Chapter 230

The battle is over, and the special forces have arrived at the alley entrance.

Saori waited inside the warehouse, then went outside and looked around. Some people in the distant residential buildings noticed the commotion and a crowd gathered. Saori glanced at them and pulled her hood down.

Just then, Saori's gaze fell on the wall beside her and stopped.

"..."

Saori instinctively sensed something was amiss, and her brows Saori slightly.

"Wait, Bushiyuan, I feel like something's not right."

"What's wrong?"

"I think I might have overlooked something."

"Hmm? Any new discoveries?"

"Perhaps... there are some things that are of concern; I'll contact you later."

At the end of the alley, the special forces came into Saori. Saori turned around and stared at the wall. She squatted down beside it, paused, and gently wiped away the Trace on the ground. A faint mold stain appeared in Saori's eyes.

She went back inside again and observed carefully once more.

The room seemed somewhat incongruous from the perspective of the outside and the inside, as well as from the perspective of the interior space. Because of the goods and shelves piled up inside, this subtle difference was easily overlooked. Even Saori, who possessed the power of an agent, only suddenly noticed the strangeness when she stepped out of the room.

Upon closer inspection, one will notice a significant difference in the Trace of the paint on the interior and exterior walls, suggesting a recent renovation. This is not unusual, but the width of the wall also appears to be inconsistent. The reason for this lies in a very thick wall sandwiched between the warehouse and the stairwell, which is difficult to notice without careful observation.

"As expected..."

Saori tapped the wall with her knuckles. Clearly, the wall was not made of wood or iron, nor was it hollow inside; she couldn't discern anything from the sound feedback.

The initial, cursory search revealed no secret passage in the room—so is it possible that the secret passage isn't actually located within the room?

Saori stood up and kicked the container over, leaving a noticeable Trace on the wall.

She raised her hand, and the chain slid inch by inch from her sleeve. Then she swung it out suddenly, and with a loud crash, the entire wall shattered.

Saori, taking into account the structural stability of the house, restrained her strength, avoiding damage to the load-bearing structure. Her blow only shattered the wall. She stepped over the container, stood in front of the wall, and kicked out again.

Only then did the wall finally collapse, raising dust. A narrow staircase, hidden between two walls, appeared before Saori's eyes, just wide enough for one person to pass through. Clearly, it was a secret passage. One corner of the staircase had already crumbled under Saori's foot, one end pointing downwards. Wall debris slid down the stairs, echoing from the dark depths of the underground passage. The other end of the staircase connected to the top of the warehouse—a hidden attic despite not being a duplex. Saori didn't know where the attic led, but it was obvious that the room had been modified specifically for this situation.

"Tsk... I knew it." Saori frowned. "A secret passage was found inside the target warehouse. I'll investigate."

"A secret passage?"

Before Fushihara Ayaka reply, Saori leaped up onto the stairs, landing in the attic. The attic was low, forcing Saori to duck. The floor was dusty, but there were no cobwebs or mold, suggesting it was a specially prepared, hidden compartment. The central section contained bottles, jars, bedding, boxes, and Trace of where something had been placed before. Clearly, the target had taken everything.

" In the Bushiyuan, there's a hidden compartment above the warehouse. Have your men keep an eye out for it. I'm going to check out the secret passage below."

"Okay, be careful."

Since the work wasn't over yet, Fushihara Ayaka didn't mention taking a vacation anymore. If they could catch up with their target through the clues in the secret passage, the mission would be successful.

The Saori exits from the interlayer and jumps directly down.

At this moment, the Special Disaster Division personnel also arrived at the warehouse. Saori and their captain exchanged a glance and then went their separate ways.

The secret passage extended downwards into the ground. After about three meters, a slightly rusty iron door came into view. The door was unlocked, and strangely, there were two small holes in it. Saori looked at them and quickly recognized them as bullet holes.

The bullet hole came out from inside the door, leaving a hole in the staircase.

There were still dark red Trace on the doorknob. Saori tucked a little between her fingers and sniffed it.

"Blood?"

Why is there blood?

The target's blood? Why is it here? Was the target already wounded?

Did someone else get there before the Special Disaster Division arrived? Did the target escape through the secret passage not because they anticipated the Special Disaster Division's actions, but to escape some other danger?

