Survive in Azure Files

Chapter 21: The Evil of This World Arrives

Everyone present turned their eyes to me.

After thinking about it, I said in a deep voice:

"We do go to the black market, but not to collect clues, but to look for evidence."

Unlike the overly shocking event of "most of the land in Abydos was sold by the former student union", there is no need to hide who the real enemy is.

Especially, with interest rates down by nearly 70%.

It was obvious that the other party couldn't stand it anymore and was planning to turn the table over.

At this point, it would be really despicable if I still hide it from my teammates.

"It's time to tell you that the mastermind behind the attack on us is the Caesar Group."

Silence briefly occupied the entire activity room, and then was replaced by the girls' exclamations of disbelief.

"Caesars Group?! Isn't that the consortium that owns Caesars Credit that lent us the money?"

I was a little embarrassed. "Well... my previous speculation was wrong. Although I don't know why, it seems that Caesar Group would rather pay the price of losing all the principal and interest than close down the Abydos school."

"Sensei, how did you know that?"

“It was just speculation at first.”

I will give a brief summary, from the suspicion that Caesar Heavy Industries' transport helicopter was easily hijacked, to hearing that it was Caesar Company that lent high-interest loans to Abydos Higher School, to paying a high price to obtain relevant information from a familiar student.

And finally, it was initially confirmed from the test of Convenience House 68, and it was completely confirmed just now.

"If there was no real plot against Abydos, as a company whose primary goal is to make profits, it would not have made such a decisive decision."

In fact, there are only two possibilities.

It is either Caesars Group or a competitor of the same size as Caesars Group. Other small fish and shrimps simply do not have the strength to intervene in Abydos’ debt problem.

It’s a pity that I got the result first and then worked out the reason, so I still lack the ability.

"And now that we know that Caesars may have connections with the black market, we can conduct a more targeted investigation and find evidence of their crimes."

In response, Hoshino nodded: "Well, without further ado, let's go to the black market first."

The division of labor is still the same as before. Ayane, who has the lowest combat power but is meticulous, is responsible for staying in the academy.

The rest of the group took their weapons and ammunition, and took the Steel Helmet Group truck that they had accidentally "picked up" when Qinxiang was robbed, and followed the instructions on the map to head to the black market.

This time I chose to follow the main force.

The reason is that in special circumstances, adult power may be needed.

Of course, I actually have a hidden reason——

Speaking of the black market, in addition to Convenience House 68, there is a student I know who has a sensitive identity and is quite familiar with that place.

As one of the seven prisoners, Ruozao, who is currently on suspension from school, usually hangs out in the black market.

Although he could not provide any useful information, Ruo Zao was still very familiar with the terrain of the black market.

In short, I have contacted Ruozao privately and asked her to help if necessary.

Not far from the black market, the truck ran out of gas, so we abandoned it and walked.

Unlike the small market I imagined, the black market looked like a town from a distance. After entering the black market, I saw a bustling scene with people coming and going and cars flowing.

Everyone in Abydos was as surprised as I was by this situation.

It suddenly occurred to me that because of the debts borne by the college, the best years of the girls studying in Abydos were almost entirely spent in the vast but deserted Abydos Autonomous Region.

Even if they occasionally go to other autonomous regions to make money, they are always in a hurry and have no time to appreciate the scenery along the way.

I feel lucky to have accepted Ayane's commission.

As long as the remaining problems are solved, the students in Abydos will no longer be trapped in a corner and will be able to access the wider world outside Abydos.

"Senior Hoshino, have you been here before?"

Bai Zi asked curiously because of Hoshino's calm behavior.

"No, it's my first time here too. But I heard there are a lot of interesting places on other campuses as well."

At this point, Hoshino paused, then smiled as if he had thought of something, and his tone became more yearning:

"I heard there's a huge aquarium here! I really want to go check it out~ Wow, fish... sashimi..."

I nodded secretly, thinking that Hoshino really likes the ocean and tropical fish, and silently wrote down this information.

Once everything is settled, let's go on a date with Hoshino to the aquarium.

As for Hoshino's imagination, Serika was somewhat speechless and said tactfully:

"Although I'm not sure, I think the aquarium is not the place you think..."

Seeing that everyone seemed to be a little lax, the serious Ayane reminded everyone to be careful, as danger could occur at any time in a place like this where all kinds of illegal transactions were taking place.

The words have not yet fallen.

As if to follow the words, a burst of gunfire was heard from nearby, moving towards our direction.

Oh, by Kivotos standards, this wasn't dangerous.

I'm used to this.

It was because he had recently been active in the Abydos Autonomous Region, where there were few living people, that he felt a sense of surprise that quickly dissipated.

Not long after, a student with a panicked look on his face and about to cry came running towards us, chased by a group of bad guys who were shooting with guns.

The student being pursued has a pretty and cute appearance, with her blonde hair tied into two ponytails. She wears a white student uniform and black stockings, and carries a cartoon chicken-shaped bag. She exudes a particularly well-behaved temperament.

I recognized her school uniform, it was from Trinity.

The eldest daughter of Holy Trinity would also appear in such a place?

I was a little surprised.

"Wow! Please make way!"

The nameless Trinity student had already fled in front of Bai Zi, shouting as he tried to go around to the left.

