Chapter 77: House Of Cards
Tiger Group and Snake Group members went to great lengths and finally eliminated the remaining Maggot People. The surviving personnel from both groups gradually assembled.
“Are you okay?” He Jia’an saw Bu Gaojun hopping back on one foot and asked with concern.
“The bone in my left foot got crushed.” Bu Gaojun’s face was pale as he forced a smile and said, “I can barely move.”
The Tiger Group members were overall unharmed. The most serious injury was Bu Gaojun losing the use of his left foot; the others only suffered some superficial wounds. Although the wounds looked ferocious and exaggerated, they weren’t too serious.
On the Snake Group side, ultimately only three people rendezvoused. She Zi’an looked at Zhao Jing and the other teammate; they were fine, but the brothers Chen Qifeng and Chen Qihei had not returned.
“They went to protect Xin Junmao, so they should be with Xin Junmao.” Zhao Jing said. She glanced at the messy surroundings and felt some unease in her heart. “Let’s quickly find them and rendezvous.”
“After rendezvousing, your Snake Group should take Xin Junmao and Bu Gaojun and evacuate together. We Tiger Group will go investigate the situation inside the remaining Stone Gate.” After hearing this, He Jia’an said to the Snake Group members.
She Zi’an was stunned for a moment, then slightly furrowed his brows and said, “Our Snake Group still has some strength left. Let those with heavier injuries and the survivors go out first, and the rest continue to cooperate in the investigation.” The other Snake Group members also nodded in agreement, their expressions serious.
He Jia’an and She Zi’an locked eyes, and he said, “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not looking down on your Snake Group’s ability. I just hope you can complete another task.”
“Another task?” The Snake Group members were slightly taken aback, then they saw He Jia’an pull a badge ring from his pocket. The pattern on the ring was pieced together from the four common poker card suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades.
“Does this symbol mean anything?” She Zi’an asked puzzledly, but the pattern looked somewhat familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Bu Gaojun dragged his injured foot forward a step and said, “Doesn’t it feel familiar? This is the symbol of the world-class conglomerate Card House Conglomerate. The ring is made of special metal and can only be worn by the cadre level. Obviously, one of the Evolution Paradise Organization members who turned into a Maggot Person earlier was from the Card House Conglomerate’s cadre level.”
She Zi’an’s eyes changed slightly, but he quickly shook his head and said, “But that doesn’t prove that Evolution Paradise has the Card House Conglomerate supporting it from behind.”
“Of course it does.” Bu Gaojun said with a grave expression, “Do you know which company the regional government jointly contracted Cuizhu City’s underground transportation facilities with, and which conglomerate those companies belong to?”
Hearing this, there was no need to say more; the Snake Group members’ faces had all changed.
If that was really the case, then the Card House Conglomerate was undoubtedly a major cancer in the Shenzhou Region and even the entire world.
“I understand.” She Zi’an realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately nodded heavily, indicating he would follow He Jia’an’s instructions. After going out, he would first notify his superior, then begin investigating the Card House Conglomerate.
However, when She Zi’an and the others finally found the Chen brothers, the Snake Group members all stood in place with expressions of pain and grief and indignation. Their comrades who had worked together for over a decade, the Chen brothers, ultimately could not escape the Mystic Investigator’s destiny and were cruelly killed, leaving only a pieced-together, incomplete corpse’s bones. Yet the target they had desperately protected, Xin Junmao, was still missing.
Even with boundless anger, She Zi’an still clenched his fists tightly and held back. His eyes red, he looked at He Jia’an.
“I know what to do. Don’t worry.” He Jia’an looked into the other’s eyes. Before the other could speak, he solemnly thumped his chest and promised seriously, “I will make that thing pay the price.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.” She Zi’an nodded heavily, then looked at Bu Gaojun. “We’ll evacuate first then.”
Bu Gaojun didn’t speak. Supported by She Zi’an, he left with the Snake Group members in the direction they came from.
“Let’s check the nearby surroundings again. In such a short time, even if Xin Junmao was taken away, he should have left some traces. If we can’t find any, we’ll go directly into the Stone Gate.” He Jia’an said calmly. Although he didn’t say it explicitly, everyone could tell he planned to give up rescuing Xin Junmao.
In the end, Xin Junmao had been entangled by an extremely dangerous Abnormal God, which was very different from the time they rescued Li Yuning from Huo Gu.
No matter how powerful Huo Gu’s race was, it was at least still within the slightly understandable scope of living creatures, and they could be killed by ordinary human weapons.
But Abnormal Gods were different. They had long surpassed the realm of living creatures, possessing inconceivable vitality and powerful power. They were supernatural beings that not only humans but even advanced powerful abnormal races like Huo Gu could not confront.
Admittedly, every member of their Mysterious Group had the ambition to commit God Slaying, but this was not something they could achieve now.
Moreover, let alone God Slaying, they didn’t even have a method to expel and seal the Gluttonous Daughter.
The reason the Evolution Paradise Organization was so rampant, repeatedly banned but still growing larger, and even able to have connections with world-class conglomerates, was precisely because no one had thoroughly found a method to expel this Abnormal God from Earth.
After a search, finally, Yu Lianyun discovered a large amount of the Gluttonous Daughter’s tissue fluid residue near a drainage ditch, which meant the Gluttonous Daughter had appeared here before.
“Looks like he was taken away.” Li Yingqi speculated. “If he had been eaten, we should have been able to find Xin Junmao’s head, but unfortunately, we didn’t see it.”
“I’ve always wanted to ask, why does the Gluttonous Daughter specifically not eat heads?” Yu Lianyun asked curiously. “Excluding the possibility of dietary preference or pickiness.”
“We’ll talk about this while walking.” He Jia’an said. While leading Yu Lianyun and Li Yingqi in a jog toward the huge Stone Gate, he continued the previous topic. “Regarding the reason the Gluttonous Daughter doesn’t eat heads, our Mysterious Group’s anti-Abnormal God research department has conducted specialized research.”
“Like the Blood People and Maggot People we encountered before, those are kin produced by absorbing the Gluttonous Daughter’s tissue from different body parts. They are no longer humans but entirely new individuals. As the Gluttonous Daughter’s kin, they have inherited some of her characteristics to some extent.” He Jia’an maintained a steady breathing rhythm, trying to make his words as clear as possible while running. “We discovered that these kin do eat heads, and they quite enjoy it. Moreover, these kin can read or inherit some of the deceased’s memories by eating heads.”
“Inherit the deceased’s memories?” Yu Lianyun’s eyelids twitched. “This… is too outrageous.”
“So our experts speculate that the reason the Gluttonous Daughter doesn’t want to eat heads is very likely because she doesn’t want to obtain the deceased’s memories.” He Jia’an narrowed his eyes.
