Life Dungeon Game

"grandfather!"

Just then, the half-closed door was slowly pushed open.

A strong fragrance wafted out from the open doorway.

He Ao turned around and looked towards the door.

Jiaxi carried two plates into the room, looked up at He Ao, and said, "Breakfast is ready! The teacher said that eating a full meal helps you recover faster."

He Ao looked at the steak that had been pan-fried on the plate, paused slightly, and then smiled, "Jiaxi, did you pan-fry this?"

"Um,"

Jiaxi nodded, steam rising around her chubby cheeks. She looked at He Ao and said, "Grandpa, Jiaxi has grown up."

Upon hearing this, He Ao seemed slightly lost in thought, staring at the innocent-looking little girl in front of him.

After a brief pause, he leaned forward, reached out, slipped his arm under his granddaughter's armpit, and gently hugged her, his aged face pressed against the girl's soft little face.

Jiaxi slowly closed the arm holding the plate and hugged her grandfather.

A silence that seemed to last for a moment, yet also for an exceptionally long time, remained between the two.

Finally, He Ao slowly let go of her hand, took the steak plate from the girl, and smiled, "Looks like we should eat now."

"Ok!"

Jiaxi nodded gently.

The two carried their plates into the restaurant.

While cutting the steak, He Ao instructed his granddaughter on her training. In the past, Sito had also instructed Jiaxi on her fitness methods in the same way.

Soon, the two finished their breakfast.

He put the dish in the dishwasher, changed into a new shirt, and picked up his cane.

After crushing the seashell fragment, He Ao could clearly feel that he had established a connection with an entity that was not close by, and he could roughly determine the location of the other party.

But as time goes by, this connection is gradually weakening.

He needs to find the other person before this connection completely dissipates.

Fortunately, the connection did not dissipate quickly.

"grandfather."

Just as he was about to leave, Jiaxi grabbed his sleeve, looked up at him with wide eyes.

He Ao smiled and pushed open the door. "Jiaxi, go first."

The little girl's slightly disappointed face froze for a moment, then blossomed into a lovely smile, "Okay~"

The two left the house one after the other, quickly took the elevator into the underground parking lot, found the SUV from yesterday, and drove out.

Jiaxi sat in the back seat, leaning against the car window, gazing at the sunlit streets outside.

Because there are relatively few high-rise factories belonging to the Kegete Group around the Northwest City where Sito lives, some sunlight still shines on the ground in the surrounding streets.

Actually, it's already quite late, close to noon.

When He Ao got home, it was almost morning; he had actually only slept for less than five hours.

However, thanks to his strong physical and mental abilities, these few hours of rest completely eliminated his fatigue.

He reached out and turned on the radio in the SUV.

"Recently, in preparation for the second headquarters and to escort key equipment, the main force of the Kegete Group's mercenary group has arrived and is stationed outside St. John City,"

A voice, similar to a news anchor, came from the radio.

According to internal sources, now

Many of the mercenaries in the mercenary groups outside the city are originally from St. John's City.

"Currently, the municipal government is actively communicating with the Kegete Group to try to secure a few days of special 'family visit leave' for mercenaries from St. John City during this period of rest and deployment, so that they can go home to visit their families."

"Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Kegete Group said that they have set up recruitment offices in four districts and will conduct large-scale recruitment during this period of renovation."

"The spokesperson stated that the Kegete Group is a young conglomerate, and the Kegete Mercenary Group is also a young mercenary group. Compared to other super conglomerates of the same level, the Kegete Group's mercenary group is younger, more dynamic, offers numerous development opportunities, and provides generous benefits. We welcome talented individuals to apply and join us."

Being young means having less experience, a small team, and still developing.

Compared to established conglomerates, the Kegete Group is indeed too young and lacks a solid foundation.

So far, its mercenary group may be considered large compared to ordinary conglomerates, but it is still far behind established super conglomerates such as Nord and Star Pharmaceuticals.

In recent years, Sito has often heard recruitment information for the Kegete Group mercenary group online.

"After rising for more than two consecutive months, federal grain prices have leveled off today. According to the Grain Industry Consortium, several grain consortium warehouses have caught fire since the beginning of the year due to dry weather and other reasons."

After broadcasting news about the Kegete Group mercenary group, the radio began broadcasting federal current affairs news, "and a number of older machines have experienced varying degrees of aging this year. Multiple factors combined have led to lower grain production and prices this year, ultimately resulting in grain prices rising for two consecutive months..."

