Chapter 2134: Chapter 2134: A Fleeting Truth
[1. Find the murderer.]
[2. Find the stolen declaration.]
This was yet another instance with a vast scope but very few clues. Under the investigation of municipal governnts and player organizations everywhere, there were no leads on the person who declared the murders, let alone on the content of the declaration itself. By paying a certain fee on the Collection of Information Terminal, one could obtain detailed information on dozens of deceased individuals, but none of it provided any clues as to what the declaration was.
Looking at the historical data from the library regarding Zone 008, many places in this sub-region have a tradition of issuing declarations. For instance, before a major activity, an organization might issue a declaration to show determination, or a governnt or organization might issue one to win the people’s support to demonstrate their sincerity. Alternatively, organizations in conflict might issue declarations to break ties or declare war... In any case, Zone 008 treats any event with a sense of ceremony that’s serious and solemn.
The first-hand news of the case would only exist in the hands of the local governnts where the murders took place. Additionally, it’s unclear whether the "declaration" was made by the thirtieth deceased, or whether that person is even alive.
Xu Huo glanced at the list of the deceased. The thirtieth person was marked as "life or death uncertain," but there was an address, not far from his current location in the Chongming Bird Administrative Region.
Without rushing to leave the Chongming Bird Administrative Region, he first purchased an advanced account on the enthusiast forum, logged in, and reviewed peripheral information related to the case.
Compared to the municipal governnt and player organizations, these ordinary people who enjoy solving cases mostly acquired peripheral information and engaged in speculations based on fragnted information. While many sought attention, so happened to live near the deceased and uploaded records of law enforcent or rescue personnel entering and leaving, as well as conversations secretly recorded with the deceased’s family mbers.
After spending so ti browsing through this information, Xu Huo then posted a bounty on the forum, offering a high price for clues related to the serial murder case and inviting interested parties to contact him privately.
As soon as the bounty was posted, many people sent ssages. He didn’t respond imdiately but logged off the forum to examine information about Station City and the Tian Family.
He left Kesi Biology, and three tis openly questioned the Tian Family about Granny Bai’s death in front of the dia. Too many people knew about this matter, and the opinion platform on the Collection of Information Terminal did not have a single voice, so the issue quickly escalated. While nobody knew who Granny Bai was, so information could be found about Brick Tale Town.
The sub-region where Brick Tale Town was located had beco a breeding ground since the initial stages of evolution. The vast sub-region relied on one or two instances to barely survive extinction, thanks to a once-booming tourism industry. Those who visited the area and understood the situation often felt sympathy. Recently, even the instances were gone, aning almost everyone in this sub-region was dead—a phenonon not uncommon in the ga world. Hearing such news might lead anyone to simply say "fate is fickle," but when players chased to Zone 008 and asked the people from Brick Tale Town face to face, it sparked the imagination.
Soone had just reported the Tian Family hiding bodies, followed by soone else alleging they lost consciousness and were violated after playing at a Tian Family-affiliated entertainnt venue. There were also suspicious disappearances connected to the Tian Family. Before the municipal governnt had to respond, outer zone players launched an attack on Kesi Biology, chasing after people from a recently exterminated sub-region. Linking this to the recent ship incident, a truth seed to be erging:
The Tian Family was not only using local people for power and money transactions without any cost but was also abducting people from the local and other sub-regions for human experints, even leading to the total extinction of a sub-region!
Once suspicion arises, countless pieces of evidence quickly surface, and more people co forward to report the Tian Family. Even the player organization got involved, with players openly demanding a satisfactory explanation from the municipal governnt. Zone 008 is not only ho to advanced players, and not every player’s family can live in a highly secure confidential area. Their families are also ordinary people and have contributed to Zone 008’s prosperity. Their families shouldn’t have to live in such an unsafe environnt, especially since so players actually have grievances with the Tian Family.
Sub-regions with power and resources preying on new ga sub-regions is nothing new; events like E27-017 might have never stopped. However, sub-regions doing such things usually cover their tracks. They either hide their identity by posing as unknown forces or outright hire third parties to act on their behalf. They would never expose their identity so openly, as it could prompt revenge from players of the destroyed sub-region or attract the attention of equally powerful sub-regions—an official reason for war would an more people joining in.
Given Zone 008’s relationship with the Ga Governnt, the likelihood of being collectively attacked by other sub-regions is low. But with the murders exposed and the facts of the extermination made public, now it’s the players from the extinguished sub-region taking their revenge!
Major zones have their own ergency asures for such issues. After clarifying that the sub-region where Brick Tale Town is located had experienced a player gap in the early evolution stages, Zone 008 decisively blocked all information about Brick Tale Town. Even Xu Huo’s three queries to the Tian Family were erased, and further uploads to the Collection of Information Terminal were banned.
Ultimately, topics related to Brick Tale Town only remained lively for a certain period before disappearing—what difference does it make if advanced players from Brick Tale Town are still alive?
However, the buzz around reports of the Tian Family’s abductions and bribery of governnt officials continued to linger.
This was already quite favorable; with the Tian Family capable of cross-zone abductions, there was no expectation that the central governnt of Zone 008 was innocent. Outsiders would resolve external matters, while insiders needed to take care of internal affairs.
There was no need to focus on how things would develop next. Regardless of how the Zone 008 governnt handled it, the outco would see the issue being minimized, with the only differing factor being how much the Tian Family would have to compensate.
Xu Huo reopened the enthusiast forum, selected a few people who had privately ssaged him, and arranged to et them near the library.
Five people arrived at once, and Xu Huo interacted with them simultaneously. Three of them were there for the hefty reward, carrying complete secret recordings, indicating it wasn’t their first ti conducting such business and that they were adept.
The other two didn’t want money; they were genuine cri investigation enthusiasts, only hoping to exchange valuable information.
After brief deliberation, Xu Huo conveyed the sa information to them, "I suspect there was a witness at the scene of the thirtieth person’s murder."
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