Chapter 7

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 7: Invitation to Paradise The situation was not particularly complicated. Over the past half a year, a mysterious serial killer had appeared within Glorious Fortress, involving six cases with over ten victims altogether. Each time, the culprit would disembowel their victims and leave the scene drenched in blood. The police department naturally took these cases seriously as well; they arrested several suspects one after another, but the murders continued unabated, reappearing every few months like clockwork. This caused both terror among residents and complaints from civilians, pushing the bounty for the killer’s capture even higher. It was at this point that Kurt Dunn began tracking the murders. But three days ago, he vanished without a trace, leaving behind nothing but questions. Zhu Di’s last conversation with him was right here in this room. “He said he found something suspicious, so he needed to go investigate it further,” Zhu Di explained anxiously. “If my guess is correct, the culprit will soon commit another crime! Kurt must have discovered something, which is why the culprit targeted him. If this is truly the case, he may become the next victim of the murderer! Please, help me find him!” As Zhu Di spoke, Chaoyang observed her carefully—the woman was indeed the source of those faint beams of wishes he had seen on the newspaper; it was clear that she was willing to pay a high price to ensure Kurt’s safety. Judging by the scale of the light column, her Wish Power was even stronger than that of the captain of the guard. Chaoyang guessed that this may have been due to the urgency of the situation. In short, he had much to gain from helping her. This point was crucial—one could always go beg for temporary work and sleep under the bridge if they were penniless, so long as they still had strength in their limbs, but choosing the wrong wisher could be fatal. “Have you asked the police for help?” Chaoyang pondered briefly before asking. “Of course, but those guys couldn’t care less about Kurt’s life or death,” Zhu Di said indignantly. “They just say it’s common for reporters to go missing while reporting on the field for days!” In fact, they didn’t seem to care much about the murder itself either, otherwise they wouldn’t let the culprit roam free for half a year! “But you mentioned earlier that they’ve arrested many suspects…” “That was just to appease the masses!” Zhu Di wore an expression of disdain. “They claimed it was a serial murder, but all the incidents occurred in the lower city. The police never put too much effort into solving the case. If some noble’s child went missing instead…” She pursed her lips and didn’t finish the thought, but Chaoyang understood the rest without her saying it aloud. “I see.” He paused briefly before asking his most pressing question: “Why haven’t you asked… the gods for his whereabouts ?” “What are you talking about?” Zhu Di’s expression was bewildered. “If I had the ability to summon priests, why would I have gone to all this trouble? Unless there is some way to contact Divine messengers… But what’s the point of bringing this up?” She shook her head as if mocking herself. “Divine messengers are even rarer than princes; how could one just ‘run into’ them…” So… Does that means she doesn’t disbelieve? This answer stirred something within Chaoyang—perhaps even prayer came with its own entry requirements. Since faith and wishing were distinct, did that mean he too might someday have an opportunity to poach the corners of those “great existences” in the future? And the term “Divine messenger”…it didn’t sound like a divine position, but rather a certain type of special individual. Worried that continuing to probe might invite suspicion, Chaoyang refrained from expressing further doubts on the matter. “I think I understand the situation now.” Chaoyang pulled out a scroll from his pocket, slowly unrolled it over the tea table, and said, “I can help, but you must pay a price…” “How much do you want? The newspaper will definitely gather it for you!” Zhu Di responded without hesitation. “It’s not just about money.” He smiled. “This is a contract, which you can look over and decide on later. However, please note that once you sign your name, there is no going back, and I must fulfill all of your demands.” Chaoyang appeared calm and collected, but inwardly, he was cursing.He didn’t know which evil demon had set down the rule that contracts were required to achieve goals, and that the obligations and responsibilities of both parties couldn’t be omitted. This was practically no different from tying one’s own hands. The only silver lining in this misfortune was that the contract only required clear communication. Whether the other party