Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1236: The Truth Always Hides in Silence

Everything had quietly changed.

Nan Xiaonan sat there in low spirits, silently sipping a freshly made cup of Ovaltine… feeling deeply pained, as though all her efforts had been for nothing.

There was no need to forge evidence anymore—because the corpse sent in last night had disappeared, and the bureau could no longer find any trace of that person’s identity. Everyone had already forgotten. The events that happened in the factory were now distorted.

Things shouldn’t have turned out this way, yet it somehow felt like everything was still moving along a predetermined track—ambiguous, yet inevitable. No amount of mental acceleration could help her make sense of it.

Nan Xiaonan was becoming more aware of how terrifying that great being truly was… not because of his Heaven-and-Earth-Annihilating power—she had never personally witnessed such destruction—but because he could silently twist reality itself. That was far more horrifying.

When she returned last night, the anger and grief she’d felt had completely vanished, replaced by feverish zeal. Everyone was now wholeheartedly focused on capturing “Zhu Jianqiang.” But… was “Zhu Jianqiang” really the culprit?

Would finding this person only lead them into an even deeper quagmire?

Nan Xiaonan had a strong intuition—that the truth would forever remain hidden in silence, buried in a place no one, not even herself, could ever truly understand.

When would she ever reach such a level herself?

She pondered deeply. Her true body, as a King Immortal, had already reached the pinnacle of power—there was no visible path forward.She felt her current state was like the nuclear weapons created by this sub-world: absolute in destructive power, yet incapable of delicate work.

Vaguely, she seemed to glimpse another possible direction of growth… and that glimpse fascinated her. Like a moth drawn to flame, she dove headlong into a brand-new realm.

Crash!

The cup fell to the floor with a sharp sound. Little Bao, who had been slacking off nearby, was startled and turned around—only to see Nan Xiaonan collapsed on the ground. He jumped up in alarm.

“Forensic Nan! Forensic Nan! What’s wrong? Don’t scare me!”

“So hungry…”

Nan Xiaonan’s face was deathly pale, her stomach cramping and growling, her cheeks sunken in.

“…”

…

In the club’s main hall, Chen Mingming and Zhao Le met again—for the first time in over two days. By now, Chen Mingming had regained all the memories that had been erased before his evaluation.

“Can’t believe it… Mingming, you were Mr. Blank all along.” Zhao Le gave a wry smile.

Even more surprising was that Chen Mingming’s odd behavior over the past few days had been because he was undergoing an assessment. And Zhao Le himself never expected he’d somehow become a Black Soul Envoy.

But learning that Chen Mingming was only a trainee Black Soul Envoy left him puzzled—shouldn’t Chen Mingming be far more qualified than himself?

As for Boss Luo and Miss Maid, Zhao Le had only recently met them and still couldn’t grasp what kind of people they really were.

Now, under Luo Qiu’s supervision, both Zhao Le and Chen Mingming completed their transformation into Black Soul Envoys. Zhao Le faintly sensed that his transformation differed slightly from Chen Mingming’s—but he couldn’t yet tell how.

Then, before their eyes, a massive black cabinet slowly rose from the floor under Miss Maid’s summoning hands.

The two of them stared in astonishment—it looked like an enormous safe.

“This is the Ark,” Miss Maid explained with a smile. “It’s where we store the life-lamps of the Black Soul Envoys.”

“What’s a life-lamp?” Zhao Le asked curiously.

Chen Mingming stayed silent but still looked at Miss Maid. He knew that within the club’s hierarchy, he and Zhao Le both fell under her management.

“The life-lamp holds your memory and soul,” Miss Maid said gently. “Black Soul Envoys aren’t immortal. But with your life-lamp stored in the Ark, even if you die during a mission, the master can resurrect you through it… Of course, whether or not you’re brought back depends entirely on the master’s will.”

That was one of the club’s core principles—everything was transactional.

Every Black Soul Envoy had to personally go through the process of placing their life-lamp in the Ark. Boss Luo’s first envoy, Tai Yinzi, had done so; later, Da Zhe and Nero had as well.

Now, from both Zhao Le and Chen Mingming’s bodies, glowing orbs emerged on their own. They could sense that each orb contained everything about themselves, yet they hadn’t lost anything.

When the orbs were placed into the Ark, a clear mark—a kind of spiritual shackle—etched itself deep within their souls. They had already faintly sensed this binding upon becoming Black Souls, but now it felt tangible.

Zhao Le and Chen Mingming exchanged glances, both seeing the same weight in each other’s eyes. From this moment on, their lives were entirely under the control of the man before them—life and death decided by his will, leaving no room for defiance.

