Sheriff Ahan

As Norton collapsed, the three Mutated Giant Corpse also instantly lost their ability to move and froze in place.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi simultaneously disengaged from combat.

Bai Xiaowen put away the summoned creatures, carefully bypassed the area covered by the Frost Potion, and ran away with Li Shuyi, one in front and one behind.

After passing through a series of coffin-shaped sealed boxes, the two arrived at the exit steps of the cellar. Large chunks of mud and rocks fell, but Bai Xiaowen and the other person still managed to safely escape the Underground Research Lab and return to the surface.

After rushing out of the cellar, both of them could feel the ground rumbling and shaking, like the precursor to Earthquake.

The Underground Research Lab Underground Research Lab Norton unearthed covered a vast area, almost hollowing out the entire street. Its collapse was like a small-scale Earthquake. Cracks are now appearing in the street, and residents are screaming and running out.

With a deafening roar, the Underground Research Lab collapsed completely, sending dust and smoke billowing everywhere. A large part of the street collapsed, the ground sinking five or six meters! Giant cracks spread across the ground, leaving a scene of utter devastation.

Screams and cries for help came from beneath the collapsed houses, likely from many Hodge Town residents who hadn't had time to escape.

"Oh my god..." Li Shuyi exclaimed, "What should we do now?"

Bai Xiaowen glanced at Li Shuyi. He understood Li Shuyi's thoughts; she probably wanted to evacuate and rescue these innocent residents, but was worried that Bai Xiaowen had other plans, which was why she looked at him for advice.

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. "Let's save them... See how many people are still alive under the collapsed buildings, save as many as we can."

Li Shuyi agreed, but then looked at it strangely and said with a smile, "You don't seem like such a kind person."

Bai Xiaowen smiled faintly, "Hurry up... we'll be making contact with the Sheriff of Hodge Town soon."

Li Shuyi suddenly realized something, pouted at Bai Xiaowen, then ran to the "Akea's Cauldron" shop, lifted up a collapsed section of the wall, and pulled out a resident of Hodge Town.

Bai Xiaowen summoned the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier again, and they joined the rescue Daye Era once more.

Bai Xiaowen received a hint after the Underground Research Lab collapsed.

"A-Tier Elite Tier Side Quest: The Secret of the Voodoo Cult Completed. Completion Rating: S."

"Based on your completion rating, you have received a Psionic Points reward: 10,000 points."

"Your reputation with the Voodoo Cult has dropped significantly; your current reputation level is: Hostile."

"Your reputation with the Church of Light has increased; your current reputation level is Friendly."

"Your squad has gained 400 experience points."

Squad experience increases the level of the Elite Tier squad, which Bai Xiaowen doesn't care much about, because the main part of A-Tier Elite Quest is combat experience (Awakener leveling up). After completing this challenge mission, Bai Xiaowen's combat experience bar climbed to level 5 at 68%, while Li Shuyi leveled up even faster, already at level 5 at 81%.

It's important to know that Bai Xiaowen spent several days in the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space specifically to practice her combat skills and specialties, gaining several more days of combat experience than Li Shuyi. Yet, she has still been overtaken by Li Shuyi. Elite Class level up much faster than Heroic Tier professions.

A series of rapid footsteps sounded, followed by a loud voice:

"First team, second team, two people per group, rescue the deceased residents. The rest of you, follow me to evacuate and move the injured to open areas..."

Bai Xiaowen glanced at the street corner and saw a group of neatly dressed, Fully Armed soldiers quickly dispersing and carrying out rescue work in an orderly manner under the command of a burly Han Empire.

Presumably, this Han Empire is Ahan, the sheriff of Hodge Town.

Bai Xiaowen's Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier were Undead Species summoned creatures, making them quite conspicuous on the field. Ahan, who was giving orders, quickly noticed them.

"Undead creatures?" Ahan strode up to Bai Xiaowen, scrutinizing him from head to toe. "You are... the master of these monsters? A necromancer? Strange, I seem to have seen you before, right here..."

"Sir Sheriff, we can talk about this later. Right now, I just want to save people!" Bai Xiaowen ignored Ahan and turned to Li Shuyi, "Charlotte, help me lift this pillar..."

