Notebook "Unboxing"

Yise grabbed Su Ming's arm and shook it vigorously, her eyes gazing at him with watery eyes and her voice full of pleading.

"Brother, please help me rescue Night Song Comes from the West!"

"She's so pitiful!"

The Hebana watched nervously from the side, not daring to breathe.

Su Ming showed absolutely no interest in this.

"Cut."

His tone was dismissive.

"The person arrested a month and a half ago is probably already dead in some mine."

But it seemed that Yise had some leverage over him.

She leaned close to Su Ming's ear and whispered something.

Su Ming's expression indeed changed slightly.

He instinctively tried to step aside, but Yise held him even tighter. [...] Yise. Su Ming sighed helplessly, "Aren't you getting a little too carried away?"

I've been receiving acting training recently.

From an angle that Hebana couldn't see, Yise winked at Su Ming with a sly smile.

Was my pleading scene poorly acted?

Su Ming sincerely expressed the helplessness of being the "older brother".

"Fine, fine, I'll pay for this girl, what's her name... Xi..."

After finishing speaking, Su Ming learned of a new problem from his sister.

"... What?"

He opened his mouth wide in exaggerated surprise.

"She was arrested a month and a half ago, and you still don't know where she is?"

****

Su Ming sent someone to summon Hubiang, the leader of Black Claw. Hubiang arrived quickly, bringing a booklet.

That was what Su Ming had asked him for last time—information on a group of "distinguished" figures in Cloud Fang City.

His reasons for requesting the information were quite plausible:

"So that I don't offend the wrong people while I'm here!"

Su Ming took the book and casually flipped through a few pages.

The list contains a considerable number of people, with each page detailing the corresponding faction, their official position, and a brief portrait. Although it is all publicly available information, it is quite comprehensive.

As Su Ming flipped through the documents, he assigned Hubiang the task of finding Ximina.

"Find her whereabouts, dead or alive."

"Two gold coins as a reward, is that alright?"

Hubiang's eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded.

"No problem! Thank you for your generosity, sir!"

Yise stood beside him, his eyes shining brightly. "Mr. Hubiang, you must find this Ximina."

Her tone was hopeful.

Ximina's "The Cangxiao Dynasty" is so poignant and beautiful!

"People like that shouldn't be sent to work in the mines."

Yise's expression was serious and earnest.

"I must buy her back and keep her as a slave, locked in Xiaohei so I can continue updating!"

Looking at the gentle young woman before him, Hubiang couldn't help but sigh:

This Miss Yuumi is much easier to get along with than her brother.

"I am deeply grateful for your high regard, Miss. I will do my utmost!"

However, the Hebana standing to the side looked hesitant.

"Those I visited before were all minor leaders among the Cloud Fang City guards."

"But I haven't received any information from them." He didn't dare to be too explicit.

In the end, Black Claw was nothing more than a group of thugs entrenched at the bottom of Cloud Fang City.

Hubiang understood the meaning behind Hebana's words, but he wasn't angry; he just chuckled.

"Mr. Raccoon, will the leaders you've hired personally go out into the streets to arrest people?"

"Will they personally escort him and throw him into jail?"

Hebana was speechless for a moment.

Hubiang continued:

"They simply ask a few questions directly to their subordinates."

"If we don't get any results, then so be it."

But we are different.

"We started our investigation directly from the lowest-ranking soldiers."

Hubiang's words exuded confidence.

"Once we find the specific orc who carried out the mission that day, we can follow the clues."

"Especially when there are instances of dereliction of duty, those soldiers dare to tell us things they wouldn't dare tell their superiors!"

****

Hubiang certainly wasn't making things up.

Ximina's features were distinctive. After several rounds of questioning, the Black Claw identified the patrol team that had captured her in less than half a day.

Hubiang originally thought that after finding the patrol team, he would continue to investigate Ximina's whereabouts after she was sent to prison, such as where she was specifically assigned to do hard labor.

But the process was much simpler than expected.

They easily pried open the mouth of one of the patrolling soldiers with a few cups of cheap liquor and quickly learned what had happened.

Ximina was never put into prison.

During the transport, a member of the Plundering Clock, who was of considerable status, took a liking to the human girl and took her away on the spot.

The other party casually rewarded the escorting soldiers with a few silver coins. The soldiers divided the money among themselves, so none of them mentioned it to anyone else, keeping it to themselves.

In any case, we can simply pretend that this person was never caught, and no one will investigate.

That very night, the message was delivered to Su Ming.

