The Shark Nexus's headquarter, as it turned out, was on the side of a street.
To be precise, Pete's first round of pitch meetings took place on the curb of a street in the fourth level of the Eastern District of Pineshore Collective. According to him, the weather was pleasant that day, with clear sunlight. Vendors pushing carts, advertising trucks covered in screens, and mobile cinemas bustled up and down the street. The cacophony of sounds, voices, and commotion was like a pot of water about to boil over, bubbling up in the air.
Of course, such vivid imagery didn't come to mind until Lin Sanjiu and Cyrus flew over Pineshore Collective in their small aircraft to survey the area from above.
"I'm really not lying to you," Pete said, clearly aware of how implausible his story sounded. "I couldn't believe it myself at first. I thought they were joking with me. But it really happened there. See that spot? Between the Sea-Land-Air Multiskill Center and the Special Items appraiser... When I walked into that alley, it was like entering a completely different space. It felt like a theater or something..."
So, the Shark Nexus had used a spatial item to conduct their fundraising meetings. It made sense; no matter how thorough their background checks, they wouldn't risk revealing their headquarters' location to someone whose pitch they rejected.
"What about the second round? Where did that happen?" Cyrus asked, clinging to hope.
Pete let out a deep sigh. "On a bus."
"A bus?" Lin Sanjiu felt like she shouldn't even be surprised anymore.
"An airborne bus," Pete said, his expression showing a hint of panic, likely from being forced to reveal information about the Shark Nexus. At the same time, he seemed nervous because he didn't have any concrete information to offer Lin Sanjiu and Cyrus, which made him anxious about their reaction. "You've probably seen them, the ones you can rent. They can seat a dozen or so people."
"Was there any symbol on the bus?" Cyrus pressed further.
Pete could only shake his head. "They were very careful. There wasn't anything on the exterior of the bus."
Lin Sanjiu rubbed her temples.
Due to its unique geography, Cloudwalk Heights was virtually impassable without airborne transportation, giving rise to a thriving flying rental industry. Airborne buses like the one Pete described were rented and returned hundreds of times a day. With countless rental companies scattered across Cloudwalk Heights, how could they possibly investigate each one?
Despite having no solid evidence, Lin Sanjiu didn't think Pete was lying. Perhaps it was her intuition.
"Then we focus on the investors," Cyrus said, his tone so tense it sounded like he was gritting his teeth. "Were the investors men or women? How old? What distinguishing features?"
Unfortunately, the Shark Nexus had also tightly controlled this angle.
"They were all wearing the same humanoid suits," Pete said, his voice growing less confident. "You didn't see it, but it was creepy—three identical people sitting on the bus, all staring at me... But I can tell you this: one of the male voices was fake. Really fake. The other two were a man and a woman."
Simply knowing their genders was utterly useless.
Even with Cyrus repeatedly questioning and probing Pete for more details, he couldn't extract any additional information about the investors. The Shark Nexus had clearly put significant effort into concealing their tracks. Not even during their conversations with Pete did they reveal any identifying details about themselves.
At the very least, Pete hadn't remembered anything useful.
Was the only option now to release him and secretly follow him to see who contacted him next? Lin Sanjiu hesitated to resort to such a tactic unless absolutely necessary. The reasoning was simple: Pete had been missing for over ten days, and the Shark Nexus was surely aware of his disappearance. If he were suddenly released, their suspicions would immediately spike. 𝙧Ἀℕ𝘰฿ƐṦ
Dealing with a typical enemy would be one thing, but the problem was that their opposition included Wu Yiliu, who had likely already sensed something was amiss. Frankly, Lin Sanjiu wouldn't be surprised if Wu Yiliu set a trap using Pete or even tracked her down through him.
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"Well, since you can't provide anything valuable," Cyrus said coldly, "you don't need to keep this part of your memory."
It was at this moment that Lin Sanjiu truly glimpsed the authority Cyrus must have held within the Shadow Hall.
"No, wait!" Pete, who had no qualms about tampering with others' memories, suddenly panicked when it came to the possibility of entering Ah Quan's pocket dimension. "We agreed, didn't we? I'd cooperate, and you wouldn't touch my memory..."
"Maybe you should let Ah Quan open up your memories," Lin Sanjiu said. "Humans have many details buried in their subconscious. You might not remember, but they're still there."
Pete's discomfort at the idea was palpable. He looked like he'd rather fabricate an entire story than step into Ah Quan's pocket dimension.
Perhaps that was why, when Pete suddenly exclaimed, "Ah!" and slapped his thigh as if remembering something, Lin Sanjiu immediately suspected he was making it up.
"I was standing at the front of the bus, holding a microphone, presenting my ability and action plan to the investors..." Pete frowned as he tried to recall. "Right behind me was the driver's seat. Those airborne buses don't even have separate cockpits. Behind the seat cover, lower down, there was a flat pocket for storing things. I glanced at it and happened to see a piece of paper sticking out."
"A piece of paper?"
"But I didn't see what was written on it," Pete said, quickly waving his hands defensively. "I was so focused on my presentation at the time that noticing it had a blue sky printed on it was a miracle..."
A blue sky? What good was that?
Lin Sanjiu exhaled and slumped back in her chair. Cyrus rested his arms on his knees, looking equally drained. After a long pause, he let out a bitter laugh. "So, the only clue we managed to get is that someone printed a blue sky on a piece of paper, and we don't even know who it belongs to."
Pete opened his mouth hesitantly.
"Well... now that you mention it... I feel like there weren't any clouds on that paper."
Both Lin Sanjiu and Cyrus looked up at him. Cyrus seemed to have thought of something as he slowly straightened.
"No clouds?" he asked thoughtfully. "Then it was just blue? If you only glanced at it, how could you tell it was a blue sky and not just a plain blue color block?"
Cloudwalk Heights was a high-altitude world built above the smog layer, where the sunlight was strong, and the sky was an evenly bright blue. There was no issue with haze tainting its color. Lin Sanjiu thought back to the skies she had seen there and couldn't help but feel the same sense of doubt.
Even Pete's face showed confusion, as if he wasn't sure why he had thought it was a blue sky.
"It must have been a photograph," he said. "A photo of the sky... but why would I think it was a photo...? Oh, right! It wasn't just the blue sky!"
He clapped his hands in excitement. "There was also this thin, transparent thing extending halfway into the sky, and it was shiny! That's why I thought it was a photo!"
Lin Sanjiu glanced at Cyrus and saw the same bewilderment she felt reflected on his face. The description was so strange that it was difficult to even process.
No, wait—this description felt familiar.
She jumped out of her chair and grabbed Pete's shoulders, startling him so much that his face turned pale.
"I know what it is," Lin Sanjiu murmured. "A bus that seats more than ten people, a piece of paper printed with a transparent column and a blue sky... I know what it is. But I'm not sure if this information will lead us directly to the Shark Nexus."
"What exactly do you know?" Cyrus stared at her intently.
Not only did Lin Sanjiu know what the transparent, reflective thing was, but she had even jumped off of it before.
"First of all, that's not just a piece of paper. If I'm not mistaken, it's probably part of a promotional advertisement," she said, steadying her voice. "And the bus—before the Shark Nexus rented it—was likely rented out to a tour group. Or more specifically, it was previously used for a tour group's sightseeing route through the CBD area."
Seeing the astonished expressions on both faces, she continued, "Because that thin, transparent column in the blue sky is part of a high-altitude bungee jumping site in the CBD."
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