······

"The midterm elections for the City Council of Dawn are approaching. Affected by the fluctuations in food prices this year, the approval rating of the current ruling coalition in Dawn has declined from the high level of last year's medical reform."

"Under normal circumstances, the ruling coalition of the mayor of Dawn City is very likely to lose the support of an absolute majority in the city council in the midterm elections, going from having complete control of the council to barely having any control over it."

"As time goes on, the internal divisions within the ruling coalition of incumbent Mayor Christo are becoming increasingly serious. Some believe that Christo may lose the council completely in this midterm election and become a 'prisoner' who is constantly hampered."

"Now, Christos and his team desperately need some results to salvage the crumbling alliance."

······

The radio kept broadcasting the latest news.

Meanwhile, He Ao's car kept weaving through the gaps in the street.

He would point out the direction of the connection he felt on the car's infotainment system to Eve, and then Eve would plan the shortest route to that direction.

Of course, since there was no exact location, He Ao would advance in segments, and after advancing a certain distance, he would try to sense the location of the mysterious connection.

This segmented planning avoids taking the wrong route, but some delays in the journey are still inevitable.

It cost money, and we took a longer route.

After walking for more than two hours, He Ao finally bypassed a factory building and turned into a secluded alley.

He could vaguely sense that the entity with whom he had established a connection was at the end of this alley.

At the same time, he looked up and forward.

Behind this alley, a tall building stands quietly.

He had been here before, when he escorted Ishia back.

This building houses the branch of the Pollution Cleanup Division.

Sometimes, the most dangerous place is indeed the safest place.

No matter how hard they searched for the Night Hawk, it never dared to come and pollute the Cleansing Division's territory.

He Ao finally stopped in front of a small building at the end of the alley.

He could clearly sense that the entity he was in contact with, the one suspected to be the Night Hawk, was located in this small building.

To be precise, it's underground in this small building.

By this time, the connection had become quite weak.

He Ao found the underground parking lot of the building nearby and drove his car in.

This is a paid parking area; the system uses intelligent license plate recognition.

The parking lot seemed quite old, with outdated facilities. A sign on the wall indicated that the parking lot had two levels, and He Ao went directly to the second basement level.

As he continued to descend, he could feel himself getting closer and closer to that being.

"Grandpa, where are we going?"

Jiaxi peeked out from between the driver and passenger seats, looking at the underground parking lot where many of the lights were broken.

"Find someone."

The SUV moved slowly forward on the second basement level of the parking lot. He Ao could only barely sense that the person he was in contact with was ahead, but he was not sure where it was.

Of course, the worst-case scenario is that it exists in the city's sewer system beneath the parking lot.

However, He Ao felt that this was unlikely.

If that being really Night Hawk is true, he can probably guess that the Evolutionary will go to the sewers to find him.

The city of St. John's sewer system is not normally connected to the roads on the surface in this area.

Therefore, the underground sewer system and the above-ground pollution cleanup department building are two different spaces, and the chances of the evolutionary being discovered by the pollution cleanup department while moving in the underground sewers are very small.

The fact that 'Nighthawk' chose this location close to the Pollution Cleanup Department means there's no point in it being under someone else's nose.

He hid in the sewers left by the pollution cleanup department, which is essentially the same as hiding in sewers elsewhere.

Therefore, 'Nighthawk' is most likely in this parking lot.

While pondering, He Ao walked to the end of the parking lot.

In the darkness ahead, the outline of a rusty iron gate could be vaguely seen.

He Ao parked the SUV in the innermost parking space, got out of the car with Jiaxi, and walked towards the iron gate.

There were very few people and almost no cars in the parking lot, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of dust.

During the era of price wars between the Kegete Group and other major grain conglomerates, and during Snavaro's administration, St. John experienced a period of relative economic prosperity.

At that time, St. John's had many cars and many parking lots were built.

Now, many of those cars have been sold or mortgaged to banks.

And along the road

With fewer and fewer cars, parking lots in better locations can still survive, while those in remote locations are left in a semi-abandoned state.

This place witnessed both the prosperity and the decline of St. John.

Walking along the dusty road, He Ao soon arrived at the rusty little door.

The trembling, invisible, and faint connection told him that he was very close to the existence on the other end of the connection.