Chapter 485
"What's wrong? Can't we talk about it here?"
Despite his questioning, the Wolf Lord remained adamant and refused to explain the reason directly:
"Please come with me into the wasteland."
Mentioning the wasteland, Shi Lei instantly recalled an interesting anecdote. Back then, the Wolf Lord was extremely proud and stubbornly insisted on fighting back even though he knew he couldn't win. In the end, he was summoned to the wasteland, where the Lord of Wolves knelt down with a thud and admitted his mistake, just like Mr. Syracuse.
The photos taken back then are still on my phone. Do you want me to delete them all?
"Okay, let's go."
With Mudrock in the car, Shi Lei wasn't worried about Zaro playing a diversionary tactic. He maintained a low altitude and followed the Wolf Lord to a deserted hill.
After confirming that no one was around, Zaro knelt down. This sudden action startled Shi Lei.
Mr. Zha, you're here again?
Zaro kept his head down, avoiding any eye contact with the other person.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
This was completely puzzling to Shi Lei:
"What did you do? Why are you apologizing?"
"Lappland left Syracuse at the beginning of the year and never returned. This has nothing to do with me, and I haven't been able to find out where she went. I'm kneeling down here, so please don't hit me in front of outsiders again!"
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Chapter 559 Fortune Lies in Peril (4K)
"What?"
Shi Lei initially thought Zaro had done something wrong, but it turned out to be related to Lappland.
"You said she disappeared at the beginning of the year, but it's already early July. When exactly did she disappear?"
Zaro glanced up at him furtively, then quickly lowered his head and gently scratched the ground with his paws.
"It should be in February or March, but you'll have to ask Madam Sicily for the exact date."
Upon hearing this, Shi Lei shrank back, giving the Wolf Lord a strange look, noticing something unusual:
"Wait, something's not right. If you have nothing to do with Lappland's disappearance, why are you apologizing to me separately? Zaro, I need a reasonable explanation."
Zaro looked embarrassed and tried his best to distance himself from the situation.
"Ever since you left Syracuse, all the families know she was an employee of Penguin Logistics. She had not only your backing, but also the Emperor's. You can think of it as me trying to curry favor with you by teaching Lappland how to control Wolf Soul. Perhaps it was because this ability was easily coveted that she ultimately disappeared. I do bear some responsibility for this, so I apologize."
Shi Lei could barely accept this explanation, but the next second his consciousness flickered. He conjured a finger-sized Rock Constructs out of thin air within the Wolf Lord, for easy location later.
Zaro sensed something amiss in its stomach and its face immediately showed fear. It wanted to resist, but realized it was no match for Shi Lei, so it could only keep its wolf face tense.
Beast Lord are immortal and indestructible, and indeed fearless of death. However, if they encounter an opponent stronger than themselves, they are easily dismembered, sealed, and suppressed. They might not see the light of day again for hundreds or even thousands of years. Even if they don't die, the long period of torment is simply too unbearable.
"Don't be nervous, it's just marking you. If you dare to lie or give false information, it will make it easier for me to locate you at any time."
Zaro was devastated upon hearing this, but dared not raise any objections and was forced to accept it.
"Don't tell anyone about what's happening here. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
After saying that, it began to emit wisps of white smoke, which gradually receded back into the smoke and disappeared.
Shi Lei didn't chase after Zaro; he flew directly back to the land vehicle's location to rejoin the others. Just as he sat in the co-pilot's seat, Exusiai in the back asked:
"What did the Wolf Lord want to see you about alone? Why are you being so mysterious?"
He had no need to hide anything and answered truthfully:
"It says Lappland has been missing since February or March of this year, and her whereabouts remain unknown."
"What?!"
The one most shocked inside the car wasn't Exusiai, but Texas.
Although she hated House Salus's White Wolf and had wanted Lappland dead more than once, it was just a thought; she didn't actually want to see him lose his life.
Texas is practically spoiled now; she turns to her boyfriend for help whenever she's in trouble.
"So what do we do next?"
"Searching directly throughout Syracuse is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Let's go see Madam Sicily first, find out the specifics, and then make a decision."
If it were Texas who had gone missing, Shi Lei could still pinpoint her location using the Rock Constructs ring he had given her.
