Assassinating the Governor

"Here!"

Someone shouted softly. Ji Xun looked out through the window.

All around lay a strange, pitch-black wilderness. The headlights illuminated low mounds ahead that looked like graves. A few barren trees stood atop them, their branches occupied by strange birds that might have been crows or something else. A faint mist hung in the air.

Nothing unusual. This was exactly the eerie desolation one would expect from the wilderness.

Ji Xun looked toward where the lights converged. An explosion had occurred ahead on the tracks, and a Steam Train with more than ten carriages had derailed and overturned in every direction.

It looked as though someone had blown up the railway ahead, causing the train to derail.

Robbing freight trains was nothing unusual in Sinless City.

Especially trains carrying supplies for the upper-class noble lords. The risks were high, but so were the profits.

Every major gang in the city liked doing this.

Similar incidents had happened before, and they were considered a windfall for Corpse Collectors.

But the moment they arrived, everyone sensed that something was wrong.

After getting out of the vehicle, Ji Xun took one glance around the scene and immediately spotted the anomaly.

The battle was already over.

More than fifty corpses were scattered across the ground, yet the signs of battle did not appear particularly intense.

If the raiders had blown up the tracks, they must have come prepared to rob the train. Why had so many of them died?

And while the train's cargo was strewn around the tracks, none of it had been taken.

Rather than a robbery, it looked more like a one-sided massacre.

Were the so-called "raiders" simply a bunch of overconfident rookies?

Clearly not.

Ji Xun looked at several corpses before him. Their fatal wounds were smooth cuts across their chests, severing even their Mechanical Exoskeletons.

These were wounds caused by wide-range wind-element cards.

He immediately reached a conclusion. "At least a Second Rank wind-element Spell Card Master was involved."

Looking again at the traces of battle farther away, there were clearly signs of Fire Element and lightning-element cards exploding.

There was obviously more than one expert.

It looked like the unlucky raiders had not known that high-rank Spell Card Masters were accompanying the train. They blew up the tracks intending to rob it, only to be killed in return.

Ji Xun immediately grasped the key point.

Why would a freight train have multiple high-rank Spell Card Masters aboard?

Was there something special about this train?

Before Ji Xun could think further, the roar of Steam Boilers suddenly sounded in the distance.

Looking closely, another convoy appeared north of the railway.

The convoy was moving quickly. In the blink of an eye, they could see that it was an elite legion.

The vehicles bore the Cao Family's "long halberd and double-headed falcon" crest.

The instant Ji Xun saw it, his pupils shifted. He realized that this was likely no ordinary robbery.

Seeing the convoy, Captain Dong Jiu muttered to himself beside him, "Strange. Why has the Governor's Mansion's elite Frost Knight Legion come here?"

The Corpse Collectors had received the news promptly, and their vehicles had raced here desperately fast, so they had arrived almost immediately.

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

Watching the more than ten heavily armed military armored vehicles race over, the Corpse Collectors all looked puzzled.

Before the armored vehicles had even come to a stop near the derailed train, a group of imposing heavy-armored warriors in white armor leaped out.

Nearly a hundred people took up guard positions around the overturned carriages.

They looked mighty, well-trained, and strictly disciplined.

This was a formal legion utterly unlike the loose, undisciplined hunters of Sinless City.

Ji Xun took another look, examining the fine white armor on those men, and recalled hearing of them before.

These were the famous Frost Knights.

Governor Cao's family possessed the complete advancement route for the Order Path, Spade 6—Punishment Iron Guard. These heavily armored warriors were private Guard Legion soldiers trained through the Cao Family's sequence, and their combat power was extremely strong.

It was said that in legion warfare, one of them could fight ten enemies.

Ji Xun had heard of them while gathering information before.

Normally, a few law enforcement officers would be enough to handle a train robbery like this. Yet an entire guard legion had been dispatched?

At that point, the confusion in Ji Xun's eyes turned to understanding. He seemed to have realized something and muttered inwardly, Looks like we've stumbled upon something The Great Figures don't want brought to light. Heh, this is getting more and more interesting.

Minister Gong Xu was a veteran and well-liked at Golden Oak Security Company.

As soon as he arrived, several Field Agents from headquarters who had gotten there first greeted him. "Brother Gong, you got here pretty fast. We only just arrived, and you were already here."

Gong Xu smiled, gestured toward the Governor's Mansion convoy in the distance, and casually asked, "Old Ma, what's going on over there?"

With people from the Governor's Mansion involved, Golden Oak's presence seemed unnecessary instead.

However, the company's relationship with the Upper City was ambiguous. They were not enemies, merely neutral at most, so there was no conflict.

The leading field agent spread his hands. "I don't know either. But it looks like there may be some Great Figure from the Upper City on that train."

"Oh."

Hearing that, Gong Xu shrugged as well, showing no interest in being curious.

Secrets involving High Nobles were not something people of their standing could investigate, nor did they care to.

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

Like the Tailor Street cellar incident last time.

But this time was clearly different.

Ji Xun caught the scent of a conspiracy.

