Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 617 - 615 Investigation

"Eh?"

Chaichai was stunned for a moment. "Eh?!! It can't be real! That *is* clearly a soft girl's voice..."

"It's real."

Li Ang rubbed his temples in frustration. "Ah, so annoying... You didn't say any bizarre things to her, did you?"

"No!"

Chaichai shuddered, instinctively saying, "I just spoke some cheesy love lines. I definitely didn't say anything I shouldn't have."

Li Ang frowned and asked again, "So no one knocked on the door, called, or texted?"

Chaichai shook his head like a toy drum. "Nope."

"Alright then."

Li Ang let out a long sigh, his steps heavy as he walked toward the bedroom. He looked deeply troubled.

Watching Li Ang's retreating back, Chaichai was worried and scared, but also somewhat confused. What kind of sacred being was this landlord, capable of making even this man keep his distance?

"So this is the new base?"

In the Game Square, Wei Linglan, dressed in the Special Affairs Bureau's standard suit, looked up at the ten-story high street building and murmured, "I wonder how much it cost..."

"Definitely not cheap, that's for sure..." Chuyin, standing beside her, seemed listless. His heavy dark circles made him look especially wan. "I just want to sleep... Where's Captain Xing... I just want to sign the forms quickly and go home to bed..."

Wei Linglan and Chuyin were standing on the property purchased by the Special Affairs Bureau in the Game Square.

Just like ordinary players, the Special Affairs Bureau received the System notification at the same time. However, their response speed and coordination abilities were faster and stronger. Within eight hours, the think tank had weighed the pros and cons and devised dozens of strategies tailored to the different situations in the Game Square.

While ordinary players were still pondering whether speculating on land at this stage was an exercise in foolishness, the Special Affairs Bureau had already established a guild and bought property. They began replicating real-world office buildings—exact copies—in the Game Square. The System was the perfect construction worker, making demolition and construction very simple.

The new building's foundational framework was generated directly with money. As for the decorations and furniture inside, some were bought from the System, while others were personally brought over by Special Affairs Bureau players, one item at a time.

Wei Linglan and Chuyin had been temporarily roped in as laborers. Their inventory slots were filled with tables and chairs; they were there not only to move things but also to sign guild contracts.

Guilds in this deadly game could offer decent buffs to their members, and it was easier for guildmates to team up. There might even be future tasks requiring the combined strength of an entire guild, or even multiple guilds. Thus, signing up was essential.

Of course, they couldn't put all their eggs in one basket. For now, the Special Affairs Bureau had established three small, fifty-member guilds as an experiment. Many operatives were still observing from the sidelines, waiting for the think tank to conduct a more thorough analysis of the pros and cons based on further evidence before committing.

"Yo, it's you two."

A deep male voice sounded from the side. Wei Linglan and Chuyin turned their heads to see Xing Hechou, also dressed in a suit, walking towards them. His towering physique meant the black suit didn't lend him a refined air; instead, he exuded the vibe of a 'big brother from a very 'active' social organization.'

As an outstanding frontline operative of the Yin City Mobile Detachment, Xing Hechou had also been appointed as one of the presidents of the three experimental guilds. Per the Heterodox Academy's suggestion, the three guilds were named "Bifang," "Chongming," and "Gouchen," with Xing Hechou in charge of Gouchen.

"Hello, Captain."

Wei Linglan and Chuyin greeted Xing Hechou. He came up with a smile and said, "Here to sign the guild contracts?"

"Yes." Wei Linglan nodded. "We were teleported quite far, so we're a bit late."

"I feel like I'm about to collapse..." Chuyin listlessly took out his phone to check the time (communication with the Game Square and the Mortal Realm was impossible unless using the friend call feature; a phone without a signal could only be used to check the time) and said with a mournful voice, "It's already four in the morning... Captain, when can we sign the contract?"

"Let's sign it now."

Xing Hechou pulled out two long contracts from the void, along with a quill pen, and handed them over.

Chuyin, yawning incessantly, hastily scribbled his signature. Wei Linglan took her contract, quickly reviewed it, and seeing no issues, signed her name.

The instant their signatures were complete and the quills lifted, the contracts turned to ash, and a System notification announcing their successful guild induction chimed in their ears.

"Alright. You'll need to confirm the guild-provided buffs yourselves; you can access them through your player panels."

Xing Hechou looked at the spiritless Chuyin and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so sleepy? Still working on that case?"

The case he mentioned was the bizarre disappearance of the human trafficker, Qi Lianxiang.

When Qi Lianxiang's disappearance was discovered, Wei Linglan immediately reported the situation, notified colleagues from other departments, and gathered surveillance footage from the area in an attempt to find clues. However, their efforts were in vain.

The man who had taken Qi Lianxiang away was extremely cunning and possessed a high level of anti-surveillance awareness, never directly exposing himself to the cameras. Moreover, he obviously had control over Qi Lianxiang, leading her gradually out of the city center to the suburbs, into areas with surveillance blind spots, where she eventually disappeared without a trace.

Following the incident, the numerous cases of disappearances and accidental deaths previously connected to Qi Lianxiang were re-examined. As more and more discrepancies surfaced, it was finally determined that a manipulator was behind these events.

Although Qi Lianxiang was a despicable human trafficker, and the victims in the series of disappearances and accidental deaths had their share of prior records, they were all considered innocent until proven guilty. The Special Affairs Bureau was especially sensitive to cases involving players. Under no circumstances could they allow Transcendents to abuse their power over the weak. If even a hero might break the law with martial prowess, what about players who could fly through the heavens, burrow into the earth, move mountains, and fill seas?

"Yeah, still investigating."

Wei Linglan nodded. "Ordinary murder cases can be solved by utilizing Divination Spell or summoning spirits to identify and capture the real culprit. However, the time span of these cases is quite long and clues are scant. The past and present of all victims and missing persons have been covered up by Transcendents using Divine Power, which obscures the divination results."

As a member of the Mobile Detachment's command staff, Xing Hechou had only heard about the case and asked with a frown, "A Divine Power cover-up... I recall the Bureau has comrades who possess divine abilities, right?"

"Yes." Wei Linglan nodded and said, "But Divine Power has a preemptive nature; if a deity acts first to cover up an event's causality with Divine Power, then later deities must expend a tremendous amount of Divine Power to remove the former's influence. It's like a masterpiece oil painting. Ruining it merely requires splashing a basin of ink on it, but restoring it would take a thousand, even ten thousand times the effort to return it to its original state."

"Oh." Xing Hechou nodded in understanding. "So, what's your current approach..."

"Chuyin and I are representing the Special Affairs Bureau, assisting colleagues from other departments in investigating this case through standard criminal procedures." Speaking of this, Wei Linglan's expression became somewhat gloomy. "We've reviewed past files and investigated relevant personnel in that particular network. Without exception, all involved individuals are either dead or missing; only Qi Lianxiang remained. She is very likely the last person on the culprit's list. If the culprit stops after making her disappear, we may have a very hard time catching him. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Xing Hechou asked instinctively.

"Unless the colleague in the Bureau who possesses divine aptitude can complete their ascension first, becoming a higher-level Deity," Wei Linglan stated gravely. "That way, they could pierce the veil, directly identify the culprit, and leave him with nowhere to hide."