Free Web NovelExcluding those peripheral members who disguised themselves as salesmen, members of public welfare organizations, or shopping mall flyer distributors to scout for targets, the main members of the Scarlet Pelican, like the vast majority of illegal Psychic organizations active in the Free City, mostly only began their operations after nightfall.
Even that underground clinic on South Avenue would not brazenly accept "goods" during the day. Instead, they would wholeheartedly provide high-quality medical services to those clients who found it inconvenient to visit regular hospitals or clinics, while incidentally checking to see if they had any high-quality "parts."
When daylight arrived, the massive Scarlet Pelican hunkered down in the dark corners of the Free City to rest, and their leader, the Pelican Lady, was finally able to have a little private time.
Just like every day since arriving in the Free City, as soon as the sky turned faintly bright, Jiang Li had already finished washing up and sat down at the desk in her apartment. After simply reviewing the common Spell for dealing with various emergencies, she opened the ledger she had obtained from the former leader of the Scarlet Pelican for the seventeenth time.
She firmly believed that there must be some important information hidden in these ledgers. In fact, she had indeed discovered some things—information regarding the weaknesses of "Black Bear," "Monkey," and "Fox."
As long as they were human, there would be weaknesses in human nature. Once you grasped these weaknesses, you could hold them firmly in the palm of your hand and make them obedient to your every command... If you added an overwhelming combat advantage and the ability to easily see through lies to this control, that would be a total kill!
But, this alone was far from enough.
She was here to investigate a case, not to lead a bunch of outlaws and build up a vicious illegal Psychic organization. She didn't believe she had that kind of talent, either.
She only wanted to find the key clues that could destroy the Scarlet Pelican and the massive chain of kidnapping and trafficking interests behind it.
Those clues were very likely hidden in the massive numbers in the ledger, specially processed with code, waiting for her to discover them.
"1825, 1794... What on earth does this countdown mean?" Jiang Li muttered to herself.
She had already gone through these ledgers back and forth many times, and almost all the meanings represented by the code words had been cracked.
It had to be said that the former leader of the Scarlet Pelican, just like the first impression she had when she met him, was a guy who was confident to the point of being conceited.
Perhaps he believed that no one could crack the code he had created by combining images with artificial language, so he recorded everything he did—including transaction ledgers with his superiors and subordinates, his experiences of slaughtering and abusing kidnapped victims, and even some trivial personal thoughts—in his ledger.
The only thing that wasn't recorded in detail, yet appeared repeatedly, was this countdown.
This countdown appeared in his ledger on the 7th of almost every month, reducing the number of days in that month at once, and on that day, he would not record any other content.
What made Jiang Li feel suspicious was that the month the countdown hit zero was exactly the day she defeated the former leader of the Scarlet Pelican and took his place, as if all of this had been prophesied long ago.
"Rustle... Rustle..."
Time passed quietly amidst the intermittent, light sound of paper turning.
At exactly three in the afternoon, a faint Spiritual Power fluctuation from an unseen corner deep within the desk pulled her out of her focused state.
Moving her attention away from the ledger, her peripheral vision drifted to the rose-shaped brass handle on the desk drawer. Her fingertips brushed over it, infusing it with Spiritual Power. As the rosebud glowed with a faint cyan light and quietly bloomed, a soft mechanical whirring sound came from inside the desk.
Then, a "click" came from inside the drawer; it seemed some mechanism had opened.
Following that, Jiang Li opened the drawer. The silver bao sang cang xiao badge, wrapped in a handkerchief, lay quietly in the small mezzanine space, presenting itself before her eyes, vibrating continuously.
Taking out the bao sang cang xiao badge and holding it in her palm, she infused it with a wisp of Spiritual Power, and Inspector Xing Yuan's voice rang in her ear.
"Hello, hello, hello! Can you hear me? Is this Agent Jiang Li?"
"..." Jiang Li was silent for two seconds. "It's me. I am Jiang Li."
"Why did it take so long to reply? I thought you had some kind of accident! Didn't we agree that you would respond immediately when I contact you?" Inspector Xing Yuan said.
"Sorry." Jiang Li said calmly. "I was just looking at those ledgers and got a bit engrossed."
"Looking at those ledgers again?" Inspector Xing Yuan said with a strange tone. "Haven't you already looked at them many times? You should have already contacted the financier behind the Scarlet Pelican by now, right? I think you should be focusing your attention on that instead."
"I know." Jiang Li nodded. "I had nothing else to do, so I was just flipping through them. But as for you... Inspector, contacting me outside of our agreed time, you must have some urgent matter, right?"
"Haha, it's not exactly an urgent matter!" Inspector Xing Yuan laughed. "Didn't I tell you last time that I would apply to my superiors as soon as possible to select a reliable agent from those currently in Country M to assist you with your investigation? There is already progress on that matter."
