Chapter 402: Clue

Chen Xiaolian felt very unlucky.

He needed to extinguish the flame of a lamp that does not exist in this world.

According to Skyblade, he needed to grasp a power that would allow him to break through space.

Doing such a thing was impossible for him alone.

A helper? Well, it was true that he actually does have one. In fact, his helper was a high-ranking expert.

However, this fellow had been transformed into a blade – but he could still talk.

The issue that concerned Chen Xiaolian the most was when he too, might end up being turned into some object if he remained within this room for too long.

Despite still having many questions, Chen Xiaolian lost the desire to continue chatting with Skyblade.

Likewise, Skyblade himself appeared to have no interest in continuing their conversation.

He asked Chen Xiaolian to carefully observe the jade wall and wait until something appeared.

Seeing as there were no other options, Chen Xiaolian simply did as he was told.

…

When you continue to stare at something for a long time, this action would become very tedious and you will become lost in thought and even fatigued – this fatigue will come knocking even faster compared to when you are doing manual labour.

Many who had never experienced this would probably think: I don’t even need to move. I just need to sit here and stare at it. How will I get tired?

But the truth is, once this action is maintained to a certain point, it would become very tiresome.

…

Chen Xiaolian felt drowsy.

Naturally, as he was in a crisis, he did not let down his guard and his right hand kept a tight grip on the Sword in the Stone.

After an uncertain amount of time, Chen Xiaolian suspected that he might had inadvertently fallen asleep, or did he?

When he recollected himself, he widened his eyes and observed the jade wall – no response.

Chen Xiaolian sighed and looked at the sword held in his hand.

Seeing the Sword in the Stone in his hand made Chen Xiaolian slightly at ease.

However, his face soon became twisted!

His right hand, which was holding onto the Sword in the Stone was all right.

The problem lied in his left hand.

More accurately, it was his fingernail.

Something had appeared on a fingernail of his left hand, causing his heart to palpitate in fear.

Shiny, but cold!

Just like jade.

Just like… Skyblade’s skeleton!

Chen Xiaolian immediately straightened himself; his pair of eyes stared intently at his fingers.

He moved his left hand before him and his right hand released its grip on the Sword in the Stone to examine that fingernail on his left hand.

It was very hard and cold, devoid of the flexibility that an ordinary nail should have.

He gritted his teeth and applied a bit more force.

Pata!

A crisp sound rang out and that fingernail was broken.

Chen Xiaolian found that his fingernail had become very brittle! It had no resilience at all!

It was just like… a real jade!

An intense sensation of pain spread forth from his finger and blood flowed. However, Chen Xiaolian did not care much about that. He took a deep breath and held back the feeling of horror in his heart. Next, he retrieved a spicy bar ([Beginner] class Healing Type Medicinal Substance], shoved it down his mouth and munched down on it vigorously.

I must leave this place as soon as possible!

Chen Xiaolian stood up. Carrying the Sword in the Stone with him, he moved until he was standing before the jade wall.

He recalled how he saw Xian Yin’s face there – naturally, it was also Miao Yan’s face.

Additionally, there was the sword dance…

Chen Xiaolian’s gaze turned solemn.

He recalled an article that he had seen before regarding contemplating the nature of problems.

There was an opinion there: When you encounter a complicated issue and you want to figure out the nature of the issue, there is one thing to note. First, throw logic aside and find an essential clue about the issue. This so-called essential clue refers to… a common ground, a link, related factors.

Chen Xiaolian began considering:

This place was related to Mr San – although he could not determine what that relation was, he was certain that was the case.

Then, there was the appearance of Xian Yin’s (Miao Yan) face on the jade wall and the sword dance.

Mm, there was a connection between Xian Yin and Mr San.

What about the sword dance?

Chen Xiaolian lowered his head to look at the Sword in the Stone in his hand.

He recalled what Mr San had informed him.

Within the Sword in the Stone were Xian Yin’s soul and a set of Sword Skill.

Xian Yin, Sword Skill, both inside the Sword in the Stone.

At the same time, Xian Yin and a Sword Skill were inside the jade wall.

If so, the Sword in the Stone was connected to the jade wall?

Chen Xiaolian’s lips curled into a grin.

What was the connection?

Chen Xiaolian suddenly retracted his gaze from the jade wall. He looked down at the Sword in the Stone that was in his hand and entered a contemplative state.

…

“Still can’t find him?”

There was a grim expression on Bluesea’s face.

The grimness on Qiao Yifeng’s face was worse as he replied, “No!”

Bluesea moved toward the window and looked outside the window.

Despite knowing that the sky and scenery outside was an artificially created item, Bluesea continued to gaze at the clouds above the blue sky. There was a faraway look in his eyes.

Soon however, he shook his head and said in a very firm voice, “This is Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s headquarters! No one can disappear from this place without any reason! No one!”

“There is no alarm from any monitoring system.” Qiao Yifeng kneaded his forehead forcefully. “Additionally, there is no sign of intrusion or tampering on our alarm system.”

Bluesea’s waggled his eyebrows. “You mean to say… someone inside did something?”

Qiao Yifeng shook his head. “That’s not what I’m saying. What I mean is, this matter is too strange.”

Bluesea walked back and slowly sat down. “You are the one who brought him over.”

“I did.”

“This man is probably not our enemy.”

“Of course not.” Qiao Yifeng could not help but let out a sneer. “He is still unqualified to become an enemy of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.”

“He has a relationship with your daughter.”

Qiao Yifeng was momentarily surprised. “Are you suspecting me?”

“That is not what I mean,” replied Bluesea with a sigh. He then continued in a relaxed tone. “Your daughter does not have the authority to evade the alarm system. There are only a few people within the guild with such a level of authority.”

Qiao Yifeng gave a sigh of relief.