Lappland doesn't have any Rock Constructs artifacts; she tried to steal Texas's earlier, but failed.
Since we can't locate it using Rock Constructs, we have to resort to traditional methods, which feels very troublesome.
To save time, Shi Lei used the Rock platform to support the entire lander. It took off and rose hundreds of meters into the air, then descended from the sky to the Volcini Grand Cathedral.
Madam Sicily's whereabouts were unpredictable, and she had no fixed address. The quickest way to contact her was to find her trusted confidant Father Agnil, who would allow them to get in touch directly.
Sensing an incredibly powerful force descending from the sky, Father Agnil, who was praying in the church, put aside his affairs and came out to investigate.
The moment he saw Shi Lei, he had the same thought as the Wolf Lord Zaro. In just one year, this man had grown into an insurmountable force for them.
This rate of increase in power is simply outrageous...
Father Agnil had already guessed their purpose for coming here, but he still asked knowingly:
"May I ask what brings you gentlemen here?"
Shi Lei, without needing to explain the details, politely said:
"I have only three things to do in Volcini today. Please summon Madam Sicily here."
Father Agnil's gaze sharpened when he saw him, and he immediately realized that Lappland's disappearance had been exposed.
Penguin Logistics has an office in Volcini, but its operations are separate from Lungmen. Furthermore, Lappland never handles deliveries, and its monthly revenue is zero.
The Emperor was not short of money, and seeing that she had no intention of acting as Messenger, he did not urge her. This resulted in Lappland being missing for several months before being discovered by her family who wanted to send a package.
Father Agnil dared not delay and immediately contacted Madam Sicily to come over. About twenty minutes later, a luxurious black car stopped outside the Grand Cathedral.
"Click."
Before her bodyguards could open the car door, Madam Sicily stepped out and strode into the Grand Cathedral. She was dressed in an understated yet elegant gown, followed by two Lupos assistants.
As soon as Madam Sicily entered the room, she sensed that something was amiss, and her expression immediately darkened.
When Shi Lei saw her arrive, he held up three fingers:
"I've come to Syracuse with only three things to do. First, help me find Lisa's mother and reunite them. I heard she's moved to New Volcini, but I don't know her exact address. Originally, I didn't plan to trouble you and wanted to ask my intelligence brokers myself. But now I have something more important to do, can I entrust it to you?"
"No problem."
Madam Sicily dared not object and readily agreed. Finding someone was not a difficult task for her.
"The second matter concerns Lappland's disappearance. I need all the CCTV footage and witness testimonies from the time she disappeared. I also want to know the current progress of your investigation, to what extent it has reached. If that's settled, I'll address one last matter."
The third thing Shi Lei didn't mention was establishing a transnational communication network with Syracuse. If the Lappland issue wasn't handled well, he would seriously consider building it via a detour.
At that time, passing through the borders of Ursus and Sargon will eliminate the need to cross Syracuse.
Upon hearing this, Madam Sicily gave a look to her Lupos assistant beside her. The latter immediately took out a large amount of documents from her briefcase and presented them to her with both hands.
"We discovered Lappland's disappearance in late June. We later reviewed surveillance footage from February and collected witness testimonies. All the information is here now, and the Twelve Families are mobilizing their members to search for her. I will be notified immediately of any news."
Hearing that she spoke very quickly, Shi Lei knew that Madam Sicily was very nervous, and said:
"Don't worry, I'm a reasonable person. I'm not a tyrant who slaughters cities without reason. As long as you didn't capture them, I won't cause you any trouble."
After saying that, he took the documents and began to quickly browse through them.
There is very detailed information on this, so they should know that Shi Lei would come to Syracuse sooner or later.
In addition to eyewitness testimonies, there were also written notes indicating the time, location, and surveillance footage used to capture Lappland.
Seeing Shi Lei silently flipping through the documents, Madam Sicily and Father Agnil didn't dare to utter a sound.
"Um?"
Suddenly, he pointed to one of the items in the document and asked:
"If Lappland is traveling from Volcini to Lungmen, the shortest route would be to Palermo first, then through Lakmawati City, and finally across hundreds of kilometers of desert to reach its destination."
