Marcus transmitted the data to Chen Gu and then led a team to raid a factory.
In that battle, the Monstrous Brain's Biological Nuclear Explosion blew all the men in black to pieces, making it impossible to investigate their identities.
However, remnants of the heavy-duty van used to transport the Monstrous Brain were left behind. Through these remains, they traced the factory—the van was registered under this factory's name.
This was a place that produced "naturally-grown" meat products, requiring a large number of vans for transportation.
The operation was supported by the task force from the Wanfulu City sub-bureau; fifty fully armed task force members swiftly breached the factory's outer walls and charged in.
But unlike the tense task force members, Marcus got out of the car, hands in his pockets, standing to one side. He appeared somewhat casual, occasionally looking around.
After a while, the task force leader came out, shaking his head. "They've all fled."
Marcus wasn't surprised. He sauntered into the factory and said, "Let's see if there are any clues."
As he was inspecting the factory, several team members suddenly started shouting in the communication channel, "We found an underground cold storage!"
Marcus and the others immediately rushed over.
Once they arrived, the team leader nodded, and the team members violently broke open the cold storage door. Three members stormed inside, covering each other.
A moment later, they rushed out, crouching to the side and vomiting loudly. The other task force members were baffled. Marcus, however, walked in unhurriedly and immediately understood. This must have been where the "Boss" cultivated the Monstrous Brain, he realized. The cold storage was filled with human corpses. Newest update provided by NoveI-Fire.ɴet
The tops of these corpses' skulls were sawed open, hollowed out inside; their brains had already been devoured by the Monstrous Brain.
Crucially, not only did this creature enjoy eating human brains, but it also reveled in bloody torture. Using tentacle-like blood vessels, it had torn the victims' internal organs to shreds, scattering them everywhere. The brutality of the scene was too much even for the battle-hardened task force members to bear.
Marcus, fighting back his discomfort, began to carefully inspect the cold storage—it was the only clue left, as those individuals had no time to clean up in their hasty retreat.
As he investigated, Marcus suddenly frowned: a few of the fragmented skulls looked familiar.
He took holographic photos and sent them back to the Wuzhaoyin City sub-bureau, then called Mei Lixue. "Chief, send someone to investigate 'Divine Poison.' During our last mission there, I recall these few individuals were vagrants from that area. Now they've died in Wanfulu City, having become food for the Monstrous Brain."
Mei Lixue agreed. This would take time, and she would notify Marcus as soon as she had any results.
Chen Gu mentally reviewed all of Wu Minzhe's information again. One of Wu Minzhe's accounts showed frequent and sizable monetary transfers; it must have been the account he used specifically for buying and selling goods.
Chen Gu sifted through these transactions and found the two most recent ones, most likely payments for "Konsfino Type II."
Then he called the sub-bureau, asking the female clerks in the office to help investigate these two accounts.
In the sub-bureau, Qing Ruyan immediately took personal charge of the matter.
Then Chen Gu directly requisitioned the AI from the Wanfulu City sub-bureau and began analyzing all the freelancers listed on Wu Minzhe's secret staff.
The final result surprised Chen Gu. Among Wu Minzhe's clients, there was no shortage of high-Energy Level professionals, including four at the Third Energy Level.
Chen Gu's attention focused on a member of the [Sleeping Ancient Clan] who happened to live in Wanfulu City. This old profession's traits resembled those of the "Blood Clan" from ancient legends of their home planet—disliking sunlight, seemingly always "tired," and often lying down in dark places.
However, they were immune to many forms of damage and possessed both physical and magical attacks, making their combat prowess outstanding among the old professions.
Chen Gu surmised that this member of the [Sleeping Ancient Clan] was the "Boss's" target.
The Boss had hired Dora, and through Dora, the President. So, there was a high probability that the Boss knew the President and Wu Minzhe were acquainted.
This meant the Boss was fully aware that giving [Konsfino Type II] to Wu Minzhe to sell might expose it to the President, yet still took the risk. There had to be a compelling reason.
After synthesizing all the clues, the giant Monstrous Brain gave Chen Gu an inspiration.
Although the Monstrous Brain possessed incredible offensive power, it was inherently weak with fragile defenses. Chen Gu destroying it was proof of this.
It was very likely that the Boss wanted to collect data from experimental subjects while simultaneously providing a bodyguard for the Monstrous Brain.
The [Sleeping Ancient Clan] member was probably the Boss's target.
However, this member of the [Sleeping Ancient Clan] was not among those who purchased the two [Konsfino Type II] agents, which must have been somewhat disappointing for the Boss.
Just as Chen Gu was considering whether to meet with this member of the [Sleeping Ancient Clan], he suddenly saw a flash of light on Dora's secret staff, which lay nearby.
Dora and Boluo were both in life support pods. Their personal belongings had been removed by the nurses and placed in a transparent bag beside their beds.
Chen Gu opened the bag and took out the secret staff.
Charles, the team's sub-node maintainer, grabbed his arm. "What are you doing? This is Dora's privacy."
Chen Gu had a strong intuition urging him on. "I just want to see who sent the message!"
Charles looked at him skeptically for a long moment before saying, "You two... is there something... you know... between you?"
Chen Gu instantly understood and smiled bitterly. "It's not what you think. I feel this message is critical to the current case. How about this: you take a look for me. See if the sender is [Gravekeeper Under the Moon]."
Hearing Chen Gu's denial, Charles's expression became one of understanding. "That's what I thought. How could a nice girl like Dora fall for you?"
Chen Gu felt the conversation was going nowhere. I've been holding back from retorting for several hours for Dora and Boluo's sake, he thought. Aren't you getting a bit carried away?
Still somewhat skeptical of Chen Gu's judgment, Charles snatched the secret staff from his hand. "Let me see... Don't think you can fool me. Actually, Chen Gu, you don't look too bad yourself, just a bit less handsome than me. As a senior, let me give you some advice: the most important thing when pursuing a girl is a sincere heart. With your fondness for sneaky tricks, you're bound to fail sooner or later..."
Chen Gu internally disagreed. Isn't the most important thing when chasing girls spending money?
As Charles prattled on, he opened Dora's secret staff. A projection of light and shadow flew up, displaying a message: "Rabbit, have you heard any news about the train recently?"
The sender's avatar was unmistakably that of [Gravekeeper Under the Moon]!