Assassinating the Governor

"We're here!"

Someone called out softly, and Ji Xun looked out the window.

They were surrounded by a strange, pitch-black wilderness. The headlights illuminated some low, mound-like shapes ahead, resembling graves. Barren trees dotted the mounds, their branches adorned with strange birds, perhaps crows. A faint mist permeated the air.

Nothing out of the ordinary; this was the eerie desolation expected of a remote area.

Ji Xun's gaze shifted to where the lights converged. An explosion had occurred on the tracks ahead, and a steam train, stretching over ten carriages, lay overturned at a haphazard angle.

It appeared someone had bombed the railway ahead, causing the train to derail and flip.

Raiding supply trains wasn't uncommon in Sinless City.

Especially when it involved plundering the supplies of the upper-class nobles. The risks were high, but the rewards were even greater.

The major gangs in the city all favored such operations.

Similar incidents had happened before, which usually meant good business for the Corpse Collectors.

However, upon arriving at the scene this time, everyone immediately sensed something was amiss.

After getting out of the vehicle, Ji Xun took a single glance around the site and immediately spotted the anomaly.

The battle was already over.

Over fifty bodies were scattered across the ground, but the signs of combat didn't appear intense.

Logically, if the plunderers had blown up the tracks, they would have come prepared for a raid. Why were so many people dead?

Furthermore, although the train's supplies were strewn around the tracks, they hadn't been looted.

What looked like a robbery scene more closely resembled a one-sided massacre.

Were the so-called "plunderers" just a bunch of overconfident rookies?

Clearly, that wasn't the case.

Ji Xun looked at a few corpses before him. The fatal wounds were smooth, cutting injuries across the chest, severing even the mechanical exoskeleton.

These were the results of large-scale wind-elemental Cards.

He immediately formed a judgment: "At least a Tier 2 wind-elemental Spell Card Master was involved."

Looking at the distant combat traces, there were clear signs of fire and lightning elemental Card explosions.

It was evident that there was more than one expert.

It seemed the unfortunate plunderers hadn't realized high-tier Spell Card Masters were escorting the train. They'd blown up the tracks to rob it, only to be counter-killed.

Ji Xun quickly hit upon a crucial point.

Why would a cargo train have multiple high-tier Spell Card Masters?

Did this train have something special about it?

Before Ji Xun could ponder further, the roar of a steam boiler suddenly echoed from afar.

Focusing his gaze, another convoy appeared north of the tracks.

The convoy was moving at high speed, and in moments, it was clear it was an elite military unit.

The vehicles bore the Cao Family's crest: a "halberd and double-headed eagle."

The moment Ji Xun saw it, his pupils contracted. He realized this was likely no ordinary robbery.

Seeing the convoy, Dong Jiu, the captain beside him, muttered to himself, "Strange, why are the Governor's Mansion's elite guards, the Frost Knight Legion, all here?"

Because the Corpse Collectors had received the news promptly and their vehicle had sped towards the scene like a madman, they had arrived almost immediately.

They had even beaten the Governor's Mansion's elite legion to the scene.

The Corpse Collectors looked at the dozen or so military armored vehicles, heavily armed, speeding towards them, their faces filled with confusion.

As the armored vehicles approached the derailment site and before they had even come to a complete stop, a group of imposing, heavily armored warriors clad in white battle armor leaped out.

Nearly a hundred individuals spread out, securing the area around the overturned carriages.

Imposing, well-trained, and disciplined.

This was a regular military unit, starkly different from the ragtag appearance of the Hunters in Sinless City.

Ji Xun took another look, observing the fine white armor worn by those soldiers, and recalled what he had heard.

These were the renowned "Frost Knights."

The Cao Family in Sinless City possessed the complete advancement path of the Orderly Path [Spade 6 - Punishing Iron Guard]. These heavily armored warriors were the private guards trained along this sequence, possessing extremely high combat power.

It was said that in group combat, they could fight one against ten.

He had heard about them when gathering information previously.

Normally, a few law enforcement officers would be sufficient to handle such a train robbery, but now an entire escort legion had arrived?

Seeing this, the confusion in Ji Xun's eyes turned into understanding. He seemed to have figured something out and murmured to himself, "Looks like they stumbled upon some important figure's dirty secrets. Tsk, this is getting more and more interesting..."

Minister Gong Xu was very experienced and had good connections within the Golden Oak Security Company.

As soon as he arrived, the few external agents from headquarters who had arrived earlier greeted him, "Brother Gong, you certainly came quickly. We just got here, and you've already arrived."

Gong Xu smiled and gestured towards the Governor's Mansion convoy in the distance, casually asking, "Old Ma, what's the situation over there?"

With people from the Governor's Mansion involved, their presence from Golden Oak felt rather redundant.

However, the relationship between the company and the Upper City was quite ambiguous; they weren't exactly enemies, at most neutral, with no real conflicts.

The lead field agent spread his hands. "I don't know either. But judging by the looks of it, there seems to be some big shot from the Upper City on the train."

"Oh."

Hearing this, Gong Xu shrugged, showing no particular curiosity.

Secrets involving high-ranking nobles weren't something people of their level could inquire about, nor were they interested.

Due to the nature of their profession, Corpse Collectors often encountered unusual crime scenes.

Like the incident in the cellar on Tailor Street last time.

But this time, it was clearly different.

Ji Xun caught a whiff of conspiracy.

