The "Subordinates" Lurking in the Shadows

"Correct. According to his confession, there will be a game tomorrow. If you participate and win, the victor will receive a generous reward - the ability to make a wish to the gods."

The captain tapped his fingers on the desk, explaining seriously: "Liu Bo described the introducer's pitch as needing enough people to request the gods' presence to watch. Seeing how he ruined his life over a woman was too pitiful, so they left him a spot."

Qi Yuan glanced at the contents of the file. Liu Bo had killed his wife through drunk domestic violence - that hardly qualified as a ruined life.

The event description fit the pattern of SS-Level Monsters deceiving humans, establishing connections to devour them. They'd craft a story to spark human desire, then grab what they could and flee, severing the connection.

This way, even if ability users arrived, they'd have no way to deal with the escaped monsters. Not every SS-Level Monster was in the stage of evolving.

"It says here Liu Bo turned himself in?"

Someone who could directly beat his wife to death while drunk, then dispose of the body upon waking - Qi Yuan felt certain his reason for confessing wasn't a guilty conscience.

"The criminal's statement was that he wanted to atone for his crimes. To gain merit for a reduced sentence, he volunteered to become our informant."

At this point, muffled chuckles could be heard in the room. Even the professionally-trained captain couldn't help but smile as he continued, "I was originally planning to have Liu Bo participate, but now that you're here. I think we can have a team member transform to look like Liu Bo and infiltrate, directly confirming if the Doomsday Game is related to the monsters."

The captain's words essentially rejected Liu Bo's request.

Liu Bo's scheme was clicking along perfectly.

He wanted to participate in the Doomsday Game but feared it might be a trap. So, he turned himself in to the authorities, using his informant status to join the game.

If it was a trap set by monsters or others, the authorities would handle it, and he could piggyback on the merit for a reduced sentence. Conversely, if it truly involved evil gods, he'd strive to win and use the reward to escape official arrest.

Although Liu Bo wasn't clear on the abilities of S-level and above monsters, it was a shot in the dark.

If Qi Yuan hadn't come, Liu Bo's plan would have definitely succeeded. Between a brother's life and that of a scumbag, the captain would choose the former.

However, with the acknowledged strongest ability user sitting before him, the captain had no reason to let Liu Bo piggyback on the merit.

Qi Yuan had other plans but didn't interrupt the captain.

"Their game location is in the suburbs, where almost no one goes. We don't need to deliberately block the roads, which will help lower their guard. We can set up ambushes here, here, and here."

The captain stood up, pointing out locations on the map hanging on the wall.

Finished, the captain looked to Qi Yuan, waiting for his decision.

"Move the ambush points further out. Also, I'll send people to infiltrate. You just need to be ready to take over."

These were precious lives that must be protected.

Although it somewhat smacked of stealing credit, Qi Yuan didn't care about their opinions.

As he finished speaking, his keen hearing picked up the sound of chairs shifting and brief, rapid breathing from many people.

"Understood."

Ignoring the team members exchanging glances, the captain agreed directly.

After the meeting ended and Qi Yuan left, the duty team members in the room all slumped with sour expressions, tossing their files onto the table.

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Not even letting us participate? Does he think we're Liu Bo?"

"Maybe he looks down on our abilities, thinks we'd slow him down."

The captain slammed the table, his stern and piercing gaze sweeping across the room until the team members grew uneasy.

"Are you saying you wouldn't slow him down?"

"Alright then, future Nine Seats member. What hidden skill are you hiding? Show me, and I'll let you take over as captain."

Chastised by the captain, the young men in the room fell silent, suppressing their anger. The captain's words were very reasonable, and they couldn't find grounds to refute them.

If they had to nitpick, it would be about a lack of tact, but they also knew clearly in their hearts:

Who the hell are you to demand tact from him?

After a while, someone finally spoke up boldly.

"We certainly can't compare to him, that's beyond doubt. But are his subordinates definitely stronger than us?"

This was the main reason for their discontent.

Working hard investigating and solving cases, only to have their abilities questioned by higher-ups - they couldn't accept it.

It was tantamount to mocking them as only fit for grunt work and odd jobs.

Based on what? If they had the chance, let them compete and see.

Although they knew Captain Qi didn't mean it that way, what he unintentionally revealed made them feel even worse.

Having spent a long time together, the captain understood these brothers' thoughts crystal clear. No red-blooded man would have zero reaction to silent mockery, himself included.

The atmosphere grew tense, with an eerie silence falling over the conference room, broken only by the sound of breathing.

"Screech—"

The harsh sound of a chair being pushed back rang out as Old Xu stood up.

He looked around, and seeing everyone's gazes converge on him, calmly voiced his speculation.

"Listen to me, everyone. Is it possible that his subordinates were also in the conference room just now?"

This statement stirred up a storm of shock, with looks of disbelief on everyone's faces.

Impossible, they hadn't noticed anything at all.

"Hear me out and see if my reasoning makes sense."

"First, to prevent monsters from detecting us in advance, the review process for suspected S-level and above monsters is to submit reports to the local provincial-level duty bureau chief for review and reporting. The reported content only briefly describes the general situation. We're the ones who prepare this, so you know it's impossible to know in advance what kind of ability users are needed."

"What do you think are the odds that he just happened to only bring shape-shifting ability users?"

The others furrowed their brows. What was wrong with bringing a whole team?

Old Xu's words left them puzzled.

"Two more hints: One, I only picked up Captain Qi alone at the airport. Two..."

Old Xu paused dramatically, looking toward the center of the conference table, "How did his subordinates know what Liu Bo looks like? The files can't be taken out of the duty bureau."

They seemed to be catching on, with someone cautiously voicing their guess.

"One subordinate might be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, but the chances of an entire team of subordinates failing to accompany their superior are very low."

"For subordinates to transform into Liu Bo's appearance, they'd either need to know through Captain Qi's illusions or already know... Of course, Captain Qi could have instructed them to come to the bureau to learn, but he didn't mention that."

"Combining these two points, assuming the extreme case where all subordinates were delayed by urgent matters, Captain Qi would have to relay the information to them. But is there any need for such trouble? Wouldn't it be more convenient for him to just use us?"

"Either Captain Qi has some special way of using his subordinates, or his subordinates have been hidden in the shadows all along, hearing everything clearly."

"No matter how you look at it, the latter seems more logical, right?"

The people in the conference room were in a mental muddle, feeling that Old Xu and the person who offered the analysis made a lot of sense, but extreme situations weren't impossible either.

But... only a fool would use subordinates like that, creating extra work for themselves.

Using them directly would only take a single word. To go through the trouble of explaining everything from start to finish to subordinates for such a small matter - who's the superior and who's the subordinate here?

But... if they really were hidden in the shadows...

Ouch!

They had been feeling so good about themselves, but now their faces seemed to sting a bit.