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The hotel service was excellent, and the staff were dressed very formally. Cui Ming entered, registered, and received the key. However, since there was no prior notice, the room was still being cleaned. Mi Xiaonan and Li Qing were in the lobby's tea area enjoying drinks. Li Qing said, "I checked the room, and I think it's quite nice, but the Lobby Manager said it doesn't meet the standards and asked us to wait for two hours. This is the first time I've truly felt respected."
"You're overthinking it; it's just about money," Cui Ming replied. "The contractors require zero complaints from them, which exceeds what Hero City expects. Regardless, compared to those in Twilight City, they are fortunate—less work intensity and high pay."
A server approached Cui Ming to ask what she wanted. Cui Ming ordered water, and Mi Xiaonan asked, "Sister, how much is your monthly salary?"
Sister? Asking someone about their privacy? The server was taken aback and felt a bit awkward. Cui Ming quickly responded, "We're on a mission to understand your income and see if the contractors are exploiting you."
The server nodded. "I'm currently in my internship period; I earn eighteen thousand a month. After becoming a full-time employee, it's thirty thousand. The Team Leader's salary is fifty thousand, the supervisor earns eighty thousand, and the general manager's annual salary is two million."
Wow… The three of them were stunned; this was not an ordinary amount. The server genuinely believed Cui Ming was interested in income details and mentioned various allowances. An ordinary server could take home around five hundred thousand a year. Later, Cui Ming learned that Hero City allocated thirty million annually to contractors for hotels, excluding food expenses for practitioners. Cui Ming concluded two things: Force Alliance had real money, and they lacked an accountant. To maintain operations for four hundred workers in Hero City, Force Alliance spent over one hundred million each year. The council informed Cui Ming that the broadcast fees for Competition Match alone exceeded one hundred million and that competition was fierce. The alliance aimed to provide its members with a home. As long as one was a member of the alliance, they could permanently reside in Hero City and enjoy services comparable to those in Three Continents.
Members of Force Alliance found it relatively easy to make money. The accumulated registration fees and funding from Eternity Alliance had reached astronomical figures; why not spend it? Now there were various foundations trying to get involved, hoping to utilize this money. Unfortunately, everyone was indifferent to finances and lacked an accurate accountant; even the President couldn't specify how much money the alliance actually had. Things deemed unimportant could be purchased for comfort, so the alliance naturally bought them without hesitation. The council had no objections either; after all, they had to stay here for several months each year—who would want to live in a ghost town?
While chatting, the room was ready.
The room wasn't large but was quite tasteful. Upon entering, one would see flowers and a fruit basket; the floor was so clean it could reflect one's silhouette. A glass tea table added an upscale touch. The balcony measured about ten square meters and featured a sunshade with tables and chairs alongside a small patch of flowers. The accompanying Team Leader and Lobby Manager informed them that anything they were dissatisfied with could be exchanged.
Cui Ming was very satisfied and asked, "Who is staying upstairs?"
"Upstairs?" The Lobby Manager paused before explaining, "We have two buildings in total; this side is for ordinary members' accommodations while across the street are rooms for members with positions. They're quite similar; we just allocate most of our manpower to the building across since this one rarely has guests—almost never really—but soon it will be bustling..."
Cui Ming raised her hand to interrupt: "Are you sure this building only has us three practitioners?"
"Of course," the manager replied. "Before you checked in, this building was essentially just decor; that's why you didn't make a reservation here. We spent two hours preparing it for you..."
"Sorry to disturb you." Cui Ming nodded as he walked past Mi Xiaonan's room. With a snap of his fingers and a beckoning gesture, he entered Li Qing's room alongside Mi Xiaonan.
...
"I don't know if the manager misremembered, but there are currently four practitioners in this building, and one of them hasn't moved at all."
Li Qing asked, "Which floor?"
"Unclear," Cui Ming replied. "My Fate Card doesn't have depth perception, but the location is in Mi Xiaonan's room."
"A spy?" Li Qing questioned. "With just four days left until the first meeting with the Fire Cult, isn't it too late to gather intelligence? Besides, this is Hero City; there must be at least a dozen practitioners here, not to mention experts like Wandering."
"I don't know," Cui Ming shook his head. "Spies don't behave like this; they lie in wait in one place without moving. This behavior seems more like that of an assassin."
Li Qing picked up the hotel phone and connected to Alliance Hunter: "Find Wei Wei; this is Li Qing... No, Cui Ming says there's a fourth practitioner in our hotel, but the Lobby Manager insists there are only three."
Wei Wei sounded surprised: "That building has indeed been closed off; no one has used it for months."
Li Qing said, "Get someone here."
"Okay."
...
The hotel had a total of twelve floors. On the seventh floor, in one room, a Half-Beast resembling a rat, hunched over, was pulling back some curtains to look at the headquarters three hundred meters away. His entire body was enveloped in green Force, and he held a Hand Crossbow that also emanated a layer of green Force energy.
Today marked the third day. Damn it, just one oversight allowed the target to slip away. Seventy-two hours without closing his eyes, only taking a sip of water, and now the target was lost. He felt immense regret—immense, immense regret.
The phone in the room rang, and he reached out to answer it. "Hello."
"A guest has checked into the hotel. Evacuate immediately."
