Chapter 37: Disappearance

Beneath the Ferris wheel, the lighting equipment had long been set up, making the area as bright as day.

Public security officers and patrol officers were carefully surveying the scene nearby, cautiously searching for traces left behind and taking photos to record them.

"These three hunters should all be professional assassins belonging to the Dark Star Society."

Team Leader Han looked at the three corpses on the ground, suddenly stepped forward, used his toe to straighten one person's leg, and only then said, "According to the rules, eliminating a professional assassin of the Dark Star Society grants a Third-Class Merit."

"A Third-Class Merit, huh." Lin Qing nodded slightly, not at all surprised.

The difficulty of a Second-Class Merit requires even a Captain-level strength to handle with care, under immense pressure, yet when he dealt with these three assassins just now, there was hardly any pressure.

It was only when protecting Zhao Jiayi and Teng Feiyu that it was slightly troublesome.

The strength of these three assassins themselves was negligible; mainly because they were skilled in archery, aided by mechanical prosthetic eyes and various equipment, and their coordination was excellent, which is why they posed such a threat.

If it were high-level boxers from the underground fighting ring, even with several times their number, he would not fear them if they were unarmed.

There were no wanted posters on these three assassins, so receiving only one Third-Class Merit was normal.

Anyway, after accumulating three Third-Class Merits, one could go learn a combat technique.

"You misunderstood."

A smile appeared at the corner of Team Leader Han's mouth, but he said, "I mean, for every professional assassin of the Dark Star Society eliminated, one receives a Third-Class Merit."

Lin Qing suddenly looked at Team Leader Han: "Every single one grants a Third-Class Merit?"

"Yes." Team Leader Han nodded.

Lin Qing's eyes lit up.

He suddenly felt that being ambushed this time was actually a good thing.

Anyway, he was completely unharmed, only consumed a bit more energy, Zhao Jiayi was not injured, and in the end, he received three Third-Class Merits! Once the merit for catching the fugitives in a couple of days comes down, plus the one Third-Class Merit Zhao Jiayi lent him, that would be a full six Third-Class Merits...

In this case, he could directly learn two combat techniques!

If he learned two more combat techniques, his strength would undergo a significant improvement.

By then...

Even forcibly searching the underground fighting ring of the Oriole Red Society, he would be confident!

"If I eliminate more assassins of the Dark Star Society, wouldn't I be able to learn whatever I want?" Lin Qing felt somewhat tempted.

Of course, he also knew it was unrealistic; the Dark Star Society only counter-attacked because they did not understand his strength.

Once they understood him, they would either send a squad guaranteed to kill him, or simply not accept the mission.

"Kill more?"

Team Leader Han was speechless and couldn't help but glance at him: "I heard the rule of the Dark Star Society is to assassinate only once; if they fail, they stop, but they rarely fail. Do you still want them to come again? This time it was professional assassins; next time it will be elite assassins, or even Soul-level assassins."

"Just joking." Lin Qing shook his head and asked again, "However... the Dark Star Society sounds very powerful?"

"I'm not entirely sure either."

Team Leader Han pondered and said, "But based on what is currently known, the Dark Star Society should be a world-class assassin organization; not only do they cultivate assassins internally, but they also have many hired assassins... that is why they dare not step into the urban circle."

Lin Qing could fully understand their weight.

As an assassin organization that should be hidden in darkness, even the patrol officers and public security officers know of its existence, yet they cannot take it down.

Putting other things aside for now, at the very least, the Dark Star Society must be very good at hiding and can avoid the patrol officers.

Thinking this way, three Third-Class Merits were not that many.

"It seems this merit is indeed hard to get; no wonder I've never heard of it before." Lin Qing shook his head slightly.

"This is the first time I have seen it with my own eyes either." Team Leader Han nodded in agreement.

Lin Qing also understood how rare this matter was.

Normally, assassins of the Dark Star Society are good at hiding, and their murder plans are meticulous; after eliminating the target as quickly as possible, they leave directly, making them impossible to find.

And he happened to be the target of the assassins, and had hidden too much of his strength, which gave him the chance to counter-kill.

"Counting this way, since you became a regular officer, you have accumulated enough for six Third-Class Merits."

Team Leader Han looked at Lin Qing and couldn't help but sigh softly, "It really is fast."

"Luck." Lin Qing smiled.

"I have been a patrol officer for so many years, and I only have seven Third-Class Merits." Team Leader Han sighed.

He glanced around again, found no one paying attention, lowered his voice and said, "However, three professional hunters of the Dark Star Society attacked together, yet you managed to kill them all. Your strength..."

