Black Shield Police Department, Director Hogg

Black Shield Police Department, Director Hogg. Ding ding ding...

Yu Yuan felt as if his head were splitting apart, his entire body aching as though it had fallen to pieces.

Yet the alarm gradually woke him.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling inside the Hideout, along with the energy-saving lamp casting a soft glow.

His hazy consciousness slowly returned.

"Am I... in the Hideout?"

His earlier experiences instantly flooded back into his mind: the mutated giant rat, the battle, the escape—every scene replayed itself.

He looked at the Positioning Watch on his wrist. It was still tirelessly vibrating and ringing.

"This is the alarm I set, for the purpose of..." Yu Yuan's bleary eyes instantly cleared, and he immediately checked the time—3:18 a.m.

"Oh no, the supplies I listed on Taotao Cave will have been up for more than twelve hours in five minutes."

Yu Yuan panicked and immediately struggled to get up. To prevent anyone from trading for the supplies he had listed on Taotao Cave, he had priced every item at one million Survival Points. If they remained listed past the time limit, the 5% storage fee would be astronomical.

Fortunately, he had set an alarm in advance to wake himself up. Otherwise, he would have been done for.

But just as his right hand pressed against the bed to push himself up, a piercing pain shot through his wrist.

Frowning slightly, he looked at his right wrist and found that it had already swollen a little.

The injury to his wrist was more serious than he had imagined.

But he had no time to think about his injury now.

"Miemie~~ Come here."

Miemie had already come to Yu Yuan's side while he was waking up. Yu Yuan grabbed Miemie's horn with his left hand and finally managed to stand.

Enduring the soreness throughout his body, he went to the air-raid shelter passage outside the Hideout and swiftly took down all the supplies he had listed on Taotao Cave. With thirty seconds left, he removed the last barrel of fuel without incident.

Looking at the twenty full barrels of fuel, weapons, equipment, and explosives, Yu Yuan let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, with Miemie's help, he dragged the supplies he had previously left near the ladder exit back into the Hideout. He removed his equipment and took out the vehicle first-aid kit and medical backpack.

After tending to his wrist wound and applying medicine for bruises and sprains, he prepared to rest some more.

But when he saw Miemie, he suddenly remembered that Miemie's High-Energy Sheep Milk seemed effective for injury recovery too, especially fractures.

His wrist was not fractured, but it likely had slight cracks in the bone and bruising.

He immediately took out today's portion of High-Energy Sheep Milk and drank it. Then, no longer resisting his body's protests, he fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, at the Black Shield Police Department.

Carmen was being held in a private room, waiting for the final outcome.

He silently estimated the time in his heart.

"I've been locked up for nearly ten hours, haven't I? The investigators should be back by now."

As he stared at the light on the ceiling, a figure kept flashing through Carmen's mind.

Creak...

The door was pushed open, and an extremely burly figure entered the room and sat in a chair that looked slightly too small for him.

He was a bald, powerfully built man with dark skin and sharp, lively eyes. The commander's uniform weighing dozens of pounds did not look cumbersome on him in the slightest; he wore it with ease.

He looked at Carmen and got straight to the point.

"Carmen, the people we sent to investigate have returned. They did indeed find traces of the Burning Fortress, and our people also saw people from Marauder Prison heading toward the Burning Fortress several hours ago. You're cleared."

Carmen was not surprised. He looked at the burly man before him.

"Commander Old Ke, there's definitely more to the Burning Fortress and Marauder Prison attacking us together this time. I suspect this is only the beginning. The Marauder Prison ambush at Land Hotel may have merely been bait as well, meant to lure us into attacking their trading convoy. The informant who gave us the information may already have been discovered by Marauder Prison."

"I know. All right, we'll discuss that later. The director wants to see you now. Come with me!"

A trace of surprise finally appeared on Carmen's face. "You mean Director Hogg?"

"Hurry up. Don't keep the director waiting too long," Old Ke urged.

"Yes!"

The two made their way to the fifth floor of the police department and entered an extremely luxurious room.

Someone was already waiting inside. With his back to the door, he watched the night sky beyond the window. The ember of the cigar at his fingertips flickered.

Old Ke led Carmen into the room, stood at attention, and saluted the figure.

"Director, I've brought Carmen!"

Two seconds later, the figure slowly turned around and looked indifferently at Carmen. After sizing him up once, he turned back toward the window.

"Leave."

A cold voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation sounded in the room.

"Yes!" Old Ke immediately led Carmen out of the room.

Only then did Carmen notice that Commander Old Ke's nose was already covered in beads of sweat, and he was horrified.

As the foremost of the Black Shield Police Department's three commanders, Old Ke could be considered the second most powerful person beneath the director. Yet he feared the director to such an extent.

"All right, go back. The war between Marauder Prison, the Burning Fortress, and us will probably erupt soon, but..." Old Ke looked at Carmen as though he were prey.

"Don't let anyone else know about this for now. Do you understand what I mean?"

Carmen understood immediately.

"I understand, Commander Old Ke."

"Go."

Carmen immediately headed outside, but just as he was about to go downstairs, a figure approached him head-on.

Carmen stopped and looked over. His heart tightened as a trembling Fear suddenly surged within him. He immediately composed himself and saluted.

"Commander Lawrence!"

Lawrence was clearly somewhat surprised to see Carmen here, and his steps paused slightly.

After giving Carmen a long, deep look, the corner of his mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible curve. Then he brushed past Carmen.

Only after watching Lawrence's retreating figure did the inexplicable Fear in Carmen's heart slowly fade.

Feeling the change in his heart and recalling what Soda had said in the sewers, the way Carmen looked at Lawrence subtly changed.

His lips pressed together slightly as he turned and headed downstairs.

When Yu Yuan woke up again, it was already 4:00 p.m.

He had slept for a full twelve hours, but his condition had recovered as well.

Over those twelve hours, the single bed had boosted his physical recovery, while the High-Energy Sheep Milk had added its healing effects.

Aside from a faint ache in his right wrist, the rest of his body no longer hurt. His drowsy mind had become clear again as well.

Lighting a cigarette to wake himself up, Yu Yuan sat on the bed with his back against the wall and began checking the virtual panel.

A great many players were actually discussing something heatedly in the chat channel.

The messages were refreshing rapidly. Yu Yuan looked over curiously and only then realized that, while he had been sleeping, something earth-shaking had happened.

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