“No way?” Even with Jiang Baimian's psychological resilience, she found it a bit hard to believe her eyes at this moment.
If it were simply that Lei Yunsong was still alive and in the city of Weeds, she could accept it. But the problem was that this neighborly team leader was clearly still active, even involved in a shooting, yet he wasn't contacting the company or reporting the situation.
Even if their radio was damaged or lost, they could try to get a new one, or rent one on the black market!
Could it be that they had discovered something and defected? No, if it were defection, they wouldn't stay in the city of Weeds at all. They should know that the company would definitely investigate… Unless, this had become a conspiracy against the company… Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and looked at Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao, sensing her gaze, took the initiative to say:
“He's using murder to remind the company?”
“...It shouldn't be that complicated. Also, that line of thinking is a bit dangerous.” Jiang Baimian pondered and said, “I suspect that they might be controlled by someone. Then, those people are using the lives of other team members to force Lei Yunsong to do some dirty work for them? That could explain why the information Chen Xufeng received was that someone had seen people resembling Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei in the city, but didn't mention the other three.”
The other three were hostages, being held captive!
“Too complicated,” Shang Jianyao seemed to be repeating himself again.
Jiang Baimian nodded:
“Indeed.
“It's not necessary to make things so complicated just to find someone to do dirty work. The motive isn't strong enough.
“Could it be revenge? Did some people represented by Liu Dazhuang cause heavy losses to Lei Yunsong's team, leaving only two people? But they should contact the company first. With the company's assistance, things would be much simpler…”
Jiang Baimian muttered to herself for a while, then exhaled and said:
“It's useless to speculate here. Let's take the mission first.
“In any case, at least we have some leads.”
Shang Jianyao replaced words with actions. He went directly to the nearest table, turned on the machine, and swiped his hunter badge to accept the mission.
——This was an unrestricted mission that even novices could accept.
Just as Jiang Baimian had also accepted the mission, Christina, the blonde, blue-eyed woman, suddenly returned to the first floor.
This time, she didn't bring any bodyguards.
Seeing Shang Jianyao, she smiled slightly and said:
“Let's call it a day. Something urgent came up.”
With that, the vice president of the Hunter's Guild hurried towards the side door and left the hall.
“Something urgent?” Jiang Baimian approached Shang Jianyao and muttered to herself thoughtfully.
Without waiting for Shang Jianyao to respond, she revealed a slight smile and said:
“It seems you don't have to take the risk.
“Hmm… From that scene just now, what details can you see?”
“She's alone,” Shang Jianyao replied.
“Not bad,” Jiang Baimian praised. “A person who usually needs three bodyguards dares to go out alone, which means her own strength isn't weak, or the person she's meeting makes her feel very safe, and the distance isn't far? Well, the corresponding matter must also involve many secrets.”
At this moment, Jiang Baimian caught sight of Bai Chen and Long Yuehong also accepting the mission.
So, she didn't say more, pointed to the door, and said:
“Let's go, let's go see the scene.”
After leaving the Hunter's Guild and returning to South Street, the first thing Jiang Baimian noticed wasn't the crime scene, but a crowd of people.
A crowd of Ruins Hunters surrounded the spot where Liu Dazhuang had been shot down, wishing they could turn the road surface over.
“What's the use of that? The important thing is the shooter's position and what Liu Dazhuang had on him, not the place where he fell,” Jiang Baimian glanced at it and shook her head.
And Liu Dazhuang's body had already been taken away by the city defense forces.
Identifying the building from which the bullet was fired, Jiang Baimian led Shang Jianyao into the corresponding courtyard.
In the next second, she was startled by the sight before her:
Many, many people were lined up outside a certain stairwell!
“What's going on?” Jiang Baimian said subconsciously.
Shang Jianyao carefully observed for a few seconds and gave an answer:
“Tour.”
“Queueing to tour the rooftop?” Jiang Baimian suddenly found this scene a bit absurd and ridiculous.
The number of Ruins Hunters taking this mission was beyond imagination!
She walked a few steps quickly, came to the end of the line, touched the arm of the man in front of her, and asked with a smile:
“What, what are you lining up for?”
The man turned his head impatiently at first, then revealed a smile:
“Waiting to talk to the eyewitness, see if we can dig up any new leads.”
Such a lead could be worth at least 10 Ores.
“Okay… thank you,” Jiang Baimian was both a little interested in this strange situation and felt quite amused.
She quickly winked at Shang Jianyao, took the lead in approaching the stairwell, and shouted as she walked:
“We live here, we live here…”
Amidst the scattered voices of “are you taking jobs?” “how much for a night?” Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao squeezed onto the stairs and climbed all the way to the fourth floor.
The team composed of Ruins Hunters "finished" here, stopping in front of a half-open door.
Jiang Baimian poked her head in and saw that there were crooked words written on the door with charcoal pencil:
“Sole eyewitness to the shooting, talking time 2 Kas per minute.”
1 Ore equals 10 Delacers, 1 Delacer equals 10 Kas.
“...He's, he's quite resourceful,” Jiang Baimian muttered to herself in a rather complicated tone.