He opened the "List of Powerful Figures of Cloud Fang City," followed the table of contents to a page, and pointed to the portrait.

Is this the one?

"Yes!"

Hubiang nodded vigorously.

"This lord Anrelo is one of the highest-ranking members of our orc community within the Plundering Clock."

"He holds the official position of Quarter Hand!"

There was a hint of pride in his tone, as if he shared the honor of being a fellow half-fox.

Afterwards, Hubiang showed a hint of embarrassment.

"If the person was taken away by this lord, then it's impossible to buy him." The difference in their social status was too great, and Anrelo didn't care about the small amount of money from selling slaves.

The Hebana's face turned deathly pale.

"Ximina... why would such an important person take notice of her?" he murmured.

"It's not surprising that important people have some unusual hobbies."

Hubiang gave a casual reply, then lowered his voice and muttered:

"Humans are completely naked, without any hair, and they're so ugly..."

"It's amazing they could bring themselves to do it."

****

Su Ming turned to the portrait of Anrelo in the book.

The half-fox in the painting has numerous crisscrossing wounds on its body, and half of its tail is missing.

"How did he get injured like this?" Su Ming asked.

Hubiang replied, "It's said that it was done at sea by a group of cunning humans."

"Those people tied a ring of explosives to Anrelo's tail and ambushed him when he wasn't looking."

He flicked his tail, feeling a pang of sympathy.

"When Anrelo was recovering from his injuries, he was prone to losing his balance and often tripped over his own tail."

At this point, Hubiang suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, there's some news about this Anrelo."

"There was this guy Beiweier, I don't know what got into him, he suddenly took poison and committed suicide."

"Anrelo personally went to the scene this morning to conduct an investigation."

Su Ming had already learned of the search of Beiweier's home from reports from the support team.

But upon hearing that Anrelo himself had arrived, he immediately realized something was amiss.

"Why would Anrelo go?" Su Ming asked.

Anrelo is Quarter Hand of Plundering Clock, and according to the records, he is also highly regarded by Clock Hand Death Knell. Logically, he shouldn't need to personally intervene in an ordinary criminal case. Hubiang explained:

"That Beiweier is Anrelo's henchman."

"Anrelo often orders him around, asking him to do things that he himself cannot do in person."

"Therefore, Anrelo has every right and reason to investigate the death of Beiweier."

Su Ming asked a few more questions, but that was all Hubiang knew.

"Alright."

Su Ming closed the book and said decisively:

"Now that Ximina has fallen into Anrelo's hands, there's no need for us to continue courting this trouble."

"That is."

Hubiang quickly echoed.

"That's a level six expert, and a powerful figure at that!"

After a moment of silence, Hebana finally let out a long sigh. He bowed and said...

"Thank you for your help, boss."

"Now that things have come to this, we can only blame Ximina for her bad luck."

Su Ming waved for the guest to leave.

Now that things have come to this, the real plan is beyond the reach of these people.

They weren't even qualified to be used as cover.

The Hebana wisely left.

Su Ming took out a few gold coins and casually tossed them to Hubiang.

Hubiang took it, but then handed it back.

"Sir..." Hubiang rubbed his hands together, his expression hesitant, "Regarding that medicine, I have a presumptuous idea."

Su Ming glanced at him, making no attempt to hide the sarcasm on his face.

"You?" "Can you afford it?"

Hubiang quickly bowed down.

"To be honest, even if I gave up all my savings, it would only be enough for a small portion."

"Could you please hold it for a few more days, sir?"

He gritted his teeth.

"I will definitely find a way to raise the remaining money!"

Su Ming made a judgment in his mind.

This Hubiang is probably planning to do something outrageous in order to make a quick buck.

Su Ming's lips curled up slightly.

"OK."

"Considering you've been quite diligent in handling things for me these past few days, I'll ask my friend who sells medicine to wait for you for a few days!"

**** After the unrelated personnel left, Su Ming connected to a video conference with the back office.

"Keep an eye on Hubiang's movements these next few days."

Su Ming gave the instructions.

"Notify me immediately if there are any signs of a large-scale Black Claw operation."

"OK!"

The member in charge of surveillance responded.

Dodder understood Su Ming's intention:

"You want to disrupt Hubiang's plans and thwart his scheme to make money quickly."

"Yes." Su Ming nodded. "It would be best to severely damage Black Claw and force these people into a corner."

Sufficient pressure, coupled with tempting profits, emboldened these thieves to steal alchemical explosives.

