The male supporting character was actually myself.

According to the map, they should have just exited the highway and were traveling through a town. After leaving the town, they still have nearly 100 kilometers of mountain roads to travel.

He patiently checked each of the cameras installed in different locations on the vehicle, and was able to determine that it was indeed a highly professional and experienced reconnaissance team and rescue group.

Yan Lang's heart was finally at ease.

The red dot marking the convoy on the map moved slowly, and after a long time, it finally drove into the sparsely populated mountainous area.

"The tracking signal for Elder Mo and his group disappeared from here. Everyone be careful."

“Use ground scanning equipment to see if you can find traces of their convoy.”

"Increase the search range of the demon power detector. I suspect that there may have been demons lurking in this area."

"Report: No signs of struggle found!"

"Report: Trace detection has indeed revealed the presence of a convoy from the Demon-Catching Alliance, and it appears they've headed deep into the mountains."

"The trace detection vehicle leads the way, tracking the convoy's tracks as it proceeds!"

…………

The orderly search commands and reports could be clearly heard over the communication channel. Yan Lang stared intently at the screen, wishing he were in a car right now to find his daughter's whereabouts.

"Mingyue, you absolutely cannot have any mishap!" He sighed softly as the image of his deceased wife's smile and the happy memories of their family of three flashed before his eyes, and warm tears welled up in his eyes.

Yan Lang rubbed his eyes and focused intently on the images flashing across the screen.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Solution to the Immediate Crisis

"Xiao Bai's intelligence is indeed accurate, but this group of people is a bit too late. I'm getting sleepy from waiting." One of Jiang Chen's clones sat on the edge of the cliff, swinging his long legs as he watched the convoy approaching from afar and stretched.

It has to be said that the fluffy dumpling is becoming more and more capable. While scavenging the Demon-Catching Alliance, it can also listen to various lines to find useful information and send it over, which it then intercepts.

According to the communications, the convoy was only sent by the Fuyang City branch to find the whereabouts of the female lead and her party. There were no important figures involved, so there was no need to "invite" them to the Lingqiu Mountain dungeon.

Otherwise, if things don't go smoothly in a few days, it will be quite troublesome to still have to feed so many people.

Jiang Chen's figure disappeared above the mountain peak, and the next second he appeared on a big tree and beckoned with his finger.

The Horcrux received its orders and began working with practiced ease.

"biu!"

Yan Lang was watching the surveillance video on the screen with his eyes glued to it, but the moment he saw the reconnaissance team enter the Spider Web Mountain area, the entire screen went black.

Then a few pale white words popped up: Signal connection failed!

"Damn it, something's happened!" Yan Lang felt a sense of foreboding and immediately dialed the internal line. "There's something unusual at Spiderweb Mountain. Contact the military immediately to dispatch a large force to sweep through and investigate!"

Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you order me around like that?

Wu Hongtu, who was immersed in the results of his new research and development project, answered the phone and his face was filled with displeasure and anger when he heard the other party's roar.

He cursed Yan Lang's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart, but still asked in his usual gentle tone, "Elder Yan, please calm down. What exactly happened?"

Oh, it's just a signal failure. I've already explained to you that there might be a problem with the geomagnetic field in that area. It's impossible for all the equipment to be broken, right?

This further confirms that the Holy Maiden and her party are absolutely safe; it's just that there's a problem with the signal and they can't be contacted temporarily.

You're just being too concerned!

What kind of demon would dare to run out and cause trouble in broad daylight?

Moreover, all the equipment and devices in our Demon-Catching Alliance are coated with demon-resistant material. Not to mention other lesser demons, even if the demon leader—that ten-thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox—personally came out, he wouldn't be able to harm our people in the slightest!

Oh dear, even if he had the power to move mountains and overturn seas, it wouldn't be of any use!

Let me put it this way: the military's satellite monitoring system is scanning all the time. If there were really such a big commotion, they would have given a warning long ago!

Without a massive, overwhelming force, it would be impossible to wipe out so many of our elite troops in one fell swoop! As long as one person survives, they can send out a distress signal.

Besides, how could a saintess with such great power be tricked by a fairy without making a sound?

Elder Yan, what do you mean by that?

Is this a questioning of the Monster-Catching Alliance's strength or a questioning of the quality of our equipment?

"Very well, in that case, Elder Yan, please go and investigate on your own."

"There's no way I'd go and beg the military for something so trivial!"

"Bang!" Wu Hongtu slammed the receiver down on the telephone, then looked at the unfillable data in the report in his hand and felt another headache coming on.

The project I collaborated on with Professor Li involved everything from funding the production of various precision instruments to secretly capturing ordinary people with spiritual power, and then to various demon cores and little demons... Every step required a huge investment of money and resources.

Especially demon cores; my meager reserves have long been insufficient for research.

Unfortunately, the Demon-Catching Alliance has not been earning much demon cores in recent years, and its management is extremely strict. It has to make do with whatever it can to ensure the normal operation of the research institute. However, it cannot find more demons to hunt, and the deficit is getting bigger and bigger.

How to balance the accounts is still a big problem!

"Ring ring!"

I had just hung up the phone when another call came in.

Wu Hongtu glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was the office line of a high-ranking leader. He quickly adjusted his expression and answered the phone in a gentle tone, "Sir, what are your instructions?"