Gang warfare? Or revenge seekers?

Saori squinted, crouched down, observed for a moment, and only slowly pushed the door open after confirming that there were no bomb traps on it.

A dark passage appeared before Saori's eyes, and bloodstains on the ground and walls began to spread downwards from there, along with bloody handprints, bullet holes on the walls and doors, splattered blood, spent shell casings on the ground, and an overturned first-aid kit.

There were also footprints.

The stairs outside were obscured by dust, making them difficult to see clearly, but here, Saori could clearly see two footprints on the ground, one large and one small.

One is the target... so who is the other?

Without a single light, Saori walked down to the bottom, where there was an unlocked iron gate. The bloodstains on the ground stopped abruptly there.

Saori picked up her weapon, stood against the wall, and slowly pushed the door open.

Squeak--

The scraping sound of the iron gate was particularly jarring in the confined space, and the instant the door was pushed open, a pungent odor wafted out—a headless corpse lay prone on the ground.

Rather than a "headless corpse," it was more accurate to say that the person's head had been crushed by some enormous force, with brain matter and blood spraying all over the ground and walls. He was as dead as could be, and the nauseating smell came from this corpse.

Saori pursed her lips, made sure no one else was there, and then walked in to the body.

This was just the entrance to an underground passage. There was nothing there except for this corpse, which was lying face down on the ground. The clothes on its body appeared to be male, and its build was about 80% similar to the target's. Its hand was outstretched as if struggling to grasp something. A pistol lay beside the corpse, and the iron door was open, just in time to wed the corpse's elbow.

A line of bloody footprints extended from the bloodstains, heading deeper into the dark passage.

"Bushiyuan," Saori looked up, gazing into the darkness of the tunnel, and connected the communicator. "There's something going on here; we might have to work overtime."

150. Chance Encounter

Three hours later--

Special Disaster Division Headquarters, Operations Room.

After the special forces captain finished reporting on the mission, Saori went to see Bushiyuan alone and talked about the secret passage.

"...I understand the situation," said Fushihara Ayaka after a moment of contemplation. "For now, I'll rule out the possibility of gang warfare or vendettas."

Fushihara Ayaka has confirmed that the deceased is the target; he was killed in the tunnel the night before the Special Disaster Division was to begin its operation.

Saori searched in vain, finding only his body.

However, it wasn't a complete loss. During the search of the convenience store and underground passages, some clues were found, and some files that hadn't been deleted yet were also found on his personal computer. These were all important pieces of intelligence.

Saori asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Let's check some nearby surveillance footage first, expand the search area, and see if we can find any useful clues—our prey has been hunted down by someone else, we can't ignore it."

"Um."

Saori nodded.

Whether this was a coincidence or not is another matter, but the way the body died just looked strange. There were no crushing Trace left on the ground in the secret passage. Trace from the blood and head tissue scattered on the walls and ground at the time, the target's head seemed to have been crushed when he was kneeling or sitting on the ground. Moreover, no murder weapon or Trace of repeated blows were found.

Simply put, the target's head was crushed into dust in an instant while he was kneeling or sitting on the ground.

This is where the doubt lies.

It would be difficult to crush a human head into that shape by human power alone; it would be as if it had been crushed into powder by a hydraulic press. However, no other suspicious Trace were found at the scene, except for the set of footprints that Saori had discovered at the beginning.

The footprints were very small, and based on the suspicious nature of the footprints, it was determined that they were left by a person weighing less than 60kg. They were obviously not something like Erosion Entity, and unlike the panicked footprints left by the target, the footprints seemed to be taken at a leisurely pace.

Regardless of whether those footprints belong to the murderer, anyone who leaves footprints while walking in a place where someone has died is highly suspicious.

This is something to think about deeply.

What's even stranger is the wound on the corpse.

It wasn't a knife wound or a gunshot wound, but rather a bruise left by some kind of external force. That force was so great that it could break the bones of an adult male and pierce his skin. However, no abrasions or Trace were found on the clothing or skin above the wound; there were only bruises.

The corpse was like a lump of clay, being twisted and manipulated little by little, until finally its head was severed with clamps.

This bizarre injury forced Saori and Bushiyuan to proceed with extreme caution.

