Part 3
It was only circulated in special auction houses, and only members who were specifically notified would know. Plus, few shifters circulated, so few people would take the initiative to mention such hidden matters.
Almost very few of the many people online knew about it.
At this moment, as the truth was exposed before their eyes, everyone was dazed.
[ Holy crap… after watching, I suddenly have a bold idea. I know why the host wanted to ask Mu Jiayi this. ]
[ Food products that can enhance mental power, followed immediately by this video of auctioning shifters for mental power extraction. My god, doesn’t this equal saying that the reason these so-called food products can enhance mental power has nothing to do with the food itself, but is because of the shifter mental power contained within? ]
[ I’m going to puke. You can never imagine how ruthless some people are to earn a profit. Although shifters have a low status, theyâve served plenty over the years. ]
[ Discarded after use, even squeezing out every last bit of value. I’m angry! Shaking! Cold! ]
[ Did the host want to ask Mu Jiayi before whether he knew all along that the mental power in those food products was extracted from shifters? ]
[ If it truly only became known after eating it upon opening, it truly is… wouldn’t that be equivalent to eating a shifter’s flesh and blood? Mental power isn’t infinite; there will come a day when it’s all extracted. Theyâll either suffer a mental power collapse or die from a dried-up sea of consciousness. ]
[ If this continues, won’t the entire species go extinct? ]
Everyone was furious. They wanted to enhance their mental power, and those without it wanted to have it, but not at the cost of a shifterâs life.
Mu Jiayi had just participated in bidding for a shifter not long agoâhow could he not know?
Lying in “Truth”âdid he have a single word of truth left in his mouth?
In an instant, questioning and angry comments swept in like a tidal wave, finally bringing the shocked Mu Jiayi back to his senses. He lunged toward Zong Ling, who was controlling the filming. After a moment of darkness, he exited the room.
But the angry fans still didn’t vent their anger and rushed to the newly established account ID of that restaurant to vent their fury.
Before long, this matter became a hot topic on the Star Network.
How popular this restaurant had been over the past two days was matched by how angry everyone was now that the truth was exposed and the reversal had come so unexpectedly.
Shocking Reversal! The Main Ingredient of the New Food Product Claimed to Increase Mental Power and Even Change Genes Turns Out to Be…
Future Heir of the Zong Family Involved in Shifter Mental Power Extraction?
Who Is the Boss Behind This Restaurant? Is It Related to the Mu Family?
Huge Scoop! Zong Ling No Longer a Member of the Zong Family?
Soon the matter involved the Zong family. Someone came forward to leak information, likely not wanting the matter to affect Marshal Zong, or fearing the Marshal would appear directly to explain.
Once Marshal Zong returned, it would surely mean reclaiming all his positions in the military, which was clearly something some people didn’t want to see.
Then Zong Ling could only be sacrificed.
Someone claimed they couldn’t stand it and came forward to leak that the Zong family had long since changed. They said Zong Lingâs father was not Marshal Zongâs biological second brother, but a family retainer.
Back then, when the Old Master Zong died, Marshal Zong was young and didn’t argue with them, publicly calling him his second brother, but in truth, he was only a retainer.
Not long ago, for some reason, these three so-called brothers had been kicked out of the Zong family, and their offspring were naturally no longer Zong family members.
Soon, the person in charge of the restaurant that had only been popular for two days was arrested. It was said to be the City Lord of a certain Underground City who, seeing other cities become popular due to gourmet food, wanted to use this gimmick to earn a wave of profit.
In truth, they only dared to use shifter mental power for the opening tasting event; they didn’t have enough to do more.
Finally, it ended with the restaurant closing and the person in charge being arrested.
When Ning Yunyi saw this after dinner, it was nearly over. To handle it so quickly, the Crown Prince must have been afraid that if people continued digging, he would be dug up.
The Crown Prince didn’t yet know that Marshal Zong already knew his true face. Doing this was naturally to avoid the Marshal overthinking and to prevent him from becoming suspicious.
