Stronger with More Jobs

Chapter 555 - 260: Taotie’s Feast!?

Jiang Chengyue watched as the faces of the few people instantly changed.

Seeing the turbulent waves in their eyes, he knew they finally began to believe this absurd yet bloody truth.

He let out a bitter laugh, his voice like a broken bellows, filled with endless exhaustion and pain:

"That Divine Armament is called ’Gluttonous Stomach’!"

"Every so often, it needs fresh, powerful Martial Arts Grandmaster vitality to feed on!"

"In these years, in our Glazed Light City, the disappeared, the ’killed in battle’, the ’mortally wounded’ Martial Arts Grandmasters have far exceeded the normal battle loss ratio!!"

"Those people, those comrades-in-arms who used to fight bloody battles for Glazed Light City and established huge meritorious deeds, they did not die under the claws of the Life Ghost..."

"But were instead used as blood nourishment by the old ancestors they swore to protect to prolong their decaying lives!!!"

...

Glazed Light City, City Lord’s Mansion.

The time was already the afternoon of the second day after last night’s secret roundup.

In the luxurious "Observatory" suite.

Fang Qingyu and his four companions returned with calm expressions, with just the right touch of tiredness from a fruitless search on their faces.

The heavy Crystal Stone Door slid open silently.

Chen Ming, in a neatly pressed uniform and a habitual enthusiastic smile on his face, seemed to have been waiting for a long time, immediately greeted them with flattery.

"Captain Fang! Everyone, you’ve worked hard! Worked hard!"

His gaze quickly swept over the five faces, and his smile deepened a little more with enthusiasm.

"How was it? Did you have any findings today? Did you find traces of the traitor Jiang Chengyue?" His tone was full of concern and expectation.

Fang Qingyu stopped walking, a touch of appropriate helplessness and apology appeared on his face, shaking his head:

"Sorry, Director Chen."

His voice carried a hint of regret.

"We’ve carefully scoured several places. The terrain is too complex, the flow of people too large, and for now, we have yet to discover Jiang Chengyue’s exact whereabouts."

He paused, adding: "However, we haven’t had the chance to check the ’Gray Rat’ underground black market in the west of the city, planning to go there this afternoon."

"Oh! I see..."

The smile on Chen Ming’s face did not change at all, in fact, it became even more "comforting", quickly waving his hand: "It’s okay, Captain Fang! Don’t blame yourself! That traitor is as cunning as a fox, expert at hiding, not easy to be found! Take your time, take your time! With your and your team’s capabilities, you will catch him eventually! I have absolute confidence in you all!"

He patted his chest, his tone full of trust and encouragement.

Listening to this insignificant comfort, Fang Qingyu’s expression remained unchanged, just calmly nodded:

"Mm, I accept Director Chen’s good wishes. We will go rest for a bit and then head to the west part of the city this afternoon."

His tone was natural, as if it was just a routine report.

"Good! Good!"

Chen Ming nodded repeatedly, stepping aside to clear the way, smiling broadly: "Captain Fang, thank you for your hard work! Everyone has worked hard! Quickly go back and have a good rest, recuperate! If there’s anything you need, just call me anytime!"

Fang Qingyu and his four companions no longer said much, slightly nodding before walking straight into the suite.

The heavy door closed silently behind them, sealing off the inside from the outside.

Outside, the smile on Chen Ming’s face faded as quickly as the tide recedes.

Standing where he was, looking at the tightly shut Crystal Stone Door, a faint, almost imperceptible sneer and relief flashed through his eyes.

Muttering to himself softly, his voice so low only he could hear:

"Tsk, still young people, strong enough, straightforward enough, just a pity, not very clever..."

He shook his head.

As if regretting a good tool used in the wrong place, he turned and left with light steps.

Inside the suite.

The fatigue on Fang Qingyu and the others’ faces instantly vanished without a trace.

Their gazes immediately focused on Fang Qingyu.

Fang Qingyu did not walk toward the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, nor did he return to his room.

He merely gave a very slight nod to Wei Banmeng and the others.

Without any communication, the five turned, not toward the corridor leading to their respective suites, but with a turn of their steps, silently slipped into the nondescript safety door leading to the fire escape beside the suite entrance.

The safety door closed lightly behind them.

The light in the stairwell was dim, with only the emergency light sources on the walls emitting a ghastly white glow.

Fang Qingyu did not pause at all, Eternal Night Territory unfolded silently, the viscous darkness instantly engulfing the five of them, isolating all breaths, sounds, and light.

Like five shadows merging into the wall.

An extremely weak voice came from the shadow enveloping Lu Jiuyuan:

"Go down 15 more floors, and you’ll see that corridor, turn left at the end, behind the most heavily guarded alloy door, is the outer area of the ’Profound Ice Meditation Chamber’."

It was Jiang Chengyue’s voice!

At present, he was perfectly hidden in Lu Jiuyuan’s shadow by the Eternal Night Territory.

Last night, after hearing that hair-raising truth, Fang Qingyu did not hesitate.

He brought Jiang Chengyue to the City Lord’s Mansion.

To verify whether what he said was true.

Like true phantoms, under the cover of the Eternal Night Territory, the five floated silently down the cold, empty fire escape.

One floor... two floors... three floors...

The 15th floor was reached in an instant.

The safety stairway’s door was right in front of them.

The Eternal Night Territory enveloped the five, like flowing ink, silently "streaming" out of the door crack, merging into the shadow of the corridor wall outside.

The scene before them was entirely different from the luxurious brightness of the Observatory area.

This was a narrow, oppressive corridor.

The walls were no longer resplendent Glazed Crystal Stone, but cold, gray-white special concrete, exuding a rigid, lifeless aura.

At the end of the corridor.

Was a heavy, windowless, silver-gray alloy door.

On the wall beside the door, an unremarkable miniature surveillance probe flickered with a faint red light.

Fang Qingyu and his four companions clung to the cold wall like lizards, hidden in the absolute darkness created by the Eternal Night Territory.

Jiang Chengyue no longer had the clearance to enter the door at the end.

So all they could do was wait.

Time passed second by second.

In the corridor, it was deathly silent, with only the extremely faint hum from the ventilation ducts.

The oppressive atmosphere was almost suffocating.

Not knowing how much time had passed...

Tap... tap... tap...

Finally, breaking the silence, the sound of footsteps accompanied by the rolling of wheels came from the other end of the corridor.