Chapter 510: Mo Si Tiers of Warriors

Chapter 510: Mo Si Xian Zhe

Boom!

The rain intensified, lightning forking through the heavy black clouds.

The neon tubes embedded in the Earthdragon station sign flickered nervously amid the thunder. A well-proportioned, upright figure walked through the shifting light, stepping through the backflow of rainwater and descending into the underground passage.

On the platform of Qinhuaihe Station, the investigators from the Major Case Office of the Jian'ai Institute had already cleared and secured the area, silently awaiting Rong Lu's arrival.

The severely damaged Earthdragon train lay on the tracks; inside the cars, splattered blood was everywhere, twisted mechanical debris mixed with chunks of corpses—a horrifying, bloody scene.

Rong Lu stepped over a wrist-thick red warning beam and crouched down to examine a corpse carefully.

Zou Sijiu bowed and scraped, but the lingering terror of his narrow escape had not dissipated in the slightest from his face.

Rong Lu pondered these two words, recalling the miserable deaths of Xiao Zhuo and the others, as well as the recent news of Meng Xi's death that had sent shockwaves through the upper echelons of the Central Branch. A hint of a conjecture crept into his mind.

"Forget it, I don't want to be of the same ilk as you."

"He never intended to let me go either. It's just that something else seemed to catch his attention, so I was lucky enough to get away with my life."

"This I don't know either."

"Yes, yes, sir, you're absolutely right."

A sudden encounter, or a deliberate lure?

"An hour ago, Yin Ying reported to the Tenth Office that while tailing the target Wang Qi, she encountered a highly suspicious person on the Earthdrain train."

"Oh?"

And the Mo Armor core, secreted away and used to house the Minggui consciousness, had been completely destroyed. Naturally, the Minggui within had utterly dissipated.

Rong Lu's expression was impassive as he said, "Go on."

"How did you verify?"

The nostalgic feeling in Rong Lu's heart flickered only briefly; his calm eyes carefully scrutinized the hole in Xiao Zhuo's chest.

"Since you know everything, why keep up the act?"

Rong Lu cut off Zou Sijiu's words, patted his shoulder, and gave a forced smile. "I'll report today's matter to the higher-ups and credit you."

And he was highly experienced in committing crimes, constantly using some means to block all communication between the Earthdragon train and the outside world, leaving no evidence that could expose his identity.

"Rong Lu, head of the Major Case Office at the Jian'ai Institute, Mo Si Xian Zhe... Trying to mess with him—that's going to be tough."

He saw Qin Ge, the director of the Tenth Office under his command, slumped against the wall in the corner of the platform, sitting there limp. There were obvious bloodstains on his chest, and his eyes were vacant, as if still not recovered from the terror.

"As a member of the Jian'ai Institute, didn't Yin Ying carry the institute's investigative equipment when she went out on a field operation? Even if she didn't have it, didn't she receive mechanical body modification? Couldn't she transmit the target's information back to the institute, requiring you to make a special trip?"

Rong Lu spoke rapidly, his gaze fixed on Zou Sijiu.

"She didn't clarify that either. She only said she felt an extremely strong sense of danger from that person, which made her very uneasy. That's why she asked me to come confirm in person."

"What 'other' things are you referring to?"

Rong Lu hummed in acknowledgment, gave Zou Sijiu a long, hard look, then turned and walked out of the underground passage.

"Because I have a feeling that this person is far more important than Wang Qi."

Because the blades of their swords and knives were pristine, showing no signs of collision.

"He didn't trust you."

"Then why didn't you get off the train?"

Seeing that Qin Ge could provide no useful information, Rong Lu's expression grew even darker.

"Wang Qi got off at Quliang Station."

"Dead."

As he said this, Zou Sijiu pulled open the clothes on his chest; the depression there was appalling.

Rong Lu looked at his disheveled subordinate and couldn't help frowning. He barked sharply, "What are you panicking about? You're not dead yet, are you?"

Zou Sijiu's face was bitter as he reproached himself, "It was my greed for glory, please punish me, sir."

Zou Sijiu licked his lips, his voice tinged with terror: "Burned away by that bandit's black flames, not even a trace of ashes left. I only got here in a hurry because I received Yin Ying's death message."

He never expected that the next time they met, it would be forever separated by life and death.

A series of questions flooded Rong Lu's mind. He pondered for a moment, then stood up and looked at the investigators around him.

This time, the smile on Zou Sijiu's face was entirely genuine.

Why would they appear within the sphere of influence of the Central Branch?

Xiao Zhuo, leader of this investigation team and his own capable subordinate. A Rank Five specialist with a melee-support Mo Armor of the Fifth Order, he had captured countless lawless Congxuzhe and Minggui for the Jian'ai Institute, earning great merits.

