Cooperation

After the young officer left, Qingxue stepped onto the table with practiced ease and swiftly removed the surveillance camera from the corner of the wall. She gave Chu Ning an "OK" gesture.

Chu Ning sat across from Su Bai, pulled a photograph from her pocket, and handed it to him. "Take a look at this first."

Su Bai took the photograph with both hands, his handcuffs giving a crisp rattle.

The photograph showed a young man in a black suit and a baseball cap. He stood in a crowd, one hand pressing down the brim of his cap and his body turned slightly away, leaving barely half of his pale face visible.

Su Bai waved the photograph and asked, "Who's this?"

Chu Ning explained, "Jiang Long, twenty-six years old, an A-rank member of the Hunter Guild, a seventh-tier Transcendent, Divine Oracle Sequence 91, codename 'Dragon.'"

Su Bai's gaze sharpened slightly as he recalled the written description of Oracle Sequence 91 in the Grave Keepers' handscroll.

Divine Domain Sequence 91 (Chameleon): The user can obtain the unique attribute "Replication" for x (unknown) duration. For x (unknown) duration, the user can replicate the genetic sequence of any living creature they have come into close contact with, becoming that creature at the genetic level. Note: I'm not your twin. I'm you.

That's Sun Wukong's Seventy-Two Transformations.

Qingxue jumped down from the table, brought over a small chair, and sat beside Chu Ning. She added:

"The Hunter Guild only has four A-rank members, and Jiang Long is one of them. 'Sister Hong,' who we met at Heavenly River International two days ago, was him in disguise. Remember how we all fell into the river with him afterward? I saw him turn into a fish and escape with my own eyes. You were unconscious at the time, so Sister Chu Ning and I had to give up the chase for the time being to save you."

From a man to a woman, and then from a woman to a fish.

It was utterly fucking ridiculous, yet it was true. Even more ridiculous was that the three of them had gone to such lengths, breaking through doors and racing cars, only to end up with a pair of silver-white handcuffs.

"If you saved me, how did I end up in police custody?"

Su Bai raised his cuffed hands and said with a dark look:

"Don't tell me you don't even know basic first aid, so you had to take me to the hospital without concealing my identity. Then, while the police were thoroughly checking everyone's identities, you didn't stay with me at all times and instead slipped away to have fun."

"..."

Chu Ning and Qingxue felt a little guilty. They exchanged a hasty glance before quickly looking away.

"N-no, how could that be? Right, Sister Chu Ning?"

"Exactly, exactly. How could we possibly be so careless?"

Seeing the embarrassment they couldn't hide, Su Bai felt life had lost all meaning.

Of course. If anything at all had gone wrong with that sequence of events, he couldn't have ended up in police custody.

Thank you, my wonderful teammates.

Su Bai sighed. "All right, all right, let's get down to business. What's the situation at Heavenly River International now?"

Chu Ning lowered her head and pondered for a moment before looking up and saying:

"After Heavenly River International's involvement in gambling was exposed, Lin Yue, the boss behind it, was brought into the police station. Apparently, he spends most of his time overseas and knew nothing about it, so he wasn't implicated. After that, a large number of middle managers were sent to court, and the company's domestic and overseas operations came to a standstill. As for the Hunter Guild, not a single member showed their face."

"Brother Su Bai, this is a photo of Lin Yue."

Qingxue took a photograph from her pocket and handed it to Su Bai.

Su Bai stared intently at the kindly faced middle-aged man in the photograph. After a long while, he looked away and asked, "Didn't the police surround Heavenly River International? We ran into so many armed men at the casino, and so many people died. How did Heavenly River International explain that?"

Chu Ning shrugged. "Actually, although the police surrounded Heavenly River International, they never went inside. I heard some high-ranking official made a phone call and called all the officers on duty back. Anyway... lots of thunder, little rain."

Qingxue put the photograph away and said indignantly, "We've been running around for nothing this time!"

Su Bai frowned deeply and fell into thought.

On the surface, they really had gained nothing over the past few days. But from a broader perspective, their gains were considerable.

Previously, the investigation report from Grave Keepers headquarters had characterized the relationship between Heavenly River International and the Hunter Guild as merely a "partnership."

But if it were only a partnership, the Hunter Guild's B-rank member Red couldn't have controlled the lifeline of Heavenly River International's casino, and its A-rank member Dragon couldn't have shown himself and risked danger so readily.

In other words, since Chen Ziyan and Jiang Long held high positions at Heavenly River International, there was a strong possibility that they were Lin Yue's trusted right-hand people.

From this information, Su Bai could conclude that Lin Yue was certainly a member of the Hunter Guild and was even very likely its true leader.

Su Bai suddenly remembered.

Among the materials on Heavenly River International he had looked through before, one document was a list of personnel transfers at the company over the past three months. The transfers on that list were frequent and highly unusual.

