"Let's go, take a look at your restaurant together."
Wang Mingyuan took out his phone and started recording: "What, not going to show me the way?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Li Ya denied.
"Since you won't show me the way, I'll find it myself."
Wang Mingyuan looked at Su Zhan: "Su Zhan, keep an eye on Miss Li."
"Okay."
Su Zhan nodded, focusing his attention on Li Ya.
But he felt completely secure inside.
And so.
Wang Mingyuan led the way with Su Zhan escorting Li Ya.
They descended along a hidden passage to an underground chamber.
Pushing open the final concealed door, a wave of bloody scent assaulted their senses.
The chamber was arranged like a restaurant.
Under crystal chandeliers.
Stood a long table draped with pristine white tablecloths.
The table was neatly set with various silver utensils.
Cleavers, boning knives, serrated blades...
All polished spotless, their edges so sharp they reflected clear images.
Su Zhan's eyes widened.
Through the glass of the refrigeration unit in the corner, he could see neatly arranged ingredients.
All vacuum-sealed in bags, faintly showing dark red hues.
Su Zhan flipped through the menu on the long table.
Fresh sashimi, rare steak, bone marrow soup...
Each dish name was accompanied by notes about ingredient sources and optimal consumption parts.
Damn, the chef of this underground restaurant really knew how to treat people.
"Miss Li, your coffee shop's restaurant is quite... distinctive."
Wang Mingyuan slowly walked to the refrigeration unit, tapping on the glass door: "Built ten meters underground, equipped with such professional refrigeration equipment, and even specially installed detection-blocking devices."
Li Ya remained expressionless, her hands folded before her: "You must be joking. I have no idea why this place would be under my café."
"Is that so?"
Wang Mingyuan pulled open the refrigeration unit, cold air instantly spreading through the room.
He casually took out a vacuum-sealed package of ingredients and shook it: "Then these ingredients presumably aren't yours either?"
The dark red flesh showed faint muscle texture.
Li Ya didn't even furrow her brows: "I don't know."
"Very well."
Wang Mingyuan's eyes turned cold as he threw the ingredients back into the unit, turning to Su Zhan: "Notify the Aberrant Purge Division, have them send people over. Every inch needs to be sampled and tested."
"Wait."
Li Ya spoke up: "Before you formally arrest me, may I call my family?"
"Of course."
Wang Mingyuan made an inviting gesture.
Su Zhan whispered: "Professor Wang..."
Wang Mingyuan slightly shook his head, speaking in a voice only the two could hear: "Let her call. I want to see how much influence Dean Li really has to smooth this over with ironclad evidence."
Li Ya dialed the phone, her tone still composed: "Dad, I've run into some trouble here..."
Dean Li's steady voice came from the other end: "Give the phone to Professor Wang."
Wang Mingyuan took the phone and put it on speaker: "Dean Li, it's been a while."
The other party said: "Professor Wang, there's some misunderstanding here. I'll come over immediately."
Wang Mingyuan glanced at the room full of evidence: "I look forward to your explanation."
After hanging up.
The chamber fell into silence.
Li Ya maintained her elegant posture as if completely detached from the situation.
Su Zhan continued: "Professor, will Dean Li possibly..."
"Don't worry."
Wang Mingyuan adjusted his glasses: "With ironclad evidence here, he can't turn this around."
Soon.
The Aberrant Purge Division's black vehicles arrived, surrounding the coffee shop.
Zhao Lin led a team of fully armed purge members quickly into the basement.
"Professor Wang."
Zhao Lin stepped forward to shake hands, his eyes scanning the room full of evidence: "We owe you thanks this time."
Wang Mingyuan slightly nodded: "All the evidence is here. The ingredients in the refrigeration unit need to be sent for testing immediately."
"Already arranged."
Zhao Lin waved his hand, and the division members immediately began working.
They carefully collected the knives, photographed details, and placed the vacuum-sealed ingredients into specially designed refrigeration boxes.
Everyone went back up to the café.
Several purge members escorted the coffee shop staff down through the passage.
The waitstaff who had been all smiles earlier now looked deathly pale.
One young girl suddenly broke down crying: "I didn't know anything! I was just following orders!"
Zhao Lin coldly waved his hand: "Take them all back for interrogation."
He turned to Wang Mingyuan, his tone softening slightly: "I'll accurately record your contributions in this operation report."
Wang Mingyuan adjusted his glasses: "Just doing our duty."
Zhao Lin clasped his hands: "Thank you. You can join us during the interrogations later."
"Good."
Wang Mingyuan nodded.
"What happened? Did you find evidence?"
Liu Ziming's original lookout duty had been taken over by the Aberrant Purge Division, so he still didn't know what had happened.
Xie Xi and others also gathered around, looking curiously at the two.
"It's fine, just don't talk about this outside."
Zhao Lin waved his hand, "I have matters to attend to, excuse me."
"Mhm."
Wang Mingyuan acknowledged, watching him leave.
"What's the evidence?"
Liu Ziming immediately asked.
"The evidence is in that basement."
Su Zhan pointed in a direction: "Go see for yourself, but be careful not to touch anything and disturb the scene."
Since you're all so curious, let you see for yourselves.
"Alright, I'm going to check it out."
Liu Ziming took the lead, bringing everyone with him.
He kicked open the storage room's hidden door and barged in recklessly.
When he saw the full view of the basement, his grinning expression instantly froze.
"Holy shit..."
Liu Ziming's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice cracking: "This is fucking..."
His words caught halfway as he suddenly turned around and started dry heaving.
Xie Xi followed closely into the chamber.
Her eyes scanned the ingredients in the refrigeration unit, glanced at the menu on the wall, and her complexion didn't look great either.
Xu Hao stared at the vacuum-sealed packages, his lips trembling: "These muscle textures, they should be..."
He stopped mid-sentence, covered his mouth, and staggered back two steps.
Feng Jue expressionlessly walked in, staring at the dried blood on the counter: "The last time they processed ingredients couldn't have been more than 12 hours ago."
Liu Ziming finally recovered enough to glance at the refrigeration unit: "I'm never eating steak again in my fucking life."
Su Zhan stood at the staircase watching them.
They'd seen dead bodies before, but nothing like this scene.
This was far more cruel than corpses.
Their psychological defenses needed more reinforcement.
Lan City gourmets—quite interesting.
"Su Zhan!"
Liu Ziming rushed forward and grabbed Su Zhan's arm: "You bastard with ill intentions! You knew what kind of hellhole was down there and still let us go in!"
"You wanted to see."
Su Zhan expressionlessly shrugged, glancing at the vomit residue on Liu Ziming's expensive clothes: "Your who-knows-which-luxury-brand outfit is dirty now. Better clean that up."
Liu Ziming wailed as he crouched down: "You heartless bastard, ugh..."
Su Zhan silently handed him a bottle of water, smiling: "Rinse your mouth, but... not toward the refrigeration unit."
The others weren't as dramatic as Liu Ziming.
But their eyes held some resentment too, as if they also shared Liu Ziming's complaint that Su Zhan hadn't warned them.
To this, Su Zhan spread his hands: "You didn't ask."