Chapter 106: People Vanishing One After Another (Part Two)

"Big Dummy?"

The man in black felt his trepidation grow with every step forward. He called out to "Big Dummy" to ease the pressure in his heart. Truthfully, he was already regretting this; if something could make two or three hundred people vanish without a trace, what could two entry-level hunters like them possibly do, other than throw their lives away?

"Should we turn back?"

At that moment, the man in black subconsciously treated Big Dummy as the final pillar of his resolve. In fact, throughout his life, Big Dummy had always been his backbone. Whenever he got into trouble, it was Big Dummy who cleaned up the mess. Every time they returned, Big Dummy would be covered in bruises, yet he would still smile and comfort him. The man in black, apart from having a bit of petty cleverness, seemed useless—at least, that was how he viewed himself.

Big Dummy felt much the same as his companion, but he didn't show it. In the hazy night, if he were to show fear, they might both collapse instantly.

Big Dummy wanted to turn and look at his friend, just as he always did, to reassure him. But as he turned, he suddenly felt something bore into his brain, and then, he felt nothing at all.

To the man in black, Big Dummy’s body, mid-turn, seemed to shift like a chameleon—rapidly fading from a healthy hue to pale, then to gray—before he collapsed to the ground.

"Ah... ah!"

Finally, the inexplicable death of his protector snapped the last string holding the man in black together. He ran frantically in the opposite direction of the guard station, his usual composure and petty cunning completely abandoned.

Without Big Dummy as his shield, the man in black proved remarkably fragile—a fact perhaps even he hadn't anticipated.

Suddenly, lost and unsure of where to flee, he stumbled and collapsed. Moments later, he too turned gray, just like Big Dummy. His smart-device, however, finally managed to transmit the message he had been frantically trying to send.

Meanwhile, at the Yang City Headquarters, Information Management Center.

"Director, a previously unsent smart-device message has been detected. The owner is confirmed dead."

The Director of the Information Management Center pushed up his glasses and stared at the message on the large screen. After a moment of contemplation, he muttered, "Great Terror? What is going on? Have you located where the transmission originated?"

The information technician's fingers danced across a virtual keyboard. "Locating now."

A moment later, the technician replied, "It is the Purple Sable District Guard Station."

Looking at the red dot flickering on the screen, the location was confirmed: just outside the Purple Sable District Guard Station.

"Send someone to investigate."

In reality, the message the man in black had tried to send hadn't gone through at the time. It was only after his death that the city’s information center detected and decrypted it, as all smart-devices in Yang City were issued through their network.

***

Yao Ling had just finished a meal with Cao Xiaoseng and was lying on her bed, scrolling through messages on her smart-device, wondering where they should go that afternoon.

Checking the information feed daily had become a habit for Yao Ling; she hoped to find something useful for their group.

Most of it was useless drivel—selfies of beautiful women in dangerous places, clearly edited, or jokes that were occasionally amusing.

Suddenly, a notification popped up under the Academy of Sciences tab: "Inquiry into the situation at the Yang City subsidiary Purple Sable Guard Station. Three credits."

Yao Ling kicked her slender, fair legs in the air as she read. She scrolled to the bottom and realized no one had accepted the mission yet.

"Ye Bai, I just found a mission to investigate the guard station. Should we take it? No one has claimed it yet."

Ye Bai was their team leader. They might skip notifying him for leisure, but for serious matters, he had to be informed.

Ye Bai had just stepped out of the high-pressure training room, wiping sweat from his face with a towel. He was about to sheath his Jinghong Blade when he saw Yao Ling's message.

"Send it over, Ling'er. Ask Xiaoseng for his opinion."

Moments later, her reply arrived.

"All personnel at the Purple Sable District Guard Station have vanished!" Ye Bai was startled by the opening line. He read on: "According to smart-device data, an incident occurred. After scouts were sent, they found no one present. No foundation-level energy signatures were detected."

Ye Bai analyzed the information carefully. If everyone had disappeared, why offer it to first-years? Something capable of wiping out a whole station must be at least foundation-level, making it a second-year mission. He pondered whether to take it—perhaps it was just a simple reconnaissance mission, or the lack of energy signatures was why the Academy of Sciences had left it for the freshmen.

"What does Xiaoseng say?" Ye Bai messaged back.

Yao Ling replied quickly: "Xiaoseng didn't say anything. He’s probably sleeping again, but I think he’ll listen to you."

"And you? What do you think?" Ye Bai wanted her input; they were a team, and he couldn't make the decision alone.

"Ling'er wants to take it. We haven't had an assessment this month, and we could use the credits. Plus, it’s a good chance to test our progress over the last few weeks." She added a smiley face; she had clearly made a breakthrough since their return from the radiation zone.

Ye Bai felt the same. As first-years, they were stuck with entry-level tasks, and once they reached the second year, credits might not come so easily.

"I’ll accept the mission," Ye Bai replied, rubbing his aching arm. They hadn't seen real combat since the radiation zone, only training in the high-pressure room. He was eager for the challenge.

"Ling'er, why did you bring pulse guns again? They must have cost a fortune."

After accepting the mission, the three of them spent a day in the main city preparing. The next morning, as the sun rose, they set off for Yang City.

The three pulse guns Yao Ling had brought last time were destroyed in the radiation zone. Ye Bai knew that even a decent pulse gun at Purple Star Academy cost between three thousand and five thousand Alliance credits. Yao Ling’s were clearly not from the school—they were more powerful, had higher ammunition capacity, and featured load-adjustable firing. He was curious about their origin.

Yao Ling walked in front, occasionally picking vibrant flowers or teasing the spectral butterflies dancing in the air. She skipped along, the vitality of a sixteen-year-old girl shining under the morning sun.

"They aren't expensive, they were free. My family gave them to me. They’re very good to me, so they don't ask for money." She drew the custom-made pulse gun from her waist, pointed to the leaf emblem on it, and added, "This is my family’s mark."

"Weapons from the four major academies and the Yao family all have markings. For example, Purple Star Academy weapons have a star, and the others have their own symbols," she explained to Ye Bai and Cao Xiaoseng.

"However!" she said, shifting the topic to the mission.

"I checked yesterday. This guard station was famous for selling baby purple sables. It’s a small station, but because wealthy ladies in the city love them, they pay high prices, bringing in at least five hundred people a day. We estimate there were at least three hundred people there when they vanished."

"Is there any information from the night it happened?" Ye Bai wanted to be prepared, unlike their last experience in the radiation zone.

"No. Everyone vanished so suddenly that no information got out," Yao Ling replied.

"Then how did we find out?" Ye Bai wondered.

"They say two people went to try their luck at catching a sable and noticed something was wrong."

Yao Ling flipped through her smart-device. Suddenly, she gasped. "The mission report included photos of the station. I don't know if they'll be useful."

She shared the photos. The blood-stained entrance was eerily clean, as if swept. There were no signs of a struggle; even the goods at the roadside stalls were left perfectly in place. If not for the blood, it didn't look like a beast attack—it looked as if everyone had simply walked away, forgetting their belongings.

"What do you think?" Ye Bai asked. The images were unsettling.

If the city hadn't already confirmed everyone was dead, he would have preferred to believe they had simply moved.

Yao Ling shook her head, offering no opinion.

Cao Xiaoseng looked at the photos, his expression unchanged. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We won't know until we see it for ourselves. The information is too vague to tell."

"True," Yao Ling agreed. Ye Bai concurred; if they had to judge, whatever could make three hundred people vanish overnight without damaging a single building was beyond an entry-level beast—or even a foundation-level one.

The three of them continued their journey toward Yang City.