Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 137: Economic Brain

No way? Even with Jiang Baimian’s mental fortitude, she couldn’t believe her eyes at that moment. She could accept it if it was simply Lei Yunsong being alive in Weed City. However, the problem was that this team leader—who was clearly still very active and had even been involved in a shooting—didn’t contact the company to report the situation.

Even if their radio transmitter was damaged or lost, they could still try to get a new one or rent one from the underground market!

Could it be that they discovered something and defected? No, if they had defected, they wouldn’t have stayed in Weed City at all. They should be very clear that the company would definitely investigate… Unless this has already become a plot against the company… Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and looked at Shang Jianyao.

Shang Jianyao felt her gaze and took the initiative to say, “He’s using murder to remind the company?”

“…It shouldn’t be that complicated. Also, your train of thought is a little dangerous.” Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and said, “I suspect that they are controlled by someone. Those people then used the other team members’ lives to force Lei Yunsong to help them do some dirty work. This can explain why Chen Xufeng received information that people suspected to be Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei had been seen in the city but didn’t mention the other three.”

The other three were hostages and were imprisoned!

“It’s too complicated.” Shang Jianyao seemed to start repeating Jiang Baimian’s words.

Jiang Baimian nodded. “Indeed. There’s no need to make it so complicated if they want people to do dirty work. There’s not enough motivation. Could it be revenge? Some of the people that Liu Dazhuang represents made Lei Yunsong’s team suffer heavy losses, leaving only two people? However, they should still contact the company first. With the company providing help, things will be much simpler…”

Jiang Baimian muttered to herself for a while before exhaling. “It’s useless to think about it here. Let’s accept the mission first. In any case, there are some clues at least.”

Shang Jianyao used actions in place of words. He walked to the nearest table, lit up the machine on it, swiped his Hunter badge, and accepted the mission.

This was an unrestricted mission. Even rookies could take it.

After Jiang Baimian took on the mission, the blond, blue-eyed Christina suddenly returned to the first floor. This time, she didn’t bring any bodyguards with her.

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao, she smiled and said, “I’m afraid I’ll need to take a rain check. Something urgent cropped up.”

With that said, the Hunter’s Guild’s vice president rushed to the side door and left the lobby.

Jiang Baimian approached Shang Jianyao and muttered to herself thoughtfully, “Something urgent?”

Without waiting for Shang Jianyao’s response, she smiled and said, “It seems like you don’t have to take the risk. Yes… What details can you read from this scene?”

“She’s alone,” Shang Jianyao replied.

“Not bad.” Jiang Baimian praised him. “For a person who usually needs three bodyguards to dare go out alone means that she’s not weak. Or is it that the person she’s meeting makes her feel very at ease, and it won’t be too far away? Yes, the corresponding matter definitely involves many secrets.”

At this moment, Jiang Baimian saw that Bai Chen and Long Yuehong had also accepted the mission from the corner of her eye. Therefore, she didn’t say anything else and pointed at the door. “Let’s go and take a look at the scene.”

After leaving the Hunter’s Guild and returning to South Street, the first thing that Jiang Baimian noticed was a group of people, not the crime scene.

A group of Ruin Hunters surrounded the spot where Liu Dazhuang was gunned down. They wished they could flip the entire road over for clues.

Jiang Baimian glanced at the area and shook her head. “What’s the point? What’s important is the gunman’s location and what’s on Liu Dazhuang’s body, not where he fell.”

Liu Dazhuang’s corpse had long been carried away by the city guards.

After identifying the building that the bullet had been fired from, Jiang Baimian led Shang Jianyao into the corresponding courtyard.

The next second, she was shocked by the scene in front of her—many people formed a long line outside a stairwell!

“What are they doing?” Jiang Baimian subconsciously asked.

Shang Jianyao seriously observed for a few seconds before answering, “Visiting tour.”

“Lining up to visit the rooftop?” Jiang Baimian suddenly found this scene a little ridiculous and comical.

Unimaginably many Ruin Hunters had accepted this mission!

Jiang Baimian briskly took a few steps forward and came to the back of the line. She nudged the man in front of her and asked with a smile, “W-what are you queuing for?”

The man impatiently turned his head first before smiling. “Waiting to speak to the witness and see what new clues we can dig up.”

Such a clue was worth at least 10 Oray.

“Alright… Thank you.” Jiang Baimian was a little interested in this strange situation, but she also found it rather funny. She quickly signaled to Shang Jianyao with her eyes and led the way to the stairwell. As she walked, she shouted, “We live here, we live here…”

Amidst sporadic clamoring of ‘do you want some money on the side’ or ‘how much for a night,’ Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao squeezed their way up the stairs to the fourth floor.

The queue formed by Ruin Hunters ended here and stopped in front of a half-closed door.

Jiang Baimian looked over and realized that there was a charcoal pen on the door. Its words were written untidily: “The only witness in the shooting. Conversation costs 2 Cass a minute.”

1 Oray was equivalent to 10 Drace. 1 Drace was equivalent to 10 Cass.

“…Th-that’s pretty smart,” Jiang Baimian muttered to herself with a complicated tone.

