Stelo had already received the ssage. He had turned off the lights but didn't sleep, waiting in the darkness. Suddenly, his account received a ssage: "Open the door."
Stelo swiftly opened the door, finding Howard and the others already standing at the entrance.
Everyone moved with practiced ease, acting without a word. Stelo retrieved a canister of gas from a hidden spot, attached it to a tube, and slowly turned the valve.
The anesthetic gas drifted into the several guest rooms upstairs through pre-set pipes in the building.
All of his rooms had been specially treated and had excellent airtightness.
After waiting twenty minutes, Howard rose and said, "That should be enough."
Stelo led them upstairs and used a spare key to open the rooms. Seeing Julia already unconscious, he said with so reluctance, "Just kill them like that? These people could fetch a good price."
Howard glared at him viciously. "What's more important, money or your life?"
Stelo shrank back and fell silent. He stepped forward to help. Together, they moved Julia to the truck outside, followed by Chen Gu, Wu Yihuo, and the others.
There was a lot of noise during the process, but the surrounding residents seed long accustod to it; not a single one ca out to check.
Stelo locked the truck's cargo bay, patted the door, and said, "Alright, the rest has nothing to do with ."
Howard, without a word, started the truck and drove out of town.
"Head for the area where the Zhao family's youngest son had his incident," Howard said as the vehicle sped through the night, soon arriving at their destination.
He pulled out a long knife and, with a ferocious smile, headed for the back of the truck. "Aren't you here to investigate this matter?" he sneered. "Guess this is a fitting end."
CLANG.
He pulled open the cargo bay door and froze. Chen Gu and the others were sitting calmly inside, looking at him—only Julia remained unconscious.
Sheriff Howard reacted quickly, his hand instinctively reaching for the sidearm at his waist.
But with a slight raise of Chen Gu's hand, under the influence of Entanglent Control, his sidearm eerily flew out of its holster on its own, its muzzle slowly pointing towards Howard's brow.
Chen Gu examined the sidearm. "An ancient kinetic weapon. You're quite an old-fashioned man."
Howard slowly raised his hands, not daring to make any sudden moves.
A companion from the front compartnt asked, "Howard, what's going on?"
Howard didn't dare answer, outwardly compliant but with a trace of cunning and ferocity hidden in his eyes. Chen Gu shook his head slightly and waved his hand; the sidearm flew aside. Just as Howard was about to counterattack with his knife, Chen Gu's palm pushed forward gently again.
The ability of Brain Domain Hacker was activated.
Howard imdiately felt his body stop obeying his commands!
He felt as if sothing had invaded his brain. His eyes gradually filled with terror. What on earth are these people?!
Chen Gu didn't deign to explain anything to this criminal. No matter what tricks Howard had, in front of a Professional, he was nothing but a lamb to the slaughter.
Wu Yihuo and Joseph silently went out and soon dragged the few people from the front compartnt over.
Chu Zheng couldn't help asking, "Instructor, what do they know?"
Chen Gu frowned. From Howard's mories, he had read so dark, filthy things that angered him, but they were unrelated to their current investigative mission.
Chen Gu shook his head slightly. I thought we were about to uncover the truth.
This small town was remote, decrepit, poor, and destitute. Over a decade ago, a well-dressed outsider had suddenly appeared and found the then-young Howard, telling him he could help the people here live a prosperous life.
He taught Howard a sche: fabricate "mysterious incidents" happening nearby to attract outsiders on the interstellar network to co here for adventure. Then, use anesthetics to knock these outsiders out. Soone would co regularly to "collect the goods."
Thirty thousand Starshield per person!
For residents of Capital Star like Chen Gu, thirty thousand Starshield was not a significant sum, but for this small town, it was a fortune.
It began with only Howard, Stelo, and a few others involved. Gradually, almost everyone in town wanted to participate, following Howard to "earn extra cash."
The only difference was that so participated more, and others less.
Over the past decade or so, Howard himself couldn't recall exactly how many outsiders had been hard—probably at least seven or eight hundred!
In this era, it was almost unimaginable. But this wasn't a bustling planet with ubiquitous surveillance equipnt; many systems existed in na only.
Once these victims were taken away, Chen Gu could imagine their fate. Live experintal subjects!
Chen Gu's expression turned cold. In Howard's mories, he saw that twelve more "goods" were imprisoned, but the "collection" ti was still a month and a half away.
Howard and his group were preparing to "dispose of" these goods and then erase all traces of their cris in the town.
Chen Gu waved his hand. "Wake Julia up. We save the others first!"
The prison wasn't in the town but in a nearby mountainous area. Howard rembered one incident where a local mountain bear had broken open the cage door, and the sixteen captives inside were eaten alive. He rembered it so vividly because the loss of several hundred thousand Starshields had been deeply painful to him.
Chen Gu drove himself, and after several dozen minutes, they arrived outside the prison. It was crudely camouflaged with branches and converted from a natural cave. The cell door was made of arm-thick steel bars. Eating, drinking, and all bodily functions took place inside, creating an overpowering stench.
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