High-Martial World: System Arrives 30 Years Late-Chapter 62: Suspicion, A Complete Sweep

So, the real target of the Demon Cultists is the City Lord’s Mansion?

But the City Lord’s Mansion is almost empty; what is the cultists’ goal?

Is it simply to create chaos?

After his anger subsided, a chill ran down Gong Wu’s spine as he suddenly realized something: the diversion of his request for aid was issued by the tenth assessor, Su Mu.

As far as he knew, this person had arrived at the Linjiang Base several days early.

He couldn’t help but wonder if this was a deception played out in front of his eyes.

In an instant, Gong Wu dismissed this thought, as Demon Staff was indeed dead, and more than one person survived on the scene; an entire Martial Arts Association squad was still alive.

If it were a deception, these people need not exist; only Su Mu being alive would make more sense.

The incident at the City Lord’s Mansion was his oversight, and now he must return there immediately, but he wasn’t comfortable leaving someone like Su Mu, who could kill Demon Staff, behind.

"Mr. Su, the City Lord’s Mansion has been attacked, and I need your assistance."

The group quickly left the abandoned factory and headed towards the City Lord’s Mansion, during which Gong Wu sent a secret message to Luo Cheng at the dock.

By the time Su Mu and Gong Wu arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion, the disturbance had already been suppressed.

"What’s the situation? Was it an attack by the Demon Cultists?"

"Maybe not. After you left, someone set off an explosion inside the City Lord’s Mansion, affecting the fifth floor’s offices, conference room, and archives, among other places."

"What about casualties, and have the perpetrators of the explosion been caught?"

"Back to Gong Division, no one died this time, only five were injured. The person who set off the explosion died in the blast. According to the City Lord’s Mansion’s surveillance, the person who caused the explosion is likely the archives director, Ding Yu. At the time of the incident, he sent away the security personnel and evacuated the people on the fourth floor before going alone to the fifth floor."

"And then the explosion happened? No one else entered the fifth floor?"

"No one."

Ding Yu?

Su Mu had some impression of this person; he was the chubby director who received him that day.

Gong Wu frowned deeply as the situation became increasingly complicated. If this person blew up the fifth floor intending to harm City Lord Lu Lin, he, as a trusted aide, couldn’t possibly be unaware that City Lord Lu had already left the mansion tonight.

Then what was the purpose of the explosion?

Was it simply to attract attention and divert it for the Demon Cultists?

But if it were the Demon Cultists, why would they care about the lives of others?

Gong Wu felt overwhelmed, "I need to know where Ding Yu has been recently, what he’s done, and whom he has met. Go investigate it thoroughly for me..."

...

"Scarface, was it you who ordered the attack on the City Lord’s Mansion?" the chubby man asked.

The burly man with a scar running from his left eye to his mouth shook his head, "No."

"The skinny guy’s side... probably something went wrong. The information given to us was incorrect."

"Chubby, are you saying that person betrayed us?" A murderous intent flashed in Scarface’s eyes.

"Not necessarily. Since it wasn’t you who ordered the attack on the City Lord’s Mansion, perhaps that person caused the chaos to help us divert attention. In any case, the situation has changed. Let’s end it here for tonight."

"So the skinny guy died in vain?"

"Of course not, that person will tell us who killed the skinny guy." The chubby man smiled sinisterly, and Scarface also grinned menacingly.

...

Shortly after, a cargo ship exploded on the Linjiang River, flames soaring into the sky.

Surviving by the skin of their teeth, Luo Cheng and a few others panted heavily, looking quite grim, "Let’s head back first."

Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, forces from all sides gathered.

The group from the Fierce Beast Mountain Range came up empty, only killing two Third Level Demon Cultists.

The dockside lost one person; Number Six was held down by three frantic Demon Cultists on a fishing boat and died in the explosion.

Five people were injured at the City Lord’s Mansion, and the suspect, Ding Yu, was already dead.

After the three parties reported back, Lu Lin’s expression was gloomy, darker than the night outside, "What’s the deal with Number Eight and Number Nine? What about the tenth person?"

Su Mu was not present in the conference room; Gong Wu had sent him away, as he felt something was odd about Su Mu. He had previously inquired with the six survivors of the Martial Arts Association squad.

The six described Su Mu as either overly cautious or seemingly prescient. In any case, Gong Wu felt something was off about him.

Previously, the President of Luo Cheng had discussed with him, suspecting that Chang Yuanqing was not the Demon Sect spy they believed; the real spy was someone else.

Thinking back to this incident, everyone else was either empty-handed or tricked, except for this Su Mu, who seemed to be an exception, and he had concealed his true strength.

Regardless of whether Demon Staff intentionally sacrificed himself or not, Su Mu was definitely not just at the Fourth Level Initial Stage.

"At the abandoned factory, the ninth assessor was killed, Number Eight and a Martial Arts Association squad are missing, initially presumed dead. The Fifth Level Demon Cultist, Demon Staff, was slain on the spot by the tenth person."

After Gong Wu finished speaking, the other people in the conference room were in an uproar, especially Hong Yi and the Liu Family Siblings, whose expressions changed drastically as a sense of crisis arose within them.

Nobody expected their greatest rival to be Number Ten, who had single-handedly killed a Fifth Level Demon Cultist. Such an outstanding performance made his entry into the Training Camp almost a certainty.

"Gong Wu, what did you say? Demon Staff was killed by Number Ten? Isn’t Number Ten a Fourth Level Initial Stage martial artist?" Luo Cheng questioned first.

"I didn’t make a mistake."

Gong Wu switched the projection to show an image of a corpse, whose features matched the photo of Demon Staff in the Martial Arts Association database.

"This weapon matches as well."

A flash of Spiritual Light appeared in Gong Wu’s hand, and two broken staves materialized on the table. Seeing the two red, flame-patterned broken staves, everyone fell silent for a moment.

"The flaming pattern on the red rod... it is indeed Demon Staff. Where is Number Ten?" Luo Cheng asked again.

Right then, Gong Wu voiced his suspicion, and Lu Lin narrowed his eyes, his fingers constantly tapping on the table, "It’s all just suspicion for now. Number Ten, as an assessor, successfully slayed a Fifth Level Demon Cultist, which is a major accomplishment, and he had been commended by all three parties before. There are no issues with his background."

After the meeting ended and everyone left, Gong Wu personally invited Su Mu to the conference room.

At the moment, besides City Lord Lu Lin, the President of the Martial Arts Association Luo Cheng was also present in the conference room.

"Mr. Su, first of all, congratulations on killing the Fifth Level Demon Cultist, Demon Staff. This is a great achievement, and the three of us will personally apply for a commendation from Shenjiang City for you afterward."

"I currently have a plan to capture all the Demon Cultists within the Linjiang Base and hope to gain your cooperation, Mr. Su."

"Please go ahead, City Lord Lu."

"Demon Cultists are extremely fanatical and dangerous. As long as they are not eradicated, they will remain a threat."

Su Mu agreed deeply, as his goal was also to capture all of these maniacs, and he felt uneasy leaving them in Linjiang.

"The death of Demon Staff will certainly anger the remaining Demon Cultists, likely provoking retaliation. My plan goes like this..."