"To answer your question, sir, no. The person assigned to tail and investigate was Yin Ying of the Tenth Office."

But who was the other party?

Rong Lu's words were pressing, and his whole body exuded a sharp aura.

Not only that, from the firearms and blades left at the scene and the wounds on the victims, it was clear that the killer was extremely powerful, having annihilated the entire investigation team with bare hands in a very short time.

Besides that, Xiao Zhuo had no other wounds on his body. Like the other corpses around him, he had been killed cleanly in a single blow.

"Did you get a clear look at the other party's face?"

Zou Sijiu blinked: "To tail and investigate an ordinary person named Wang Qi. Every task you assign, I've always treated as the most important business of the Tenth Office, and I've never dared slack off in the slightest!"

Shou Yu snorted coldly upon hearing this: "You men really are all no good."

"You just leave that be. I'll only say this: if you let me off, I'll take care of the women for you from now on."

Shou Yu's icy voice sounded in his mind.

An investigation team averaging at least Sixth Order, within the span of a single stop, including the Mo Armor they controlled, had been entirely killed, with no one able to leave behind any image or message.

Instinct?

"So it was you personally tailing and investigating Wang Qi?"

Rong Lu watched his cowardly, death-fearing demeanor, his contempt deepening. Suppressing his irritation, he asked, "Was it you who notified Xiao Zhuo to bring his men to Qinhuaihe Station?"

Rong Lu asked coldly, "Why are you here?"

"Of course I have to act. A flaw creates curiosity. If he gets curious, he'll take the bait."

"Fuck your mother, Zou Sijiu, do you think I don't understand?"

"It's right there."

Shou Yu's tone was resigned: "If you're really interested in Minggui, maybe I can introduce you to a few tempting ones? Each one oozes natural allure—I've verified them all, guaranteed authentic."

"What about the target, Wang Qi?"

"Qin Ge." Rong Lu slightly raised his voice.

Although the face of the corpse was stained with blood, Rong Lu recognized the person's identity at a glance.

"He was too fast. I didn't have any visual modifications in my mechanical body, so I couldn't see clearly."

"I asked her those questions myself. She answered that she didn't dare look at him, let alone use any reconnaissance equipment. She believed that any targeted move would be immediately detected by him, and she would be killed."

"Suspicious? What is suspicious?"

Seeing that Rong Lu didn't intend to hold him accountable, Zou Sijiu was overjoyed and quickly thanked him.

Zou Sijiu laughed inwardly: "Of course I know. If he believed such flawed words without doubt, then this act would be too boring."

"Yin Ying is dead, Xiao Zhuo is dead, the entire investigation team is dead. So can you tell me how you survived?"

The hole was about the size of an adult's fist, going through front and back, with jagged break marks on the surrounding armor plates, clearly showing it was violently punched through.

"Yes," Zou Sijiu answered obediently.

This was an extremely fierce and very cautious bandit.

"My lord, you have arrived."

"Can you stop thinking about me?"

"Where is she?"

"To be able to annihilate an entire investigation team alone in such a short time—there can't be many with such strength in Jinling City. They are basically known experts from various factions, and they are unlikely to oppose our Central Branch. So I think the other party is likely an outsider, and one skilled in close combat."

"You have worked hard. Set aside the work at the office and rest well."

Rong Lu took a deep breath and raised his eyes to look at Xiao Zhuo's face again. The remaining expression on his features was confusion mixed with deep fear.

"Actually..." Zou Sijiu looked cautious, with a fawning demeanor of someone wanting to make amends, and ventured: "My lord, I think visual evidence isn't important. After all, there are too many ways to disguise appearance; it's impossible to distinguish true from false. To identify the other party, we need to start from combat characteristics, motives for killing, and so on."

Rong Lu frowned: "So, the first to discover the anomaly was Yin Ying? What did she tell you?"

Fully immersed in his role, Zou Sijiu turned his head blankly, his dull gaze lingering on Rong Lu's gloomy face for a moment, then he jumped up from the ground as if shocked by electricity and staggered over.

Zou Sijiu had anticipated Rong Lu's series of questions and prepared thoroughly, answering fluently.

"Where is Qin Ge now?"

Zou Sijiu lowered his head and said: "Yin Ying said that fear was not an emotion but came from instinct."

"What? You finally admit you're a woman?"

Furious, Shouyu even swore in his hometown accent, cursing loudly in Zou Sijiu's mind.

Zou Sijiu laughed heartily, tightened the Central Branch uniform on his body, and strode out of the station.