"He's inside," Mouse replied. "He won't stay long."
"You said that three days ago, yet he's still been working at Hunter Headquarters without even visiting the main office once."
"But he came."
"Is he already familiar with the sewers of Hero City?"
"Yes."
"Your evacuation point is at the sewage treatment outlet ten kilometers away."
Mouse responded, "I've spent more time in the sewers than you've been awake. I won't get lost."
"Good." The caller added, "You must evacuate before dark. Our intel is limited, and we currently don't know the identity of the guest."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Mouse immediately felt a surge of anxiety. He was out; the target had appeared. Bufon and Wandering were standing face to face at the entrance, pausing on the steps as if discussing something. It was clear that Bufon was seeing someone off, and there was an unfinished topic between them.
The phone rang again. Mouse waited for a moment before finally answering, but his attention remained on Wandering. "Hello."
"They're searching the building. Evacuate immediately; you need to leave now."
"I still need some time."
"There’s no time left."
The Mouse hung up the phone, gritting his teeth as adrenaline surged through him. Move, move...
Five seconds felt like half a century, and finally, Wandering broke away from Bufon. The Mouse's entire Force seemed to be drained away, all of it pouring into the Hand Crossbow. Die, first hero; even if you have more life left, it will be spent in the agony of the plague...
Bufon reached the entrance and suddenly remembered something. He turned around, and before he could speak, he shouted loudly. A massive shield appeared in his hands as he lunged forward. A green crossbow bolt struck precisely against Bufon's shield.
The Mouse cursed under his breath. With no hesitation, he unleashed a flurry of green crossbow bolts, their speed rivaling that of Cui Ming's flying cards. Bufon raised his giant shield to block them; each bolt sparked and rang out with a harsh metallic sound. Frustrated, the Mouse slammed his fist down on the table, immediately crashing through the wall and leaving behind a plague trap.
Six seconds later, Cui Ming kicked open the door to the room and grabbed the intercom. "Seventh floor, the target has escaped."
Wei Wei replied, "It's an assassin; they attacked Wandering, but were stopped by President."
Cui Ming saw the large hole created by the impact and marveled at how soundproof this room was. Just as he was about to walk over, he suddenly halted. The Fate Card sensed a wave of Force fluctuating five meters ahead. An invisible assassin? No, with trained eyes, he could see a green aura moving back and forth in midair. Cui Ming spoke into the intercom: "Be careful of traps; activate your vision. The trap is green, and the aura is in midair."
Mi Xiaonan asked in surprise, "Doesn't that green gas wrap around anyone who touches it?"
"How would I know?" Cui Ming retorted. "How do you know?" He had never thought he would ask two questions; just one word made such a difference... He shook his head to refocus.
"It's the Mouse," Mi Xiaonan said. "My senior brother fell into a trap while chasing him. This green aura seems to be easily expelled by Force, but there's some kind of viral substance that slowly seeps into Force, entering the body. Once you come into contact with a trap, you must quickly enter a meditative state to expel the trap's Force."
Understanding this, Cui Ming grabbed a chair and threw it over; the Force trap was triggered and exploded. Since the chair was an inanimate object, the Force could not penetrate it and vanished without a trace. Cautiously, Cui Ming stepped over where the trap had been located—no problem there. Suddenly, a door from the adjacent room flew out, startling Cui Ming, who instinctively pulled out a deck of Poker cards. Wait... no, it was Beiyue. Sister! Chasing an assassin like this is going to scare someone...
The door flew straight at Cui Ming. Initially thinking nothing of it, he didn’t expect that Beiyue had learned to condense her Force onto inanimate objects. The door struck him hard, sending him stumbling backward until he crashed through a window. His hands instinctively grasped for something but found nothing as he plummeted straight down toward the seventh floor below.
Upon landing, Cui Ming was fortunate that his multiple experiences with high-altitude falls had left him unscathed. It was also a stroke of luck that it was Beiyue with him; had it been anyone else, even Wandering would have faced a barrage of curses. Beiyue nervously poked his head out to check, while Cui Ming brushed himself off and said, "I'm fine." They jumped and leaped up to the seventh floor, where Beiyue reached out to grab Cui Ming's hand and pulled him into the room.
Li Qing was already at the door. Cui Ming looked around and remarked, "Strange, why did we hit the wall?" The two rooms had been connected by a broken wall, but there was no sign of the assassin.
Cui Ming walked back to the original room and stepped onto the balcony, suddenly realizing, "This kid is quite cunning; he led us away from the main area." He had even set up a trap to create the illusion of having gone to the adjacent room. When Cui Ming entered, the assassin had likely slipped away silently either up or down from the balcony.
Cui Ming picked up the intercom and asked, "What are the characteristics of the rat?"
"It looks like a rat; does that count as a characteristic?" Mi Xiaonan replied.
Cui Ming looked down from the balcony and inquired, "Is this rat particularly fond of sewers?" Below them was a sewer cover that showed signs of having been recently moved.
"Yes," Mi Xiaonan confirmed. "My senior brother was ambushed after chasing him into the sewer."
Cui Ming spoke into the intercom again, "Wei Wei, the assassin escaped through the sewer."
"What are your thoughts?"
"I have many thoughts." (To be continued.)
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