"Yes, I have already mastered a combat technique." Lin Qing did not hide it and immediately nodded to admit it.

Without mastering a combat technique, this time would have been certain death; there was no way to hide it.

Moreover, he originally did not intend to continue hiding.

Taking this opportunity, it was time to display the persona of a 'combat technique genius'.

"So fast?"

Team Leader Han couldn't help but look at him, "This has only been a month, right? No, that day at the bathhouse you easily dealt with those two fugitives; could it be that before that you had already..." "Yes, I mastered it even earlier." Lin Qing nodded with a smile.

Team Leader Han couldn't help but take a deep breath.

He fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I have heard before that some people have extremely high talent in combat techniques; a genius like that has appeared in Lin'an City before, but this is the first time I have seen one with my own eyes."

Normally, mastering one combat technique requires cultivation for a year or half a year; even faster, it generally takes three to five months.

Those who master a combat technique in just ten days or half a month are very rare exceptions.

This is simply as rare as someone who mastered the original Morning Sun Cultivation Method; within the patrol system of Lin'an City, it seems only the Chief Captain Yuan Anping of the Patrol Bureau and one other person have mastered it.

And such combat technique geniuses appear only occasionally, one at a time.

"Pity, with this incident tonight, you are destined to be unable to hide it." Team Leader Han shook his head.

"It doesn't matter." Lin Qing said, "It just means the bureau will pay more attention to me... By the way, does the bureau have any special treatment for combat technique geniuses?"

Team Leader Han thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure about this; you have to ask Director Kou."

Lin Qing nodded.

"Pity you ran into a Dark Star Association assassin. The Bureau can't help you investigate even if they wanted to."

Team Leader Han shook his head. "If it were any other situation, you being an Inspector and a combat genius, the Bureau would have to pursue this to the end no matter what."

Lin Qing said nothing.

Although no evidence was destined to be found, it was likely the assassins were hired by the Crimson Oriole Society, probably because Teng Feiyu had drawn their attention.

After all, Teng Feiyu had been investigating the Crimson Oriole Society these past few days and even intended to apply for a search warrant.

Either they discovered him during the investigation, or his application for a search warrant was spotted by the Crimson Oriole Society's informant at the branch station.

If it were the latter, the suspect could already be locked down...

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Still, it was a narrow escape." Team Leader Han glanced behind him. "But your team member's condition seems a bit off?"

Hearing this, Lin Qing turned to look and saw Zhao Jiayi sitting not far away, seemingly in a daze. He immediately said, "Uncle Han, I'll take her home first. Please keep an eye on things here."

Team Leader Han nodded with an "Mm."

Lin Qing immediately walked up to Zhao Jiayi and asked, "How are you? Are you okay?"

Zhao Jiayi raised her head slightly, shook her head, and said, "Just a bit shaken, and a bit tired."

"Anyway, nothing else is going on. I'll take you home first. Later, I still need to go to the hospital to check on Teng Feiyu," Lin Qing said.

"No need, Team Leader. I've already told my father; he's coming to pick me up," Zhao Jiayi said. "You just go about your business."

"Alright."

Lin Qing nodded. "Then I'll take you to the amusement park entrance and wait for your father to arrive."

Zhao Jiayi nodded lightly and stood up.

Lin Qing led her through the amusement park, and they soon reached the entrance.

A moment later, the blue-and-white private car seen earlier at the branch station entrance sped down the road and stopped at the amusement park entrance.

After the car door opened, Lin Qing couldn't clearly make out the person inside, seeing only the silhouette of a man.

"Team Leader, goodbye." After getting into the car, Zhao Jiayi waved to him.

"Good."

Lin Qing nodded.

Watching the blue-and-white private car drive away, he noticed Zhao Jiayi's father seemed rather cold and muttered, "After I saved your daughter, you don't even come out to thank me?"

Then again, he might suspect Lin Qing implicated his daughter; it would be normal for him to be unwelcoming.

He hadn't saved people in the first place to be thanked.

"Go check on Teng Feiyu."

Lin Qing also called a ride-hailing car and headed toward Xiaoshan District People's Hospital.

That night, after the Public Security and the Inspectorate finished searching the entire amusement park, the abandoned park returned to silence.

On the bungee platform of that observation tower, the searchers found only a single row of faint footprints pressed into the accumulated dust.

But strangely—

They found only a row of footprints leading onto the bungee platform, but no footprints leading away.

It was as if... someone had come up and then vanished into thin air.

(End of this chapter)