Chapter 819: RUN Company, riddled with problems |
The lively scene in the tavern was hard to miss.
More RUN Company couriers stationed in the village rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
When they discovered the corpse lying amidst the scattered bodies inside the tavern, a man foaming at the mouth with blood seeping from all seven orifices, the couriers' faces instantly twisted with fury.
Yet none of them dared to step inside.
The Frost Sky White Bear blocking the doorway stood like an impenetrable wall, sealing everyone out.
Inside the tavern, Ye Qiyan tucked several bottles of liquor into his Storage Unit and stepped outside. He glanced at the couriers gathered nearby, all of them too afraid to approach, and waved a hand dismissively.
"You lot, got business?"
The couriers stood their ground, teeth clenched, none daring to speak up, yet none willing to let Ye Qiyan simply walk away.
He stepped forward, and they stepped back.
Ye Qiyan shook his head, then pulled a medal from his pocket.
A RUN Company Senior Courier medal.
This was something he'd just acquired, and while its registered owner was the deceased Megan, unless someone examined it closely, it would be difficult to spot the difference.
"Just came down for an inspection, didn't expect you lot stationed in the village to be more violent than I imagined. Even if it's about fighting enemies, you should at least ask for clarification first, shouldn't you?"
The moment the medal appeared, the couriers' expressions shifted dramatically.
The tense, sword-drawn atmosphere turned painfully awkward.
Ye Qiyan had no intention of lingering. He tucked the medal away, had the White Bear revert to its motorcycle form, and left the area together with Zhao Lin.
In a dark corner tucked between the streets.
A shadowy figure watched Ye Qiyan and Zhao Lin's retreating backs with suspicious eyes.
Only after Ye Qiyan vanished from sight did he pull out a phone and dial a number.
"Sir, I wouldn't mistake it, that medal should belong to that female courier. For some reason, it's ended up in the hands of an outsider Train Conductor."
Appearance?
Uh...
I might not have gotten a clear look, hard to describe, but I can confirm it's a male.
Yes, sir, then what about my relocation into the company building...
Ah! You've already prepared a pass for me?
Thank you, thank you for your generosity!"
The call ended.
The figure in the shadows leaned on a cane, looking every bit the beggar.
He tried to walk out, but suddenly noticed a Roadblock sign where the alley should have been open and unobstructed.
"What the hell?"
The beggar reached out to grab it, but before his fingers could even touch the surface, a gentle whisper curled seductively by his ear~
He felt as though he'd plunged into a bottomless, pitch-black ice cavern.
Terror flooded his body.
He froze stiff on the spot.
The sound of leather boots crunching over gravel drifted nearer and farther.
Tap... tap...
"Friend, spying on others in the shadows isn't exactly a good habit. So, tell me, who was it you were talking to?"
A cold voice came from behind the beggar.
He turned his head, trembling.
Ye Qiyan stood at the intersection of light and shadow.
Yet even so, his pitch-black eyes blazed brilliantly in the darkness.
In his hand, he idly toyed with a card.
It was Bewitchment.
"I-I don't know! I only know he's a big shot from the upper ranks!"
"Purpose?"
"Find people, keep watch. Anything unusual happening in the village has to be reported up, j-just like now!"
"How did you recognize Megan's medal?"
"Senior Couriers number only so many people. The medals have slight differences in design. Like yours, for instance, if you look closely at the courier engraved on it, it's a woman with purple hair."
Ye Qiyan examined the medal.
Just as the old beggar said, the courier figure engraved on this medal was indeed different from the one he'd obtained much earlier.
"So..."
Ye Qiyan paused mid-sentence.
"Don't you know a little too much?"
The old beggar's expression shifted, and he immediately yanked a gun from his tattered clothes, pulling the trigger at Ye Qiyan.
The Wandering Star Holy Sigil expanded.
A bullet engraved with a pattern of aster flowers spun against the holy sigil.
Ye Qiyan caught the still-smoking bullet between his fingers.
[Aster Toxin Bullet (Level 6)]
A Level 6 bullet.
Even Ye Qiyan didn't have those.
He used firearms, sure, but both his current handguns fired bullets condensed directly from Spirit, matching the weapon's own tier.
But this old beggar, where did he get something like this?
"Damn it!"
The beggar spun around to flee, but black strings coiled around his legs, tripping him flat on his face.
Lisette stood behind Ye Qiyan.
Her hands, clad in black lace gloves, manipulated the Black Strings to bind him.
Seeing the situation turn dire, he pulled out a grenade, but before he could throw it, a bullet blew his arm clean off.
"Ahh!"
Blood and flesh sprayed in every direction.
The ground beneath him cratered into a deep, fractured impact pit.
Ye Qiyan let out a helpless sigh.
"Even at minimum power, it's still a bit much, huh?"
He walked up to the old beggar.
The whisper of Bewitchment echoed in the ears of the man teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.
The earlier questions still needed answering.
"I-I'm a native servant of Utopia City... all of this... is mandatory training... spy craft..."
"Are there many people like you?"
"Every village... has them... plenty... the company building... too..."
The old beggar stared at Ye Qiyan in both agony and terror, unable to comprehend why he was so obediently answering these questions.
The moment he spoke, the mark Utopia City had implanted in him should have triggered, killing him on the spot.
Ye Qiyan raised an eyebrow.
He couldn't help but feel like RUN Company was a giant sieve.
Whether individuals or certain factions, anyone who wanted to could stuff a whole army of moles into this place.
Even their current company boss, upper management, executives, and probably a great many of the couriers all had masters they truly served.
And among them all, the most ruthless was probably Menrojina.
Don't forget, this place also had Tunnel Capsules.
That was the most powerful intelligence-gathering device of all.
Not to mention she had Ritual Cards at her disposal.
Maybe calling RUN Company riddled with holes was even being generous.
This place had likely already become a chessboard for every faction.
So...
What was it all for?
The secret Substitute Cube that dead courier Megan was transporting?
Abukado wanting to hunt some talent?
Menrojina chasing some goal?
And then there was himself.
Since this was a mission station world.
Then what exactly was the mission this world presented?
Ye Qiyan pondered briefly, then turned to look at Zhao Lin, who had been lurking nearby the whole time, peeking at him while clutching the airline-approved pet carrier.
"Zhao Lin, when you arrived in this world, what did the station info show?"
Zhao Lin blinked, then replied.
"Just a Level 10 station world. Apparently the System's faction base building authority can't be used here to alter the world or anything like that."
"So the time flow is different from the Wasteland too."
"I nearly jumped out of my skin when I came in. Who would've thought a Train Conductor who could only access Level 8 worlds would wind up directly in a Level 10 station."
"And the prefix?"
"No prefix. I mean, it's already a fully conquered world, no monsters, no missions, nothing at all."
Nothing at all... huh.
[Level 10 Mission Station World - RUN Company Headquarters]
Why, then, did his arrival at this station display the [Mission] station world prefix?