"This—is also a solution born out of having no other solutions." Zhang Hongbo was helpless and said while biting the bullet.
He had already prepared himself to be blad by Xia Hanshi, but the other party rely said airily:
"Alright, we'll do as you say. In my na, send an official dispatch to the few closest neighboring cities, asking each of them to deploy a portion of their manpower over to help."
'He actually agreed?'
Yang Yan and Gu Bing couldn't help but be astonished. This was a thankless task.
Even if they managed to deploy people and genuinely found clues, if major casualties occurred during the subsequent encirclent and annihilation process, it would still be very difficult to give a satisfactory explanation.
Zhang Hongbo was also taken aback, but subsequently, a look of excitent appeared on his face.
Su Chen, off to the side, saw clearly. After this incident, the leadership of those other cities would naturally grow resentful, and the bad reputation would once again fall upon Xia Hanshi.
'Old Xia knows about these things, but as long as he can kill mbers of the Evil God Cults, he simply doesn't care. This is his core principle.' Su Chen analyzed inwardly. 'Old Xia's hatred is truly deep-seated.'
With a glance at Zhang Hongbo, who stood there with an excited expression and was already preparing to send out the dispatches, Su Chen thought to himself: 'Old Zhang, oh Old Zhang, we already turned the page on what happened last ti.'
'But this ti, you can't bla either. You can only bla yourself for not watching your step.'
Shortly after, he let out a light cough. Seeing everyone's gaze drawn to him, he then said, "Not long ago, I did hear Sun Tai bring up a few clues. Perhaps they might be of so help to the search."
"How about we investigate this clue first?"
"Sun Tai again?" Zhang Hongbo stomped his foot, sensing that sothing wasn't quite right, and frowned. "He's just soone from the Internal Affairs Section. How does he have so many informants, with even more clues than the Patrol Section and the Investigation Section?"
"Who knows?" Su Chen shrugged.
Xia Hanshi swept a glance at him, his gaze profound and aningful. "Then call that little fatty over."
As a result, Sun Tai, who had just returned to his own office, was hesitating whether he should report the news of his ho being robbed to his forr superior far away in the ruins as soon as possible.
Before he could make a decision, he received the order and hurriedly rushed back here.
"Chief Inquisitor, Special Envoys, City Lord, Little Brother Su—" After entering the door, Sun Tai greeted each of them one by one. Standing off to the side, he muttered continuously in his heart.
When he caught sight of the gaze Su Chen gave him—which was brimming with encouragent—he felt even more bewildered.
"Sun Tai, Su Chen said you have clues regarding the Evil God Cults?" Zhang Hongbo was the first to ask, recovering the majesty of a City Lord.
"Clues?" Sun Tai's heart jumped. He imdiately thought of that letter, which soone had stuffed in his door, and the back of his head instantly went numb.
"This, this—" Sun Tai's gaze flickered erratically, not daring to et Zhang Hongbo's eyes.
How was he supposed to say this? To say that your brother is colluding with the Evil God Cults?
It was truly hard to say whether the City Lord before him genuinely didn't know or was just pretending not to know.
"Deliberately concealing matters regarding the Evil God Cults is a grave cri." Xia Hanshi made a tepid remark, causing the fat all over Sun Tai's body to tremble.
But subsequently, Su Chen added, "Aiyo, Brother Sun, if you really manage to find sothing, it will be a massive rit."
It definitely could be found out. Su Chen was still certain right now that that thing was still staying within the Central Trade Depository.
Xia Hanshi didn't speak.
Sun Tai's brain whirred at top speed. 'I've already told Little Brother Su about that letter, so why didn't he just say it directly?'
'Is he afraid of offending Zhang Hongbo?'
'No, Little Brother Su isn't that kind of person, either. Furthermore, since he is already the Chief Inquisitor's student, it's impossible for him to be afraid.'
'Moreover, why would Little Brother Su bring up such unverified information in front of so many bigshots? He's clearly not a reckless person.'
'Clues about the Evil God Cults—how did that letter just happen to get delivered to my house...?'
'rit—rit—a massive rit—'
Sun Tai's mind raced, and he faintly had a premonition. Perhaps this was the only opportunity he would have in this lifeti.
