Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

With a loud shout, Wen Yue stepped on the gas again, leaving everything around her behind.

Wei Yanwu felt that he was no longer up to the task.

If this continues, he'll probably be dizzy for quite a while by the time he gets to Block Three. No, I need to call Lin Gerui and remind him!

Wei Yanwu laboriously reached for his phone at his waist, braving the wind that made it hard to even open his eyes (no helmet, point deduction), and dialed Lin Gerui's number:

"Rat King, where are you... Wuhu... oh oh oh oh oh oh...?"

"what are you doing?"

Hearing Wei Yanwu let out a strange, inexplicable cry, the Rat King frowned and instinctively asked, "..." But he immediately added:

"I've gathered my men and we're ready to surround Block 3. I never imagined I'd have to use this tactic on my own turf. I'm on my way from Block 1 now; it should only take a few minutes."

"A few minutes?" Wei Yanwu's voice suddenly stopped. At the same time, a meteor, trailing smoke and dust, appeared in front of Lin Gerui. The Rat King's eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he looked at Lady Wenyue, who was sitting in the driver's seat and seemed unusually excited, and Wei Yanwu, who was lying on Lady Wenyue's back like a dead fish. He swallowed hard and said:

"You... what are you doing here?"

"Come on up!"

Wei Yanwu suddenly regained some strength from somewhere, reached out and lifted the not-so-tall Rat King onto the back seat of the car. Wen Yue nodded and reminded him:

"Remember, hold on tight!"

"Understood," Wei Yanwu replied solemnly.

The Rat King was somewhat dissatisfied with being carried into the car by Wei Yanwu, so he shook his head and refused to reach out.

But the next second, Lady Wenyue stepped on the gas.

"Brother Wei, save me!"

...........

Slums, Block 3, unfinished tenement buildings.

As Wayne climbed the stairs, he saw no fewer than thirty grey-robed figures scattered across the various floors. Most of them carried flashlights, which they turned on at Wayne's command.

Wayne's mood gradually improved. It seemed he hadn't gone to the wrong place after all. Thirty people in one building—and he still said this wasn't the enemy's lair?

He looked up at the floor and saw that there were still two floors to go before reaching the top. He hadn't yet seen a face that could be considered a boss, so he decided to leave those he had missed for now. The final boss must be on the two floors above.

Damn, climbing stairs is really tiring. Especially this kind of unfinished building without even an escalator.

Wayne took a breath and climbed to the last floor in one go.

However, what appeared before him was not the distinctive villainous boss, but the distinctive Ghost Sister.

"Hoshiguma?"

Wayne exclaimed in surprise.

Hoshiguma's eyes immediately turned towards Wayne, glancing sideways at Wayne who was now able to move freely, her surprise evident.

Mr. Wayne?

He wasn't familiar with Wayne; they'd only met once that afternoon inside the Guard Bureau building, so they weren't exactly acquaintances. But Wayne seemed quite friendly towards her, even asking to add her as a Line friend before leaving. This made Chen's eyebrows twitch.

Why is he here?

Moreover, why is he able to move?

The slums are hardly a place for guests, especially not in the heart of the slums late at night. Wayne's presence here, and his ability to move—could he be the one who cast the spell?

Hoshiguma shook her head inwardly, dismissing her guess. It was unlikely; Wayne looked too young. Even for genius masters, mastering Originium Arts required time to accumulate experience and gradually become proficient. Looking at Wayne's appearance, it was difficult to compare him to the "masters" Hoshiguma had seen.

Hoshiguma was surprised, and Wayne was also surprised.

What's going on with Sister Ghost here? And why is she surrounded by so many men in black?

Wayne didn't think Hoshiguma could be the leader of any men in black. There were no lights around, and the men in black, unable to turn on the lights, were all frozen in place. They aimed their crossbows at Hoshiguma, and their long swords were no joke.

What happened here? Where is the boss?

Could it be that I really missed something?

Puzzled, Wayne snapped his fingers, releasing Hoshiguma from some of her restraints.

Then, clutching his chest and panting heavily, he pretended to be exhausted and sat down on the ground.

"Mr. Wayne!"

Sure enough, Hoshiguma, whose restraints had been partially lifted, immediately ran up looking worried.

Chapter 73 Wei Yanwu Prepares to Take Over the Blame

"Mr. Wayne, are you alright?"

Gently helping Wayne to sit down against the wall, Hoshiguma looked up at the gray-robed men still trapped in place. Gritting his teeth, he risked his life to move all the gray-robed men to the stairwell and disarm them. Only then did he come up and ask with concern.

Wayne nodded:

"No problem, I'm just a little tired."

He looked at Hoshiguma and asked curiously:

"But what are you doing here, Officer Xing? Did Wei Yanwu send you?"

"this....."

Hoshiguma looked away and hesitated for a moment.

The Rattlesnake incident was a closely guarded secret for ordinary people, but Wayne had just rescued her and was now trapped in Block Three. It would be unreasonable to tell him nothing. Under Wayne's curious gaze, she still spoke:

"I'm here on a mission. The Guard Bureau is investigating a case involving an infected riot organization that occurred in the slums. Director Nine and I are tasked with infiltrating the organization and gathering information about their leader, Rattlesnake."

Wayne raised an eyebrow: "What about nine?"

Hoshiguma scratched his head: "Kyu and I got separated. We were ambushed by the Rattlesnake organization. I was forced into this building and surrounded by them."

Those gray-robed men outside are there to block your way.