Furthermore, the service was priced very well. Any higher and many Ruin Hunters would have to consider whether it was worth it or if they wanted to form a larger team temporarily.

With the current pricing, people believed that they could be more unconventional and ask different questions to extract exclusive clues.

Shang Jianyao also sighed. “Why don’t they ask for one bun at a time? It can last them a month.”

“Won’t you get sick of it?” Jiang Baimian casually replied and cast her gaze at the other rooms on the floor.

Many people had their doors half-open as they looked at the long line enviously. From time to time, someone would shout, “He’s not the only witness!”

“Maybe I saw it too, but I don’t remember it now…”

After the initial shock, surprise, and exclamations, Jiang Baimian gradually adapted to this situation and spoke to Shang Jianyao with considerable interest. “In a settlement dominated by the Hunter’s Guild, the citizen culture here has a different characteristic if they are considered citizens.”

This was one of the few aspects that Jiang Baimian was most interested in. However, she didn’t make further observations. She led Shang Jianyao to the fifth floor and climbed up to the rooftop as if she were rushing for time.

There were very few Ruin Hunters here, and the City Defense Command forces maintained order to prevent anyone from inadvertently destroying the scene.

Jiang Baimian locked eyes with Bai Chen, who had caught up. They walked to a wall facing the rooftop, chose a spot, and muttered to themselves, “The gunman probably shot from here.”

She had witnessed the shooting process.

Bai Chen leaned against Jiang Baimian and pretended to hold a sniper rifle to get the feeling. “It’s a little awkward,” she commented.

When Liu Dazhuang was shot, he had walked to the middle of South Street. He was only three to four meters away from the building.

At this angle, the sniper had to extend his body past the edge of the rooftop by quite a bit if he wanted to hit the target from here. He would also have to contort his body a little.

Bai Chen retracted her gaze and added, “If it were me, I would’ve fired before Liu Dazhuang left Red Silk Alley.”

The entire Red Silk Alley could be monitored from the left side of the rooftop. Sniping the enemies inside was both easy and convenient.

Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao and pretended to discuss something with him. “It means that the gunman wasn’t here when Liu Dazhuang was still in Red Silk Alley. He only took up his position in a rush and completed the shot?”

Shang Jianyao replied seriously, “Maybe he couldn’t hold it in and went to the bathroom first.”

“…That counts as a reason.” Jiang Baimian suddenly smiled. “You can search later to see if there are any traces of excrement on the rooftop or the fifth floor.”

Such traces clearly wouldn’t be missed by the Ruin Hunters, who had a number advantage.

Jiang Baimian then said, “From a different perspective, how can the gunman be sure that Liu Dazhuang will come out of Red Silk Alley? If he long knew about it, why did he appear so rushed?”

After raising the question, she pondered and answered her own question. “Could it be that the gunman had accomplices? They only knew that Liu Dazhuang was in this area, but they didn’t have any further information. Therefore, they scattered across the opposite alley to search for the target. When they discovered Liu Dazhuang’s traces, they immediately informed the gunman via walkie-talkies or other equipment. Then, the gunman rushed here from a certain spot on the rooftop?”

At this moment, Bai Chen had already walked back and forth alongside the rooftop that was parallel to the street. She seemed to be talking to Long Yuehong as she said, “The other side can monitor Yellow Corner Alley, but the view of Red Silk Alley is poor.”

Yellow Corner Alley was an alley adjacent to Red Silk Alley.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Baimian came to a realization. “The gunman was monitoring Yellow Corner Alley in the beginning, and his accomplice was in Red Silk Alley. When he obtained definite information, he immediately changed his sniping position…”

Just as she said that, Shang Jianyao had already walked to the rightmost area of the rooftop. He then squatted down and carefully examined the ground and walls. “Someone stepped on it and rubbed against it. The traces are relatively fresh,” he reported truthfully.

Many Ruin Hunters looked over. Some were confused, and some were in thought.

Jiang Baimian waved her hand and said to Shang Jianyao, “There’s nothing to see. Let’s go down.”

Shang Jianyao didn’t say anything else. He followed his team leader down the road and returned to South Street.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said, “Let’s enter Red Silk Alley to search for clues left behind by the gunman’s companions.”

Red Silk Alley was only about two meters wide. The ground floor had shops like Repair Store or Old Clothing Bazaar.

At this moment, several Ruin Hunters held Liu Dazhuang’s photo and asked different shop owners in succession, hoping to know if they had seen him interact with anyone before he died.

The answer that Jiang Baimian and company saw was the shaking of heads.

Long Yuehong—who was a meter away—asked Bai Chen, “How do we conduct the search?”

The corners of Jiang Baimian’s mouth curled up slightly as she smiled at Shang Jianyao. “Of course, it’s by asking using a photo.”

She didn’t take out Liu Dazhuang’s photo, nor was it the photo of the suspected gunman—Lei Yunsong. Instead, she took out another person’s photo.

It was a photo of the other Old Task Force member, Lin Feifei.