Chapter 89: Secret Manhunt

Li Jing glanced in the direction of the Blue Sea and Sky Bathing Beach and asked Lu Yangcheng.

"Have you seen any more detailed news online about the Disaster Management Bureau’s failed exploration of the Secret Realm?"

"There’s quite a lot of that."

After saying this, Lu Yangcheng continued.

"But it’s certainly unavoidable that there’ll be monsters making a fuss about such an issue. Those big V media flapdoodles won’t miss any chance to attract attention. Today, the Internet was filled with all sorts of wild guessings and conspiracy theories, and numerous rumors and heresies. It’s very hard to distinguish the truth from the falsehoods if you don’t know the inside story. There’s no clear-cut distinction between what’s trustworthy and what’s not."

As he spoke, he added.

"Regarding the casualty situation of the preliminary exploration team from the Disaster Management Bureau, a so-called unpublished confidential casualty list has leaked online at noon. Some internet mavericks have verified that the names on the list are all current staff members of the Disaster Management Bureau, and a few are from the Research Institutes. Not long after the list was leaked, all related news disappeared."

At the sound of these words, Li Jing frowned slightly.

Verification by internet mavericks doesn’t say much.

After all, the information about the related personnel is classified.

So when these self-proclaimed experts speak out, others have no way to confirm their words, making them somewhat unreliable.

The swift disappearance of relevant news shortly after the list leaked, however, is thought-provoking.

The mysterious disappearance of information on the Internet could only mean that it’s been "censored" by the "relevant authorities".

The list is probably real.

So...

Could it be that not only did members of the Disaster Management Bureau’s preliminary exploration team die, but researchers from the Institutes also died during the exploration?

This seems a bit unreasonable.

Research Institute staff members who enter the Secret Realm are usually conducting tests and collecting data in areas officially declared safe by the exploration team.

They should be under strict protection during this process.

Research Institute staff members, unlike the exploration team, are not so easily replaceable.

The loss of even a single researcher entails not only the loss of an academic but also a setback to the related field of research.

Given their strict protection and absence from actual exploration, how did the Research Institutes end up suffering casualties?

Li Jing was left puzzled and finally chose to give up thinking about it.

He was very interested in the Secret Realm.

However, he had no qualifications to get involved, and his mere interest didn’t do any help.

It is not his place to attempt such a feat.

As a detective assistant, he figured he better focus more on his own matters.

Shaking his head, Li Jing sat down.

"Let’s not talk about these useless things, we can’t interfere with the Secret Realm. I plan to take the patrol exam in a week, what about you two?"

"I’ll probably do the same."

Yi Xiuzhu spoke, saying.

"Work hard these days and take the test in about seven days."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Yangcheng laughed.

"I plan to take the test in three days, maybe in three days, I’ll be a patrol officer."

Hearing this, Li Jing looked at him, didn’t comment, and lowered his head to unlock his XiaAi.

If Yi Xiuzhu said he would take the test in three days, he might think that the guy was confident.

But Lu Yangcheng...

Ha, ha!

Li Jing didn’t look down upon Lu Yangcheng, but this guy was always mysteriously confident.

Hearing Lu Yangcheng’s words, Yi Xiuzhu also looked at him strangely and lowered his head to unlock his phone without saying anything.

Seeing the two of them like this, Lu Yangcheng suddenly felt a bit awkward.

These two...

What do they mean?

Even if they want to question him, can’t they just say something?

They could even use sarcasm!

They don’t say a word, aren’t they deliberately making him uncomfortable?

Seeing the two of them sitting and studying with their phones in their hands, Lu Yangcheng opened his mouth and simply took out his phone as well.

How much can one bear?!

He decided to use actual actions to slap Li Jing and Yi Xiuzhu in the face, to prove that you can’t judge a book by its cover!

No sooner had Lu Yangcheng sat down than the virtual avatar of XiaAi shyly peeked out from the corner of Li Jing’s screen.

Seeing XiaAi poking its head out, Li Jing frowned.

Glancing at Lu Yangcheng and Yi Xiuzhu who had already started "studying", he quickly typed out a message.

"Didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t come out unless I called you?"

XiaAi, being questioned, waved its hand and pointed to a bubble, revealing the text within.

"Master, I found the casualty list you mentioned to your friends."

Li Jing blinked at the text.

The internet has a memory.

This, he knew very well.

Even if the information has been censored, traces can still be found as long as it has appeared online once.

For an ordinary person, it might be a bit difficult to find these traces, but it wouldn’t be too hard for Little Obstacle.

But wouldn’t a casualty list also be of no use to him?

