Chapter Sixty: Pursuing the Clues

The middle-aged man felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of panic as Gu Sha stared at him.

The chicken in question was indeed not from the community breeding base. He had found another source, someone who sold him chickens at a low price, and he passed them off as if they were from the official community base, putting them on the supermarket shelves for sale. In fact, this kind of thing was quite common among the supermarket management.

These days, all the food in the supermarket was supposed to come from officially designated sources. However, there were still many ordinary people growing vegetables or raising poultry privately. Due to environmental limitations, much of this unofficial produce failed safety inspections and was often contaminated with certain viruses. As a result, such goods fetched a very low price.

So, many people in positions of authority within the supermarket management would buy these unofficial goods cheaply, mix them in with the products from the official supply base, and sell them at a high price to pocket the difference. Although these items were contaminated, the health risks to humans weren’t considered severe—as long as the quantities were controlled, there was little chance of real problems or of being discovered. For example, the chicken on the table: at a glance, he could tell it had been processed and the mutated parts hidden, making it indistinguishable from those from the official base.

This was an unspoken rule within the management office—everyone knew, but no one spoke of it.

The middle-aged man looked at Gu Sha, growing nervous. He didn’t know Gu Sha personally, but in these times, anyone who could afford an entire chicken had to have some status. If things got out of hand, it could be disastrous.

Immediately, he put on a fawning smile and said, “Is there a problem with this chicken, sir?”

Gu Sha looked at him and said, “I’m asking you—where did this chicken come from?”

The middle-aged man frowned, feeling a little irritated. He knew well enough that the chicken’s origin was questionable, but he didn’t think it was a big deal. Gu Sha’s aggressive attitude was too much.

He responded in a low voice, “I told you, it was delivered from the community breeding base. If you think there’s a problem, you’re welcome to investigate at the base.”

He turned to Director Wu and said, “Director Wu, all our supermarket products come with invoices. If there’s any suspicion about the product, you can contact the breeding base for inspection. If there is a real problem, we’ll replace it immediately.”

Director Wu, hearing this, looked at Gu Sha and said, “Sir, Chief Wang is right. If there’s an issue with the product, I’ll have the breeding base send over several more chickens for you right away—would that be acceptable?”

Gu Sha sneered and looked at the sullen-faced Chief Wang. Rising slowly to his feet, he said, “It seems you still don’t understand the seriousness of the situation. You’re still trying to brush me off?”

From Director Wu’s address, Chief Wang realized that Gu Sha’s background might be much more significant than he’d thought, and he began to sense that the issue with the chicken could be serious. Still, at this point, the greater the problem with the chicken, the less he dared to admit it. He stiffened his attitude and said, “Sir, I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to do, but everything in our supermarket follows official procedures. If you want to check, feel free!”

In truth, Chief Wang wasn’t particularly worried. What he did was common in the management office. While the goods weren’t from the community base, all the paperwork was in order. Unless someone snitched, it would be impossible to trace. He wasn’t worried about anyone ratting them out, since this was an open secret throughout the management office—there were too many people involved for anyone to risk exposing it.

Gu Sha’s expression was icy.

He hadn’t been certain about Chief Wang at first, but when he questioned him, he noticed Chief Wang’s heartbeat accelerate. As a ninth-tier warrior, Gu Sha could easily observe the minute changes in an ordinary person’s expression.

So, based on Chief Wang’s reactions, Gu Sha was now sure the man knew exactly where the chicken had come from.

He said coldly, “I know there’s plenty of filth in these official agencies. I have no interest in investigating or policing whether you abuse your authority for personal gain. I only have one question: where did this chicken come from? I’ll give you one last chance—tell the truth, and I’ll let this go. Otherwise, you’ll be in serious trouble.”

Chief Wang sneered inwardly. Before the apocalypse, he’d spent years navigating the bureaucracy and was thoroughly versed in this kind of confrontation. There was no way he’d believe Gu Sha’s threat, and certainly no reason to confess just because of a few words. In the system, few had truly clean hands.

They’d been investigated plenty of times by higher authorities, but their response was always the same: never admit anything without absolute evidence. As long as it didn’t come to that, nothing ever happened—things were simply dragged out until forgotten.

He glanced at Gu Sha’s cold face, but didn’t take it seriously.

Trying to bluff me? Is that all you’ve got?

Even when the authorities were strict before the apocalypse, he’d never been caught—let alone now, with the regulatory system in ruins. There was no way his actions would ever be discovered.

“Sir, as I’ve said, if you think there’s a problem, follow the proper procedure. But you’re trying to arbitrarily accuse me of dereliction of duty? Don’t you think that’s a bit much? You—”

“Go to hell!”

Gu Sha kicked him, sending Chief Wang flying through the air before crashing to his knees on the ground with a loud thud. The next moment, Gu Sha grabbed his head and slammed it into the floor—there was a sickening crack, and blood started to flow.

Gu Sha’s sudden attack stunned everyone in the office. They leapt up to intervene.

But Gu Sha drew his Tang sword and stabbed it into the floor with a cold command: “Transcendents’ Association—investigating extremist elements. Anyone who so much as utters a sound—will be killed without mercy!”

The moment the sword pierced the ground, the floor tiles shattered into fragments, cracks spidering out in all directions.

No one dared move or even breathe.

Gu Sha looked down at Chief Wang, now lying on the ground with blood streaming down his face. He gave him a light kick and said, “Don’t you dare play dead with me. Are you awake now? Will you talk?”

Chief Wang, half-dazed and seeing stars, didn’t even answer Gu Sha’s question. Instead, he stammered, “You... Even if you’re from the Transcendents’ Association, you have no right to assault a public official! I’ll report you—I’ll—”

With a metallic ring, Gu Sha drew his sword and, with a single stroke, sliced through Chief Wang’s neck. The head tumbled from the body, blood spraying everywhere, and the rest of the office staff were terrified out of their wits.

“Wasting my time,” Gu Sha muttered, then looked to Director Wu and said coldly, “Ten minutes. I want to know where this chicken came from.”