"Ryan, the director wants you!"
A colleague called out.
He raised a hand in acknowledgment and walked to Jonathan's office. The man sat in his chair, brow tightly furrowed in worry.
"What took you so long?"
"Uh... didn't you assign me a task yesterday, Director? I went to scout the place last night and got back late."
Jonathan nodded without dwelling on it. He beckoned Ryan over. "Another murder case. A major casualty incident, too. I have something urgent to deal with, so go take a look for me."
"A murder case? Where?"
"The Snake Mouth Gang. More than twenty people died together early this morning. My preliminary judgment is that it may involve a supernatural being. Be careful."
"Could it be the Blood Cult again?"
"Not sure. Go conduct a preliminary investigation first. I'll send someone else to take over later... Damn it, these bastards never let anyone rest easy."
The office telephone rang just as he finished speaking.
Ring-ring~ Ring-ring~~
Jonathan snatched up the receiver and said irritably, "Who is it?! Hm? Yes, this is him... Huh? Say that again!"
Bang!
After hanging up, Jonathan's expression became graver than ever.
"Ryan, trouble's here."
Ryan looked puzzled. "What now?"
"The Snake Mouth Gang has been wiped out."
A Trustworthy Friend
Half an hour earlier.
At a Snake Mouth Gang stronghold, inside a large mansion in the East District.
Flames spread through the house with a crackling hiss. Screams occasionally rang out from within, enough to make anyone shudder.
Because of the Snake Mouth Gang's tyranny, the entire surrounding area was their turf. The boss lived in the mansion, while the underlings lived in smaller houses. Even if citizens happened to pass by and heard the sounds from afar, they would never dare approach.
Gangsters killed people!
Those screams had to be someone being tortured.
And such favorable terrain naturally gave 'Lin Qi's' operation of salvation a tremendous advantage.
She killed her way in through the front gate, from the first floor to the second. When she found the Snake Mouth Gang's boss, he was still doing morning exercises in his room with a red-haired woman.
"Boss!" "Boss!"
"Kill that bitch!"
Snake Mouth Gang members rushed in from outside one after another, some wielding clubs, others axes, charging up the stairs.
"She's alone! Get her!"
"Die!"
Whoosh!
The first brave man rushed forward and swung down his axe, only for it to suddenly stop in midair.
His expression froze. He raised his dull gaze to his own hand, seemingly unable to understand what had stopped him. He still failed to figure it out even after he was sent flying.
The Silent Nun's ability was absurdly overpowered!
Against ordinary people like these, the Demon Spirit could knock one down with virtually every strike. Even with the Snake Mouth Gang's numbers, they were helpless against its heaven-defying speed.
'Lin Qi' merely stood where she was. None of them could get within half a meter of her. Ignoring the chaos around her, 'Lin Qi,' dressed in a gray hooded coat, walked into the room.
"Y-you... who the hell are you?!"
Rott, the Snake Mouth Gang's boss, demanded fiercely despite his inner fear. "Do you know who I am? My brother-in-law is a Noble!"
"Baron Holder?" 'Lin Qi' said coldly.
Rott froze.
"You know, then—"
"Was he the one who promised you the development rights to the slums?"
"You came over this?"
Rott's gaze flickered. He knew it was never that simple. The slums looked like a juicy piece of meat, but after all these years, they remained a persistent problem for Berman City.
The things those people could not resolve were thrown to the Mafia instead. One misstep, and they would be the first ones chosen to take the blame.
That was why Rott had warned his men from the start to handle things discreetly. Anyone who caused trouble was to be killed. Killing did not matter, but word of it absolutely could not spread. It could not become common knowledge.
Damn it, where had things gone wrong to bring a God of Slaughter like this down on them?
Others might not know, but Rott knew a little.
This world contained many powers that surpassed ordinary humans, possessed by only a small number of people.
Though he had never seen a supernatural being himself, he had heard plenty of stories about them. They were existences that absolutely could not be provoked!
And clearly, the girl before him was one.
Rott said in a deep voice, "If any of my useless subordinates offended you, just tell me. I'll drag him out for you. Kill him or skin him alive, whatever you say!"
"They killed my younger sister."
"This..."
Rott was dumbfounded.
What had his Snake Mouth Gang ever done to deserve killing a supernatural being's younger sister?
"Could there have been some mistake?" Rott asked unwillingly.
"There was no mistake. I saw it with my own eyes."
"You didn't stop them?"
"I saw it with my own eyes."
"?"
So, she had watched her younger sister get killed?
