Character Ghost Shadow

Eden made a gesture, the same one Elysia made, which was to hug her. Sakura was a bit flustered, and Eden quickly let go of her.

After a long silence, Eden asked cautiously, "Are you sure you want to... do this?"

"I don't know, I don't know..." Sakura held her forehead, her face pale. "But Elysia said I could find out what Ling would become, and then..."

"Decide whether to kill Ling."

"I will do everything I can to help you," Eden said without hesitation. "Tell me what I need to do."

Half a month later, Sakura's wristband vibrated slightly, someone was calling her. She lightly tapped the wristband, and Gray Serpent's voice came through the tiny earpiece.

"Miss Sakura," Gray Serpent said in his usual humble tone, "I have a lead on the investigation you commissioned. I need you to use your identity as a Fusion Warrior to investigate a case."

Sakura suppressed the excitement in her heart and said calmly, "What kind of case?"

"The death of an A-rank warrior."

"You know, any transaction has its gains and losses for both parties. Since Dr. Mei received help, she must return the corresponding reward. And I have found the content of this reward: the Tenth Divine Key."

"Chizuru broke many Tenth Divine Keys. All broken standard Divine Keys should be repaired or reforged according to regulations, but I found that at least seven Divine Keys have gone missing for various reasons."

"That's common," Sakura said.

"Of course," Gray Serpent chuckled in his dark voice. "Although Dr. Mei is a smart person, the person who forged the documents was an idiot. He put the documents detailing the whereabouts of the Divine Keys in the archives. Bureaucrats think that putting documents in the archives is equivalent to destroying them."

Sakura asked with some confusion, "Why would he record the whereabouts of the Divine Keys?"

"Many people are interested in Divine Keys. Also, the officials' only bottom line is procedure. She needs to follow the procedure, and they will also follow the procedure, at least on the surface."

"What do I need to do?"

"You need to go to South Ural City. An A-rank warrior named Niazepi was found dead in the sewers on the outskirts of the city more than ten days ago, holding a reforged Tenth Divine Key, which has since disappeared.

"When you arrive there, please inform me immediately. I will arrange for someone else to meet you."

"What about you?"

"Me?" Gray Serpent chuckled again, his laughter making Sakura feel inexplicably disgusted.

"I have an equally important matter to investigate."

Silence filled Sakura's earpiece. She narrowed her eyes, her blue pupils seeming to hold a suffocating danger.

Even though it wasn't winter, the weather in Eastern Europe made one feel uncomfortable. South Ural City was like an oil painting rendered in cool tones. Gloomy clouds shrouded the silent, dilapidated streets in grayness, as if a fine drizzle would fall at any moment. The aviation indicator lights on top of the buildings flashed a striking red, and the fluorescent lights emitted a soft, dim glow through the glass windows.

The soldiers in the shadows of the tall buildings all carried a layer of black gloom. Light and shadow seemed to strike a terrifying balance on them. Others couldn't see their eyes clearly, but they could clearly see the glint on their rifles. Televisions in shop windows played silent news, with anchors staring outwards with faces that occupied nearly half the screen and serious gazes.

Under this stern gaze, people pursed their lips and walked with stiff, listless steps, not knowing where they were going. It was as if everyone here had lost their patience... and their confidence.

Sakura lightly tapped her wristband, "I've arrived."

"Understood, please wait a moment."

Sakura leaned her back against the cold gray concrete wall and waited quietly. A few minutes later, a man wearing a baseball cap walked across the street and approached Sakura during a gap in the traffic.

The man took off his baseball cap, placed the hand holding the cap on his chest, and bowed slightly to her, saying, "Hello, Madam."

"Hello."

"Should I get straight to the point?" The man put his baseball cap back on.

"If possible..."

"Of course, please follow me."

The man turned around, and Sakura followed. They went around a corner and entered a small alley. Green and orange garbage bins were full, with scattered trash all around. The alley floor was pitted and filled with sewage mixed with garbage. He stepped into it, and Sakura followed without hesitation.

"How did you discover he was dead?"

"Some unemployed people pass through that area."

Sakura nodded thoughtfully.

"The person who found Niazepi's body was not a reputable individual. He intended to steal the sword, but was scared away by a Honkai Beast. When he returned later, the Divine Key was gone, and the Honkai Beast was still roaming there."

"Did no one personally confirm it? Did you just easily believe the citizens' accounts?"

The man shrugged, as if indifferent, or perhaps self-deprecating. "An B-rank warrior confirmed it personally, but he didn't collect Niazepi's body. He didn't want to go to great lengths for a dead person."

"Was this matter just left unattended?" The shadow of a squad of grass-green helicopters swept over them, the sound of their propellers almost drowning out their conversation. The man accidentally stepped on an empty soda can, making a noise that pulled her attention back from the sky.

"Not exactly. An investigation was launched from above, and that's how it was left unresolved. After all, the investigation report wasn't for the local government to see. We didn't see the investigation team from above; they were probably wasting time in some conference room."

The man stood by a sewer entrance, squatted down, moved the manhole cover, and turned to Sakura, saying, "Madam, it's a short distance from here to there." He took a crumpled sewer map from his pocket and handed it to her.

"This map marks your starting point. Just follow the arrows on the map to find Niazepi's body. Perhaps you can discover something there."

Sakura nodded, picked up the map, and jumped into the sewer opening.

A thin stream of gray, murky water flowed through the ditch. The dark red bricks that formed the sewer exuded an aura of decay and rot, causing her to frown. Sakura opened the crumpled map in her hand and quickly browsed through it, imprinting all its details into her mind.

Sakura drew the Cold Prison Ice Sky from her waist. She stepped forward, following the path recorded in her mind. Her steps were swift, and she entered one of the paths without hesitation when passing intersections, making it easy to suspect she had been here before.

She quickly arrived at the place where Niazepi had died, but to her surprise, his body had mysteriously disappeared, and the wandering Honkai Beast mentioned in the eyewitness report was nowhere to be seen. In its place was a string of numbers and letters on the wall, as if directly engraved by a laser, making them very conspicuous. However, the report did not mention this.

The string started with 6 digits, followed by a date in the middle, and a string of letters at the end.

"It's all very mysterious," she murmured to herself.

PS: Starting the update