't be naive—if it were, you'd be reluctant to accept it. Risks and opportunities come hand in hand; if you can't master it, that's on you."

Leaning back in his chair, Bai Ze continued, "As for why there's no method for creation—Junior Brother Pei, what use is it to you? Does your Investigation Hall have a professional Mechanical Master? Even if you obtained it now, it would take at least twenty years to train someone up, and do you have the materials for crafting? In the end, crafting Mechanical Puppets isn't like your abilities, which can rely on external scientific advancements to forcibly bloom and bear fruit within you. It requires a deep foundation, which your Investigation Hall lacks."

Although Bai Ze spoke the truth, the truth is often harsh! The investigators glared at him angrily, even the usually calm Wang Wenze, standing next to Pei Yan, couldn't suppress his urge to teach this arrogant fellow a lesson. Yet, Pei Yan restrained him, and under Wenze's puzzled gaze, Pei Yan cheerfully looked at Bai Ze and asked, "Done talking?"

"Done!" Bai Ze also responded with a smile.

"You've spoken well and truthfully, I agree with you. I'll accept this gift, and I'll do my best to see this through. Now let's discuss if this succeeds, how we should contact and inform you." Pei Yan asked while flipping through the scrolls on the table.

"No need to inform us. Once there's a result, we have our ways of knowing. We will visit personally then," Bai Ze said with a calm expression, noting the agents subtly closing off his escape routes.

"Ah, so you're acknowledging that you have insiders within us to the point of blatant openness. This also means that even if we use this to set a trap, you would immediately find out, and things would fall apart?" Pei Yan paused his scrolling, looked up at Bai Ze, and sneered.

Bai Ze didn't refute and smiled back as a form of acknowledgment. Seeing this, Pei Yan closed the book, put it back into the ring with a twist of his lips, and said helplessly, "Alright, since that's the case, we're doing business. Now let's talk about your matter."

"My, my matter?" Bai Ze feigned ignorance.

"Brother Bai, how do you wish to die?" Pei Yan leaped up, sat on the desk corner, grabbed an orange, peeled it, and popped a segment into his mouth, using an incredibly affectionate tone as if greeting an old friend long missed, not sending someone to their death.

Predicting this outcome, Bai Ze wasn't angered but pretended to be surprised and questioned, "Oh my, Junior Brother Pei, this goes against the principles of doing business, doesn't it? We just struck a deal, and now you're going to kill the client? In warfare, emissaries are spared, yet you've taken my capital?"

Pei Yan swallowed the orange, appearing slightly affected by its sourness, and flashed Zhao Yuanhu, who bought the oranges, a reproachful look. Then he gestured dismissively at Bai Ze, "That's not how it is. I took your money, but that was the price for facilitating negotiations, not for selling your life, understand?"

Finished speaking, he signaled to Zheng Jia Ru at the door, "Old Zheng, what are you waiting for? Send Brother Bai on his way. You plan to keep him around for dinner?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Jia Ru rushed behind Bai Ze, grabbed the back of his neck, and with a slight force of the wrist came the sound of bones cracking.

"Junior Brother Pei, we'll meet again if fate permits." Allowing Zheng Jia Ru to hold his vital spot, Bai Ze's smile turned ferocious under the strain for breath. After squeezing out those words between his teeth, Zheng Jia Ru snapped his neck, the lifeless head drooping to the side.

Letting go and watching the corpse slump lifeless at his feet, Zheng Jia Ru muttered in confusion, "This guy can't be that weak, can he?" Squatting down, he checked for breath and looked up at the crowd with surprise, "Really dead?"