"Today during the day—well, that is, early morning for you—I received news that the application was approved. The other party is a trusted aide of Lord 'God of Wealth,' named Yu Yinchuan, codenamed 'Jin Chan Lang.' The case he is currently investigating intersects with what you are investigating. You can cooperate with each other in the investigation."
"I'll give you his contact information later. Why don't you two meet up first?"
Hearing Inspector Xing Yuan's words, Jiang Li frowned as if she had thought of something important and asked, "Are you sure it's 'Jin Chan Lang'?"
Before Inspector Xing Yuan mentioned it, she had already heard of this codename.
"Of course!" Inspector Xing Yuan said without hesitation. "The approved application document is still lying on my computer! But hearing you say that, it seems you know him?"
"I haven't had direct contact, but I recently received intelligence that he went missing not long ago while investigating a case." Jiang Li told Inspector Xing Yuan the intelligence she had obtained from "Monkey" without hiding anything.
A guy who was considered missing in the cognition of the major forces in the Free City had suddenly become her partner. She was somewhat suspicious.
Was this really reliable?
An agent who had been missing for a long time suddenly popped up again—was he still the same him?
Jiang Li's worry was not without reason. She had seen many files in the Night Watch database regarding cases where agents were replaced by urban legends or Psychics who infiltrated the Night Watch after disappearing.
In the events recorded in those files, the imposters, in order to achieve their sinister goals, all caused massive destruction without exception. The most serious incident nearly caused Shanhai Pass to fall.
"Oh, I know about that!" Inspector Xing Yuan said. "Before contacting you, I had already checked that guy's file for you. It's true that he didn't report to the Night Watch for about a week not long ago and was deemed to be in a lost-contact state, but he re-established contact later."
"Judging from the report he submitted, he was attacked while investigating a case ten days ago, was seriously injured, and was in a coma for a long time. As soon as his injuries recovered a bit, he reported his whereabouts to his superiors immediately." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
As if guessing what was on Jiang Li's mind, Inspector Xing Yuan added, "Don't worry! His identity is endorsed by the Guardians. There won't be any problems."
"..."
Jiang Li was silent for a moment, then replied faintly, "Mm, I see. I will try my best to cooperate with his actions."
As for whether this so-called 'Jin Chan Lang' was an imposter and had any sinister goals...
She would know as soon as she saw him! Jiang Li thought, narrowing her eyes slightly. Just then, Inspector Xing Yuan's voice rang out again.
"One more thing, I've finished investigating the young lady you asked me to help with. Her name is Shen Baiwei. According to reliable intelligence, she once served as an assistant experimentalist at Tethys Laboratory. Later, for some reason, she left Tethys Laboratory and joined the Miracle Order, becoming a trusted aide to an elder of the Miracle Order."
"She also appeared in the Yumen Pass incident that happened not long ago, though her purpose is unknown."
Having been an experimental subject for the Eclipse Society, a trusted aide to an elder of the Miracle Order, and having participated ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) in a Calamity-level event... After reciting Shen Baiwei's 'resume' in her mind, Jiang Li rubbed her brow. "This Shen Baiwei really has a notorious record!"
"Who says she doesn't!" Inspector Xing Yuan agreed with Jiang Li's evaluation of Shen Baiwei from the bottom of her heart. "So I think, rather than worrying about 'Jin Chan Lang's' identity, you should worry about this Shen Baiwei."
"I will be careful."
"Alright, that's all I have to say. If there is any progress in the investigation or if you encounter any difficulties, contact me in time."
"Mm."
After ending the call with Inspector Xing Yuan, Jiang Li carefully put the bao sang cang xiao badge back into the mezzanine of the desk, activated the Spiritual Power circuit to hide it, then closed her eyes, held her forehead, and leaned back in her chair.
The former leader of the Scarlet Pelican's ledger, the upcoming partner 'Jin Chan Lang,' and the complex, notorious Shen Baiwei... Her brain had received too much information at once, and there were too many things to think about, making her feel a rare trace of fatigue.
Outside the window, the sun had already slanted westward. The crimson sunset shone through the gaps in the clouds, staining the Free City, which had been shrouded in gloomy clouds all day, with a bloody color.
"Buzz... Buzz..."
A vibration sound came from the mobile phone on the table. The sender was a numerical code '03,' which represented the person in charge of the third most important industry within the Scarlet Pelican organization—the South Avenue underground clinic.
"03: Respected Pelican Lady, the young lady previously sent to the clinic has woken up, but her mental state is not very good. I don't know how much longer she can remain conscious. Please come quickly."
After reading the message sent by '03,' Jiang Li's eyes trembled slightly. She turned her head to look at the black windbreaker and hat on the coat rack not far away, sighed silently, stood up, dressed neatly, put on that pelican-shaped mask, and left the apartment.