Because the way this injury was formed is somewhat similar to the injury caused by the Apostle Power, and the mission in the Maesakagawa Garrison District has only just achieved initial success, it is not the time to let our guard down. We must do our best to investigate any suspicious Trace until the truth is revealed.

"Leave this to me," Saori said.

"Alright...then I'll ask you for help one more time," Fushihara Ayaka without hesitation. Now was the time when manpower was needed, and with Saori's assistance, things would go much more smoothly. "I'll send people to investigate the clues right now, and that underground passage needs to be thoroughly searched."

"Then I'll head over first."

Saori left the operations room.

On the other side--

Finally freed from Huachao Cai's "enthusiasm," Yukina left the coffee shop with several diamond ring samples in her hand, along with a business card with Huachao Cai's contact information and a discount card.

"Senior Hanacho is being a bit too enthusiastic..."

Yukina sighed – Huachao Cai gave Yukina the feeling of being very difficult to get along with, of course, because the other party was too enthusiastic.

Huachao Cai even wanted to personally drive Yukina and Kanade Kotone back to headquarters, but this was naturally not an option, as it might expose their identities, so Yukina and Kanade Kotone both tried very hard to decline.

In fact, Huachao Cai just wanted to take this opportunity to have a chance encounter with her idol—a fact that neither Yukina nor Kanade Kotone knew.

"Yes..."

Kanade Kotone nodded in deep agreement.

Today, Huachao Cai really made Kanade Kotone see herself in a new light, as if her usual demeanor was just an act.

"However, it wasn't without its gains."

Kanade Kotone said.

"Yes, as expected of the young lady from the House Huachao, she can probably get anything money can buy with ease..." Yukina sighed wearily, clutching the discount card in her hand and looking around. "In short, although I didn't find the style I wanted... it's not bad to find a tailor who can help design and customize. Although it's a bit expensive, maybe I can get something I like."

Custom-made – There are specialists who take these orders and create a ring that perfectly matches your preferences.

Of course, the price will be much higher. For the same specifications, the final price of the finished product will be significantly higher, which Yukina currently cannot afford.

This is where the role of an intermediary comes in – Huachao Cai directly offered to act as Yukina's intermediary, so that Yukina could pay on credit.

Based on Yukina's actual income level, she could pay off the entire amount in less than a month.

Let's see tomorrow.

Kanade Kotone patted her shoulder reassuringly, "Don't be discouraged, it's only the first day. These things aren't easy to begin with."

That's true... but I'm just worried we might not make it on time.

After all, it would take several days to a week to customize a pair of diamond rings, and it would be meaningless if we missed Naoko's birthday.

"Well, it's okay. I'll take another look tomorrow. If I like it, we can negotiate the price and time."

Kanade Kotone comforted her, glancing at the distant sky before checking the time on her phone. "Oh dear... it's getting late. Shall we head back now? Miss Nishiki will probably be asking me where I am later..."

"Okay, let's go back now, Kanade. Thank you for today."

"Hehe, not at all."

Although the diamond ring situation continues to be fraught with difficulties, other preparations are proceeding smoothly. All the invitees readily expressed their desire to attend the birthday party. It's just unknown whether Uzuki Saori- senpai has received an invitation from Bushiyuan.

"Siyejian has sent a car to pick us up."

"Let's wait over there."

The two crossed the street, away from the vicinity of the coffee shop, also to avoid being seen by Huachao Cai.

Just then, Yukina's phone beeped. "Hmm? A message?...?"

She swiped open the screen and found a message from Huachao Cai —before leaving, Yukina and Huachao Cai had exchanged email addresses and social media account addresses, which was why Huachao Cai was able to find her.

Upon opening the message, Yukina's expression immediately became quite interesting.

"What's wrong?" Kanade Kotone asked curiously.

"Um... Senior Hana-cho said she's arranged a meeting for me with a designer. We'll meet at the coffee shop again tomorrow..."

"Designer? Isn't that right?"

Kanade Kotone looked on with suspicion, while Yukina appeared somewhat helpless.

"Hmm... but the other party seems to have a lot of background... I think it's some kind of Anemone."

"Huh? Isn't that so-and-so, the most famous one in Xijing City..."