A vicious light flashed in Rott's eyes. He knew there was likely no peaceful resolution this time. He would have done the same in her place. If he were a supernatural being and his younger sister had been killed by a group of ants, he would not mind crushing those ants to death.
"In that case... die!"
Bang!
Rott pulled his hand from beneath the pillow. He cocked and fired the Revolver in one fluid motion, shot after shot. This old gun usually had problems, but it was remarkably reliable this time, not jamming even once.
Yet every bullet was stopped by some unknown force. Rott suddenly felt a pair of invisible hands seize his throat. The suffocating sensation turned his cheeks and neck bright red.
"M-mercy..."
"Your soul is already thoroughly stained. Let me offer you salvation."
The arm holding the gun twisted in an unimaginable way. The instant the steaming muzzle aimed at himself, Rott fell into utter terror.
Bang!
The bullet entered through his mouth.
Rott fell onto the bed with his eyes wide open. Until his death, he could not understand what had killed him.
"Boss! Boss!"
"The boss is dead!!"
"Fuck! Kill her!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted from the doorway. 'Lin Qi' swiftly ducked into the room's bathroom. The flying bullets tore through the bedding, sending feathers spraying everywhere, and also pierced the red-haired woman along with it.
Their firepower was fierce, but it meant nothing if they could not hit their target. 'Lin Qi' hid in the bathroom while the Demon Spirit leaped from the shadows. Through its vision, she could see everything outside.
"There's no need to hold back anymore. Kill them all."
'Lin Qi' said quietly.
By the time Ryan and Jonathan arrived at the mansion, the entire building was saturated with the smell of blood.
Jonathan first had people put out the spreading flames to prevent more clues from being destroyed. He then carefully inspected the whole house before reaching a conclusion.
"A supernatural being did this. It was probably the same person from the previous case."
"Director, how can you be sure it was a supernatural being?"
"It's simple." Jonathan pointed at the signs of fighting inside. "Ordinary people can't cause this level of destruction. And did you notice? They weren't killed by gunshots or axes. Most of them died from blunt-force impacts."
Ryan nodded slightly. He had not noticed that, but he had never planned to hide it anyway. There were so many supernatural beings in Berman City—who could say for sure that 'Lin Qi' had done it?
"Director, we found this in Rott's room."
A security officer brought over a document.
Jonathan opened it and took a look.
It was an agreement recording the Snake Mouth Gang's contract with the housing and construction department.
'Lin Qi' had found it earlier and deliberately left it behind, specifically so the Bureau of Investigation could handle it.
The Snake Mouth Gang boss's brother-in-law worked at the Municipal Office. This was not exactly a secret within the Bureau of Investigation. Otherwise, how could they have allowed the Snake Mouth Gang to grow this much?
And behind Rott's brother-in-law, Adler's shadow was most likely involved as well.
Ryan wanted to use this matter to drag Adler into the mess and see if he could find an opportunity to kill him.
As for sending 'Lin Qi' to assassinate him, that was too risky. Adler was a supernatural being himself, and he now had the Hand of Darkness helping him. The danger was simply too great.
"Fuck!"
Jonathan cursed, though no one knew what he had thought of.
"Ryan, I'm leaving this place under your command. I need to deal with something."
"Don't worry, Director. Leave it to me."
Jonathan acknowledged him, took the document, and quickly left the mansion.
When he had heard about the murder in the slums that morning, he had already felt something was off. Now it seemed that the Municipal Office's little schemes had indeed brought trouble. Drawing the attention of a supernatural being was no small matter.
"You lot, go check over there."
Inside the mansion, Ryan issued orders.
He put on a show of inspecting the place, remaining there for two hours before leaving.
Investigate?
Investigate my ass!
He would only be investigating himself.
News of the Snake Mouth Gang's destruction quickly spread. Soon afterward, word got out about the Mafia seizing the slums. It was not just the East District—gang forces in other Major City Districts had taken over the matter as well.
Though the truth was quickly suppressed, public calls against the Mafia grew louder and louder. On the surface, this whole affair ended with Mafia crimes. Along with the Heiding Street case and the Train Station case from earlier, weren't the Mafia getting a little too brazen?
Did the Mafia have a good reputation?
Obviously not.
The people at the top understood without needing to say it: someone had to take the blame.
The facts proved Ryan's thinking had been too simple. Those people above were tightly united. They did not even expose a Baron Holder, much less Adler.
It made sense. Interest groups became exceptionally united at times like this, afraid that someone below would climb up and take a share of their spoils. So, as long as the situation remained stable, they preferred working with people they already knew.
In other words, someone was protecting Holder. That person might be Adler, or it might be someone else.
Before you continue