If I put all of this together...

Could it be that the Hunter Guild isn't hiding behind Heavenly River International, but is secretly using frequent personnel transfers to give its members clean identities and send them into the company?

If this guess was correct, then Heavenly River International had become the new Hunter Guild, and its financial records with Quark would certainly contain a wealth of information about illicit trade between them.

For ten years, the Hunter Guild had endured not because it possessed the strength to stand against the Grave Keepers, but because it had hidden its identity deeply enough.

If there were a document that could reveal their true identities and expose them to the sunlight, they would be like tigers stripped of their teeth and claws, fit only to stay in a zoo and draw crowds.

Having worked through every detail, Su Bai opened his eyes and slowly let out a stale breath. He glanced at the worried Qingxue and asked, "Did you come to get me out?"

Qingxue nodded like a chick pecking at rice. "Yes, yes."

"No need to get me out." Su Bai shook his head and continued, "I mean, even if you do get me out, you can't be the ones to do it... You're not the only ones who want me out as soon as possible."

Qingxue scratched her head and turned to Chu Ning for her opinion.

Chu Ning looked suspicious. She stared at Su Bai for quite a while before slowly nodding.

The two pushed open the door and were about to leave when Su Bai suddenly asked, "Has Gu Jiuge cleared level 130 of Defend the Carrot yet?"

Qingxue answered honestly, "Brother Gu has already put a knife to the game designer's neck. If he still can't clear the level, the designer will have to clear it instead."

Su Bai waved his hand.

After Qingxue and Chu Ning left.

The young officer responsible for interrogating Su Bai returned to the interrogation room and was about to speak.

But Su Bai spoke first. "If possible, I'd like to discuss a cooperation with you."

The young officer frowned and rebuked him. "You're a criminal. How dare you talk to the police about cooperation?"

"How about this? Let's go over everything again." Su Bai grinned, leaned forward slightly, and stared into the young officer's eyes. He said softly:

"First, Lin Yue knows I might have a list of most of the Hunter Guild's members, and he knows I've seen Heavenly River International's financial records. But he doesn't know whether I have a backup of the list, or which faction I belong to. So even if he really wants to kill me to keep me quiet, he has to establish my true background first.

"I believe that, given all the miraculous things my two pig teammates did, if Boss Lin had truly been determined to kill me at the hospital, he would certainly have succeeded. The fact that I'm still alive and kicking means that, over the past few days, Boss Lin has already discovered my true identity as Suzhou's sixth Grave Keeper, so he doesn't dare make a move against me lightly.

"Second, Heavenly River International's involvement in gambling is a major matter, yet Boss Lin, as the company's legal representative, has been able to escape its effects. That shows he has an extensive network of connections in Suzhou's government. And with Heavenly River International surrounded by police, the fact that Boss Lin could call most of the officers back with a single phone call shows that he also has an extensive network in the police system.

"Finally, no matter who interrogates me, Boss Lin, whose hands and eyes reach the heavens in Suzhou, will worry that I'll let something about the Hunter Guild slip.

"So he'll certainly use every means at his disposal to call on his connections in the police system and replace the person interrogating me with one of his own.

"And the person responsible for interrogating me is most likely a powerful Transcendent, because only then could they suddenly kill me before I reveal any crucial information."

The young officer narrowed his eyes, his gaze flickering, but said nothing.

Snap!

Su Bai abruptly raised his hands and tore the handcuffs apart. He shook his aching wrists. "I know what you're thinking, but I advise you not to think that way. Because if you do it, you'll truly reach a point of eternal damnation. You should think more about why I sent away the Grave Keepers who came to get me out and then spoke to you alone."

The young officer slowly stood up and asked in an indifferent tone, "How do you want to cooperate?"

Su Bai tapped his forehead and said thoughtfully:

"To be honest, although I have your list of personnel, I really can't work up any interest in destroying the Hunter Guild or anything like that. And although I joined the Grave Keepers, I was simply talked into it. I don't think it's such a glorious identity. What would earning merit get me? At most, headquarters would commend me, give me some random thing, and send me on my way.

"Let's suppose-I'm saying suppose-that Boss Lin is willing to give me fifty million in cash and enough resources to advance my bloodline level. I'd be quite willing to exchange this list for them. Of course... no one would know about any of it. Afterward, I'd still be a Grave Keeper in Suzhou, and Boss Lin would still be Suzhou's local kingpin."

The young officer was silent for a moment. "We'll consider your proposal."

Su Bai nodded and held out his hand. "Take your time considering it. Give me my phone so I can call a friend to come pick me up... I trust you can handle something this minor."

The young officer frowned. "Su Bai, you're a criminal."

Su Bai said calmly, "Cooperation requires sincerity."