Chapter 117 – Lost manuscript


“Boss, the convoy of the Cross Society has entered the city. They should arrive at the ‘White Sail Warehouse’ in ten minutes.”

“Has the list of escorts been confirmed?”

“Yes, it has been confirmed. There are twelve people in total, three vehicles. They are all elderly members of the Cross Society listed on the roster, and there are no suspicious individuals. The leader is ‘Blade’ Kay, and there is also someone named Su’en on the list, who is quite skilled in marksmanship.”

“Well, he’s just a gunman, at most a first-tier. No need to worry. Stick to the plan. Once we confirm that the item is in the cargo, eliminate everyone in the convoy.”

“Yes!”

“Oh, by the way, go and make contact with that kid named ‘Kay’. Give him a peripheral test first. If his abilities are good enough, recruit him.”

“Understood.”

…….

The convoy of the Cross Society transporting goods slowly entered the inner city through the “Fifth Gate”.

After entering the city walls, it was like entering a steel forest. This was a very three-dimensional city. There were many skyscrapers that were three to five hundred meters high, like towering trees, forming the main body of the city. And relying on these high-rise buildings as the framework, various steel-frame bridges, suspended intercity train tracks, elevated pedestrian streets, and hanging steel-frame layers were densely built… like a layered cake.

These elevated buildings connected the buildings into one, and roughly divided the entire city into three levels: upper, middle, and lower.

The architectural styles were clearly distinct.

The shorter buildings appeared slender, with exposed brick walls, large blocks of stone, pointed towers that clearly showed Gothic style, pointed arches, and large windows with colored stained glass, resembling architectural styles from a thousand years ago. The middle level had steel-frame structures, thick pipelines, steam boilers, and a rough industrial style reminiscent of steampunk. As one went higher, it became the futuristic technology style of the cyber world, with even sky gardens…

The city’s designers increased the number of residents that the inner city could accommodate several times within the limited space.

Su’en had a vague impression of the harvesting memories and knew that the people in the inner city were also divided into different classes.

The higher one lived, the more prestigious their status.

The lower level was the civilian area of the inner city.

The Cross Society’s convoy traveled on the ground, while intercity trains roared overhead like light rails. Along the streets, there were flower stands with colorful flowers. People of all ages, whether young or old, were dressed in vibrant clothes.

“Wow… so many cars! Are these guys in the inner city all so rich? It seems like everyone can afford luxury cars…”

Kay had never been to the inner city before. He looked at the completely different scenery from the outer city and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Each of these cars was shiny and had sleek lines. They were incomparable to the old goods assembled from scrap parts in the outer city.

Seeing the cars on the road, Kay suddenly felt that the “cool modified motorcycles” in the gang were like mischievous children covered in mud compared to these cars.

Su’en rested his chin on his hand, leaning against the car window, looking at the bustling street full of cars, but his gaze seemed unfocused.

Although the goods had been transported to the inner city, he couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss.

……

The destination for transporting the goods was the “White Sail Warehouse,” an inconspicuous warehouse located by the riverside in the 5th district. The glass roof resembled a white sail.

The space inside was large, and the trucks drove directly into the warehouse.

Kay called for Su’en to get off the car. “Hey, bro, we’re here. We’ve delivered the goods, and the mission is complete.”

Su’en nodded but didn’t rush to get off the car.

He deliberately observed the people receiving the goods in the warehouse. There were a total of seven people, all employees of the chamber of commerce under Lady Filov, and they seemed fine.

Then he looked at the layout of the warehouse. It was spacious, about the size of a football field. But there was no place to hide except for a few thick spray-painted iron columns supporting the glass roof overhead.

In that instant, Su’en instinctively thought of a feasible escape route in case of danger.

Kay had already gone down and greeted the people involved in the handover.

Then he went to the back of the truck and opened the password-protected door, and the gang members began unloading the cargo according to the list.

Su’en observed this and didn’t find anything unusual, so he also got off the car.

“Jackson, the butler, here is the inventory list of the goods. We already checked it once before we set off, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Sorry, we still have to go through the process.”

“Oh, counting is a time-consuming task. You must be working hard.”

“No, this is exactly why Lady Filov hired us.”

“…”

When Su’en got off the car, he saw the members of the Cross Society unloading the items from the truck one by one, and the old butler named Jackson was responsible for counting.

