The Glorious Transcendent

Before she could finish, the door to the house opened.

They looked toward the door to see Kogan holding a small bottle.

He ignored Ling Shao, who was standing at his door, and glanced at Wei Li lying on the ground, drenched in sweat and looking pitiful.

He then looked toward Mei Li, trembling and standing behind wei li, disheveled and pale with fear. Without any preamble, he threw the bottle toward Mei Li.

Mei Li instinctively caught it, her eyes locked on Kogan’s.

’What eyes,’ her mind wandered for a moment before she snapped back to her difficult situation.

Kogan nodded at her with a smile.

Mei Li wasn’t stupid; she understood what was happening now.

What Kogan threw to her was a lifeline.

Now it was in her hands—would she cling to that rope and pull herself out of the abyss, or would she just stare at it, wondering how it ended up there?

"Leader, we came here to get this bottle of juice. You know, we had a feast of essence last night, and we wanted to celebrate tonight, but we ran out of..."

"Enough," Ling Shao interrupted her.

Mei Li spoke quickly, fabricating a perfectly plausible story. But before she could finish, the leader stopped her.

She swallowed nervously, awaiting her fate.

If anyone could kill her without caring about the consequences, it would definitely be Ling Shao.

"Since you took what you came for, leave," Ling Shao said coldly.

As long as both parties were satisfied, there was no spying or eavesdropping here.

Mei Li and Wei Li looked at him in disbelief at what had just happened.

"Thank you, Leader Ling Shao. We will leave now."

Wei Li knelt on the ground, and Mei Li bowed.

"I... I survived," Mei Li still couldn’t believe it.

She cast one last grateful glance at Kogan.

They hurried away onto the main street.

Now, they didn’t care if they ran into patrols—they had the leader’s permission.

Once they were away from the First-rank district, Mei Lan opened the bottle in her hand.

"It’s really juice... I was sure of it,"

She closed the bottle tightly and held it firmly.

"Kogan," she whispered the name.

When Kogan threw her the bottle, she understood immediately—there was no other reason for them to stop at his house.

Besides, she thought it made no sense to throw her a bottle of water.

Would they really go all that way just for water, which was everywhere?

So she had taken full advantage of the opportunity.

"I can’t believe we tricked the leader," Wei Li panted, still extremely frightened.

He hadn’t forgotten Ling Shao’s sudden appearance in front of him—his heart almost stopped beating.

Mei Li looked at him with intense hatred.

The angry, hateful Wei Li was gone, replaced by a miserable, submissive street dog.

***

Ling Shao looked at Kogan, then extended his hand for a handshake.

Kogan understood what it meant and extended his hand to shake his.

A pale white light shone on their hands for a moment before fading away.

Kogan tried to pull his hand back, but Ling Shao held on, refusing to let go.

"I liked what you just did," Ling Shao spoke telepathically.

Through essence exchange, individuals of the first rank and above can communicate telepathically.

They can also transfer essence to those below the first rank and speak to them.

However, those below the first rank can only listen.

Kogan sighed.

"They are my teammates in the team; it’s unreasonable to let their future be destroyed over a simple reason."

Kogan knew that a trick like this definitely wouldn’t fool Ling Shao, so he admitted it directly.

No need to lie about obvious things.

Lies should be reserved for special cases.

"You really saved them, but I don’t care about that matter and won’t follow up on it." Ling Shao released Kogan’s hand.

"I came here for something else."

He looked at Kogan with his sharp gray eyes.

’It seems I’ve been exposed,’Kogan thought before asking,

"What is it?"

"Second-rank essence slipped from you, didn’t it?" A cold smile appeared on Ling Shao’s face.

"I don’t understand?" Kogan frowned.

Kogan wasn’t ignorant; during his tour with Ray Kang in the city, he naturally got to know the high authorities.

And he certainly was not unaware of the identity of the person standing before him.

Ling Shao was ten years younger than Commander Ray Kang, yet he had reached the second rank and climbed to the top of power in the city.

which shows the strength and cunning of this man.

Kogan wasn’t lying when he used that trick to save Mei Li and Wei Li, because he wanted to keep some credibility for future cases.

"While you were delivering the essence last night, second-rank essence was added, and since you are the newcomer in the city, who else could its source be but you?"

Ling Shao sighed.

"It doesn’t matter, that’s all there is to it."

With that said, Ling Shao left Kogan’s house.

Kogan watched him until he disappeared from sight.

"Oh, damn."

***

Last night.

while they were delivering the nineteen units of reclaimed essence,

Kogan stepped forward toward the device for essence delivery and placed the palms of his hands on the designated spots.

Above the hand positions, there were three adjacent crystals, all unlit.

Kogan’s hands glowed, and the crystal on the right lit up with a pure white light.

But in the next moment, the second crystal lit up with a pale gray light.

’Damn,’ Kogan gasped when he saw the scene.

He looked toward the person in charge behind the window, but there was no reaction.

Inside the room

"Oh, like that, like that, deeper, deeper," the pupils of the person behind the window dilated.

His left hand rested on the edge of the inner window, while his right hand was pulling a woman’s hair.

His lower body was naked, while the woman grasped his penis and took it into her mouth, exploring her throat.

He was thoroughly enjoying himself, indifferent to the dull routine of his work.

Because of this, he was separated from his partner and enslaved, while their young daughter was left in the care of the city’s authorities to be raised and prepared.

He couldn’t believe it when he was put on trial.

A first-rank individual who had worked hard all his life,

yet the moment he chose to indulge a little, he was betrayed from behind, witnessing a strange event unfold before him without fully grasping it.

Was he wrong to enjoy his time late at night, or was it Ray Kang’s fault for bringing him into the team at such a time?