"The system is randomly drawing an enhancement, please wait..."
"Enhancement complete! Ultimate Item—Ji Xing, has been successfully enhanced! Enhancement effect: Permanently solidified."
Zhang Xiaoman was slightly startled to see the result provided by the system; he hadn’t expected his strongest ultimate item to be enhanced right off the bat.
He hurriedly opened his attribute panel to check, and at last found the enhanced feature in the skill attached to the ring: [Master of the Stars].
[Master of the Stars]
Master of the Stars: Possess all the abilities of the other Star Rings.
Currently activated: 1/6
Shadow Lord—You are untraceable by all things; immune to all curse-type attacks. (Permanently solidified)
——The endless terminal, the eternal dominator, the starry sky calls out your name, Master of the Stars!
Gazing at the panel before him, Zhang Xiaoman said in a daze, "This... The Shadow Lord’s ability has been activated just like that? Does it mean I can use its passive without having to hand over the Dark Star Ring now?"
He blinked, "So I’m immune to curse-type attacks now? And that untraceable effect should also be active, right? But what exactly does ’untraceable’ mean? And what’s the definition of tracking?"
Zhang Xiaoman was curious about the changes brought by this enhancement. While he was studying its intricacies relentlessly, unbeknownst to him, a chaotic scene was unfolding at the same time in a certain area of Qionghua City.
Qionghua City, Abnormal Event Emergency Investigation Department.
It was now noon, and many families had already sat down to enjoy their lunch, yet it remained bustling and extremely busy here.
In an office on the third floor, Mr. Qi, the head of the intelligence group, was eating the takeout that had just been delivered while listening to the report from a member of his team.
"Chief, the power outage downstairs has been fixed, but many of our computers lost some files. The material on a suspected abnormal event that I obtained just today has also disappeared..."
Mr. Qi shoveled a big mouthful of food then gulped down a lot of water before asking, "Oh? What kind of material did you lose? Do you still remember the content?"
The young policeman reporting thought for a moment and then said, "It seems it was in the East District’s Information Industry Park. A citizen called to report a friend being attacked by a ghost, but it was dismissed as a prank call by the call center and hung up..."
Mr. Qi’s expression froze slightly before he asked again, "The information on the reporting party, the address, the call records... are all these gone?"
The young policeman nodded gloomily.
Mr. Qi’s mind raced, "What about the call center? They should have backups, right? Call them and ask for another set of information. Also, when did this happen?"
"It was last month... around the beginning to the middle of the month, I can’t remember exactly..." the young policeman recalled.
Qi Tian frowned and said, "How come it’s only now that we’re dealing with last month’s incident?"
The young officer’s face turned bitter as he complained, "Chief, you know as well as I do, lately there’s been one abnormal event after another, and we’re short-staffed... Plus, everyone has been focusing on the Pacific recently, when would we have time to investigate this... And with that flash of light yesterday, the internet might get even messier..."
Qi Tian massaged his temples rigorously, somewhat helplessly he said, "Alright, alright, I know all about it. No need to complain further. Now hurry up and make a call to the dispatch center, ask them to send over the documents again. I have a hunch there’s something fishy about this case."
The young officer wasted no time and immediately took out his phone to dial a number, making his request for the relevant files known to the other end.
However, after waiting for a moment, the young officer’s expression abruptly became one of surprise. He spoke into the phone, "Don’t hang up!" Then quickly reported to Qi Tian, "Chief, they just had a power outage too! And they can’t find the dispatch record from that time either!"
"What!?" Qi Tian’s head snapped up, "Are you sure? The missing document is the same case record?"
"Yes! I just confirmed it with them. They experienced a situation similar to ours, numerous files went missing after the power outage."
At this point, Qi Tian’s complexion had turned quite grim. He tapped his fingers softly on the desk, then spoke, "How could it be such a coincidence? Could this be the work of someone... Right, the dispatch center should have paper copies of the records; tell them to check!"
The young officer immediately went back to communicating with the person on the phone for a moment. After about 5 minutes, the party on the other end finally presented the results of their investigation.
"Chief Qi... I think we might indeed have stumbled upon an abnormal event this time..."
"What happened? Is it really a special case?"
The young officer shook his head, his expression odd as he said, "No... they just said that their paper records are missing too... The page recording the details of the case, just happened to be chewed on by a rat..."
"A rat!?" Qi Tian’s eyes widened, he looked at the other incredulously, "They have a rat problem there too!?"
Afterwards, he remained stunned for a good long while, then he spoke softly, "This can’t just be a coincidence! There must be something fishy going on!"
His brows furrowed tightly, his gaze narrowed slightly. "It seems someone is deliberately trying to hide their tracks... but how did they manage to do that? Could it be that there really are Transcendents in this world... No, I must report to Minister Hu immediately! Many things require further planning!"
After finishing, Qi Tian looked at the young officer and instructed, "Xiao Wang, go and inform our intelligence group brothers to gather in room 308 for a meeting right away, I have important assignments to hand out!"
Pei Lingsu watched as her son returned home suddenly, first she was slightly astounded, then quickly came to, her face immediately filled with joy.
"You’re back? You were gone for quite a long time; did you find it?"
Zhang Xiaoman too wore a smile. Leaving home abruptly for more than a dozen days, it was hard for a person like him who had never traveled far to not miss home.
"Mom, everything’s been taken care of! The things I’ve experienced this time, you probably won’t believe if I told you!"
Zhang Xiaoman finished the last bite of rice in his bowl, patted his belly contentedly, and said, "Mom, that’s pretty much the gist of it. I haven’t been busy for nothing these past days, have I? How about it, isn’t it incredible?"
His mother still seemed somewhat incredulous, after much effort, she finally digested what Zhang Xiaoman had just told her.