Coincidentally, Bai Zi heard the request and moved a step to the right at this moment.

As a result, the two of them were unable to react in time and immediately collided with each other.

"It hurts... I'm sorry!"

Bai Zi asked with concern: "Are you okay? It doesn't look like you're being chased by someone."

"This... this is because..."

Before the Trinity student could explain the reason, the group of bad students had already caught up with us and invited us strangers to join their great cause without any hesitation.

Kidnapping Trinity students for ransom.

Then they were all knocked out by the righteous students of Abydos.

So sometimes I really find it hard to understand how some students’ brains work.

The Trinity students who were rescued from danger breathed a sigh of relief:

"Thank you very much. Without you, I would have caused trouble for the school again.

"I'm Ajiya Hifumi, a student at Trinity College. Please give me your guidance."

Chapter 22 The Director’s Wrath!

As a lawless place beyond the reach of the Federal Student Union, the black market has developed a complete criminal industry cycle over the years.

Among them, underground banks constitute an extremely important link.

The property obtained through various crimes such as embezzlement, robbery, kidnapping, etc. is exchanged for various illegal weapons in underground banks and then used for other crimes, and the cycle continues.

At this moment, a sinful scene was also happening in one of the largest underground banks in the black market.

The sound of gunfire and screams, mixed with pleas for mercy and crying, formed a noisy and chaotic melody.

Standing in the middle of the lobby were five masked bank robbers.

They wore masks of various colors with numbers printed on their foreheads. The leader was so ferocious that he dared to rob a bank wearing only a paper bag that would fall off at the slightest wind, and simply ignored the black market guards.

The robbers shouted wildly:

"Everyone get down! Throw away all your weapons!"

"If you don't want to get hurt, just be obedient~"

“Ah, ahahaha… It would be terrible if you got hurt… Everyone, please lie down…”

"Our leader, Lord Faust, is very scary when he gets angry~"

"Eh? Eh?! Is Faust talking about me? Chief? Me?"

"That's right! You are the captain! And I am Christina from the Masked Swimsuit Group~"

"When did you choose such a rustic name?"

And not far away.

"Sensei! Sensei! Look, he's so handsome! Robbing a black market bank? He can actually come up with such a bold plan. He's a true outlaw! Uwaa ...

Alu hugged my arm excitedly, staring at the crime happening so close to her, her eyes shining and her face full of longing, like a star-chasing girl seeing her idol.

I looked behind me helplessly, too ashamed to watch Alu's behavior any longer, so I turned around and left the remaining three people in Convenience House 68, falling into deep thought.

How did things come to this?

First of all, we have to start with Hifumi showing an extraordinary understanding of the black market.

Unlike her cute and well-behaved appearance, Hifumi has a lot of information about the black market. What's more terrifying is that when asked how she knew so much, Hifumi just replied as a matter of course that it is normal to investigate before going to a dangerous place.

I think that, under normal circumstances, law-abiding citizens would not be able to conduct such an in-depth investigation.

In short, after discovering this, Hoshino took prompt action to repay the favor and brought Hifumi into the team.

But even with Hifumi joining us, after several hours of exploration, we still found nothing.

Hifumi said this was unusual while eating Taiyaki.

It’s not that black market companies are incapable of erasing all relevant sales channels and storage records, but generally speaking, there is no need to do so.

Your entire business is running on the black market, and everyone seems to know why. Do you need to deliberately conceal a mere crime?

For me, who already knows the identity of the mastermind behind this, this anomaly further proves that Caesars Group has ulterior motives.

Just as Hifumi was using the underground bank not far away as an example to explain the darkness hidden underground in Kivotos, a group of black market guards approached and everyone had to temporarily hide and observe secretly.

It was this action that surprised us to discover that the black market guards were escorting the same money transport truck that had come to Abydos to collect payments that morning.

The bank employee I met in the morning handed over the goods to the staff of the underground bank, and at the same time, all the cash in the armored car was transported into the underground bank.

In other words, all the interest paid by Abydos every month has become the nutrient for the growth of the black industry chain and has been used as a tool for illegal crimes.

Ayane tried to hack into the armored car to investigate its route, but unfortunately, all the data of the armored car was managed offline.

Just when everyone was at a loss and was ready to use the least efficient and stupid method, it was the experienced Ri Fumi who gave valuable advice:

"Wouldn't it be fine to use the receipt confirmation document they signed just now? But it's already been sent to the bank, so there's no hope..."

Some people have different opinions on the second half of the sentence.

As if she had thought of something, Bai Zi was ecstatic, and quickly took out several hoods and distributed them to everyone, and once again proposed the big plan that she had never given up and had always buried in her heart -

Rob a bank!

Bai Zi had been planning this for a long time and already had an extremely detailed action plan and a practical theoretical basis.

Perhaps because they thought this was a form of crime fighting in some sense, everyone readily agreed to Baizi's proposal this time and enthusiastically put on the masks that Baizi had woven himself.

Except for me and Hifumi.

Because I am not considered a combatant and Hifumi is a newcomer, Baizi did not prepare masks for both of us.

So Hifumi had to use a paper bag for Taiyaki, cut out holes for the eyes, to cover her face.