Not only did he not find it unpleasant, his scalp instead tingled slightly.

That familiar feeling had returned.

Ji Xun kept his eyes on the Governor's Mansion forces.

He was not the only one. Everyone was curious about what had happened.

It did not take long for the mystery to be revealed.

As soon as the Governor's Mansion Guard Legion arrived, dozens of layers of complex magical defensive barriers suddenly lit up around one overturned carriage.

Only then did everyone realize it was a special carriage disguised as a freight car.

The carriage's heavy armored door opened, and several well-equipped Frost Knights escorted out a potbellied middle-aged man with a moustache.

The moment that moustached man appeared, the Frost Knights and law enforcement officers who had come as reinforcements all dropped to one knee and respectfully saluted. "Governor!"

The shout echoed through the empty, dark cemetery, sounding especially piercing.

Governor?

Only then did Ji Xun understand. Governor Cao Sihai himself had been on the train!

No wonder the Governor's Mansion's elite guard legion had come.

But why was the dignified Governor of Sinless City, a federal senator, secretly hiding aboard a freight train?

And the raiders had happened to blow up the train carrying the governor?

In an instant, his eyes shone brilliantly. Now this is getting interesting.

Ji Xun had just been guessing which important figure from the Cao Family might be in that carriage. He had not expected it to be the most important one.

Given the situation, it would be strange if nothing happened.

If something happened to the Cao Family, he would be more than happy to see it.

Fourth Young Master Cao had been hunting him throughout the city.

If his father died now...

Heh. Sinless City was going to get lively.

With that in mind, Ji Xun did not rush forward excitedly like the other Corpse Collectors to gather the bodies near the train. Instead, he quietly put some distance between himself and the scene.

His instincts told him that something was about to happen.

And sure enough.

Almost the instant the governor appeared, someone roared from afar.

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

This was the eastern wilderness. The lights only illuminated one small corner of the darkness, and before the words had even faded, the Black Mist beyond the lights surged toward them like a tide.

It came so fast that no one even had a chance to drive away.

Before anyone could think, the mist swallowed every light.

The surroundings changed, plunging into complete darkness.

The mist came quickly, and vanished just as instantly.

Its vast coverage made it impossible to avoid.

But once visibility returned, Ji Xun looked at the changed surroundings and tilted his head. "So we really got pulled in."

Just moments ago, they had been at the railway cemetery robbery scene. Now, they stood inside a massive underground maze.

This was the Alternate Dimension Captain Dong Jiu and the others had mentioned before—the Great Cemetery Maze.

There was no light source, and visibility was extremely low. They could barely make out vague outlines.

All around them were black rock walls at least a hundred meters high, with no visible ceiling. The maze's passageways were all over thirty meters wide. One could imagine the scale of this maze.

A thoughtful look appeared between Ji Xun's brows.

Clearly.

These Corpse Collectors had been caught up in an assassination attempt aimed at the governor.

An accident?

Probably.

But certainly not entirely.

Ji Xun had chosen the path of JOKER himself.

It seemed that only at times like these could he feel something. His soul was no longer as silent as dead ash.

"You have entered the Great Cemetery Maze."

"The mortality rate of this maze: 29.4%."

"Assessed calamity level: D."

"Space Exploration Progress: 47.1%."

"Keyword: Puzzle-solving."

"Mission: You must find the correct passage out of a maze piled with skeletal monsters."

"Clue: Three thousand years ago, three hundred thousand laborers were buried alive. Their lingering resentment formed a maze that no living creature could leave."

Ji Xun studied the Revelation and fell into thought.

This was, after all, a beginner-level space. According to the known information, apart from trapping people, the maze was not very difficult.

Although Ji Xun did not have the Hunter's Guild's information on Maze Pathfinding, he was not worried in the slightest.

At D-rank difficulty, if others could get out, there was no reason he could not.

Instead, he thought of something else. Is this meant to trap Governor Cao in the maze, then kill him?

The maze was filled with low-rank skeletal monsters. In theory, they posed no threat to the Frost Knights operating as a legion.

Ji Xun rapidly calculated in his mind, deducing the planner's intentions behind the scenes. Yet he could not help but remark, "That's not right. A scheme as big as assassinating the governor needs some serious twists. Besides, waiting until the Frost Knight Legion arrived before making a move means they probably intend to deal with them all together. A maze alone isn't enough."

In Sinless City, assassinating anyone would probably cause less of a stir than assassinating the governor.

And the opening of a grand performance usually required a magnificent, shocking beginning.

The current opening was far from worthy of such a grand show.

He did not know whether Ji Xun truly had a crow's mouth, or whether the person behind the scheme simply did not disappoint him.

At that moment, Revelation appeared a second time.

"Hidden Scenario triggered: The intruders have activated the mechanism sleeping within the maze. The sealing stones have fallen, and the maze exit is now locked. The undying Keepers of Secrets have awakened. They will wander the maze and kill every living human."

The calamity level changed to "Unknown."

"As expected."

Seeing this, Ji Xun's eyes narrowed slightly.

Only now did he feel that this was the proper opening for this grand assassination.