Chapter 218: Infiltration or Unrivaled

"Worker, you have been working very hard recently, so we have decided to reward you with a few fruits bearing the Scarlet Curse."

For some reason, this image inexplicably surfaced in Yun Mu's mind.

This really is, well, it leaves one not knowing what to say.

"Besides that, is there nothing else?" Just in case, Yun Mu asked Lixia again.

"There really isn't anything else." Lixia thought for a moment and shook her head.

"Mr. Dunn, what do you think?" Yun Mu looked at Dunn, wanting to hear his thoughts.

After all, he hadn't said a single word since just now, and she had to take the initiative to ask. "Hmm?"

Dunn looked at her with some confusion: "I don't have any thoughts; just proceed at your own pace."

"But everything that needed to be asked has been asked; the only thing left to do is to discuss the follow-up plan." Yun Mu spread her hands, putting on an expression as if she didn't know what to do either.

"Hmm." Seeing her like this, Dunn touched his chin and pondered: "During the day, at the docks, did you perceive the aura of any other Bloodline or the Scarlet Curse?"

"No." Yun Mu denied it without hesitation; if there had truly been the aura of the Scarlet Curse or a Bloodline, she couldn't have failed to mention it during the day.

"You mean..." She suddenly thought of something, a look of realization appearing on her face.

That's right, what about the other workers infected with the Scarlet Curse?

"Were they all taken away in secret?"

"Not necessarily." Dunn crossed his arms over his chest and analyzed: "If those commended workers were taken away in secret after being infected with the Scarlet Curse, the other workers at the docks wouldn't have failed to notice."

"Just like Lixia; she had only been missing for two or three days before her brother Kamaier spread the news to almost the entire construction site."

"Other workers might not have relatives like brothers or sisters, but... they would surely have friends."

"Um, I might know where they all went." Lixia, who had been listening to the two talk, raised her hand: "As far as I know, many workers who were commended were eventually transferred to different job positions and assigned elsewhere."

Yun Mu looked at Lixia and waved her hand: "Then do you know exactly where they were assigned?"

"I'm not sure."

"Hmm... then are there any rumors about people going missing at the construction site?" she asked again.

"I suppose... there aren't any." Lixia said, sounding a bit uncertain.

"Perhaps you could go ask my brother; after all, I haven't been to work at the docks for two days, so my information might be a bit outdated..."

"That works too." Yun Mu nodded, then looked at Dunn beside her: "Then, shall we take Lixia back first?"

"Sure, but before that, there is one more thing to do." Dunn looked behind him; Qiaosefu, who had finished his cigarette, was walking back in from outside the door.

"Where did you lock up those two thugs?" he asked the other man.

"Right in the eastern suburbs, inside the abandoned No. 006 logging yard. It was originally a warehouse used to store timber; after the trees there were mostly cut down, it was just left there and hasn't been demolished yet."

He paused and said: "I can take you there."

"No need." With a light chuckle, Dunn walked toward the door: "I know where that place is."

"You don't need to do anything. I will return a peaceful life to you; just remember, don't tell anyone about what happened today, and you know the rest."

"... Yes." Watched by Dunn's sharp gaze, Qiaosefu couldn't help but feel a bit nervous and swallowed his saliva.

Nodding silently, Dunn looked at Lixia beside him: "Miss Lixia, please come with us; after all, your current status is rather special."

"Of course..." He smiled confidently and raised a hand to straighten the brim of his hat: "We will protect your safety, I swear it on the uniform I wear."

When you said you could pretend not to see Qiaosefu's crimes, that uniform of yours already didn't matter, did it?

Hearing this remark from Dunn, Yun Mu couldn't help but complain in her heart.

However, the effect of his words was quite good... She looked at Lixia; the girl's originally nervous expression had clearly become much more settled after hearing Dunn say he would protect her.

"One last piece of advice for you." Before the three of them left, Yun Mu turned to look at Qiaosefu: "It is best not to get involved with the Scarlet Relief Society. If possible, please resign as soon as possible and find another job."