Everyone agreed on this route, and the conversation then turned to Anrelo.

"Beiweier ' committed suicide by poison, why did Anrelo dig up his house?" Katharine asked.

With the help of high-altitude reconnaissance equipment, everything that happened in Beiweier's residence was clearly visible.

Su Ming frowned; he had noticed this too.

"Could it be that Anrelo discovered something suspicious?"

The Chihuo shook its head.

Even if Anrelo discovered suspicious points about Beiweier's "suicide," she shouldn't have dug so deep.

He's looking for something.

Yise made a guess:

"Could it be that Anrelo noticed our act of taking some of the rocket debris?"

"That's why there was a search?"

Su Ming, but still shook her head.

"The rocket debris was delivered that evening, and Beiweier died two hours later." "Even if Anrelo found the number of rocket fragments didn't match, he shouldn't have been digging and searching in the dirt."

The Chihuo pondered for a moment.

"What he's looking for is something that was stored with Beiweier a long time ago, but has disappeared from the scene."

Considering that Beiweier is Anrelo's henchman, this possibility is indeed very high.

The possibilities are simply too broad.

Given Beiweier's personality, it's highly probable that he would try to take advantage of the situation and embezzle funds when handling various tasks for Anrelo.

Now that the man is dead, it makes sense for Anrelo to come and settle old scores.

What's the current status of that laptop?

Su Ming asked.

Jinxiu, who hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise, suddenly perked up.

"With everyone's help, I have dismantled the rune self-destruct lock on the laptop."

"Successfully opened!" During the day, Jinxiu did an online "live stream" of the unboxing.

Because there were so many people offering suggestions, the screen was filled with a dense barrage of comments.

Finally Yise set a rule: whoever donates the most money will have priority in trying the method proposed by them.

As a result, Jinxiu earned two thousand gold coins during the live stream.

This number stunned the Taya people, who had not yet experienced the baptism of live streaming.

After the notebook was opened, many people still felt unsatisfied and urged Jinxiu to find something locked so that everyone could continue to watch.

"What about the contents of the notebook?" Su Ming asked.

Jinxiu spread her hands.

"It's written in ciphertext."

"There's nothing I can do about that."

The notebook contained clusters of strange characters, encrypted by its owner in an unknown way.

Jisu raised his hand. "The ciphertext has been uploaded to our end."

"We are currently collaborating with scholars from the Taya World to decipher the code."

Su Ming couldn't help but stand up as well.

"What on earth is written in this lousy notebook?"

"A safe, a self-destruct rune, and it's all encrypted."

He looked at the Jisu.

How long will it take to untangle?

"Generally speaking, it's uncertain."

Jisu answered.

"However, considering that this is the encrypted text of the Taya World, the encryption process needs to be completed manually, which limits its complexity."

"We have already invested sufficient supercomputing resources."

His tone carried a technical certainty. "Even if we use the most foolish, most violent method—"

"We'll definitely take it apart by tomorrow!"

****

The following morning, Su Ming received two warning messages in succession.

The first thing is that the "Obscuring Barrier Canopy" of Cloud Fang City is opened.

The array master of the Plundering Clock recovered a lot of materials from the Blackstone Mine and used them to re-arrange the array.

A hazy, gray mist rose, gathered high in the sky, and covered the crimson, Burning Cloud.

The "Obscuring Barrier Canopy" took shape, disrupting Su Ming's communications with the rear and blocking high-altitude reconnaissance by satellites and drones.

The response plan was already prepared.

With the new equipment put into use, communications were quickly restored.

The transmission bandwidth decreased and the power consumption of the equipment increased significantly, but it can still be used normally.

The battlefield radar was also activated. Yesterday, Su Ming arranged for a wooden pole more than ten meters long to be erected on the roof of the Raccoon Dog Dream Theater. The orc employees strung several ropes around the area, securing them firmly.

A long, vertical advertising banner hangs from the wooden pole, on which is written:

"The Raccoon Dog Dream Theater presents this with heartfelt dedication, 30 days to go."

In this era of underdeveloped media and limited advertising methods, hanging advertising flags high to attract pedestrians' attention is a common advertising method.

As for bribing the leaders of the nearby Cloud Fang Guards and obtaining the "roof space usage permit" from them, that was naturally the responsibility of Hebana.

Yise looked up at the advertising banner swaying in the wind.

"We probably won't stay here for thirty days, will we?"

Of course not.

Su Ming replied:

"Once we've dealt with the ' Cloud Fang Mining District,' we'll leave immediately!"