Starforce Warriors-Chapter 451: The Truth And The Contact (2)

Zhu Kunyu had no choice but to get straight to the point. "It’s true that the young man was taken by Guan Zhongliu into the interrogation chamber for secret torture. Reportedly, the Flaying Blood Magistrate even prepared a newly designed torture device to experiment with on the boy. For confidentiality, Guan conducted the interrogation alone for a full twelve hours. During this time, the guards outside were swapped out four times. But in the end, when the staff, unable to wait any longer, broke into the chamber, they found that both Guan Zhongliu and the young man had disappeared.”

"Disappeared?" Huang Fulai paused to think for a few seconds. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," Zhu Kunyu replied. "They vanished without a trace, leaving no evidence behind. Since it was a secret interrogation, there was no surveillance either. To this day, no one knows what happened inside, nor can anyone find any sign of Guan Zhongliu or the young man."

Huang Fulai opened his mouth but could only manage, "How could that be?"

It was utterly bizarre and absurd. How could two living people vanish without leaving any clues in a place as tightly secured as the dark prison? Even a martial artist at the Divine Realm would find it nearly impossible to escape the dark prison without causing a disturbance.

"At first, we thought it might be a smokescreen by our opponents to mislead us," Zhu Kunyu said. "But such a clumsy smokescreen would be utterly ridiculous. But based on the information from my sources, it’s true. The Fifth City Leader, who oversees the dark prison, is furious. The entire city of Haijing is searching for the two of them."

Huang Fulai began to think deeply. The news was bizarre, but it seemed to be good news. At least the young man in black wasn’t dead, nor had he been subjected to torture.

But where had he gone? Could it be...

An idea suddenly struck Huang Fulai.

Could he have been rescued by that mysterious Sword Immortal?

"Don’t worry. I’ll continue investigating this matter," Zhu Kunyu said, patting his shoulder. "As soon as there’s any news, I’ll let you know right away. Even Professor Xue has taken an interest in this young man."

"Thank you," Huang Fulai nodded.

At this point, there was nothing else he could do. He could only take things one step at a time.

"Now, let’s get back to the earlier topic," Zhu Kunyu said. "I came to see you today because I wanted to share some top-secret information about Xu Base City."

Huang Fulai turned to him with a startled look.

Zhu Kunyu continued, "The truth is, the fall of Xu Base City wasn’t caused by the beast tide. It was a conspiracy orchestrated by traitors in Haijing City colluding with Jiepeng and Yiggs people."

"What?" Huang Fulai shot to his feet, his eyes sharp and piercing. "Are you serious? What’s going on?"

Zhu Kunyu said, "Half a year ago, the Jiepeng people discovered a rare metal-rich mine beneath Xu Base City. You’ve probably heard rumors about it."

Huang Fulai nodded. "Yes, it was said to be a silver-titanium mine. It’s the best raw material for making advanced prosthetic limbs, mechanical organs, and brain cores. The Jiepeng Empire has been fully committed to developing high-martial technology and desperately needs this metal. I recall that dozens of investors with ties to Jiepeng and Yiggs business interests came to Xu Base City offering high prices for the mining rights, but I vetoed every single one."

"You were wrong," Zhu Kunyu said with a grave expression. "It wasn’t a silver-titanium mine. It was a Illusium mine."

"What?" Huang Fulai froze, his composure slipping.

Illusium was far rarer than silver-titanium. More importantly, the Star Council had been purchasing this mineral at exorbitant prices. One kilogram of Illusium could be exchanged at any Star Council branch for a mythical-level ancient martial arts manual, other high-tier supernatural techniques, forbidden spells, or witchcraft.

It could also be traded for star beasts, mechs of equivalent value, or even an official position within the Star Council. It could grant the seller protection, amnesty from any crime, or the privilege to request the intervention of a Star Council member on their behalf or for their family up to three times.

No one knew why the Star Council sought Illusium so relentlessly. But they continued to buy it at astronomical prices. If there were Illusium deposits beneath Xu Base City, it would undoubtedly drive every major power mad.