Ning Yunyi hadn’t intended to solve everything in one go. The main goal of this matter was to make the Crown Prince’s plan to use mental power enhancement to numb the public fail.
On the other side, Mu Jiayi and Zong Ling had quietly entered the palace immediately after the incident. They knelt in a corner, watching the Crown Prince who was sitting in a wheelchair ahead, his back to them, pruning a bionic tree.
Mu Jiayiâs face was ashen, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
He was finished. He was truly finished.
Zong Ling, on the contrary, was the calmest one beside him. Without the title of the future heir of the Zong family, he had nothing left to lose.
He even felt like laughing seeing Mu Jiayi in such an embarrassed state.
The entire hall was eerily quiet, save for the snip snip sound of the Crown Princeâs scissors. Finally, he turned the wheelchair around, revealing the bionic tree, and asked with a gentle smile, “Is my pruning beautiful?”
Mu Jiayiâs whole body jolted, but he didn’t dare not answer. He looked up, looked at it tremblingly, and said hurriedly, “Beautiful, beautiful. Your Highness’s pruning is truly beautiful.”
To his surprise, the Crown Prince shook his head gently in the next moment. “No, you answered incorrectly. You must accept punishment.”
Mu Jiayi shuddered, his throat feeling blocked, and his teeth chattered against each other with a clack clack sound.
The Crown Prince sighed and waved his hand. Once everyone had slowly withdrawn, he stood up from the wheelchair.
He walked toward the two, step by step.
Zong Ling was shocked. Had the Prince not fallen from a horse and been injured to the point of being unable to walk?
But considering the Prince could establish such a restaurant and possessed so much mental power, perhaps it wasn’t so strange that his injuries healed quickly.
Mu Jiayi only felt that each of the Prince’s steps was like a stomp on his heart. He was in a state of panic. “Your Highness, please spare my life! I truly wanted to help you! I knew you wanted to know the true identity of Sect’s First Bladeâhe has so much Ancient Blue Star food and can’t be traced, he must have other secrets and abilities! I originally wanted to use this opportunity to make him reveal his true face, so we could investigate based on his appearance. Who knew, who knew… he actually had a back-up plan ready. Your Highness, he is definitely on Capital Planet! That video is from the Sector F Underground City, he could get it…”
“Are you finished?” The Prince didn’t hurry him, still smiling gently, waiting for Mu Jiayi to close his mouth uneasily.
Mu Jiayi pressed his forehead against the cold floor. “Your Highness, please give me another chance…”
The Prince’s voice came from overhead, still gentle, yet hearing it made one’s hair stand on end. “But if I give you a chance, who will pay for this matter? Do you know how much effort I made people put in for this restaurant to succeed? Do you know how much profit it could have brought if it succeeded? More importantly, once successful, even if these people knew it was extracted shifter mental power later, after having tasted the sweetness, would they still be as angry as they are today? I tell you, they wouldn’t. But youâve messed it all up.”
The Prince’s warm hand stroked Mu Jiayiâs neck like a loverâs, forcing him to lift his head. “Tell me, youâve destroyed everythingâhow can I still give you a chance?”
Despair flashed in Mu Jiayiâs eyes, and he didn’t dare to speak as his body trembled.
The Prince didn’t bother to listen to him further. His five fingers tightened around Mu Jiayiâs neck. Almost simultaneously, Mu Jiayi felt the mental power in his body overflowing continuously, as if being plundered by the person before him.
Zong Ling, beside them, watched this scene in disbelief. He was trembling with fearâwhat was this?
It was as if he were knowing the Prince for the first time. He was nailed to the spot.
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] After Accidental Marking, I Became Everyone’s Darling](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ABO-225x300.jpeg)
![Accidentally Turned a Tragic Romance Plotline into a Sweet and Pampering One [Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ACCIDENTALLY.png)
thank you for the chapter!