“Your workplace is nearly ready. Before that, you have twelve hours of free time,” Luo Qiu said with a faint smile. “You should get used to your new bodies first. You Ye, teach them how to use their Black Soul bodies.”

Boss Luo now had five Black Soul Envoys under his command. At times like this, Miss Maid’s additional value truly showed.

To put it simply—when there’s work to do, the secretary handles it.

With that, Luo Qiu turned and walked toward the pitch-black door that had appeared behind him—a Threshold Gate that had been opened long ago.

Back then, it could only be opened within this sub-world, serving as a network node connecting different locations to the club.

After Luo Qiu’s self-experiment incident in South America, the Threshold Gate’s power had evolved—it could now open to other sub-worlds.

As he stepped through the gate, Luo Qiu glanced back at You Ye and said, “Once you’re done instructing them, come join me.”

“Yes,” Miss Maid replied softly, hands folded before her, bowing with grace.

…

Learning to use a Black Soul Envoy’s power didn’t always require teaching—take Tai Yinzi or Nero, for example. They had already been extraordinary beings before their transformation. For them, becoming Black Souls simply meant switching from one type of power to another—like changing currencies from francs to euros; they could adapt naturally.

Da Zhe, on the other hand, had immense Source of Anomaly power but no prior experience with the supernatural. He’d been thrown into a dimensional rift by Number 18, awakening his potential over a long period.

Chen Mingming and Zhao Le, however, didn’t need that kind of forced awakening. A simple lesson on the basics would suffice.

They didn’t even need to enter a dimensional rift.

Inside a rectangular room with white walls and a black ceiling—

“Flight and phase-shifting are the basic abilities of every Black Soul Envoy,” Miss Maid instructed. “But remember—phase-shifting doesn’t make you invincible. If your opponent’s power exceeds a certain threshold, their attacks will still affect you.”

The two listened intently—it was their first contact with the extraordinary, and everything felt almost unbelievable.

“Remember, the power of a Black Soul Envoy is theoretically limitless. The only limit lies in how much power the envoy’s body can contain. If you wish to gain more power, you must use your performance points to purchase additional portions of the ‘Source of Anomaly’ to upgrade your Black Soul body. Of course, whether you choose to upgrade or not is entirely up to you. After all, our core business is trade. Having great power doesn’t necessarily mean you can find more patrons. For example, there was once a Black Soul Envoy who became a Führer. By waging wars and building an empire of faith, he earned an enormous amount of performance points.”

Zhao Le couldn’t help but ask, “Führer, war… empire of faith—don’t tell me that was—”

“Not from this world,” Miss Maid said calmly. “Besides, that envoy is already dead. His life lamp rests within the Ark of the Covenant and he has not been granted the chance of rebirth. Of course, whether he’ll be given that chance in the future is uncertain—it depends on the master’s will.”

Zhao Le slowly exhaled and took note to himself… what he had seen so far was merely the tip of the iceberg of this mysterious shop.

Miss Maid continued, “While it’s true that great strength doesn’t necessarily bring more business, it does make things easier. A stronger envoy can approach higher-quality patrons and take on more difficult assignments.”

“To what extent?” Chen Mingming frowned slightly.

Miss Maid smiled faintly. “So far, the highest-level mission has been… world annihilation.”

The smile was still breathtakingly beautiful, yet when her eyes met theirs, Chen Mingming and Zhao Le both felt an overwhelming sense of dread. They hadn’t noticed it before, but now that they had become Black Soul Envoys, they could clearly sense the faint trace of terror hidden within Miss Maid herself.

You Ye clapped her hands lightly. In front of Chen Mingming and Zhao Le appeared a thick leather-bound book, about one centimeter thick. “Before you leave this place, you can use it to get familiar with your current abilities—or step outside to clear your minds. The books before you contain the rules and codes for Black Soul Envoys. You’ll find that you have a high degree of freedom, and you may choose any type of patron you wish… However, there is one supreme rule that must never be violated.”

“Never betray…” Chen Mingming murmured softly.

You Ye smiled slightly. “You both adapt quickly. The rest of the time is yours to use freely.”

Miss Maid lifted her skirt slightly in a graceful bow before vanishing from sight.

Inside the black-and-white space, only Chen Mingming and Zhao Le remained.

They had barely had any chance to talk since they first met. Now, for the first time, they were alone.

Knowing Chen Mingming wasn’t the type to start conversations, Zhao Le adjusted his glasses and decided to speak first. “Um… Mingming, that pistol from before—was it really you who sent it to me?”

Chen Mingming said nothing. Instead, he closed his eyes, and his body began to dissolve into Mist Form before slowly re-forming. The process took longer than expected, likely because he was still unfamiliar with his powers.

A moment later, the mist solidified into a silver pistol that floated before Zhao Le.