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"Hodge Town Alexei Ahan, the town's sheriff, has increased his Affection Level towards you; your current Affection Level level is: Neutral."

It's quite satisfying to be able to confront powerful figures in the Spirit Realm while simultaneously increasing your Affection Level with them.

Ahan wasn't angry. Instead, he quickly stepped forward, supported the pillar with one hand, and easily hoisted it onto his shoulder. Then he gestured to Bai Xiaowen to pull the injured person out from under the pillar.

Bai Xiaowen's eyes twitched slightly. The buildings in Hodge Town were mainly constructed of earth and stone, and this stone pillar probably weighed three or four tons. Ahan lifted and supported it so easily with one hand, which shows his strength.

However, Bai Xiaowen showed no unusual expression. After rescuing the wounded man, he immediately rushed to the next building ruin, busy as could be. But he still secretly sent a Insight to Sheriff Ahan.

[Alexei Ahan (Level 8 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Human Species / Human Race]

[Class: Giant-Battle Hero]

[Attributes: Strength 79, Agility 30, Constitution 50, Spirit 20]

[Skill 1: Brute Force: Passive skill. When using two-handed weapons, Ahan deals an additional 20% damage. Against targets with strength less than 60% of his own, he will deal additional true damage and has a certain chance to inflict a crippling effect.]

[Skill 2: Unyielding: Each time Ahan is affected by a negative status effect or control skill, his strength will increase by an additional 10%, lasting until the end of the battle. This effect can stack up to 3 times.]

[Skill 3: Battle Roar: Ahan lets out an inspiring roar, increasing the attack power of all friendly units within 100 meters by 10 points for 30 seconds.]

[Skill 4:???]

[Skill 5: Firm Will LV3: Ahan's Life Value is increased by an additional 500 points, and the duration of abnormal status and control effects is reduced by 50%.]

"The Black Tide Plane... just what's its background? Even a sheriff is this powerful!"

Bai Xiaowen muttered to herself.

This sheriff Ahan is completely wasting his talents as a town sheriff. First, he has explosive stats, then he has a legion skill like "Battle Roar," plus a violent output skill like "Brute Force." On the battlefield, he would definitely be a fierce general.

What also surprised Bai Xiaowen was Ahan's general skills.

As Advanced Boss, it's normal to have a resilience skill that increases extra Life Value and reduces control effects. However, Ahan's skill level is actually LV3! What does that mean? In the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space, the Snakefolk Tribe's chief Boss Tier, Eliki, only has a LV2 skill level for "Snakefolk Leader".

Bai Xiaowen now understands exactly where the prefix "Speculation" on the ticket and the 50% reduction in the difficulty of the main quest really lie.

This Sheriff Ahan is definitely a man with a story; he's not someone to be fooled. If Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi were to approach Ahan as strangers, they might not be able to gain his trust and might even be seen as suspicious individuals.

Now things are much easier. The two men are neighbors with Ahan on the same street, and Ahan remembers them, making it much easier to gain his Ahan. Once Ahan's trust is gained, solving the missing persons case becomes much simpler.

Bai Xiaowen only needs to solve the puzzles; when a fight is needed, he simply closes the door, releases the sheriff, and the opponent types "GG."

The collapse resulted in over seventy injuries and three fatalities, including Mr. Akea, the owner of "Akea's Cauldron".

"You two come with me and tell me what happened," Ahan called Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi aside. "I remember now, you two are siblings who live on Windmill Street, right? Why are you here? My intuition tells me this incident is related to you."

Li Shuyi glanced at Bai Xiaowen furtively. Dealing with powerful figures in the Spirit Realm —in short, deception—was best left to Bai Xiaowen.

"We came here while investigating recent missing persons cases."

Bai Xiaowen's voice was somewhat low, and his handsome face showed a hint of regret that he could not hide.

"A missing persons case? You found the killer?" Ahan asked in surprise.

Bai Xiaowen nodded. "Yes, the mastermind behind the disappearances is a Voodoo Cult. He has a secret, evil laboratory underground in the commercial district... I personally witnessed him piecing together the corpses of the unjustly deceased to Mutated Giant Corpse, conducting inhumane experiments. My sister and I fought a fierce battle with him, and it took all our strength to kill him. But unexpectedly, before he died, he activated the mechanism that caused the underground laboratory to collapse..."

