Missing?

"Of course, of course. We'll be leaving in a moment." Sam gave Aoduo a look, and Aoduo obediently took several silver coins from his pocket and handed some to each of them.

The men exchanged knowing smiles, pocketed the silver coins, then turned and left together.

The empty cell was instantly left with only Sam, Aoduo in his wheelchair, and Dole tied to the cross. Dole's face was filled with despair.

After Dis left, Sam let out a vicious grin, walked up to Dole, raised his whip, and lashed it down hard.

Smack.

Dole immediately cried out in agony, but the next instant, he clenched his teeth tight and forced himself to stay silent. His skin burned with pain. The barbs tore his clothes directly into rags, leaving a shallow bloody welt on his skin.

Dole did not cry out. He merely gritted his teeth, knowing that nothing he said now would matter.

Sam snorted coldly. "Scream. Scream your heart out, you damned lowborn. You dared cripple my son's leg? If I don't beat you to death today, there's always tomorrow. I'll make you feel pain every single day."

He raised his hand. Smack.

Dole's face twisted. Two bloody welts now crossed his body, and waves of searing pain crashed into his mind. He tensed his body desperately to fight it, but it was useless. The pain in his skin did not lessen in the slightest.

Smack smack smack smack.

"Come on, son. You give him a few hits too. This lowborn deserves to die a thousand deaths."

Smack smack smack smack.

Before long, Dole's face and body were covered in layer upon layer of thick blood. Not a patch of uninjured skin could be seen anywhere on him.

Who knew how much time passed. Dole's face twisted, his skin flushed red, and then his head suddenly lolled to one side as he fainted.

Seeing this, Sam's expression changed. He tossed the whip aside, muttered, "Lucky you," then pushed Aoduo out of the cell.

Drop after drop of blood ran down the cross beneath Dole's feet, quickly pooling across the floor.

As evening deepened, Dog Aoduo came to the doorway and looked outside. It had been an hour since nightfall. By now, Dole should have returned.

He shook himself, then slowly ambled out the door toward Old Ke Smithy.

When he reached the smithy entrance, Dog Aoduo found that work had long since ended. There was no trace of Dole's scent inside either. His dog face immediately changed.

Dole wasn't here. Had something happened to him?

Standing outside Old Ke Smithy, Dog Aoduo extended his senses slightly, and rage rose within him. His Level Three strength allowed him to sweep across the entire city in an instant. At that moment, he sensed that Dole was actually in the police station's basement. No one knew better than Dog Aoduo what kind of place that was.

Dole had been in low spirits these past few days. So that was why.

Dole bore his mark. Dog Aoduo normally paid it little mind; only when Dole encountered a life-or-death crisis would the mark activate. Clearly, he was not dead yet.

Dog Aoduo's heart sank slightly as he slowly headed toward the police station. His sluggish figure quickly vanished into the shadows.

At the entrance to the police station's underground prison, a mass of shadow swaggered in. It passed through the entrance and the main gate, yet strangely, not a single person noticed its presence. Before long, it arrived where Dole was being held.

The moment Dog Aoduo saw Dole's injuries, he felt somewhat annoyed. How had he ended up in such a state after just one day apart? Damn it.

He revealed himself, his form gradually shifting into that of a tall man. Reaching the torture chamber door, he gave it a light push. The door melted like tofu into a lump of mud-like sludge. He slowly walked inside, glanced at Dole, and felt a slight pang of pity in his heart.

He looked around.

This was a standard interrogation chamber. A cross stood in the center, with a table on each side. The tables held everything: whips, wooden clubs, scissors, knives of every size, and all manner of bizarre torture instruments.

One of the barbed whips was covered in blood. With only a slight inspection, he could tell that it was exactly the same as the blood on Dole's body.

Dog Aoduo shook his head, not taking it too seriously. How could one grow without enduring hardship? Let this savage beating be the price of growth.

He gently blew out a breath, and the ropes around Dole automatically fell away. Reaching out, he gathered Dole into his arms.

Dog Aoduo's human form was nearly two meters tall, while Aoduo was only around one-sixty. Holding him in his arms felt almost like holding nothing at all.

His body paused, then the two of them turned into a mass of shadow and vanished from the torture chamber.

"What? He's gone?"

Dis flew into a rage. The person had only been locked up last night—how could he just vanish? Even if that brat possessed heaven-defying abilities, how could he possibly escape the underground prison through layer upon layer of guards?

He had seen the scene himself, which was why he was so utterly shocked. It had already gone beyond the limits of his understanding. The door had turned into muddy water, the ropes had fallen away on their own, and there was not the slightest trace of a person.

Sweat ran down Dis's forehead. He knew this was serious. Whoever had rescued Dole possessed the ability to kill him without a sound. Once that fellow grew even a little stronger, Dis would be in deep trouble.

Damn Sam. What kind of trouble had he brought down on him?

Small courtyard.

Kadiya listened to the guard's report with great interest.

"You're saying he was taken away by the police station, beaten half to death, and then vanished without explanation?"

"Yes, my lord. This is very strange. We investigated that Dole. He has no background whatsoever; he's completely clean. Yet his disappearance is truly bizarre."

The guard also found it strange. Had Dole been silenced, or had he really vanished?

Kadiya sighed. "This may be nothing more than a smokescreen from the police station. They may have already dealt with him. Forget it. Don't keep following this."

The guard nodded, then took his leave.

Kadiya shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Such a promising talent, so hard to come by, had simply vanished like that.

Harley sat in the police station, his face incomparably gloomy. Behind him, Firi looked no better.

Dole had only been brought in yesterday, and they had immediately begun pulling strings without pause. Yet by this morning, he was gone. It was utter nonsense.

Across from him, Police Superintendent Moreno looked at Harley with some difficulty, unsure what to say.

"Lord Moreno, Dole is a contracted blacksmith of our smithy. He is exceptionally talented—only thirteen years old, yet already a Level One blacksmith. I believe you understand what that means. I don't care whether Dole truly disappeared or was dealt with somehow. Alive, I want to see the man; dead, I want to see the body."

Moreno gave a dry laugh and replied in an official tone, "Harley, I understand how you feel. Regarding this matter, I have already questioned the two parties involved, Dis and Carmen, as well as last night's guards. He did indeed go missing—he suddenly vanished. He was only a lowborn commoner. There is no need for us to do anything over him, wouldn't you agree?"

"That Dole crippled Aoduo, the son of Sam, the manager of Bianchi Mine. He was in the wrong to begin with. We merely brought him back for some investigation. Originally, we only intended to make him pay some compensation, nothing more. We never intended to do anything to him."

Since the man had already disappeared, Moreno naturally said whatever smooth words suited the situation.

Harley stared at Moreno, suppressing his fury as he said seriously, "I don't care what mine he belongs to or what manager he is. Losing my man is unacceptable."

Dole was the most promising person Harley had seen in all these years, without equal. How could Harley not be furious when he had vanished without a sound? And Carmen, Fele, Dis—they simply did not take Harley seriously at all.

"I am formally filing a complaint here and now. Carmen and Dis must give me an explanation. Otherwise, someone from the Third Young Master's side will naturally come and ask you about it."

Moreno's expression changed.

"We will handle this according to procedure. Your complaint has already been formally accepted here," Moreno answered mechanically.

Seeing that he would get nothing more here, Harley sighed inwardly and rose to leave. Now, he could only hope that Dole was blessed by heaven and would not meet an early end. But he no longer held much hope.