"Because of your selfless stance and your repeated refusals of the Jiepeng and Yiggs people, you angered them," Zhu Kunyu continued. "They changed their tactics and colluded with traitors in Haijing City to devise a sinister plot. They orchestrated the fall of Xu Base City, guiding star beasts to attack and reduce the city to ruins under their claws. This way, they could bypass all levels of the Great Xia government, occupy the area in secret, and begin mining Illusium without oversight."

"What?" Huang Fulai was both shocked and furious, his eyes blazing with killing intent as he roared, "Those beasts! I’ll never share the same sky with them!"

The fall of Xu Base City had resulted in the deaths of at least tens of thousands. Now it was clear that all of it was a calculated conspiracy.

"When Professor Xue learned of this, it was already too late to intervene," Zhu Kunyu explained. "The envoys you sent to Haijing City for aid had all been assassinated. None of the messages made it through, so no one outside the conspirators knew that Xu Base City had already fallen."

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Huang Fulai gritted his teeth so hard he nearly shattered them. The truth was beyond infuriating. The Jiepeng were despicable. But the traitors within Great Xia were even worse. They all deserved to die.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he asked, "Do the higher authorities know about this? Something this significant had to be reported immediately to the commanders-in-chief. If one of them comes personally, accompanied by scholars from the National Council of Virtue, we can reclaim the mine for Great Xia."

Zhu Kunyu shook his head. "The higher-ups know, but no commander-in-chief will intervene. The scholars from the National Council of Virtue won’t get involved either."

"Why not?" Huang Fulai demanded.

"Because of a deal," Zhu Kunyu replied.

"What deal?" Huang Fulai pressed.

"You’ll understand once you meet with Professor Xue," Zhu Kunyu said. "In short, we can’t rely on the higher-ups to protect the Illusium mine this time. We’ll have to rely on ourselves."

***

In the slum, Li Xiaofei, after changing his attire and slightly altering his appearance, walked along the chaotic streets under the cover of night. The previous night, after effortlessly eliminating the cruel Guan Zhongliu, he had used his Spatial Point Theft ability to escape the heavily guarded dark prison without leaving a trace.

First, he found a way to access the internet and activated his mission system. When he read the instructions in the mission dossier, he found that he needed to locate a contact named Sister Feng in the slum before 8 p.m.

Li Xiaofei could establish contact with the Dragon Group members operating within Haijing City through this mysterious contact. Still, Li Xiaofei couldn’t shake the feeling that this supposedly critical mission seemed oddly flawed and unusually hasty in its execution. For now, though, he had no choice but to take things one step at a time.

As he moved through the streets, Li Xiaofei caught the familiar scent of home. Since he had grown up in a slum himself, he was intimately familiar with the rules of survival in such chaotic and foul-smelling environments.

He could effortlessly and naturally blend into the surrounding crowd, as though he had been living in this slum for decades. Of course, this slum was far larger than the one in Liuhe Base City where he had grown up. According to Haijing City’s official census data released five years ago, the slum’s original population exceeded five million. But this figure was clearly outdated.

A study conducted by a private website indicated that in the past five years, the slum population in Haijing City had doubled. This meant the total population of the slum now exceeded ten million. What did this mean? At least one-third of Haijing City’s total population had become impoverished.

This explosive growth wasn’t just due to natural population increases. A significant portion resulted from unfair competition in society, which had driven the middle class into destitution, leaving them homeless and stripped of their wealth.

A staggering one-third of the city’s population resided in a run-down area occupying less than one-tenth of Haijing City’s total landmass. The numbers were grotesquely disproportionate. Ten million people. In any other location, this would be multiple times the population of an entire base city.

As Li Xiaofei looked at the bustling crowd before him and thought about these figures, he couldn’t quite place the feeling stirring in his heart. None of this should have happened.

Lost in thought, he arrived at the entrance of a nightclub. The neon lights evoked a sense of Old Shanghai nostalgia, while the exaggerated decorative lighting and the stream of glamorous young women entering and exiting the venue made it clear that this was the largest nightclub in the slum’s eastern district.

Li Xiaofei stepped inside slowly. He wasn’t there for entertainment. He was there to find someone. His first contact was a renowned dancer.