The people from the inner city seemed indifferent and didn’t seem to want much interaction with the Cross Society from the outer city, even with Kay, the leader of the transport team.

Kay seemed bored.

Seeing Su’en getting off the car, he walked over. “Su’en, after we deliver the goods, shall we go around the city?”

Seeing his enthusiasm, Su’en nodded. “Sure.”

But at that moment, a bearded man in a suit walked over from outside the warehouse. He opened his mouth and asked the group of people, “Who is Kay?”

Kay frowned at the arrogant tone. He didn’t want to pay attention, but it seemed like he thought of something and spoke, “That’s me.”

Without wasting any words, the man said coldly, “Come with me. Someone wants to see you.”

Saying that, he didn’t even look back and left in the direction he came from.

Kay, instead of doubting, became excited and couldn’t hide it on his face. He gestured to Su’en, “Bro, I’ll be gone for a while. Can you watch over things for me?”

“Sure.”

Su’en nodded and didn’t say anything.

He knew that this bearded man was probably the person the smoker arranged for Kay to meet.

There was nothing more to say.After all, Smokey was Kay’s old captain, and the one who had promoted him in the gang. Su’en often heard Kay express his admiration for Smokey, like a child idolizing his father.

But…

What Su’en found strange was, this bearded man came directly to the warehouse to demand someone?

This was the warehouse of Lady Philo’s company. If Smokey introduced Kay to a financier who was a friend of Lady Philo, why was he being so secretive?

And, that faint gaze from afar at the warehouse entrance, was it a sentry or something else?

……

Many items had already been unloaded from the truck, with large sculptures, metal utensils, and other antiques piled up on the ground.

Then there were smaller items like ancient books, scrolls, and cursed materials.

Su’en had doubts and quietly watched from the side. Gradually, he noticed something. The old butler with the horseshoe mustache seemed to be examining those books very carefully.

Even on the list, it only said “one hundred ancient books,” without any detailed names.

There were hundreds, if not thousands, of books in that pile. To look through them all would definitely waste a lot of time.

But the butler was painstakingly examining each book, as if looking for something.

This unusual behavior made Su’en suddenly alert.

What was this old man looking for?

He wasn’t this meticulous with the other antiques. Was he looking for a specific book?

In that instant, several keywords flashed through Su’en’s mind: goods, books…gang warehouse?

No!

Something was wrong!

Suddenly, he recalled a related memory through these keywords.

It was his first day joining the Cross Society, and the warehouse attack he had participated in!

At that time, they had captured an intruder alive, but he was killed by a traitor within the Cross Society on the way.

Su’en connected these clues and suddenly frowned, guessing a possibility that made him break out in a cold sweat: “This guy is looking for Isaac’s Alchemy Manuscript!”

……

This thought suddenly popped into his mind, and a huge sense of crisis instantly overwhelmed him.

He had originally thought it was just a simple escort and handover mission, but he didn’t expect it to be a trap!

Su’en had already learned through various channels that the Cross Society had lost a copy of Isaac’s Alchemy Manuscript.

He had thought that it was just lost, and that such a precious item had nothing to do with him, a low-ranking gang member.

But now, he was unexpectedly involved.

He immediately thought: “The Captain Miller who assassinated the prisoner back then was definitely not the traitor, at least…not the mastermind. This means that there is still a ‘key figure’ from the original robbery case within the Cross Society that has not been discovered. When President Chuck and the executives suddenly returned to the headquarters, the traitor knew that they could not possibly safely carry the manuscript, so hiding it would be the safest…”

Moreover, this was not just a guess, but a fact!

Su’en immediately recalled the key information he had obtained from the soul of the second-order attacker: “They would never think that the manuscript would be hidden there.”

“So that’s what happened…”

Su’en connected all the clues in his mind, and a huge, far-reaching conspiracy suddenly surfaced.

Since the manuscript couldn’t be taken away under those circumstances,

Where would be an unexpected place to hide the manuscript?

Naturally, the Cross Society’s warehouse!

“The manuscript has never left the Black Forest Building, it just moved from the Cross Society’s vault to the ordinary warehouse outside!”

Connecting all the clues, Su’en immediately concluded: “The traitor also knows very well that even as an executive, he would be suspected if he went to the warehouse again. But he doesn’t need to risk retrieving the manuscript himself, because every once in a while, the Cross Society automatically transports the goods in the ordinary warehouse to the inner city…he just needs to intercept the transport team to find the manuscript hidden among those books!”


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