Yet, he didn't feel uneasy; instead, a slight tingling sensation ran up his scalp.

That familiar feeling… it was back.

Ji Xun's gaze fixed on the Governor's Mansion personnel.

Not just him, everyone was curious about what had happened.

They didn't have to wait long for the mystery to be revealed.

As soon as the Governor's Mansion's elite guard arrived, a section of the overturned train carriage suddenly lit up with dozens of complex magical defensive barriers.

It was then that everyone realized it was a special carriage disguised as a cargo car.

The carriage's heavy armored door opened, and several well-equipped Frost Knights emerged, escorting a middle-aged man with a handlebar mustache and a bulging belly.

As soon as the man with the mustache appeared, the Frost Knights and law enforcement officers who had arrived to reinforce them all knelt down in unison, bowing respectfully. "Governor!"

The sound echoed through the empty, dark graveyard, particularly jarring.

The Governor?

Seeing this, Ji Xun finally understood that Governor Cao Sihai himself was on the train!

No wonder the Governor's Mansion's elite guard had been dispatched.

But why would the esteemed Governor of Sinless City, a Federal Councilor, be secretly hiding in a cargo train?

And the Raiders just happened to blow up the very train the Governor was hiding in?

In an instant, his eyes gleamed with excitement. "This is getting more and more interesting…"

Ji Xun had been guessing which important figure from the Cao Family might be in the carriage, but he hadn't expected it to be the most crucial one.

Given the current situation, it would be strange if something didn't happen.

He was delighted to see trouble befalling the Cao Family!

That Fourth Young Master Cao had been hunting him all over the city.

If his father were to die now…

Tsk, Sinless City was probably in for some excitement.

With that thought, Ji Xun didn't rush forward like the other Corpse Collectors to collect the bodies near the train. Instead, he quietly pulled back a distance.

His intuition told him that a change was coming.

As expected.

Almost the instant the Governor appeared, a roar erupted from the distance.

"Everyone be careful, an Alternate Dimension has descended!"

This was the eastern suburbs' wilderness. The lights illuminated only a small corner of the darkness. Before the words even finished, the pervasive black mist beyond the lights surged towards them like a tide.

It moved so fast that everyone didn't even have a chance to drive away.

Before anyone could react, the mist engulfed all the lights.

The surroundings changed, plunging into complete darkness.

The mist arrived quickly and dissipated just as instantly.

With such widespread coverage, there was no way to avoid it.

However, once their vision cleared, Ji Xun looked at the changed environment around him and tilted his head. "We really got pulled in."

Just moments ago, they were at the scene of a robbery in the railway graveyard. Now, they were inside a massive underground maze.

This was the Alternate Dimension that Captain Dong Jiu and the others had mentioned – the [Great Cemetery Maze].

There was no light source, and visibility was very low, allowing only a few blurry outlines to be seen.

The surrounding rock walls were at least a hundred meters high, disappearing into the darkness. The passages in the maze were over thirty meters wide, indicating the immense scale of this labyrinth.

Ji Xun's brows furrowed in thought.

Obviously.

They, the Corpse Collectors, were caught in an assassination attempt targeting the Governor.

An accident?

Probably.

But not entirely.

Ji Xun had chosen the path of [JOKER] himself.

It seemed only at times like this could he feel something. His soul no longer felt like dead ashes, silent and still.

"You have entered the 'Great Cemetery Maze'."

"Maze Death Rate: 29.4%"

"Disaster Level Assessed: D"

"Spatial Exploration Progress: 47.1%"

"Keywords: Puzzle Solving"

"Mission: You must find the correct exit passage in a maze filled with piles of skeletal monsters."

"Clue: Three thousand years ago, 300,000 laborers were buried alive. Their lingering resentment formed a maze from which no living being could escape."

Ji Xun's gaze showed a hint of thought as he watched the Enlightenment interface appear.

This was, after all, a beginner-level space. The known information was that besides trapping people, the maze wasn't particularly difficult.

Although Ji Xun didn't have the maze navigation intel from the Hunter's Guild, he wasn't in the least bit anxious.

With a D-class difficulty, if others could get out, there was no reason he couldn't.

Instead, he thought of something else: "Are they trying to trap Governor Cao in the maze and then kill him?"

The maze was filled with low-level skeleton monsters, which theoretically posed no threat to an organized Frost Knight Legion.

Ji Xun's mind raced as he quickly calculated the mastermind's plan. However, he also muttered a complaint: "This isn't right. For such a grand scheme to hunt the Governor, they should at least have some tricks up their sleeve. Moreover, waiting for the Frost Knight Legion to arrive before making a move suggests they want to deal with them all at once. Just a maze isn't enough."

In Sinless City, no assassination would likely cause as much commotion as one targeting the Governor.

And a grand performance usually required a magnificent and shocking opening.

The current opening was far from worthy of such a major play.

He wondered if he was being a jinx, or if the mastermind hadn't disappointed him either.

At this moment, the Enlightenment interface appeared for the second time.

"Hidden Plot Triggered: The intruder has activated the maze's dormant mechanisms. The sealing stone has fallen, and the maze exit is locked. The immortal 'Keeper of Secrets' has awakened. They will roam the maze, killing all living humans."

The disaster level had changed to "Unknown."

"They've finally come."

Seeing this, Ji Xun's eyes narrowed slightly.

Only now did he feel that this was the proper way to open this grand assassination.