He needed to decide whether or not to take a huge gamble.
If he won, the harvest would be unimaginable.
But if he lost, the consequences were likely sothing he would find very hard to bear.
"Sun Tai!" Zhang Hongbo's voice grew significantly louder. He was already in a bad mood to begin with, and seeing the other party hemming and hawing, seemingly desiring to speak but holding back, made him even more displeased.
"Yes—" Sun Tai responded reflexively. His subconscious had already made the decision for him, and the words blurted out: "I indeed have a clue, but it is unverified, so I didn't dare to speak nonsense."
"Speak!" Zhang Hongbo said in a deep voice. "Just speak whatever you know. Whether it's useful or not, we will be the ones to verify it!"
Sun Tai kept his head down, looking at his own paunch, his voice faintly trembling. "According to informant intelligence, a few days ago, it seems that sothing posing as part of a trade caravan was transported into the Depository, and it is related to the Evil God Cults."
"The Central Trade Depository?"
Zhang Hongbo's expression instantly changed. He subconsciously looked toward Su Chen, then stared at Sun Tai, his voice frigid: "Where did this intelligence co from?"
"This ca from an informant. He is already dead. This was the final piece of information he transmitted right before he died." Sun Tai bit the bullet. Since he had already pointed the finger, it was impossible to say the source of the information was a letter stuffed into his house, so he might as well just create a scenario where the dead couldn't testify.
Yang Yan and Gu Bing exchanged subtle glances, seemingly harboring suspicions.
"Your informant is truly formidable." Reaching the last few words, Zhang Hongbo's teeth were already sowhat gnashing.
"Your reaction is not right." Xia Hanshi's eyes stared fixedly at Zhang Hongbo.
"The person in charge of the Central Trade Depository is Zhang Feng, who is Lord City Lord Zhang's younger brother." Gu Bing spoke up in a tily manner. They were still quite familiar with these basic circumstances.
"No wonder—" Understanding dawned on Xia Hanshi, and a type of smile that made one shudder surfaced on his face.
'Is this a fra-up or an act of revenge?'
Zhang Hongbo couldn't help but wonder. The subordinates had conducted secret investigations for so long without finding any evidence pointing toward the Trade Depository. No matter how he looked at it, this seed like Yuan Chenyang—
'Wait—' He was struck by a terrifying realization.
Perhaps it wasn't that the investigations yielded no results, but that the subordinates simply hadn't investigated at all!
Yuan Chenyang, who investigated things with great fanfare, had been driven away by him—at least, that was how it appeared on the surface.
Under such circumstances, who would dare touch his younger brother?
If problems really were dug up, how would they answer for it?
What if—
A chill swept over Zhang Hongbo's heart, but he forcibly composed himself and swiftly issued commands. "First mobilize the Exploration, City Patrol, and Supervision Guards. Surround the Central Trade Depository and do not let a single person escape."
"No—" Xia Hanshi interrupted abruptly, eyeing him coldly. "Don't use Nanfeng's people. Just the four of us will make a trip."
Zhang Hongbo's expression was exceedingly ugly. He knew that for the ti being, he was not trusted.
And if they really found sothing, this lack of trust would no longer be temporary, and it might even lead to even graver consequences.
"You and this little fatty stay here first. Don't run around recklessly," Xia Hanshi instructed.
"Understood." Su Chen nodded, unable to stop himself from saying, "Please be careful."
He then emphasized again, "Be exceedingly careful!"
He was certain that there was sothing massive inside the Central Trade Depository, but Xia Hanshi still wasn't aware of it. Xia Hanshi might currently assu it was rely a stronghold, at most guarding against that so-called Priest.
These two sentences of caution could sowhat increase Old Xia's vigilance.
The four of them left from the top of the building, swiftly heading toward the Central Trade Depository, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"L-Little Brother—"
Beside him, Sun Tai's plump figure trembled continuously in the cold wind atop the building. "Do you think they can find any traces?"
"For so reason, I have a premonition that there might really be a harvest." Looking out over the sprawling lights of a myriad households below, Su Chen spoke softly.