Moreover, this price was set very well. Any higher, and many Ruins Hunters would have to consider whether it was worth it, or whether they should temporarily form a larger team.
As for now, they were more confident that they could be unique, ask different questions, and thus extract exclusive clues.
Shang Jianyao also sighed:
“Why not charge one steamed bun at a time? That way, you could eat for a month.”
“Wouldn't that be too much?” Jiang Baimian replied casually, turning her gaze to the other rooms on this floor.
Many families had their doors half-open, looking enviously at the long line. From time to time, someone would shout:
“He's not the only eyewitness!”
“Maybe I saw it too, but I just can't remember right now…”
After the initial shock, surprise, and sigh, Jiang Baimian gradually adapted to this situation and said to Shang Jianyao with great interest:
“In the settlements led by the Hunter's Guild, the civic culture – if they count as citizens – also has different characteristics.”
This was one of the aspects that Jiang Baimian was most interested in.
However, she didn't do any more observing, leading Shang Jianyao and climbing to the fifth floor as if to save time, and ascended to the rooftop.
There were very few Ruins Hunters here, and there were city defense forces maintaining order to prevent anyone from accidentally damaging the scene.
Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen, who had caught up, exchanged glances, walked to the street-facing parapet of the rooftop, chose a position, and said as if talking to herself:
“The gunman probably completed the shooting here.”
She had witnessed the shooting process.
Bai Chen leaned next to Jiang Baimian, pretending to hold a sniper rifle, and tried the feeling.
“A bit awkward,” she commented.
When Liu Dazhuang was shot, he had almost reached the center of South Street, only three or four meters away from the building.
At such an angle, to hit the target from here, the sniper would have to lean quite a bit of his body out of the rooftop, resulting in a slightly distorted posture.
“If it were me, I would have fired when Liu Dazhuang hadn't left Hongluo Lane yet,” Bai Chen retracted her gaze and added.
——The left side of the rooftop can monitor the entire Hongluo Lane. Sniping enemies inside is easy and convenient.
“Does that mean the gunman wasn't in this position when Liu Dazhuang hadn't left Hongluo Lane yet, and only hurriedly took his position later to complete the shooting?” Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao, pretending to be discussing with him.
Shang Jianyao seriously replied:
“Maybe he couldn't hold it in and went to the toilet first.”
“...That's not a bad reason,” Jiang Baimian suddenly laughed. “You can look later to see if there are any traces of random excretion on the rooftop and the fifth floor.”
Obviously, such traces would not be missed by the many Ruins Hunters.
Jiang Baimian then said:
“Thinking from another angle, how did the gunman know that Liu Dazhuang would come out of Hongluo Lane? If he knew it long ago, why did he seem so hurried?”
After asking the question, she pondered and began to answer it herself:
“Could it be that the gunman had other accomplices? They only knew that Liu Dazhuang was in this area, but didn't have more information, so they spread out in the opposite alleys, looking for the target. When they discovered Liu Dazhuang's whereabouts, they immediately informed the gunman through walkie-talkies or similar devices, and then, the gunman hurriedly rushed from a certain position on the rooftop to here?”
At this time, Bai Chen had walked back and forth along the street-facing side of the rooftop.
She said as if she were talking to Long Yuehong:
“The other side can monitor Huangjiao Lane, but the view of Hongluo Lane is very poor.”
Huangjiao Lane is an alley adjacent to Hongluo Lane.
Hearing this, Jiang Baimian suddenly understood:
“The gunman was initially monitoring Huangjiao Lane, and his accomplice was in Hongluo Lane. After obtaining the definite information, he immediately changed the sniping position…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Jianyao had walked to the far right area of the rooftop. Then, he squatted down and carefully examined the ground and walls.
“Someone stepped on it, someone brushed against it, the traces are relatively fresh,” he reported truthfully.
Many Ruins Hunters looked towards this side, some were confused, some were thoughtful.
Jiang Baimian thought for a while and said to Shang Jianyao:
“There's nothing to see, let's go down.”
Shang Jianyao didn't say much, followed his team leader, and went all the way down, back to South Street.
Jiang Baimian then revealed a smile and said:
“Let's go into Hongluo Lane and look for clues left by the gunman's accomplice.”
Hongluo Lane was only a little over two meters wide, and the ground floor was scattered with shops such as "Repair Shop" and "Second-hand Clothing Store."
At this time, several Ruins Hunters were holding photos of Liu Dazhuang and asking different shopkeepers in turn, wanting to know if they had seen Liu Dazhuang in contact with anyone before his death.
The answer Jiang Baimian and others witnessed was a shake of the head.
“How do we find it?” Long Yuehong, a meter away, asked Bai Chen.
Jiang Baimian suddenly curled the corners of her mouth slightly and said with a smile to Shang Jianyao:
“Of course, by asking with photos.”
The photo she took out was not a photo of Liu Dazhuang, nor was it a photo of Lei Yunsong, the suspected gunman, but a photo of another person:
A photo of Lin Feifei, another member of the Old Task Force.