Bai Xiaowen sighed, looking like she deeply regretted her actions.

Ahan's thick, Blade brows furrowed, and he turned to the patrolling soldiers, shouting, "Clear the rubble from the streets! There's an evil underground laboratory here; dig it out!"

A group of Elite Tier and Standard Template soldiers responded loudly and continued working without complaint. It is evident that Ahan's usual management of the patrol team is quite effective; more broadly speaking, he has the ability to govern troops.

Bai Xiaowen knew perfectly well that Ahan still had some doubts about him, which was why he ordered the excavation. But that didn't matter; once the laboratory was unearthed, Ahan would definitely believe him.

A more sophisticated way to lie is to mix one lie with nine truths.

In Bai Xiaowen's account, the Voodoo Cult, the evil laboratory, the Mutated Giant Corpse, and so on, were all true. Only one sentence was false: the "motive," or the starting point. Bai Xiaowen knew very well that the Voodoo Cult alchemist Norton had nothing to do with the missing persons case; his motive for approaching Norton was simply the mission to uncover the "Secret of the Voodoo Cult."

However, in Ahan's eyes, as long as the information about Voodoo Cult and the Mutated Giant Corpse is confirmed, he will naturally trust Bai Xiaowen's motives. This is the advantage of being nine parts true and one part false.

There are even better ways to lie than nine true statements and one false statement: tell the whole truth, but hide one or two crucial pieces of information to mislead the other party and cause them to go astray... However, such a sophisticated way of lying is not needed here.

Before long, patrol soldiers came one after another to report that they had unearthed broken alchemical vessels, boxes containing corpses, and so on.

Ahan's gaze toward Bai Xiaowen became much friendlier.

He nodded and said, "Since you acted for the safety of Hodge Town and destroyed the Voodoo Cult's evil laboratory, I can overlook your responsibility for this incident. However, in the future, if you encounter something like this, you must inform me in advance. You two siblings are also residents of Hodge Town and are under my protection. It would be too reckless of you to confront the Voodoo Cult villains so rashly. I don't want to see any more names added to the missing persons list."

Bai Xiaowen sincerely apologized. "It won't happen again. From now on, my siblings and I will report any dangerous factors that affect the safety of Hodge Town immediately."

Ahan then asked, "I'm somewhat surprised by your skills. You two have always been apprentices at the Bread Mill, right? It's astonishing how much you've acquired such prowess."

Bai Xiaowen told a lie, saying that he encountered wandering adventurers who, seeing the siblings' exceptional intelligence, gave them some guidance. The two siblings then followed their teacher's instructions, never easily revealing their abilities, and lived an ordinary life in the town until a missing persons case occurred, causing widespread panic. Only then did the two siblings decide to step forward and investigate the truth...

Normally, Ahan wouldn't have believed Bai Xiaowen's fabricated lie. However, Bai Xiaowen and his sister were residents of Hodge Town, living on the same street as him, so there was a basic level of trust between them. Furthermore, the recently unearthed Voodoo Cult cult laboratory confirmed that Bai Xiaowen wasn't lying. Therefore, Ahan accepted Bai Xiaowen's explanation without further investigation.

Mentioning the missing persons case, Ahan sighed, "Let's go. I want to see those bodies in the sealed boxes with my own eyes. If the Voodoo Cult is behind the missing persons case, then I can give an explanation to the mayor and the people of Hodge Town." He shook his head, looking somewhat wistful.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi followed behind Ahan. Li Shuyi asked through the Team Channel, "That's strange. From Ahan's perspective, the missing persons case has been solved. He should be happy, right? Why does he look a little down?"

"Solving the case is certainly a good thing, but with so many missing persons turned into corpses, it's understandable that he's upset. Besides, he didn't solve this case; as a police officer... no, as a sheriff, Mr. Ahan must be very disappointed."

Bai Xiaowen paused, then smiled and said, "However, we both know the truth. The Voodoo Cult of Norton has nothing to do with the missing persons case. So Mr. Ahan, there's no need to be disappointed. The mastermind hasn't been found, and we still have a lot to do."