Chapter 2508: Clues
Bubble Bean squeezed the bruised and bleeding arm of the swollen-faced man, making the blood flow even faster.
"It's not this one. Look at the files behind it, look at the time!" the swollen-faced man shouted in shame.
Xu Huo found the file. The footage this time was aimed directly at the room's doorway. At first, there was music, then the windows and doors shook once, like an earthquake. Following that, footsteps sounded in the room, and the young woman walked into the frame, directly opening the door.
Outside the door stood a tall man in a black hoodie. His hood was pulled up, his face completely concealed. He reached out a hand toward the young woman, and she immediately lost the ability to resist, staggering as she followed him out.
The content didn't end there. One second later, the hooded man appeared right in front of the camera. Only the magnified details of his clothing were visible, and then the feed cut out.
"This is everything I captured," the swollen-faced man said through gritted teeth. "I've spent the whole day studying this video, trying to identify him. But this guy is too cautious. Not only did he modify his clothes and appearance, but he didn't even wear any items on the visible parts of his body. He left behind no clues at all!"
"Xiao Dong was taken by them. I don't know what's happening to her now..." He started crying as he spoke. "If anything happens to Xiao Dong, even if it takes me a lifetime, I will avenge her!"
"Don't you dare spout such high-sounding nonsense, you perverted peeping tom!" Bubble Bean slapped him. "Confess honestly! Do you have any other information?!"
"I'm not a pervert!" the swollen-faced man defended himself. "I just like Xiao Dong too much. I didn't dare to tell her, so I wanted to protect her this way..."
Before he could finish, the Painting Woman's face lowered from above, right in front of him. She blinked at him, then raised her communicator. "You're almost out of blood."
The swollen-faced man only then remembered he was on the verge of death and immediately began to wail, "I just have a slightly unusual hobby! I haven't done anything wrong! You can't treat me like this!"
While checking the previous secret recordings, Xu Huo said, "In District 001, harassment charges are usually dealt with severely. You're not a local player, and you're still stranded here. You probably can't leave. Afraid of going to jail, you don't dare show your face in front of others, so you use this method to spy on girls."
"If you really thought you hadn't done anything wrong, why would you hide?"
His secret exposed, the swollen-faced man's arrogance diminished. "I genuinely like her. She's beautiful and kind, the best girl in the world. I'm not worthy of her..."
Bubble Bean slapped him again. "Who wants to hear your idiotic love story? Say something useful!"
"Everything I know is in the video!" the swollen-faced man said, afraid of being hit again. "I don't know anything else."
The footage that actually captured the Wan family incident was too short. Such brief content could only barely confirm that the Wan family members were kidnapped, not that they had died without a trace.
Xu Huo wanted to see the earlier content. The monitor was probably placed inside a pendant. Each time it was activated, it was after the young woman had returned to her room. It basically never captured anything outside the room. This meant that besides the monitor, this player was also observing the Wan family's movements from other places. Otherwise, he wouldn't know so accurately when to activate the monitor without being discovered.
"Before this, did any special people or events appear at the Wan family's place? Think carefully."
The swollen-faced man was about to say no, but seeing Xu Huo's expression, he swallowed his words and thought hard for a moment before saying, "Too many people have been coming and going from the Wan family recently. All kinds of people. If you say they're special, they all seem special. If you say they're not..."
The Painting Woman smacked him on the forehead. "Why are you so long-winded?!"
Unable to think of anything, the swollen-faced man gave up and said, "I have a crush on Xiao Dong. Why would I pay attention to others? Besides, Xiao Dong seems to have started dating recently. I didn't have time to care about anyone else..."
Bubble Bean raised her hand again, and the man on the chair immediately shut up.
"Do you have any photos or videos of that person?" Xu Huo asked.
The swollen-faced man paused, then perked up. "There's a storage device under the bed."
Bubble Bean pulled out the storage device. The previous one was for spying; this one was for secret photography. It had photos and videos, all of Wan Dong going to school or playing outside. There were quite a few men among them. This pervert had a dark heart; he even followed the men who interacted with Wan Dong and dug up their dirt.
Most of the people who frequently socialized with Wan Dong were ordinary people. Their information was unremarkable. The players were mostly acquaintances of the Wan family. There were also a few who appeared infrequently. The one who received the most attention was a young man surnamed Mi. He was from the Mi family. Both his parents worked in the government. Although his father remained stationed in Mao Guo Town, his mother was in a higher-level government, holding a significant position.
The young man surnamed Mi was pursuing Wan Dong. The two were often seen together. From the secretly filmed videos, it seemed they liked each other.
"This guy surnamed Mi, his height and build are a bit like the person who took Wan Dong away," Bubble Bean said.
"Height and build are easy to fake," Xu Huo said, not jumping to conclusions. He would have to see the person himself. Also, the buzz-cut man had previously said that the Mi family knew the inside story. The Mi family definitely needed a visit.
"Take me! I want to go too!" the swollen-faced man immediately said. "Maybe the Mi family did this! Xiao Dong was taken by that beast!"
Bubble Bean glanced at Xu Huo and made a throat-slitting gesture.
Seeing this, the swollen-faced man quickly added, "Take me! I'll definitely be helpful. I know a lot about the people connected to the Wan family. You might not recognize them, but I definitely will!"
Xu Huo thought for a moment, then said, "Bring him along."
Bubble Bean had no choice but to give him an antidote shot. "Clean up your face."
The swollen-faced man quickly put on a fake face and obediently followed behind them.
"You know the Wan family well. Do you recognize this person?" Xu Huo showed him the photo of the long-haired player.
"Him? He's the Wan family's adopted son," the swollen-faced man said. "He's an A-rank player, very powerful. He has an arena item that can forcibly control an opponent for five minutes. Within those five minutes, unless he dies, no one can leave the arena."
"How big is the range of this arena?"
"I've seen it once. Trapping a medium-sized residential area is no problem." The swollen-faced man thought for a moment and added, "He was probably killed first. Otherwise, the Wan family wouldn't have been taken so easily."
Xu Huo nodded. "You haven't been out since the incident?"
"How would I dare?" the swollen-faced man said. "That person destroyed the monitor. He would definitely come looking for me afterward. I still have to avenge Xiao Dong. I can't die like this!"
"You don't know the situation with the Mi family either?" Xu Huo asked again. "Has everything been normal with the Mi family these past two days?"