Just as he was about to type that he wasn’t too interested and praise Little Obstacle’s considerate actions, Little Obstacle waved her hand, and another bubble popped up.

"Following the records of the casualty list, I found an internal fugitive list issued by the patrol bureau, and Academician Jiang is on the list."

???

Li Jing stares in shock.

The Academician Jiang that Little Obstacle mentioned in her bubble was undoubtedly Jiang Guanwen, who had gifted him a present, or else she wouldn’t have specifically mentioned the words Academician Jiang.

What on earth has happened? Why has Jiang Guanwen been declared a fugitive?

And in secret, no less!

The patrol bureau issues two kinds of fugitive orders.

The first is a public declaration.

For example, Ji Xiumin, a member of the Rebirth Society, is currently wanted by public notice.

The other is a secret fugitive order issued internally within the patrol bureau.

No one other than active patrol officers are entitled to know about these secret orders, and they are strictly forbidden from being leaked.

The existence of this form of order is partly to avoid causing adverse social effects if the order is made public, and also to emphasize its importance to active patrol officers.

A criminal who is secretly wanted must be a serious offender among serious offenders.

Upon discovery, a patrol officer can carry out an execution on the spot without asking any questions. The approach to such a situation is the same as that for Evil Cultivators.

Looking at the bubble that Little Obstacle pulled up, Li Jing furrowed his brows.

Jiang Guanwen, whom he had just met last night, has mysteriously become secretly wanted.

Could it be that the casualties of the exploration team have something to do with him?

If that were the case, he wouldn’t have been able to escape from the Secret Realm.

The Disaster Management Bureau takes over the Secret Realm not only for exterior defenses, but there would also undoubtedly be defenses within the realm’s entrance.

A criminal caught in the act can’t escape.

Unless he wasn’t caught in the act, and after leaving the Secret Realm, slipped away unnoticed. Only then would the Disaster Management Bureau have caught on after the fact and informed the patrol bureau.

Considering that the Disaster Management Bureau had made such a big fuss setting up Zhou Tian’s Great Formation outside the Secret Realm, Li Jing realized that the situation was probably not as simple as it seemed.

The establishment of Zhou Tian’s Great Formation was definitely not just for Jiang Guanwen.

The reason why he is secretly wanted must also have another cause.

One thing was certain though, Jiang Guanwen, who swapped places with someone else to enter the Secret Realm last night, had returned to the present world. His current whereabouts are unknown.

After a moment’s thought, Li Jing started typing.

"Aside from Academician Jiang, who else is on the fugitive list?"

"There are three others, one from the Research Institute, and two from the Disaster Management Bureau."

Little Obstacle brought up another bubble and quickly pulled out a list, displaying it on the phone screen.

Two individuals from the Research Institute have been declared fugitives, Jiang Guanwen and another academic named Zheng Shiming.

The members of the Disaster Management Bureau are named Liu Guangbo and Wang Zhi.

The fugitive list included detailed identity information for four individuals.

Li Jing just glanced over it briefly, not finding any special connections between the four beyond their professional relations.

While checking the information, Little Obstacle popped up another bubble.

"Master, Academician Jiang must have gotten into some sort of trouble. Can you think of a way to help him? Although Little Obstacle has never communicated with him, he is definitely a good person."

Upon seeing the contents of the bubble, Li Jing couldn’t help but smile.

He wouldn’t comment on whether Jiang Guanwen was a good person or not.

They had only met last night, so there wasn’t any deep understanding between them.

However, in his view, it was relatively unlikely that Jiang Guanwen could have done something wrong.

An academician at the Research Institute.

First, they don’t lack money, second, they don’t lack resources, and third, they aren’t concerned about their Cultivation level.

According to the information on the fugitive list, Jiang Guanwen is one of the limited thirty-two senior academics at the Jianghai City Research Institute.

What would this level of Academician not be able to access?

They have absolutely no reason to lose their minds.

As for helping Jiang Guanwen, Li Jing felt that Little Obstacle was somewhat overestimating him.

He was not even a main investigator at this point, let alone having the capability to help him had he already become one.

Not to mention that Jiang Guanwen’s current whereabouts are unknown...

Without giving it much thought, Li Jing started typing on his phone keyboard.

Just as he typed out "Sorry," Yi Xiuzhu suddenly stood up next to him.

???

Li Jing turned his head.

Lu Yangcheng, who was by his side, also jumped in fright.

Both of them turned their gaze, only to see Yi Xiuzhu squinting his eyes and gazing at the turbulent sea at dusk due to the tide.

Before the two had a chance to glance in the direction he was looking, Yi Xiuzhu rose into the sky.

"There’s someone on the sea."