Chapter 2642: Exchanging Clues
"I also have a special piece of news," Xu Huo said.
The remaining two, Fei Jingyi and Fu Kuai, had clearly each gained something as well, but their findings might not have a clear direction. They could only hope that connecting them with other pieces of information would lead to progress.
"I'll go first," Fei Jingyi said. "I got some information about the previous Grand Archon from a family member of a government official. That Grand Archon is suspected to have been a player. Someone once saw a number on his back that looked like a player's ID."
"A player?" He Liang was surprised. "As far as I know, the previous Grand Archon was no different from a waste. If he was a player, how could he not have escaped Zone 039?"
"Maybe he was afraid of dying in an instance and just wanted to find a place to scrape by," Xiao Mei said. "The instance is looking for the National Heirloom Treasure. It doesn't necessarily mean we have to find the Grand Archon. He might have already settled down in another district."
"Regardless, this is still a clue," Wu Zishuang said. "After all, players have more ways to handle things than ordinary people."
As he spoke, he spread open the newspaper, revealing the content on the middle page. "In the upper right corner of this candid photo, there's a hidden figure. Given the occasion of the photo, no one should have deliberately used a building to block themselves. I infiltrated the government building and checked the security records of both government players and player organizations from that time. That spot was clearly not assigned to anyone."
"Couldn't it have been a player arranged privately?" Xu Huo asked.
"That possibility can't be ruled out, so I also went to find someone who was standing near that position at the time. As luck would have it, they still had the video they recorded. In one frame, a figure can indeed be seen brushing past. That person doesn't remember what the passerby looked like, but after the incident, they also thought it was strange. They noted that everyone else was walking inward, while only that person was walking outward, and they reported this to the government's Enforcement Department."
"I also looked for the investigation report. The government confirmed it wasn't one of their own, but they didn't completely rule out the possibility of another organization trying to cause trouble. Apparently, the player who was killed had found the National Heirloom Treasure and was about to use it to confront the current Grand Archon. After the person died, even if there was a real National Heirloom Treasure, it should have ended up in the hands of the killer."
"That doesn't mean it wasn't done by the government," He Liang said.
Wu Zishuang glanced at him. "If it was the government, then the National Heirloom Treasure would most likely have ended up in the hands of the current Grand Archon."
But the instance hadn't ended, so the treasure definitely hadn't entered the government's hands.
"What if it was someone opposing the Grand Archon?" Xiao Mei said. "Even if they got it, they might not have given it to him. And the timing of the murder was so coincidental. It would naturally make people suspicious, thinking the Grand Archon was desperate and killed someone in public."
"If that's how you want to think, I have no objection." Wu Zishuang clearly didn't want to argue with them.
"You probably haven't looked into the current Grand Archon, Lian Qingkong. He's a leader with great charisma. His subordinates, even those who aren't close to him, are especially loyal," Fei Jingyi said.
"I questioned five government personnel about the National Heirloom Treasure. The ordinary people said everything they could after taking the medicine, but their knowledge was very limited. Two players committed suicide during the unstable periods of the drug's effect. The same happened with the three ordinary people—two killed themselves afterward, and the remaining one triggered an alarm after leaving and immediately went to the Grand Archon. I was hunted for half a month because of that, and I only got a breather when another player organization started a war in the capital city."
"They'd rather die than betray him. This Grand Archon is really something," Xiao Mei exclaimed.
"While I can't guarantee with 100% certainty that there are no dissenters within the government, it's very difficult to tamper with a public investigation. So, the one who assassinated the leader of the player organization probably wasn't from the government side," Fei Jingyi concluded, then added, "But the forces within the Isle Country are complex, which makes it hard to narrow things down. You must have a more specific clue, right?"
Wu Zishuang smiled. "As luck would have it, I happened to find another ordinary person who had seen the person in the video. They said that person had been seen near their home, seemingly living in the area. But after the assassination, the person disappeared."
"I stopped there. To thoroughly investigate this person's trail, I'd need a certain amount of manpower."
"I don't have the patience you all do," Xiao Mei said, taking out a rough hand-drawn picture. "I just got lucky and ran into someone who used to live near the Supreme God's Judgment Court. Her family cleaned the court. She happened to see the previous Grand Archon sneaking into the court late at night to meet with the Judgment believers. The box he was carrying contained a plaque with writing on it. But she's illiterate and could only draw it vaguely."
"It's impossible to tell what characters these are," He Liang frowned. "Didn't you say the previous Grand Archon might have been a player? He shouldn't have failed to notice her."
"He did notice her," Xiao Mei said with a grin. "Fei Jingyi's inside information actually corroborates my news. The previous Grand Archon originally wanted to kill her to silence her, but the Judgment believers stopped him. They told him the woman was illiterate and a loyal believer."
"Oh?" Wu Zishuang asked. "And that loyal believer managed to survive until now?"
How many players in the Isle Country had died searching for the National Heirloom Treasure? How many ticket players had come here? And yet someone who had worked at the Judgment Court hadn't been dug up?
"If I didn't have good luck, I wouldn't be saying it," Xiao Mei said. "Her arm was cut off and left at the Judgment Court. The court was blown to pieces, so DNA could only be extracted from the rubble. She was the only one in her family who survived, because she was recovering from her injuries. The rest of them died."
"As for how I found her, don't ask. Everyone has their own trump card, right?"
"How long was the gap between the previous Grand Archon's late-night visit to the Judgment believers and the bombing of the Judgment Court?" Fu Kuai, who had been silent all along, finally asked.
"I thought you were mute, since you never spoke," Xiao Mei winked at him before answering his question. "Only three days."
The others turned their attention back to the drawing. After a moment, Wu Zishuang asked, "You still have that cleaner in your custody, right?"
"You want to question her?" Xiao Mei shook her head. "It's useless. I've used all the drugs and methods I have. She's been displaced for twenty years, and her mind has long since gone."
Hearing this, the others didn't insist. However, the pattern was too blurry and lacked any clear direction. Xiao Mei had already compared the drawing with all the patterns she could find in the Isle Country as soon as she got it. It looked like every one of them, yet none of them at all.
Fei Jingyi's information was related to the identity of the previous Grand Archon. Wu Zishuang had tracked down the assassin who had killed the player suspected of finding the "National Heirloom Treasure." Xiao Mei had learned that the previous Grand Archon had specifically sought out the Judgment believers before his disappearance, and she had also revealed an important piece of information: someone at the Judgment Court had deliberately preserved the cleaner's severed arm, creating the illusion that she was dead.
"It's my turn!" He Liang placed a dirty metal box on the table.