Zhao Le’s eyes widened.

He then heard Chen Mingming’s voice. “That’s what I bought during my transaction. It was forged from my soul… and it seems to have been transformed along with me. The execution bullets are now condensed from performance points instead of lifespan. As for regular bullets, there seems to be no limit—they likely depend on my stamina consumption.”

“Execution bullets?” Zhao Le blinked in surprise.

“They’re one-hit-kill bullets that ignore distance and space. For now, that’s what I call them.”

Zhao Le was astonished. He instinctively picked up the silver gun and examined it, but within seconds, it slipped from his hand and turned back into mist. Chen Mingming reappeared, his expression slightly pale.

Zhao Le sighed. “You’re amazing. With an ability like that, I feel like I don’t have anything special.”

Chen Mingming said nothing—he knew Zhao Le was a full Black Soul Envoy, while he himself was merely an apprentice.

“So… what made you want to buy a gun like that?” Zhao Le asked after a pause.

Chen Mingming only shook his head. Everyone had things buried deep in their hearts that they didn’t wish to say.

If he were honest, perhaps the one he truly wanted to kill… was that weak, tearless version of himself.

Having gone through all this, Chen Mingming understood his own heart a little better.

“Oh right! There’s still something I don’t get.” Zhao Le seemed to recall something. “What did you do with those… missing parts?”

He was referring to Wang Liang’s missing corpse parts.

“Burned them,” Chen Mingming said flatly.

Zhao Le swallowed hard. That was just like Chen Mingming—clean and decisive.

But he also understood why. With the corpse mutilated, the police would focus on why the killer did such a thing, trapping themselves in a cycle of overanalysis.

“Wang Liang… you really killed him?” Zhao Le frowned slightly, lowering his voice.

Chen Mingming looked deeply at Zhao Le and shook his head. “No. When I got there, he was already dead.”

“Already dead?” Zhao Le was stunned.

Chen Mingming nodded. “I did plan to kill him. I’d prepared quite a lot for it. Before December 1st, I had already sneaked into Wang Liang’s house and set up hidden cameras to study his habits and pick the right time. The footage was meant to be sent to the police after I left the country, to clear your name and create the illusion of ‘Mr. Blank’ as the true killer. After that, I planned to disappear overseas. My illness was incurable anyway, so I just wanted to die quietly somewhere no one knew me, leaving a final memory for my parents.”

But now, there was no need for that plan. As long as he earned enough performance points, he could “come back” anytime he wanted.

“Then…” Zhao Le started to speak.

Chen Mingming recalled, “That day when I was watching Wang Liang, he suddenly clutched his head in pain, then took some painkillers or something, and not long after, he collapsed. I waited for a while—he didn’t move, didn’t breathe. He wasn’t sleeping. When I checked, he was already dead.”

“Then who… who killed him?” Zhao Le asked, shocked.

Chen Mingming shook his head. “No idea. But isn’t that better? If the killer isn’t even a killer, then the case will remain shrouded in mystery—perhaps forever unsolved. Still, if you really want to know, it’s easy. Just make a deal and use performance points to buy the answer. The Boss would surely tell you.”

—The truth always hides in silence.

Zhao Le exhaled and gave a bitter smile. “I’d rather spend my points on something nice for my sister.”

……

……

A few days earlier, in the interrogation room.

Brother Long shouted angrily, “Man, I was so pissed off at that time! I saw that kid take off running, didn’t even think about it—I just grabbed a beer bottle and threw it! Didn’t expect to have such good aim! Cracked his skull open right there!”

“And then?” Zhou Yusheng glared at him impatiently.

Brother Long shrugged. “That bastard didn’t even stop running. I chased him all the way but he still got away. I even planned to catch him at his workplace, but the next day I got arrested… Hey, officer, does this count as helping you guys out? Maybe a lighter sentence?”

Zhou Yusheng said expressionlessly, “I don’t know about leniency… but based on what you just said, there’s plenty of evidence you used illegal violence.”

“Ah? Wait—no, officer, I remember wrong! I was just talking to him! I didn’t hit anyone, I swear!”

(End of Chapter)

(元首) Führer

"元" (yuán) means "first," "primary," or "principal," and "首" (shǒu) means "head." So, "元首" literally means "first head" or "principal head."

The term is generally used in Chinese to refer to the head of state of a country, regardless of whether that person is a president, monarch, or other type of leader.

Historical Context: "元首" has been used in Chinese for centuries to refer to the head of state. In the 20th century, it was notably used to refer to Adolf Hitler ("希特勒元首" - Xītèlè yuánshǒu) in Chinese media. Due to this historical association, its usage can sometimes carry a negative connotation.

Historically, "Führer" was a military title in Germany dating back to at least the 18th century.