"I know this might be difficult for you, but the purpose of that union is definitely not as... upright as improving the working environment and treatment of workers."

"There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world; you should think it over."

She had said everything she needed to say. Yun Mu did not look at Qiaosefu's reaction but immediately turned around to follow Dunn and Lixia, who were walking ahead.

"No such thing as a free lunch, huh... That really is a simple and easy-to-understand way of putting it." After Yun Mu caught up to the two, Dunn heard her footsteps and praised.

"I can only say so much; the rest depends on how he chooses for himself..." Walking out of the stairwell, Yun Mu looked back at the building behind her.

"Mr. Qiaosefu is a smart man; he knows what to do." Dunn looked around and didn't find a Steam Taxi on the street.

"It seems we can only walk there," he said.

"Is that place very far from here?" Yun Mu asked upon hearing his words.

"Not sure, after all, I don't know where that warehouse is." Dunn smiled helplessly and waved his hand.

"Didn't you just say..."

Before Yun Mu could finish her sentence, she suddenly realized.

Dunn was a professional who had come from the Winter Capital, so how could he possibly know the city routes of Frostfall City?

This guy was just lying earlier!

"Oh my, I originally intended to take a taxi; now I don't know what to do." A look of distress appeared on his face, but Yun Mu knew this was just something he was faking.

"You..." Just as she was about to say something, Lixia, who was to the side, spoke up at this moment: "I will take the two of you there; I know the route."

"Great." Hearing her words, Dunn immediately turned to look at her: "Then I'll leave it to you."

"... Forget it." Yun Mu swallowed the words she had originally intended to say, and under Lixia's guidance, the three of them walked toward the eastern district of Frostfall City.

Fifty-two minutes later.

The time had reached 9:45 PM, and the three of them arrived in front of the abandoned No. 006 logging yard.

"There is the smell of blood..."

Yun Mu sniffed, her expression suddenly becoming very serious.

It felt like the blood had been evaporating for a while; it didn't feel... very fresh.

"Do you perceive the aura of any living people?" Dunn asked her. "No." Yun Mu expanded her Blood Perception ability to its maximum, then shook her head.

"Let's go inside and take a look."

Dunn strode forward, walking into the area of the abandoned lumberyard.

In the distance, a small warehouse about twelve meters high and covering an area of over one hundred square meters appeared before everyone.

Yun Mu looked at the warehouse in the distance: "The smell of blood is coming from there."

"Heh." Dunn suddenly chuckled at this moment, and he walked toward the direction of the warehouse: "No need to be nervous, we'll know once we go up and take a look."

"Hm?" Yun Mu felt his tone was a bit strange, but she didn't think too much about it and immediately followed.

And when they arrived in front of the abandoned warehouse gate, that pungent, bloody smell became increasingly intense.

"I'll handle the lockpicking."

Looking at the iron lock wrapped around the gate, which bore traces of rust, Yun Mu skillfully pulled out lockpicking tools from the lining of her coat.

"You know how to do this too?" Dunn looked at her with some surprise, silently dismissing the idea he had originally intended to force it open.

"I know a little," Yun Mu said, glancing at her attribute panel.

This time it was truly just a little; after all, her Lockpicking skill level was not high, only at the lv2 level.

It was fine for dealing with ordinary locks, but if it were a mechanism lock or a safe, it would be a bit tough.

"It's open!"

Hearing a soft "Click!", a smile appeared on Yun Mu's face.

This feeling was actually quite stress-relieving.

Thinking this, she stood up and pulled off the iron lock wrapped around the warehouse gate.

"Hum—"

The warehouse gate let out a dull Echo when pulled open; Yun Mu and Dunn stepped into the interior of the warehouse and saw two corpses slumped on the ground at a glance.

Both were killed in one blow, with wounds at the neck; it looked as if a sharp weapon like a short blade had been used to slit their throats. "Heh," Dunn chuckled again, and no expression of surprise could be seen on his face.

"That guy Qiaosefu really has guts; I'm even a little tempted to let him join the Night Watchman," Dunn said, his words shocking.