The route map in the document shows that after leaving Volcini, she first went to White City, then passed through Seven Hills City, and finally entered the Wasteland. I want to know why she deliberately took a longer route to Lungmen?
It doesn't seem right to choose a shorter route instead of going around in the north for several hundred kilometers.
Madam Sicily gave a wry smile and explained:
"We really don't know. We only confirmed that she didn't take the Palermo route after we found CCTV footage of Lappland in White City. We also found no trace of her in Lakmawati City. As for why she took the long way, we're not quite sure yet."
After listening, Shi Lei lowered his head and continued browsing the materials.
It contains a lot of information, along with additional notes and markings. But these are of no real help in locating Lappland.
He wasn't very good at finding people, so he could only try to exhaustively list all possible scenarios.
Well-documented surveillance footage can be considered reliable evidence. Eyewitness testimonies, on the other hand, may be fabricated and should not be used as a reference for the route. By this standard, Lappland did indeed change its route.
After being captured on CCTV in White City, she disappeared. It is currently impossible to determine whether Lappland was arrested locally, arrested upon returning to Volcini, or arrested elsewhere. Shi Lei used an exhaustive approach, listing four possible scenarios.
First, after going to White City, she had to return to Volcini for some urgent business and was arrested.
Second, he was arrested within the White City.
Third, he was arrested within the territory of Seven Hills City.
Fourth, being captured within the wasteland area.
Since Lappland doesn't possess any Rock Constructs, we can only eliminate possibilities one by one using a brute-force method. The remaining answer, however improbable, will ultimately be the truth.
Frankly, she's the least likely to be caught in the wilderness. Lappland has a history of wilderness survival and smuggling into the Lungmen Lower City.
We need to check the first three options first to see if we find anything. If not, then we're in trouble.
"You stay with Lisa and let her reunite with her mother. I'll go visit these cities."
Seeing that he was preparing to take off, Texas quickly called out to him and suggested:
"Hey, wait a minute. I'm familiar with Syracuse, take me with you."
Shi Lei thought it made sense and created Rock platform:
"Okay, then come up here. Mudrock, Xi, I'll trouble you to accompany Lisa to see her mother. Please give my regards to her aunt as well. I'll be back later."
Although the two preferred to go with their boyfriends, they didn't really know much about Syracuse, so they agreed.
"Okay, leave it to us."
Madam Sicily produced the documents but failed to find Lappland, which shows that one should not have high hopes for her.
Shi Lei led Texas onto the Rock platform, and in full view of everyone, they rose to a height of three thousand meters.
Father Agnil looked up at them as they came and went freely, a complex expression in his eyes.
After Shi Lei reached a high place, he was suspended in mid-air.
The two interconnected Mobile Cities, Volcini and New Volcini, appeared as tiny cubes beneath his feet.
Texas, protected by the Perpetual Jade Shield, shouldn't be afraid of the cold. Yet, she opened her arms and hugged Shi Lei from behind, seemingly trying to warm herself from his body.
The soft touch on his back made Shi Lei feel like he was falling into cotton. However, he didn't forget his business and began scanning the Mobile Cities below.
Texas pressed her face against her boyfriend's back, and after hugging him like that for a while, she asked:
"If she disappeared in February or March, it's been three or four months now. How do you plan to find her?"
Instead of answering directly, Shi Lei first posed a question to inspire her:
"She's either alive or dead now. If she's dead and buried deep underground, there's no point in searching for her. But if she's alive, what kind of situation do you think Lappland would be in right now?"
Based on Texas's understanding of Lappland, she knew that Lappland was not someone who would give in easily.
"If she's not dead, she'd be locked up somewhere right now, all bound. Lappland is a madwoman who'd fight with all her might even with broken ribs. If she's not restrained and locked up, she could break free even if she dislocated her hand."
Shi Lei nodded in agreement; his impression of Lappland was that of a person with a very bad temper.
"When the Wolf Lord came to me, he said something like this. Now all the major families know that Lappland is a member of Penguin Logistics, and kidnapping her is tantamount to declaring war on us. But the problem is, she still disappeared."
To knowingly do something impossible either means having a deep-seated hatred for Lappland or that the benefits one can gain from her are worth the great risk.