Hearing him say this, Sun Tai's expression eased slightly. He pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say sothing.
But the next mont, he closed his mouth, then opened it again, then closed it. After repeating this cycle several tis, he finally muttered softly, "Little Brother... I'm a light sleeper."
Su Chen cast a surprised glance at him, grinning as he chuckled softly. "Don't worry, from now on, there probably won't be anyone disturbing you while you sleep, Brother Sun."
Contrary to Sun Tai's expectations, and even contrary to Su Chen's expectations, they didn't have to wait too long. They had rely stood freezing in the cold wind for barely half an hour.
Boom!
From the direction Xia Hanshi's group of four had departed, a golden dragon of fire surged into the sky, coiling around the heavenly vault and raining down a shower of teoric fire.
Rain and fog perated the air, and a gigantic phantom of Black Buddha soared into the sky. Even from such a distance, it could still be seen clearly.
"Old Xia—" Su Chen's expression instantly turned solemn. They were fighting.
"That—that is—" Sun Tai's throat bobbed, finding it unimaginable. "There really was sothing?"
Stealthily sweeping a glance at Old Sun's horror-filled face, Su Chen switched to the 'Black Buddha Cultist' mode. His expression imdiately changed slightly.
His gaze panned along accordingly. It seed that thing... was running away.
"—They indeed planned to summon Black Buddha here in Nanfeng." Xia Hanshi's expression was exceedingly ugly. His weathered hands caressed the floating dragon head made of flas beside him, his twin pupils akin to dark ghost fire.
Yang Yan and Gu Bing gasped heavily, standing behind him. In the distance lay massive piles of tal shipping containers.
The surrounding area was an empty clearing. Nurous corpses lay strewn about. In the center was a large crater, scattered with debris from nurous shipping containers.
Zhang Hongbo staggered to his feet. It was very difficult to see any trace of blood color on his usually calm cheeks.
"A Statue of Black Buddha... It's actually a Statue of Black Buddha!" Gu Bing gritted her teeth. "The resources the Black Buddha Cultists have invested are simply too astronomical!"
The appearance of a Priest already shocked them, but a Statue of Black Buddha was even more horrifying. This was a true 'Evil God Statue', an anomaly of imnse value.
"The Priest and the Statue of Black Buddha were both hiding here. It has truly beco a ghost den—" Xia Hanshi suppressed his fury.
"I cannot shirk the bla for this—" Zhang Hongbo said through gritted teeth.
"You no longer have the chance to." Xia Hanshi also hadn't expected they would unexpectedly bump into the Priest and the Statue of Black Buddha just like this.
Residing within the Statue of Black Buddha was the formidable power of Black Buddha, as well as the true consciousness of Black Buddha. It was a crucial pillar of support for summoning an Evil God Vessel.
With this thing present, the ti and procedures required to summon an Evil God Vessel would be massively reduced.
However, the manufacturing process was incredibly difficult. The other Evil Gods would extrely rarely mobilize such a thing, let alone Black Buddha.
"City Lord, you are incapable of handling this." Xia Hanshi showed no rcy, murderous intent seeping from his eyes. "Whether the lives of your entire family can be preserved depends entirely on whether you are willing to place righteousness above family loyalty."
Yang Yan and Gu Bing displayed a rare showing of agreent. They had originally thought that even if there were clues here, it would only be a few small fry.
Because the clues ca too easily, they didn't even believe the Priest would be present, never anticipating encountering both the Priest and the Statue of Black Buddha head-on.
If it weren't for Xia Hanshi, they would already be corpses by now.
"I—" Zhang Hongbo's expression changed several tis. His position as City Lord was gone just like this, without any warning. His ambitions and authority had all gone down the drain.
The massive ups and downs of the situation made it hard for him to maintain his composure even with his state of mind. His head swam, and he felt as if several tis over he was about to faint.
But in the end, he still suppressed his emotions and nodded solemnly. "Understood!"
It wasn't long before Xia Hanshi and the others returned, but Zhang Hongbo was nowhere to be seen. Xia Hanshi called Su Chen into the office and enjoined with a solemn expression:
"For this period of ti, temporarily do not go anywhere. Just stay right here."
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