Hearing his words, Yun Mu couldn't help but frown: "Are you saying that these two were killed by Qiaosefu?"

"Who else could it be?" Dunn retorted.

"That guy is bold and meticulous. Judging from the traces at the scene, these two were likely killed by him this morning."

"Most importantly, he has his own bottom line..." He glanced at Lixia, who was standing there in a daze.

"Are we going to arrest him?" Yun Mu had already accepted Dunn's explanation by now, and she looked at him and asked.

"No." Dunn squatted down in front of the two corpses: "If it were normal times, I would use the excuse of 'atoning for crimes with merit' to let a guy with such potential become a Night Watchman to contribute to the city."

"But now, we have more urgent things to do."

"... Hm, the experience isn't rich enough," he evaluated while observing the two corpses on the ground.

"What isn't rich enough?" Yun Mu looked at Dunn.

"Experience." Dunn stood up and explained to her: "Qiaosefu must have struggled for a long time before deciding to kill these two this morning."

"And after killing the two, he placed the corpses inside the warehouse and locked the gate with a lock to prevent anyone from accidentally entering."

"He probably wanted to use the smell of the miscellaneous items inside the warehouse to cover up the bloody smell, but he clearly underestimated the pungency of the smell of blood."

"Even with the obstruction of the warehouse gate, people nearby could still smell this scent."

"But fortunately, not many people come here anyway. Besides, if nothing goes wrong, he would have disposed of the corpses when there was no one around at night, just like the other two corpses; I estimate they would be thrown into the sea, so this actually doesn't matter much."

"It's just that if it were me, I would have poisoned their food or drinking water when feeding them, so there wouldn't be the smell of fresh blood..."

"Stop," Yun Mu said, covering her face with one hand and immediately interrupting him.

"What about these two corpses?" she said.

"Hand them over to the Guard Hall, let them verify the identities, and then hand them over to the relatives. Sigh..."

Sighing helplessly, Dunn looked at the two corpses on the ground, thought for a moment, and continued: "Have the Guard also dredge the nearby sea area to see if we can find the other two corpses."

"The relatives are innocent; at the very least, we must fulfill the duties of the Guard Hall."

"Fine, anyway, I don't have to do these things." After a moment of silence, Yun Mu asked him: "Then how should we explain this to the outside?"

"And, that Mr. Qiaosefu, do we really not need to worry about him?"

"... Hm." Without much thought, Dunn tapped his fingers lightly on his shoulder: "Just say that when they were drunk, they provoked the local Black Market gang. Anyway, whether it's the method of death or the way of disposal, this fits the public's perception of gangs very well."

"As for that Mr. Qiaosefu, do you remember what I said to him when I left?"

Without waiting for Yun Mu to give an answer, Dunn continued: "Actually, I had already guessed this result to some extent at the time. I said I would return a peaceful life to him."

"It means that as long as he doesn't cause trouble, I can pretend I didn't see everything else."

"He is a smart man; he will know what to do."

"So that's how it is..." Hearing Dunn call Qiaosefu a smart man again, Yun Mu suddenly realized.

"Hmph, of course, I have other reasons for doing this, but there's no need for you to know." Dunn snorted lightly and turned to walk outside the warehouse.

Actually, the other reason was very simple: he did not trust the Guard Hall here in Frostfall City.

After Qiaosefu was arrested by the Guard, he would definitely tell the Guard Hall the sequence of events. If that happened, a lot of intelligence would be controlled by the Guard Hall, but... thinking of the registration procedures for the Scarlet Relief Society, and the way that One-Eared Rat in the Black Market was familiar with the Guard Hall chief, he felt a headache.

The Guard system of the Frost Kingdom really couldn't be relied upon at all, no matter which region it was! Dunn expressed his radical opinion in his heart.

"Let's leave this lumberyard first; I will have the Guard Hall arrange the follow-up matters." Coming back to his senses, he looked at Yun Mu and said: "The investigation for today ends here. You take Lixia back to the Frost Bank and report the matter to the Princess in full detail."

"As for what to do tomorrow, I already have some clues..."

(End of chapter)