Thinking this, Fang Ze couldn't help but ask Nan Yi, "Do you know where their money comes from?"
Nan Yi shook her head, looking a bit lost as she said, "I don't know."
She went on, "I've asked a few trainees, but those trainees just said they earned it through their own abilities. As for the others, they didn't go into detail."
'Earned through their own abilities?'
'What does that mean?'
Fang Ze couldn't help but ponder.
He asked Nan Yi, "Does anyone else in the bureau know about my ability to enhance others' strength?"
This time, Nan Yi shook her head with certainty.
She said, "There shouldn't be."
"Today, I asked our people in various departments, and they said the commissioners of each department are now more concerned that you, chief, passed the Neutral Faction's scrutiny and were put into the detention room."
"Regarding the former, they feel surprised, envious, and they incessantly speculate whether you would gain more trust and use."
"As for the latter, they are betting on how long you will be out or solve the case."
"By comparison, although most of the commissioners are from the training center, the Pei Xin Center is after all a marginalized department, so it doesn't receive much attention."
"To be honest, if weren't for you, a person of interest, during this time at the training center, people probably wouldn't even bother gossiping about it."
Hearing Nan Yi's words, Fang Ze nodded.
If those gossipy commissioners in the Security Bureau aren't discussing it, that means those 23 trainees haven't leaked the information on a large scale.
In that case, Fang Ze's range of suspected powers immediately narrowed a lot.
He guessed that the only two forces that could have obtained his secret without a massive leak were either the Commoner Faction or the Jiang Family.
After all, it would be a simple matter for the Commoner Faction that controls the Security Bureau or the Jiang Family that controls the entire Emerald City to extract some information from these trainees who had not yet been employed.
Thus, when Fang Ze was preparing to enhance the trainees' abilities, he didn't plan on complete secrecy.
Of course... he didn't expect the leak to happen so quickly.
Then... who from these two could it be?
And what's the purpose?
Try to probe the effects of his Extraordinary Artifact?
Ascertain the upper limit of his artifact's abilities?
Or perhaps... they are plotting some strategy to lure him out of the Security Bureau and seize the opportunity to have a Yang Transformation expert kill him?
Because the clues are too scarce, Fang Ze can't make a judgment for the moment.
However, he has made up his mind.
No matter who makes a move, he'll just respond.
After all, he created this artifact to make money + achieve political merits.
Now that someone is willing to spend money to help him achieve this, there's no reason for him not to accept it.
The only thing he needs to be cautious about is: no matter what happens today, don't leave the Security Bureau!
Once he gets through this afternoon and into the night, he can casually bring a trainee into the Late-Night Investigation Room for an interrogation, and the truth will probably come to light!
With that thought, Fang Ze hesitated no longer. He said to Nan Yi, "Alright. Let's go take a look at what exactly these trainees are up to."
Upon hearing Fang Ze's words, Nan Yi quickly nodded, then led Fang Ze toward the Pei Xin Center.
Arriving at the Pei Xin Center, Fang Ze found two rows of trainees already standing at the entrance to his office.
Upon seeing Fang Ze, these trainees immediately looked at him with fervent eyes.
Fang Ze's gaze swept over all the trainees, capturing everyone's expressions: no anomalies found...
Looking at their simple appearance, he figured most of them were probably being used as pawns.
Thinking this, Fang Ze said to all the trainees, "Don't be anxious, everyone. Line up and come in one by one."
Having said that, he asked Nan Yi to maintain order outside, then he was the first to push open the office door, and began receiving the trainees inside.
After a while, the first trainee entered Fang Ze's office.
It was someone Fang Ze was a bit surprised to see – the impoverished trainee he had noticed before: Jie.
Today's Jie was noticeably different from the past two days.
Although his clothing had not changed, in the past two days he tended to slightly hunch his chest and his movements were quite restricted, which psychologically indicates an inferiority complex.
But today, he was completely different.
He walked with his chest puffed out and his head held high, his movements bigger, giving one the impression of someone brimming with confidence.
With just a few simple looks, Fang Ze felt... there was something off about this trainee.
While thinking this, Fang Ze tentatively asked, "Trainee Jie, have you gathered enough money?"
Jie confidently nodded and said, "Chief, this time, I want to achieve Perfection in Muscle Tempering!"
With those words, he took out a small cloth bag from his hand, containing two bags of crystals, a good twenty to thirty crystals in each.
Fang Ze looked at him, then picked up one of the crystal bags, opened it, and inspected it carefully.
The crystals were pure, free of impurities, and of excellent quality.
And most importantly, when Fang Ze touched the two bags of crystals, Credit World provided a value reference of 20,000 Lini.
This was consistent with Credit World's previous 'valuation' of the crystals.
So... there really was no issue with these crystals.
With this in mind, Fang Ze turned his gaze back to Jie and asked, "Trainee Jie, how did you come by these crystals?"