Chapter 430 - 386: Suspicious Suicide (Part 2)

Chapter 430: Chapter 386: Suspicious Suicide (Part 2)

Primordial Man: "I’m also being transferred to Fahe this time. We can finally meet in person~"

Guan Tong: "..."

The man had once suggested they settle the ownership of their Qimo Star Fragments with a one-on-one duel, but Guan Tong had refused.

Guan Tong replied: "I’ll accept this commission."

Primordial Man: "Once the date for the operation is finalized, I’ll contact you ahead of time."

Guan Tong: "That won’t be necessary. This will be a joint operation between the member states of the Human Federation, and I’ll be with the team from North Star."

Primordial Man: "Oh? Looks like you were going to Fahe anyway, even without this commission. Seems like a bit of a waste of this favor, haha."

Primordial Man: "Then I’ll look forward to seeing you there."

Closing the private message window, Guan Tong felt a wave of relief.

’This is for the best. Now I won’t have to keep thinking about it.’

As long as the King of Soloma hadn’t mentioned the commission, it would have continued to weigh on his mind.

However...

’With Soloma’s strength, was it really necessary to use this commission to ask for my help?’

The Soloma Empire’s number of domestic Ascenders was second only to North Star’s. It had no shortage of powerful individuals. Leaving aside Lucifer, who had already died by Guan Tong’s hand, the recent competition alone was proof that their ranks were teeming with experts.

However, the final match had been interrupted by a bombing attack from the Fire Worship Cult. Guan Tong had no idea if those competitors ever held another match to determine the champion.

Aside from them, he also knew of a man named "Adam."

And he was fairly certain that the "Primordial Man" he had just been messaging was, in fact, Adam.

The man had previously challenged him to a fight via private message, proactively revealing that he possessed the "Manipulation Force Field" ability. And Adam, the famous and unstoppable figure in the allied forces on the frontline, also wielded a Manipulation Force Field.

He’d have to be pretty dense not to put two and two together.

They had powerful individuals at home, advanced smart weaponry that surpassed other nations, and they were cooperating with elite Ascenders from other countries... To still use the commission for Guan Tong’s assistance under these circumstances meant one of two things: either the King of Soloma wanted to guarantee a flawless victory, or there was some special internal situation preventing him from deploying his full strength.

Guan Tong knew that whatever the inside story was, it had little to do with him. He just had to do his job.

He picked up his phone, initially intending to contact Chen Na directly, but after a moment’s thought, he called Silver Fox instead.

"It’s rare to get a call from a master like you," Silver Fox said with a laugh as soon as the call connected. "What can I do for you?"

"Silver Fox, can you bring Chen Na out of the base? I’d like to have a talk with her."

Guan Tong figured it would be better to discuss Chen Na’s issue in person, as a phone call might not be as effective.

"Yan said something to you, didn’t she."

"You knew?"

"Of course. Na and I are close; she tells me everything. Hmm... I’ll go file a request. If it gets approved, I’ll bring her out."

"Okay, I appreciate it."

"Hehe~ Don’t mention it. I should be the one thanking you. I’ll be counting on you to look out for me when we go to Fahe, Master."

Guan Tong wasn’t surprised. Zhang Minglu had already told him that Silver Fox would be part of the operation.

About half an hour later, he received a message from Silver Fox. She would bring Chen Na to meet him tomorrow morning.

Since that was settled, he decided he might as well go with Shi Jingyi to see Suzuki today and test if the Mind Network had any effect on spore addicts.

...

That evening, after Shi Jingyi finished her classes for the day, she and Guan Tong went to the detox center.

The nurse at the front desk asked, "Excuse me, which patient are you here to visit?"

"Suzuki," Guan Tong said as he took out his visitor’s pass. To his surprise, the nurse didn’t even look at it; her expression just turned grim.

Seeing the nurse’s expression, Guan Tong suddenly had a bad feeling. "What is it?"

"The... the patient you came to visit... S-she... she committed suicide a few hours ago."

"!!!"

Both of them were stunned. Shi Jingyi looked at Guan Tong, whose expression immediately shifted from shock to disbelief.

"That’s impossible. Someone just visited her yesterday, and she showed no signs of being suicidal. Where is the body? I want to examine it myself!"

’Shangyuan Zi had just visited Suzuki yesterday. She had even called him to say Suzuki was waiting for his visit. How could she suddenly commit suicide?’ Guan Tong simply didn’t believe it.

"What’s going on?"