“Find him quickly! A person could not just disappear for no reason. This is the headquarters of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild while Zero City lies outside! If he is not here, then he must be in Zero City. Since he doesn’t have the clearance for the entry and exit passageway, it is impossible for him to casually walk out of Zero City.”

“I will find him as soon as possible,” replied Qiao Yifeng with a sigh. “Bluesea… I am sorry. The guild is currently facing such a situation and yet, I brought someone here to cause problems for you.”

Bluesea suddenly smiled and said, “Compared to the problem that we are now facing, this cannot be considered as much.”

Qiao Yifeng stood up and moved to leave. However, before he reached the door, he suddenly turned his head. “Can you answer a question of mine?”

“What is it?”

“That kid.” Qiao Yifeng frowned as he continued, “Why did you give him those benefits? Why did you give him those equipment? I don’t think much about those mechs, tanks, or even the Tidal Fighter.  However, the value of an Assembly Station is far beyond that of one year of mining right for a C11 mine.”

Qiao Yifeng stared at the Bluesea. “I want to know why you did that.”

Bluesea suddenly smiled. “Brother Qiao, how long have we known each other?”

“Very long. I can’t even remember how long,” replied Qiao Yifeng with a smile.

“Then please trust me. I have my reasons for doing so. But now is not the time to reveal it.” Bluesea looked at Qiao Yifeng in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

Qiao Yifeng was silent for a moment. “… I trust you!”

Having said that, Qiao Yifeng turned around and left the room.

Bluesea quietly waited for Qiao Yifeng to close the door before looking at the huge screen on the wall.

“Connect me to Fatty.” Bluesea sighed.

A light shone down from the ceiling and Sarah’s holographic figure appeared before Bluesea.

“Sir, the connection to Mr Fan Jr.’s room had been manually cut off. I believe he might have cut off the switch.”

Bluesea frowned and said, “What is he doing?”

“From what I can gather, before the connection was cut off, he was playing digital games in his room. He even made himself an egg ham sandwich.”

“He did not leave the room?”

“He has no authority to leave the room. He has been confined by you, sir.”

In the room, Fatty had his sleeves pulled all the way up as he sat there, scratching his ear while he sweated.

Before him was something that appeared like a remote control. But, it had been dismantled.

“Just what the ***** is the problem?” Fatty cast a lost look at the remote control.

…

“You mean to tell me that Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild made a complaint about us? They are saying that our men had interfered with their internal matters?”

Within a certain room in Zero City, a middle-aged man with a muscular appearance was coldly assessing an oil painting on the wall.

A sound could be heard replying from a hands-free communication device.

“Yes sir. They are complaining that a female member of the Angel Corps had interfered with their internal affairs, something relating to Qiao Yifeng’s daughter. Their side is protesting that our Angel Corps has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of any resident guild.”

The middle-aged man revealed a frown on his face and he said, “So, what is the result of the investigation? Since you are reporting this to me, I believe you must have conducted an investigation, right?”

“Yes sir!” The one talking through the communication device remained calm. “Using the details provided by Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, I proceeded to perform an investigation that very day and examined the whereabouts of the members of the corps when the incident occurred.”

“And the result?”

“The result obtained is very strange,” replied the other person. “Among all the members of Angel Corps who were within Zero City during that period of time, three fits the description given by them of a ‘young woman’. However, they all have alibis to prove that they were not there during the incident.”

“Are the alibis reliable?”

“Very reliable.”

“Oh? How can you be so certain?”

“I was personally there with them. There were also six other members there at the time. We were all training in the training grounds.”

“External appearances can be changed,” said the middle-aged man with a frown. “With the assistance of certain devices or equipment, even a man could pose as a young woman.”

“I will continue the investigations. However, I had asked many people within the guild and they all replied that they knew nothing about the incident.”

The middle-aged man had a very grim look on his face as he said, “Then continue the investigation!”

The voice coming from the communication device sounded hesitant as he replied, “Sir, consider this ignorance on my part, but I feel that this is not worthy of our attention! We are the Angel Corps! We are not obligated to give those resident guilds any explanation. We have our own pride and dignity.”

The middle-aged man grunted and replied, “Pride? You mean to say we should put their complaint aside?”

“Something like that, sir.” The voice coming from the communication device slowly continued, “We are the Angel Corps! We are the only transcendent force in Zero City! We are not something that could be given orders just like that. Especially not by a guild that is already about to fall like Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.”

“You don’t get it.” The middle-aged man’s voice took a solemn tone. “This matter has nothing to do with pride or dignity!

“I don’t give a *** about a complaint by the other resident guilds! Forget Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, even if Rodriar Guild runs over with it, I can still ignore them.

“However, your investigation result for this matter have disappointed me greatly.

“There are two possibilities. The first: This is something done by our people, but none came out! After being asked about it by the internal department, they continued to conceal their actions – this is a violation of our regulations! Members must be truthful toward the internal investigators! I don’t care if they had interfered in the internal affairs of another resident guild. I can even ignore the killing of that fellow’s daughter! What I care about is that our own people had lied to the internal investigators! That is what I care about!

“The second: This is not an act by our people. If so, the gravity of the situation becomes even direr! Someone, within Zero City, had the gall to pose as a member of our Angel Corps. This is an unacceptable act and it must be nipped!

“Do you understand?

“Your performance and the words you said earlier were all very foolish. That is what disappoints me.

“Thus, you had better take care of things properly and give me a satisfactory result.

“Do not let me down again! “

“… yes sir!”

…

Chen Xiaolian opened his eyes and looked at the jade wall.

He suddenly smiled.

After considering it, he finally made up his mind.

“Whatever.”

Chen Xiaolian sneered and raised the Sword in the Stone in his hand. Then, he forcefully stabbed it into the jade wall!

…