understood it or not was another matter entirely; so long as he wasn’t lying, then the contract would still be valid. “Uh…” At around halfway through reading, Zhu Di stopped. She pointed at the payment section. “What does this mean?” “Oh, this is the writing from my hometown,” Chaoyang replied frankly. “It’s called Yuanli.” The words were written in Chinese. “Yuanli?” The young woman clearly seemed stunned. “What is it? How should I pay?” “If you’re more familiar with English, it can also be understood as Wish Power or belief,” Chaoyang smiled slightly. “As you’re worried about finding him, this will consume some mental energy from you. Once we find Mister Dunn, your worries will disperse like smoke and mist, which is equivalent to paying for the service. So there’s no need to worry; this won’t have any substantial impact on the contract.” “Or you could say, it was the contract itself.” The 500 Seryls written beneath were merely an additional bonus. Zhu Di blinked, then finally said after a long pause, “I didn’t expect you to be… so funny.” Chaoyang shrugged noncommittally. He hadn’t lied, but he had interpreted the text with slight bias, and this interpretation actually benefited both parties. Of course, the most important thing here was that nobody would bother reading too deeply into a contract when they were facing urgent circumstances. Sure enough, Zhu Di didn’t seem to mind much. She picked up her pen and signed her name. “I can give you 500 Seryls, but you must find Kurt Dunn!” she declared firmly. “Of course.” Chaoyang held out his hand toward her. “Your needs are my mission.” *** On the other side of Earth, Zhang Zhiyuan was participating in an important conference within a large hall filled with screens. As an international criminal investigator, he had been tracking down a suspect named Wayne Jenkins for some time now. The man was suspected of multiple serious offenses including illegal arms and drug trade across borders, and many countries’ security forces had their eyes on him long ago. However, what made this case difficult was that Wayne Jenkins held diplomatic status—even if it was earned through bribery —and even if he was merely the ambassador of a small, obscure African nation, it would be inappropriate to arrest him without concrete evidence. “According to recent intelligence, the man boarded the Heart of the Ocean cruise ship and met secretly with several individuals under the alias Joe James.” The one who sat at the head of the table was Zhang Zhiyuan’s boss and manager of the Asian branch, Gao Wei. “We’ve also looked into those individuals involved; the information is available in your hands.” “Russians, Japanese and… Chinese?” Zhang Zhiyuan paused when he flipped to Zhou Zhi’s page, unable not to comment on this rather unusual combination. “I suspect it was just a coincidence.” “The investigation team indeed didn’t find anything suspicious about him,” Gao Wei nodded. “The key point lies in the fact that they all participated in a game during their meetings. This is what we should be focusing on.” “A game?” a woman asked curiously. “What kind of game?” Zhang Zhiyuan couldn’t help but smile; this woman was Choi Jeon-eun from Korea, who had a great interest in video games—though she wasn’t particularly skilled at them. “I don’t know. The emails we intercepted only mentioned the organizers calling themselves Paradise, but there were no specifics regarding the content.” Gao Wei shook his head. “Cybercrimes have become increasingly common these days, so we must remain vigilant as well—if they use games as locations for secret negotiations, once they reach an agreement, they can contact each other anywhere in the world without difficulty, making investigations much harder.” “This is hard to investigate,” Zhang Zhiyuan said bluntly. “The cruise belongs to the Caribbean Company, which is legal and legitimate, so it’s difficult for us to obtain footage from them. Moreover, there may not even be surveillance inside private cabins…” “Unless we can also enter the game ourselves.” Choi Jeon-eun licked her lips. “Don’t even think about it,” he dismissed her idea. “This event must have been exclusive to the upper class, so someone must’ve done their research beforehand before sending out invitations. Do you really think we’re qualified?” “All right,” Choi Jeon-eun shrugged. “Then let’s continue keeping our eyes on—” Suddenly, the sound of urgent ringing interrupted their conversation. Gao Wei picked up the phone receiver. “Speak.” His expression shifted as he listened. “Are you sure? Okay, send the feed over.” After hanging up, this fifty-something-year-old director’s expression turned grave. “It’s from the network intelligence Department. They say that our internal email account just received a message from Paradise.”