My Notoriety Spreads Throughout the World

Chapter 574 499: Simulated War Zone

Coming to the side of the girl lying in the pool of blood, Xu Xiaoyou squatted down to check her physical condition, confirming that there were no signs of life. The girl's skin was unnaturally pale, and the bluish-black veins on the surface indicated that she had been dead for some time.

It was late autumn in Dragonfly Town, the climate was dry, and the apartment was in a remote neighborhood. She was likely the first person to witness this scene.

Xu Xiaoyou's mind instantly calmed down, and she scanned the surroundings. There were no signs of struggle nearby, the doors and windows were intact, and the footprints leading from the living room to the study belonged only to her and Bai Youyou. It was entirely impossible to silently kill a Fourth Tier Cleaner, so she could basically rule out the possibility of murder.

Did the person choose to commit suicide, but why?

She recalled Little Green Leaf's words, saying Bai Youyou had been visiting Mint Green Leaf every day recently to look for her. Did the person have something they wanted to discuss?

"Who am I?" Xu Xiaoyou murmured as she glanced at the words left on the wall.

She had considered that the person might feel confused or even fearful upon discovering her true identity through various means, but she didn't expect it to lead to this. Based on her understanding of Bai Youyou's character, the person would never do something so impulsive.

The cold wind lifted the curtains, blowing into the room from outside, sending a chill up Xu Xiaoyou's spine.

Her instincts told her there was more to this matter than met the eye.

"You..."

Just then, a faint girl's voice came from behind her.

Xu Xiaoyou stood up calmly and looked behind her. A red-haired girl was standing dazedly by the doorframe, her gaze shifting between her and the black-haired girl in the pool of blood, seeming somewhat at a loss.

"I... woke up and saw you weren't in the store. When I asked people there, they told me you had gone out in the direction you were heading. I sort of guessed who you were looking for... so I followed you here."

Chichu Chun's voice was slightly hoarse, sounding as if she had just woken up not long ago.

"Keep this a secret for me." Xu Xiaoyou stood up.

"I certainly won't say anything!" Chichu Chun's tone was urgent, trying to organize her words, "It's just this..."

"It wasn't me." Xu Xiaoyou sighed, "She committed suicide."

"Who told you to say ambiguous things?" Chichu Chun muttered, "Isn't this her, right?"

"At least not the Youyou you know."

"I mean keep her a secret."

"Sister You?"

"I'll notify the people from the Mountain Crow family to come here later. As for how to handle this matter, that's up to the association and the Chichu Five Families." Xu Xiaoyou did not answer directly.

"You..."

Watching Xu Xiaoyou walk past her, the words that rose in Chichu Chun's heart slipped out.

"Don't you want to say anything?"

"Say what?" Xu Xiaoyou retorted.

The two of them faced each other in silence, the room steeped in quietude.

"Rest assured, I know what you want to ask. I believe my emotions aren't as indifferent as my face may seem. It's just that the incident happened suddenly, and I'm not sure what feelings I should have to confront it."

Xu Xiaoyou shook her head, raised her hand slightly, and the bouquet of blood-red roses on the ground flew back into her hand.

"It may be abrupt to say these things now, but I feel it's better to clarify certain things face to face. No one knows if it will be the last meeting between familiar people. Don't always leave misunderstandings and regrets."

"Don't say such ominous things."

Whether it's Angelina's sudden situation or today's occurrences, they all made Chichu Chun very uneasy.

Her heart felt shrouded in gloom, and she wanted to say more, but seeing Xu Xiaoyou's calm face, she subconsciously pressed her lips together.

"Let's head back to the store first."

Not long after the two girls left, beneath the table nearby the pool of blood, the shadows suddenly lit up, projecting an image. A floating cursor paused on the unsent message editing page, displaying a sentence.

——"No matter who I am, please kill me."

The surrounding space began to twist, and a figure slowly walked out. She crouched down, pulled down the mask on her face, and a strand of black hair fell from her ear.

She deftly inserted a needle-like Forbidden Object into the girl's prefrontal cortex, extracting a multicolored substance. Casually using her fingertips to pick up the curtain from the pool of blood, she seemed to be communicating with someone, her voice steady and without fluctuation.

After some time, she stored the Forbidden Object after extracting the memory substance and gazed in the direction the two girls had left.

"The 70th individual has been retrieved."

...

When the two girls returned to Mint Green Leaf, they found someone had been waiting for them in the store for quite some time.

The moment they saw the young man, Chichu Chun's eyes widened, and she blurted out:

"Brother?"

A young man with short maple-red hair sat at the bar, exuding a peaceful aura. He wore a military uniform with a red base, and his appearance was exceedingly handsome. The Chichun Shu family emblem shone brightly on his chest. Upon seeing the two of them, he rose with a relaxed smile:

"Pleasure to meet you, Dark Gold Rose, I am the Patriarch of the Chichu Family, Chichu Qiu."

"Brother, why are you here?" Chichu Chun approached the young man, her speech accelerating.

"What, as your elder brother, I'm not allowed to visit you even though handling accumulated political duties day and night has taken its toll on me?"

"That's not what I meant..." Chichu Chun muttered, "Wasn't there an Insect Race uprising at Nightmare Tower City recently? The front line is urgent, and I thought you were at the Nightmare City military district over there..."

"I returned not long ago." Chichu Qiu nodded.

"You're here to see You, right? I'll go make tea for you both." Chichu Chun quickly said and scurried off with a guilty conscience, disappearing from their sight in the blink of an eye.

"Dark Gold Rose." Once Chichu Chun was out of sight, Chichu Qiu's expression became respectful and solemn.

"My sister is usually willful and lively, and she's been causing you trouble lately."

"Let's skip the pleasantries." Xu Xiaoyou said, "It's not easy for the Patriarch of the Chichu Family to spare time from numerous responsibilities, so whatever you have to say, just say it straightforwardly."

Chichu Qiu lowered his eyes for a moment before speaking:

"The situation in Chichu Heaven is not optimistic. The signs of the Eight-Spider Nest Mother's revival are becoming increasingly evident. In recent years, the Insect Race's insurgencies have reached their highest levels in a century. The Four Great Tower Cities could fall at any moment. There's no time left for the Chichu Five Families to slowly search for the remains of the Eight-Spider Nest Mother."

"We need to gather all our forces, at all costs, to launch a full-scale assault on the Four Great Tower Cities. The goal is to annihilate all high-level Insect Races above the Priest level, destroy over ninety percent of their large incubators and military factories, sever their communication network, and..."

"Completely obliterate the remains and kill the Eight-Spider Nest Mother."

"This battle is urgent and critically important. Even if it drains the blood from our generation, we must win. It concerns the life and death of hundreds of millions of people in Chichu Heaven."

"I know it's sudden to discuss these matters with Dark Gold Rose, but I understand that Dark Gold Rose is currently involved in the Oasis's unauthorized defense war with my sister fighting for that Key."

Xu Xiaoyou sighed softly; she just knew.

Why is everyone looking to discuss matters related to the Key with her today? Did she somehow poke a hornet's nest of a powerful organization? First, it was the Dawn Society, and now it's the Chichu Family, who controls most of Cosmic Heavy Industries' military power. Is the Key really such a coveted prize everyone wants to take a bite of?

As if reading her mind, Chichu Qiu continued, "I don't presume to hope for that Key. That would be too presumptuous toward Dark Gold Rose.

"I merely hope that, after acquiring that Key, Dark Gold Rose can use its power to establish a simulation battlefield for this campaign within the Oasis."

Xu Xiaoyou's heart was moved.

"A simulation battlefield?"