Chapter 1660: Not Worth Worrying About
It wasn't difficult to find out who had been in contact with Manager Liu, but these people had strict hierarchical communication channels. Each person was only responsible to the two individuals above and below them, and only completed the tasks assigned to them. For example, those who collected "goods" only handled the goods, those who transported only handled transportation, and those who received only handled reception—like an assembly line.
However, their security measures weren't that rigorous. At Manager Liu's level, Xu Huo knew they had a close connection with Little Starfish Food Processing Plant.
Little Starfish Food Processing Plant was precisely one of the factories under Southern Pearl Enterprise that Yu Qingqing had mentioned.
Besides Manager Liu's side, there were also several slaughterhouses in Nan City delivering raw materials to this processing plant. These people had been entrenched in Nan City for a long time and had already replaced the slaughterhouse owners with their own people.
From the processing plant, Xu Huo also learned that Southern Pearl's parent company was about to hold a meeting. The main participants were the key responsible persons of various companies and factories under Southern Pearl. Little Starfish Processing Plant was responsible for preparing the food for the meeting that day, which was why they needed several slaughterhouses to deliver supplies simultaneously.
Southern Pearl was considered a decent-sized enterprise in Nan City, but it wasn't enough to stand out in a big city. Even if they were holding a meeting, they wouldn't need such a large quantity of meat. It was easy to imagine what kind of people would be attending.
Xu Huo found the list of attendees in advance at Southern Pearl's headquarters. To be honest, the number exceeded his expectations. Manager Liu and his people were also on the list. Since this was a "party" for cannibal players, there should be very few ordinary people involved. But if most of these people were cannibal players, the number was abnormally high.
He took some time to look into the background of Southern Pearl's boss. There was nothing problematic about his history—he was a mixed-race individual from two countries, had grown up in Country X, attended ordinary schools, and had a very ordinary life trajectory. He started taking over the family business in college and smoothly expanded it, becoming a prominent figure in Nan City.
But before he could investigate further, Yu Qingqing sent him a file.
"My teammate found this out. I thought this mixed-blood guy was a different species with a different agenda, but it turns out he's a fanatic of our country's culture. He secretly established a cult that specifically recruits cannibal players. Not only does he provide them with food, but he also gives them certain clearance advantages. The strategies he buys with money are shared freely among all cult members, so their upgrade progress is even faster than Nan City's Special Defense Department."
Xu Huo roughly looked over the information. It wasn't surprising that cannibal players would form gangs to survive, since the entire society was against them. Southern Pearl's boss had evolved into a cannibal player, and to avoid exposure or to build greater power, it was reasonable for him to gather his kind through a cult. The only thing that exceeded his imagination was that these people had already progressed to the stage of "sacrifice."
Country X lacked the soil for cults to thrive. Even if some random cults appeared, they mostly focused on fraud or sexual exploitation, rarely advancing to the point of using living people for "sacrifice" or "offering." This was because most people, even if not particularly smart and easily swayed, instinctively feared bloodshed and killing.
And "brainwashing" wasn't as simple as it sounded. Some simple suggestions and influences might be easy to implant, but getting so many people to kill with some sense of "righteousness" and "faith" wasn't easy, especially since these were all cannibal players.
Whether or not they had completely shed their humanity, getting these people to conduct a proper "sacrifice" was no simple task—unless there was someone among them skilled in psychological control.
"Do you have the list of people who participate in each sacrifice?" Xu Huo asked.
"Of course." Yu Qingqing sent him another file. "I suspect that Southern Pearl's boss has a special class trait. So many cannibal players are obediently following his orders—that's too abnormal. Cannibal players are the most disobedient, especially when they're hungry. They might even eat their teammates."
"Do you have cannibal players among your teammates?" Xu Huo interrupted her.
"Not anymore, but there used to be," Yu Qingqing quickly said. "Those who have lost their humanity definitely can't listen to reason. There's no basis for cooperation."
"I heard you offended someone from a player organization before. Be more careful in the future," Xu Huo reminded her.
"Not everyone in player organizations is a good person," Yu Qingqing knew which incident he was referring to. "It's their fault for bullying a woman right in front of me. If they enjoy tormenting others so much, they must like it themselves too."
Xu Huo didn't dwell on the matter. Since Yu Qingqing was still alive and well, either the player organization had resolved the issue or they couldn't do anything to her. As long as it wasn't life-threatening, it was a minor matter.
"Cousin, are you planning to go after Southern Pearl's boss? Do you want our help?" Yu Qingqing probed. "My teammates are all very capable."
"Wait for my news." Xu Huo didn't directly refuse, but of course, he didn't actually need Yu Qingqing and her group's help. To him, they were about the same as Nan City's Special Defense Department.
A bunch of cannibal players—even if they had ten C-level players at most, it wouldn't be a big deal. The only thing to watch out for was whether this cult truly had a spiritual leader.
To verify this hypothesis, he spent another half day investigating, even making a unilateral visit to the Special Defense Department. It wasn't until nightfall that he arrived at Southern Pearl's headquarters.
Nan City had been unsettled recently, so the office area had emptied out early. Although most places had their lights on, no one was actually working, and no voices could be heard.
Southern Pearl's headquarters occupied a standalone building. From before dusk, cars had been converging there. The people driving in were silent and orderly as they parked, only nodding to each other in greeting without speaking. Everyone carried a peculiar solemnity.
The top floor of the building was a large conference room, already set up. Before even getting close, one could smell the aroma of food.
"Gulp!" Someone swallowed their saliva, and in that instant, the solemn atmosphere vanished. Everyone's eyes were filled with craving for food.
When most of the people had arrived, a middle-aged man wearing a mask walked in with his secretary. He greeted everyone in the venue amiably, signaling them to help themselves to the food and drink.
"Chairman, let's discuss business first," a slightly chubby man said. "The Special Defense Department has been cracking down hard recently. With so many of us gathered here, if we stay too long, problems might arise."
"Yeah, just tell us what you need," another person chimed in.
Hua Baoren, the helm of Southern Pearl, swept his gaze over the crowd and said solemnly, "I know everyone has been under a lot of pressure lately, but rest assured, today we are going to solve this problem."
(Another hit. The flu has been severe lately, everyone take care.)
(Chapter End)