Jack''s Manor. Explore stories at empire
Teams of uniformed Investigators, under Roderick''smand, charged in. They held flintlock guns, silent among themselves, using hand signals to coordinate their actions.
"Sir, must we really go to such lengths?"
Mona turned her head, brows slightly furrowed.
Roderick watched his subordinates methodically searching within the manor, and said indifferently,
"Sympathetic, are you? Why do you have such feelings? When we handle other targets, I don''t see you this weak."
"I have thoroughly investigated, and this ''Transcendent'' named ''Jack'' hasn''t reallymitted any heinous crimes... If we''re talking about once destroying a small town division of the Red Apple Church, that wasn''t within our jurisdiction,"
Mona said.
"After I graduated from the Royal Academy, I was directly transferred to the Amber City Shelter, and I''ve always believed in prioritizing evidence. Neither the ''Emerald Zoo Incident'' nor the ''Annihtion Operations'' provide direct evidence that this man has vited the ''Sun Codex'' or the ''Containment Regtions''.
Furthermore, I don''t quite agree with the method of executing targets on the spot."
Roderick let out a coldugh.
A phantom motion shed in his hand and with a snap, he seized the revolver from the holster under Mona''s ribs.
Sizzle...
The revolver''s cylinder rotated, startling Mona.
By the time she regained her senses, she found herself staring down the barrel of the revolver pointed at her brow.
"I have the gun now, and to kill you, all I need to do is pull the trigger..."
Roderick''s icy voice came through.
"But would you wait for me to actually kill you before you try to arrest me?"
Bang!!
A gunshot rang out!
Mona looked at her superior expressionlessly as he fired a shot beside her face with the revolver. Her ears rang, and a trace of warmth flowed down her cheek.
Roderick chuckled and spun the revolver, offering the handle toward Mona.
"Commendable courage... but you should know, the Shelter needs not only courage but also resolve, the determination to suppress any element that threatens the stability of the Empire."
Mona, indifferent to the blood oozing from her ear, took the gun and slipped it back into her holster.
"Special Agent Roderick, even if you are my superior, you have no right to use my assigned weapon without permission... I will report this matter ording to protocol when we get back to the Shelter."
"As you wish,"
Roderick remained unphased by her words.
Soon, an Investigator came out from the manor and stood before Roderick.
"Sir, no one was found, and apart from some tools and machinery in the warehouse, the other things have been moved out... we can deduce that the criminal has already fled beforehand."
"Clear out the stuff inside, take anything of value, all of these are contraband,"
Roderick instructed.
The Investigator nodded, saluted by cing a hand over his chest, and turned around to head back.
Roderick nced indifferently across the street at another building, thinking what a pity it was.
There, another group of Investigatorsy in wait, armed with exquisite weapons crafted by the Transcendent workshop, ready to capture Jack the moment he showed up.
Since they hadn''t caught him on the spot, they would have to wait for next time...
The Shelter had already issued a warrant for his arrest, and as long as the man remained in Amber City, it would be enough to make him tread on pins and needles.
Once the Shelter''s people had carried out the assortment of items, cing them on the cart, Roderick led his team away.
The departure of therge troops caused amotion that startled a Golden-winged Sparrow resting on a branch.
At a distant street corner.
Pris and Su Keying were secretly observing, with three Horseman guild yers standing behind them.
"What should we do? It seems like our faction has encountered major trouble..."
Su Keying said.
Pris pondered for a moment.
"Jack must have done something significant again, otherwise, the Shelter wouldn''t have such a major reaction..."
The three Horsemen looked at each other.
They had only recently found Pris and had spent a great deal of effort and resources to persuade him to ept them and agree to "guide" them in their y.
But just after they''d joined his faction, their base had been raided—what kind of luck was that?!
"Damn it! What the hell, wasting so much energy and not even getting a single task! There are only a few days left in the beta test, can''t just enter with a fresh ount and leave with a fresh ount, right?!"
Doghead Goldined.
His close buddy, Forget No Taboo, also felt depressed, unsure how to exin the situation to the guild leader.
"Don''t panic yet, this actually reveals something."
Pris turned his head and said.
The others looked at him with puzzled expressions.
"Our current faction actually doesn''t have any core members; it''s all supported by ''Mr. Jack''. But the fact that he can cause such amotion by himself shows that he''s indeed extraordinary..."
Pris analyzed.
He also remembered the terrifying panel he saw when he tested Jack, peeping through the tube; his real power had probably reached the ceiling of the current stage, or even higher.
Plus, the fleeting glimpse of Mysterious Objects and Supernatural Knowledge with him, there''s no doubt he''s a big shot.
"We should feel lucky; this is how a major NPC should be, except... he doesn''t seem verywful good, more like a chaotic neutral viin character.
Don''t forget, he once single-handedly destroyed a church in Emerald Town!"
After Pris finished, the Horseman was the first to nod in agreement.
As an executive of a major guild, seasoned and experienced, he naturally noticed this too.
"But the question is, what do we do now? Where do we find him... surely we can''t not even have a ce to receive tasks, right?"
He asked in a deep voice.
"Actually, before Jack left, he dismissed the manor''s servants, and the coachman passed on a message to me... he will find us, told us not to worry."
"Not worry... He''s an NPC, of course he''s not in a hurry, but we are! We can''t just sit around waiting, right? Besides, he''s now on the Shelter''s most-wanted list throughout the city, how is he supposed to find us?"
Doghead Gold said impatiently.
Pris ignored him and turned to leave.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"Going back to log off and eat..."
Pris turned his head, showing a tired face.
"These past few days in the Outer City District, grinding Levels in the sewage ditches, everyday gang fights, do you know how tiring it is?"
Everyone fell silent.
"Wait for me, I''m going to log off and edit videos too."
Su Keying followed him.
She and Pris were temporarily living together, for ease of cooperation.
Seeing this, the trio of Horsemen, helplessly, followed suit.
Just as everyone was walking on the street, the leading Pris was suddenly bumped into by a newsboy.
"Ah! Sorry, sir!"
The newsboy''s papers scattered everywhere, and Pris looked down at him, sighed, and crouched to help pick them up.
Suddenly, a paper airne leisurely floated by in the air; it was nudged by a Golden-winged Sparrow flying past and fell, wobblingly,nding squarely on Pris''s head.
"Hiss!"
He brushed the back of his head, which was slightly sore, and picked up the paper airne at his feet, then let out a soft gasp of surprise.
"What''s up, Pris?"
The others crowded around.
Pris spread out the paper airne with a look of astonishment and showed it to them.
"It''s his message!"
On the crumpled piece of paper it read:
"—Tomorrow, go to the Garden Grand Hotel and wait for me, I need your help with a big event."@@novelbin@@
The signature was a single letter "J".
But they all knew, it was Mr. Jack.
Everyone showed surprised expressions—what kind of messaging method was this?!
At the same time, they all simultaneously had one thought in mind—
A big task ising!