Wayne understood. It seemed that the organization called Rattlesnake was not targeting him, but rather the Guard Bureau members who had infiltrated the Third District. It was just that he had appeared at the wrong time, coincidentally at the location of the encirclement of Hoshiguma, which was why he was targeted by the gray-robed man.

It was truly rare for the Guard Bureau to suffer such a huge setback without any apparent reason. According to Wayne's rough estimate when he came up, there were over thirty grey-robed figures inside the building, not to mention those gathered in the encirclement below. With so many enemies, Hoshiguma's combat strength alone wouldn't have been enough to break through. It's easy to imagine what unimaginable things would have happened without Wayne.

Kyu and Hoshiguma have become separated, and Wayne cannot abandon her. This former head of the Guard Bureau, who will later join the Reunion Movement out of disappointment with Wei Yanwu's indifference and Lungmen's coldness, is also among Wayne's targets.

However, knowing your enemy is the key to victory, and he had never heard of the so-called Rattlesnakes. He was willing to bet that there was no such character or organization in the original story, so he could only rely on Hoshiguma's information.

"So, have you discovered the rattlesnake's true nature?"

Hoshiguma looked ashamed and shook her head:

"Sorry, no, I don't have any."

The infiltration plan was exposed, and they were separated during the evacuation. Now, Kyu and Hoshiguma can't contact each other at all. Faced with Kyu's uncertain fate and the stagnation of the case, Hoshiguma can hardly help but apologize.

They've lost completely this time; the entire Guard Bureau is stunned. Being led by the nose the whole time is a painful experience to talk about.

Wayne looked helpless as he listened.

No, so all you did during this infiltration was come to get yourselves killed, and you didn't actually do anything?

"However, we didn't come away empty-handed. For some reason, it seems that District 3 has been caught up in a large-scale Originium Arts attack. Just like me, everyone is frozen in place. We can call for support from the Guard Bureau, then pack all the grey-robed men into trucks and take them back to the Guard Bureau for interrogation."

"This is just basic procedure for the police, nothing special," Hoshiguma suggested. "Police officers may not have the quick wit or meticulous thinking of criminals, but they possess unwavering will and ample endurance. Since the enemy has already revealed their identity as wearing gray robes, all we need to do is capture all the gray-robed men and bring them back to the Guard Bureau. Surely one of them will be Rattlesnake!"

Wayne had to admit that while Hoshiguma's method was a bit crude, it was very practical. If Wayne hadn't unleashed this Originium Arts, he might have actually agreed to Hoshiguma's plan.

But now, Wayne could only shake his head and refuse.

"No."

"Why...why?" Hoshiguma asked, puzzled.

Why? Because I haven't rehearsed my statement with Wei Yanwu yet. The Mandate of Heaven is a spell that cannot be easily exposed. If Wayne hadn't just judged that we were at a critical moment of life and death, he wouldn't have risked using the Mandate of Heaven on such a large scale.

The reason why Wayne still called Wei Yanwu even though he had already decided to release the Heavenly Mandate Imperial Power was because he needed to find Wei Yanwu, the Lord of Longmen City, to coordinate his testimony so that he could take the blame.

“Because it’s a secret,” Wayne said slowly. “It’s a spell cast by Wei Yanwu’s secret unit. Listen to me, Hoshiguma, this incident has nothing to do with the Guard Bureau anymore. Wei Yanwu should arrive soon, and he will personally command the extermination operation in the Third District.”

"Commander Wei will come in person?"

Hoshiguma said, somewhat incredulously.

Hoshiguma didn't doubt that the spell was cast by Wei Yanwu's troops. After all, within Lungmen, only a handful of people were capable of unleashing a spell of this scale. Swire's grandfather had moved to Victoria to live out his days long ago, and the Rat King's spell was more akin to sandstorms, having nothing to do with control. The only person with the power to do something like this, who wasn't hostile to the Guard Bureau and hadn't harmed them, was Wei Yanwu.

But will he come in person?

In Hoshiguma's memory, Wei Yanwu had always been the calm, experienced, and composed type, unwavering in the face of danger. Since the establishment of Lungmen, there had been more than ten battles, large and small. In the Lungmen retake war alone, he fought against the Ursus Empire twice. In these wars, except for the first Lungmen recapture war, Wei Yanwu had never personally led an expedition.

Is Wei Yanwu really going to personally take action to eliminate a paramilitary armed group this time?

Perhaps cleaning up the bad guys is just a pretense, and protecting Wayne's safety is the real goal?

"Speaking of which, Your Highness Wayne, how did you manage to still be able to move? I couldn't even move my eyes just now."

Seeing that the conversation was still stuck in a rut, Wayne shrugged, pointed mysteriously to his head, and said:

"It's related to my Originium Arts. Do you want to ask any further questions?"

"...No, I don't want to think about it anymore." Hoshiguma quickly waved her hand.

She had heard Chen mention Wayne and the others' identities before—Prince Victoria. Although he seemed approachable, being Chen's classmate, Originium Arts were still considered private matters. If she rashly inquired and angered him, wouldn't it be considered espionage for prying into foreign military secrets?

"So, do you have any leads on rattlesnakes right now? You can't just come in here knowing nothing, can you?"

Seeing that Hoshiguma had avoided the topic, Wayne asked with relief.

Hoshiguma nodded: "It's not that we have absolutely no clues. For example, the Guard Bureau has a quick sketch of a rattlesnake."

Hoshiguma patted himself down, pulled a sketch out of his pocket, and handed it to Wayne.

"For reference only, because there are very few features."

Wayne took the portrait, a subtle expression on his face.

Chapter Seventy-Four: Chen Joins the Battle

"Chen, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, Ninth Bureau. Why are you calling directly?"