Late-Night Investigation, Killing Intent Behind the List

It took less than half an hour.

All ten rings had been inventoried.

Gan Ming gathered the valuables into the 200-cubic-meter one.

He stuffed the miscellaneous items he would not need for now into a smaller-capacity ring.

After finishing, he turned off the lights and climbed into bed.

The moment his head touched the pillow, his consciousness began to sink.

He was truly exhausted today.

After the hot shower, the fatigue in his body hit him all at once. Every muscle ached.

Still, he forced himself to sort through tomorrow's plans.

Tunnel Zone No. 7 opened at eight in the morning and recommended levels 10 through 30.

Bring the twin swords, bring the crossbow, and bring extra potions.

After entering, he would first get a grasp of the terrain, avoid the crowds, and find a corner to quietly level up.

But before that, he had to go to the association and deal with the materials.

Of course, he also needed to handle that equipment...

At that thought.

His consciousness completely cut off.

Gan Ming slept deeply that night.

Asleep in three seconds, dreamless.

At the same time.

City 61, Upper District.

The Upper District was not large, separated from the Central District by an inner city wall.

There were not many buildings inside, but each occupied an enormous area.

Garden residences, standalone villas, private training grounds,

Brightly lit, yet sparsely populated.

The people living here did not need to be numerous.

They only needed to be strong enough.

At the end of the southern block, a six-story gray-white building stood beside the road.

A four-meter-wide metal insignia hung from its roof.

An iron-gray gear surrounded by three arcs.

Iron Arc Guild.

One of City 61's top twenty mid-sized guilds.

Founded eleven years ago, it had boasted over three hundred official members at its peak.

More than one hundred and sixty active Awakened, spanning First Tier to Third Tier.

At that moment, on the sixth floor, in the guild president's office.

"Four people! Four living people!"

A teacup smashed into the wall opposite the desk, shattering into more than a dozen pieces.

"How could you not find them? Is the Ruins Zone that big? What the hell are you people good for?!"

The speaker sat behind a mahogany desk.

He was in his early fifties, with every strand of hair meticulously combed.

He wore a precisely tailored black Zhongshan suit with a stand collar. On his left wrist was a source-material watch, its surface gleaming with a faint blue light.

Lu Guangshan.

President of the Iron Arc Guild.

Second Tier, level 498, only two levels away from the advancement trial for Third Tier.

Before him, six people stood in a row with their heads lowered.

They were the same six people who had roared past on motorcycles at dusk.

They had waited at the Ruins Zone outpost for nearly an hour.

Until night had fully fallen, the four-person team had still not emerged.

Security personnel checked the entry and exit records. The four had entered at 2:43 that afternoon and had yet to register their departure.

The six could only venture deeper into the Ruins Zone to search,

But even after searching until nine at night, they failed to find the four and could only return to report.

The man at the front, who looked like the squad leader, hesitated for a few seconds before stepping half a pace forward.

"President, we asked the Security team. There were no high-level Awakened among those who entered the Ruins Zone today. The patrol teams also said they had not encountered anything unusual. So we figured... Old Li and the others probably took Xiao Tong deep inside to clear Elite Monsters, and the haul was too good for them to leave..."

Smack!

One slap.

Lu Guangshan came around from behind the desk and delivered it squarely across the squad leader's left cheek.

The force of a Second Tier level 498 Awakened sent the squad leader staggering three steps to the right. He only managed to steady himself after crashing into someone beside him.

His left cheek instantly swelled, and a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"Old Li and the others took Xiao Tong deep inside?"

Lu Guangshan's voice was low,

"Old Li is the captain. Does he not even know to retreat after dark? Huh?"

None of the six said a word.

Lu Guangshan glared at them, his chest heaving violently.

"You will enter the Ruins Zone tonight and find them."

"President, if we go in now..."

"Go in tonight."

Lu Guangshan's eyes were bloodshot.

"Find Xiao Tong."

The squad leader licked the blood from the corner of his mouth with his tongue and straightened up.

"Yes."

The six turned and filed out of the office.

The instant the door shut, hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway, growing farther and farther away.

The office fell silent.

Lu Guangshan stood before the window, motionless as he looked at the lights of the Upper District outside.

Half a minute later.

He returned to the desk, picked up his phone, and found a number saved as "Old Fang."

"Guangshan? What is it at this hour?"

The man on the other end was middle-aged, with a deep, rich voice. He spoke calmly and unhurriedly.

Fang Hongda, director of City 61's Security General Bureau.

"Old Fang, sorry to disturb you."

Lu Guangshan's tone was completely different from before,

He first exchanged a few smiling pleasantries, asking after the other man's family, and Fang Hongda politely responded in kind.

Once the small talk was over, Lu Guangshan got to the point.

"My Xiao Tong led a team to the Ruins Zone to level up this afternoon. She hasn't returned yet, and her communicator can't reach her."

The other end fell silent for a few seconds.

"The Ruins Zone? Isn't that a leveling area for Awakened in their teens?"

"I know. That's why I'm worried."

Lu Guangshan sat down, one hand braced against the desktop,

"Old Fang, I've already sent people in to search through the night. But I can't shake this feeling."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Two things. First, have the Security personnel assist in the search. They know the terrain of the Ruins Zone and can find people faster than mine can."

"That won't be a problem. I'll arrange it."

"Second..." Lu Guangshan took a deep breath, trying his best to steady his emotions. "Help me retrieve today's entry and exit registration records for the Ruins Zone."

There was no immediate response from the other end.

Three or four seconds passed.

"Guangshan." Fang Hongda's tone turned cold. "What are you planning to do?"

"I want to investigate them one by one."

"Investigate what?"

"Find out who killed my daughter."

"How can you be sure she was killed by someone? There are Elite Monsters in the Ruins Zone, level 15 to 22..."

"Old Fang." Lu Guangshan cut him off. "Xiao Tong's team consists of an assassin, a frontliner, a healer, and a crossbowman. All four are level sixteen or seventeen, and they've been practicing team coordination ever since awakening. Those pieces of junk in the Ruins Zone could never kill them."

He spoke rapidly, his emotions urgent.

"Four people disappearing at once is not something monsters could do."

The other end fell silent again.

Fang Hongda had been director of the Security General Bureau for twenty years. What had he not seen?

Naturally, he knew Lu Guangshan's reasoning made sense.

A team of four level sixteen or seventeen Awakened,

In a Ruins Zone with an invasion progress of only six percent,

The odds of being wiped out by monsters were infinitely close to zero.

The only possibility was people.

"Guangshan, the entry and exit registration records are internal data of the Security General Bureau. If I give you that, and you take the list to find people one by one..."

"I'll just take a look."

"And after you've looked?"

"If Xiao Tong is really gone, then at the very least, I need to know who entered the Ruins Zone today."

Lu Guangshan gripped the phone, his voice trembling slightly,

"Old Fang, Xiao Tong is my only daughter."

After he said that.

Neither side spoke.