After hearing something said on the other end of the phone, his face stiffened, and he said with a forced smile, "Don't worry, as soon as I received your call yesterday, I dispatched the elite troops from the alliance, led by Elder Mo and accompanied by the Holy Maiden, to Spider Web Mountain. Of course, the fresher the demon core, the better its effect!"

I'm only missing twenty demon cores. I promise I'll personally deliver them to you before 8 a.m. tomorrow!

Of course, of course. How could we, as family members, use those old, outdated items?

Rest assured, leader, I am well aware of the care and consideration you have shown us!

Sure, sure, I promise it will be delivered by tomorrow morning!

"You go ahead and get busy? See you later."

After hanging up the phone, the fake smile that Wu Hongtu had forced on his face vanished instantly, and his greasy, fat face fell as he spat out a mouthful of disdain.

When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. The Demon-Catching Alliance has endured this for years, so what's one or two more?

When the research on demon control techniques yields results in the future, demons will be at my disposal, and mere humans... hehe, then I'll be in charge of the whole world!

We need to urge them to hand over the demon core as soon as possible. Elder Mo is usually the most reliable, so why is he unreliable this time?

Has something really gone wrong?

Wu Hongtu opened the map on his computer, located Spider Web Mountain, and took a closer look. It was just an ordinary place; in theory, it should be a bit tricky but shouldn't cause any problems.

But it's already almost noon...

There's still no news. If we can only retrieve the demon core by the afternoon, it might not be long enough to send it back.

It's all my fault for being intimidated by that harsh remark; I should have delayed it longer!

Where can I get twenty of these first to deliver the goods that are being urgently requested?

After rummaging through various archives for a long time, Wu Hongtu's brows furrowed more and more.

I didn't even realize I'd misappropriated so much!

Many of the inventory figures are inaccurate; in reality, the warehouses are empty...

"Without using the headquarters' inventory, you can't even gather twenty fresh demon cores?" He looked at the huge deficit he had created through various fraudulent means and felt a little guilty.

Sweat beaded on Wu Hongtu's forehead as he wiped it with his sleeve, a terrible thought suddenly arising within him.

Aren't elixirs and demon pills similar in effect?

These days, little fairies are hard to find, but people with a little spiritual power in their two legs are a dime a dozen!

The Demon-Catching Alliance has been supporting too many people with generous salaries over the years, resulting in huge financial expenditures every month. In addition, with few demon-hunting operations to carry out, more and more demon catchers have become high-paid idlers.

Why not take this opportunity to lay off some employees?

Now they're releasing the layoff list to distance themselves, and after they leave the Alliance Building, they'll send their trusted confidants to kidnap them and dissect the elixir as an emergency measure!

This is a fortune that's within easy reach!

As for using elixirs to make medicine, even if those in power discover something suspicious, they will choose to remain silent because they are greedy for its effects.

For the so-called nourishing and aphrodisiac effects, people are still scrambling to eat all sorts of bizarre dishes, such as fetal soup and steamed brain.

Pills made from elixirs have at least immediate effects!

Of course, it's always safer to stay out of the loop if you can get away with it.

Every day, countless people go missing around the world for various reasons. As long as you handle things cleanly and efficiently, and have the protection of higher-ups, you don't need to worry about any problems!

After careful consideration and deliberation, Wu Hongtu decided the plan was feasible and immediately began drafting the layoff list.

No one cares about those lowly demon hunters whose names are forgotten, yet they can solve their immediate problems!

Chapter Thirty Internal Strife

Twenty!

We only need twenty spirit pills to deliver the goods that are urgently needed from above, and we can figure out a way to make up for the remaining deficit later...

Unable to think of any other way, Wu Hongtu gritted his teeth, pulled out the roster of the lowest-level demon hunters, randomly selected forty people, and then called his secretary to send out the layoff notice.

"Demon cores and spirit pills..." His obese body slumped in the chair as he pondered how to use spirit pills to make up for the deficit.

Those old fogies would definitely not agree; they're all eyeing the alliance's wealth like the back of their hand, afraid of missing out on even a tiny bit. But with so few fairies left and their own finances strained, how can they weather this major crisis?

Should we sound them out first?

Tell them you're broke and that there are no demons to kill, then guide them to accept the idea of ​​using elixirs instead of demon cores.

Once a consensus is reached, anyone in the alliance who wants to cause trouble will be targeted!

Those who oppose us will quietly become stockpiled elixirs. After the great purge of the Demon-Catching Alliance, we can consider developing a new industrial chain.

After all, it takes far too long for fairies to be born, while humans reproduce so quickly!

By raising a batch of breeding machines at high prices, and then observing whether they possess spiritual power after ten months of pregnancy, and once the production line is successfully established, there will be a continuous supply of spiritual pills available. This is much cheaper than obtaining demon cores.

Having the core formula for refining elixirs in their own hands means they can cooperate amicably with those above them no matter what. Once Professor Li's research makes new breakthroughs in the next few years, controlling demons and humans and dominating the world will be just around the corner!

Wu Hongtu thought about it more and more and felt that it would be extremely profitable. He straightened his body and began to consider how to sound out the situation.

Meanwhile, Yan Lang, who was in the elders' office on the floor below the group leader's office, angrily slammed the door and left. He had a premonition that his daughter and her group must have encountered a big (no good) problem, but that damned Wu Hongtu actually had the staff managing the equipment and weapons depot lie to him and say that there was no equipment!