Just then, some of the center’s staff and security guards came over to see what was happening. Guan Tong said to the nurse, "You heard me. If she committed suicide, then where is the body?"

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and called Shangyuan Zi.

After arriving in North Star’s territory, Guan Tong had many people to see. Shangyuan Zi’s schedule was less packed; aside from visiting Suzuki, she had planned to wander around Pinglu until Guan Tong was done with his errands. That was why the two weren’t together.

Seeing this, the nurse quickly explained the situation to the others who had gathered.

As soon as the call connected, Guan Tong got straight to the point. "Shangyuan, I’m at the detox center. The nurse is saying that Suzuki... killed herself. Did you notice anything off yesterday?"

"’Suicide?!’ The sharp spike in Shangyuan Zi’s voice over the phone was enough to prove she hadn’t expected this either."

"Impossible! She told me she’d wait for you to visit! She even said she wanted to go back to Sakura Prayer afterward to see her old colleagues from the security bureau. There’s no way she would suddenly kill herself... I’m on my way now!"

"Right, I agree something’s wrong."

Guan Tong hung up. Just then, a doctor from the center who had been informed of the situation came over. He said to Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi, "Are you here to visit Miss Suzuki? I’m so sorry. She... ended her own life."

Guan Tong said in a low voice, "I said I want to see the body. And I want to see the center’s security footage."

"Th-that... wouldn’t be very respectful to the deceased," the doctor stammered. "And, if you don’t mind me saying, you don’t have that kind of clearance."

Shi Jingyi spoke up. "I can contact..."

"It’s fine," Guan Tong cut in. "I’ll get someone on it."

Guan Tong immediately called Zhang Minglu. He had arranged for Suzuki’s admission to the detox center through the Strategy Research Room in the first place. Now that something had clearly gone wrong, he had to get to the bottom of it.

When Zhang Minglu answered and heard the situation, he immediately said he would make the calls.

A few minutes later, the director of the detox center rushed over. He addressed Guan Tong respectfully, "Sir... regardless of who you are, I’ve received orders from my superiors. I will cooperate fully with your investigation."

"A patient I came to see, Suzuki—the doctor and nurse said she committed suicide a few hours ago. If she killed herself, there must be a body. Where is it?"

The director froze for a moment. "Suzuki... Miss Suzuki, she did, in fact, take her own life..."

Shi Jingyi said, "We’re asking where the body is."

"Well, it’s... it’s like this... Miss Suzuki was a spore addict. When patients like her pass away, they are sent to a special medical department. The doctors there... dissect the brain to research the phenomenon of spore addiction and—What are you doing?"

Before the director could finish, Guan Tong grabbed him by the collar.

Shi Jingyi placed a hand on his arm. "Guan Tong, don’t be rash. Call Zhang Minglu right now. Have him contact the medical department and stop the autopsy. There might still be time."

"..."

Guan Tong let go of the director and took out his phone to make the call.

Shi Jingyi turned to the shaken director. "How did Miss Suzuki kill herself? Did anyone have contact with her beforehand? And we need the surveillance footage from the hallway outside her room. We need to know everything."

"Y-Yes, of course..."

The director shot a quick glance at the grim-faced Guan Tong, the back of his shirt soaked with sweat.

’He was an Ascender himself, and with a fairly high Psychic Power limit at that. Yet, when this young man had grabbed him, he couldn’t summon a single shred of courage to resist. It was terrifying.’

Zhang Minglu got back to Guan Tong quickly. A spore addict’s body had indeed been sent to the special medical department that afternoon, but the autopsy had not yet begun. He had already notified the relevant personnel to preserve the body for the time being.

Guan Tong lowered his phone, his heart sinking.

’He had been hoping not to hear that a spore addict’s body had been sent over, but things hadn’t gone his way.’

’Even though he and Suzuki weren’t close, without her Profile, he never would have found Mizusawa Chun so quickly and stopped that evil plan to create more of the Snake Slave Army.’

Furthermore, she had been the one to proactively reveal her spore addiction and ask for help. Guan Tong was the one who had suggested she come to this detox center. Now that something had happened to her, he felt responsible.

A wave of nameless fury rose in his chest. Everyone else in the room suddenly found it hard to breathe, overcome with an urgent desire to flee.

"I know you cared about her." The only one unaffected was Shi Jingyi. She gripped Guan Tong’s arm, dispelling the intense killing intent he was unconsciously radiating. "We will get to the bottom of this."

Guan Tong nodded, suppressing his inner turmoil. He had to find out what really happened.