Chapter 52: The Approaching Shadow: Why Is the Deceitful Artifact Empty?

เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 มี.ค. 2569 03:24

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Approaching Shadow: Why Is the Deceitful Artifact Empty? Fatty Sun’s smile widened, but he waved his hands repeatedly. "No need to be so formal." "Oh, right. There’s something else." Fatty Sun subconsciously glanced at the closed door and lowered his voice. "Remember when someone entered your room right after you joined the Inspectorate?" "Of course, I remember." A stir went through Su Chen’s heart. ’I wonder why he’s suddenly bringing this up.’ He hadn’t told Fatty Sun about the letter someone sent him a few days ago; the contents were difficult to explain. Fatty Sun then explained, "The Minister is focused on all of Southwind City, but he didn’t forget about your case. He specifically had me investigate it secretly, and I’ve only recently found some leads." "Whoever it was could evade standard surveillance cameras, so they’re definitely not an ordinary Tier One Professional. At that time, there were a total of thirty-two Tier Two and above Professionals at headquarters." "Around that specific time, only seven of them were alone." "Two from the Patrol Division, three from the Investigation Division, one from the Internal Affairs Department—that’s me..." Fatty Sun chuckled. "And one person from the Secretariat. Here’s the list. See if any names look familiar." Su Chen couldn’t help but look at the seemingly sycophantic Section Chief Sun. He never expected this matter would yield any results. The list was handwritten. Su Chen wasn’t very familiar with the names on it. The ones he recognized most were the Chief and Deputy Chief of his own Patrol Division. "If you don’t have any leads on your end, this gets tricky." Fatty Sun scratched his head and took the list back. "The Minister isn’t here, and the City Lord is temporarily in charge of the Inspectorate. It’s not a good time to keep digging, so this is as far as we can go." "I appreciate the effort, Brother Sun," Su Chen said sincerely, then brought up the other reason for his visit. "Brother Sun, I’m running low on Black Flame Potions and Spirit Light Potions. I was hoping you could help me get some more." "It’s good timing. I made some money last time I was outside the city. It’s not much, about twenty thousand gold." This was from the batch of Cyan Scale Lions he had killed outside the city. Hu Xiang had sent him the money a short while ago after the sale was finally processed. Hearing the first half of Su Chen’s sentence, Fatty Sun grew visibly tense, but he relaxed considerably when he saw the savings card being offered to him. After a moment’s thought, he took the card and patted his chest, guaranteeing, "Don’t you worry, little brother. Relax. If I have to pay as much as sixty percent over the market price, then consider all my years of networking wasted." He was naturally confident in Fatty Sun’s abilities. Su Chen took the copy of the document and left amidst Fatty Sun’s enthusiastic farewells. Just as he stepped out of the elevator, his Wristband started beeping. It was a message from an unexpected person. "Old Su, I need to see you about something urgent. Can you grant me temporary access privileges from the backend? I can’t get up to your floor." It was Han Da, a member of his nominal unit, the Seventeenth Patrol Team. They had exchanged a few words during the capture of Qi Chuan’s two associates, and the man was clearly the type to get friendly fast. Su Chen thought for a moment, then swiped his Wristband open. He found the option on the virtual screen and granted Han Da temporary access through the Inspectorate’s backend system. He waited by the elevator, and before long, Han Da came up. "Old Su, you waited for me..." Han Da said, sounding quite surprised as he gave a warm greeting. "What made you come looking for me?" Su Chen asked, leading him into his room. "Tsk, the places you old-timers get to live are nice..." Han Da said, looking around enviously before quickly clarifying, "Not you, of course." After Su Chen closed the door, Han Da lowered his voice. "The Captain sent me. He told me to let you know that someone’s been asking around, beating around the bush about... you-know-who’s death that day." Su Chen knew at once he was talking about Qi Chuan. After that day, Yuan Chenyang had personally issued a gag order, erasing their dispatch records. Even the record of Su Chen’s visit to Qi Chuan was gone. It hadn’t been their scheduled patrol day; it was a temporary assignment from Fatty Sun, and it had been late at night. Once the records were erased, no one should have known. "...Who?" Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat. "The captain of the Third Patrol Team." Han Da relayed Zhao Xiong’s words. "The first time, he noticed the energy cells on the patrol skiff we used that day were a bit low, but it didn’t match the duty roster, so he asked a few casual questions." "Our Captain didn’t think much of it at first and just brushed it off. But later, the guy secretly asked our Captain if he was selling energy cells on the side. The Captain immediately refuted it, and only later did he realize the guy was probably trying to bait him into talking." "A patrol captain? Tier One?" Su Chen was slightly taken aback, then immediately asked, "Whose man is he?" There are always factions, no matter where you go. Han Da seemed to have expected the question and spoke a name: "Deputy Section Chief—Pan Yu." ’Cross-referencing with the list Fatty Sun gave me, it must be him.’ "Alright, I understand." Su Chen’s face betrayed no emotion. As Han Da was about to leave, he hesitated. "Oh, right. A while ago, we were on patrol and got a report from the Refugee District. A lot of refugees have gone missing. One of them seemed to know you... I think his last name was Huang..." Their patrol team had been surprised at the time, wondering how a refugee would know Su Chen. It was only after a more thorough investigation that they discovered Su Chen himself was originally a refugee. Captain Zhao Xiong had immediately and harshly reprimanded them, telling them not to spread this information around. Han Da only brought it up because he had just remembered it. ’Huang Peng?’ Su Chen was surprised. ’The leader of my predecessor’s little group... he’s missing?’ Han Da added, "Also, the head of the Refugee Bureau for that area, a guy named Zhang Man, asked me to pass on a message. He said to consider that five hundred gold his congratulatory gift." "Zhang Man? A congratulatory gift?" Su Chen remembered the man who had connected him with Jiang He and asked strangely, "What did you tell him?" "Just that you’re the Minister’s student now," Han Da said with a wide grin. "You should have seen the look on his face. It was hilarious." "Haha..." Su Chen chuckled. They chatted for a bit more, and he learned that Lili had already become a Tier One Professional. "It’s thanks to you, you know. That collective Third-Class Merit award allowed her to redeem a valuable Potion." Han Da said teasingly. "She hasn’t stopped thinking about you lately. Zhou Li is considered quite the beauty of our patrol team." Su Chen bantered with him for a little longer before seeing him out. CLICK! The door closed, and Su Chen’s expression turned grim. ’They’ve really started investigating the matter of the Deceitful Artifact.’ Yuan Chenyang and the upper echelons of Southwind City thought the Deceitful Artifact was empty when they found it. But the Deceitful God Sect knew it wasn’t empty at all. Why did it become empty? Where did the power inside it go? This was a truth that not only Southwind City was searching for, but one the Deceitful God Sect was even more desperate to uncover. Even if they didn’t know yet that he had killed Qi Chuan, his past entanglement with the man made him an excellent lead. He couldn’t be sure about the letter from a while ago, but the information from Han Da all but confirmed it. It was even possible that Huang Peng’s disappearance was also because the Deceitful God Sect was secretly investigating him. It might be paranoid, but it wasn’t impossible. ’Pan Yu...’ Su Chen mused. ’Having a snake in the grass is always unsettling.’ ’Once the Snake Shadow Body Refining Technique reaches Master Level and I’ve maxed out the development progress for the Sky Splitter Warrior, I can advance to Tier Two. At my current training efficiency, it shouldn’t take long.’ ’However...’ After a moment of thought, Su Chen opened his Wristband, found Hu Xiang, and sent a message. "Do me a favor..."

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