In the eastern side of District 14, inside the Great Yuan Auction House.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this auction item is absolutely not to be missed…” As the host on stage introduced the item, bidders in the audience began calling out their offers.
It was daytime, so this was the human world, but even during the day, a few ghouls managed to sneak in.
The atmosphere in the auction house grew more intense as two serious-looking old men eyed the same item and began to compete with each other.
Su Xiao sat in the audience, his focus different from everyone else’s.
The auction house was quite spacious, able to hold hundreds of bidders at once, and there were three exits: the main entrance, the back door, and an emergency exit.
The emergency exit usually stayed closed, only opening in case of a fire or other urgent situations, but it needed to be secured as well.
Just having the three exits wouldn’t be enough for Su Xiao alone; it seemed he would need to call in others from the branch office.
He stood up and made his way through the crowd to the restroom, pulling out his phone.
“Shinohara, this is Bai Ye.”
Shinohara Yukiki was likely on duty, as the background noise on the call was quite loud.
“What’s up, Bai Ye?”
Su Xiao was taken aback by the way Shinohara addressed him. It seemed the headquarters had promoted him.
“I’ve found a large gathering of ghouls and need backup, a lot of it.”
He emphasized “a lot” because clearing out District 14 would be tough with just him and Shinohara.
It wasn’t that Su Xiao lacked strength; to clear out District 14, he needed many people to help block off routes.
“How many do you need?”
As a first-class investigator now, Su Xiao had the authority to call for reinforcements, but he couldn’t ask for too many.
“A lot, but they don’t need to be very strong. Just enough to block the roads.”
Shinohara took a moment to think.
“There aren’t many investigators in District 14, probably only around 80 below the third class. But first, tell me your plan.”
Su Xiao explained his plan, and Shinohara seemed shocked after hearing it.
“Clear out District 14? That’s not an easy task. There may not be many ghouls, but they hide well. Do you have a way?”
“I have a way.”
Shinohara was silent for a long time.
“Alright, I’ll support you. But if this doesn’t go well, it could have a big impact on your future.”
Su Xiao chuckled softly; he didn’t care about his future.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m acting tonight.”
“I can’t get there in time, so I’ll send Shizao over. As for the people you need, they’ll arrive soon.”
Su Xiao pretended to hang up, but Shinohara stopped him.
“Bai Ye, you’ve been promoted to first-class investigator. Your credentials are at the branch. I’ll have Shizao bring them to you.”
“Okay.”
Su Xiao hung up the phone.
As he was about to leave the restroom, he accidentally spotted a mouse.
This mouse was a bit special; its fur was light yellow. Upon closer inspection, Su Xiao realized it was actually a hamster.
Seeing a mouse in the restroom wasn’t surprising, but why a hamster? Was it a pet brought by a bidder? That wasn’t impossible.
The little yellow hamster didn’t seem afraid of people. It stood up on the edge of the sink, holding something in its tiny paws and nibbling away.
“Crunch, crunch, crunch.”
In the quiet restroom, the only sound was the hamster munching. It looked adorable, with its small black eyes curiously watching Su Xiao.
For some reason, Su Xiao suddenly felt like he was being watched, as if this wasn’t just a hamster, but a person.
“Eek.”
The little hamster squeaked, holding out a small piece of carrot with its front paws, as if offering it to Su Xiao.
The meaning was clear: it wanted him to eat it.
Su Xiao smiled wryly and turned to leave. There was nothing wrong with the little hamster, except that it was too smart.
After Su Xiao left, the hamster quickly finished the carrot, patting its belly in satisfaction.
A glimmer of blue light flashed in its small black eyes, and with a few agile jumps, the hamster vanished from the restroom.
…
Five hundred meters away from the auction house, in a residential building, a girl in a light green dress suddenly opened her eyes.
“Sister, I found him.”
The girl in green had a pure appearance, with long hair cascading down her shoulders. If someone stood nearby, they would smell a fresh, earthy scent, not from any perfume, but from nature itself.
“How strong is he, really? That guy is very cunning; he seems to fear us on the surface but has ulterior motives. If it weren’t for that person’s influence, I would have eliminated him long ago.”
A tall woman in knight armor, holding a large metal shield, spoke.
Her armor was heavy, at least two to three hundred pounds, yet she handled it with ease.
“Han Yu might have lied. According to Kaka (the hamster), that man has enhanced three attributes: strength 13, agility 13, and intelligence 12. His individual attributes are similar to ours, but he follows a balanced approach.”
The girl in green yawned, looking slightly tired. It seemed controlling the hamster from a distance wasn’t easy.
The knight woman frowned.
“I can understand high strength and agility, but what’s with the intelligence? He’s a knife-wielding warrior, yet he enhanced his intelligence?”
The girl in green lay on the bed, her fair legs kicked up, swaying occasionally.
“Who knows? There are all kinds of oddities every day, and today seems especially full of them.”
She laughed lightly after saying that.
“Should we take him out?”
A hoarse female voice came from a dark corner of the room. In that shadowy spot, a woman in a tight suit was barely visible.
If she hadn’t spoken, no one would have noticed her.
The knight woman was clearly the leader among the three. She thought carefully for a long time.
“Of course we should take him out. Being alone in a faction is definitely abnormal. If we kill him, the balance of this derivative world will be disrupted, and then this world will produce a lot of world source.
We three used exemption rolls to enter this low-level world, and we don’t have a main quest. If we don’t do something, we’ll miss out. This is an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”
The other two women nodded in agreement.
“So, when do we strike, my queen?”
The girl in green yawned again, looking half-asleep.
“Just call me queen, no need for ‘my lady’.”
The knight woman glared at her.
“Got it, my queen~.”
As they were about to discuss serious matters, the other two women’s expressions turned serious.
“I’ll go find a high point.”
The woman who had been hiding stepped out, her purple tight suit accentuating her curves, with purple hair tied in a ponytail and a heavy sniper rifle over a meter long on her back.
“Thanks, Hei Bai.”
And so, these three mysterious women began preparing to ambush Su Xiao, who was completely unaware as he was planning to eliminate the ghouls at the auction.
(End of Chapter)