CHAPTER 195: SECOND TIP-OFF LETTER

Rock Sand City, core area, inside the pyramid-shaped building.

The city-state’s three top brass had hauled in all the major high-level psionics on emergency notice because of the Black Sinner mess.

Sacred Medical Institute Director Nelson, Garrison Commander Marin, and Chief Security Officer Freeman took the top spots.

Below them sat the various district garrison captains, security officers, and deputy directors.

"Commander Marin, how come Conor’s a no-show?"

Sacred Medical Institute Director Nelson scanned the room—missing people stuck out like sore thumbs.

"Conor’s gone missing."

Commander Marin’s face looked like she’d been sucking on lemons.

After Carlos Valois blew the lid off the Golden Sand Society conspiracy and cleared Demi and the others, she’d been planning to settle some scores and figure out what the hell had really happened.

But wouldn’t you know it, the main bastard responsible, Conor, had conveniently vanished that very same day.

Not a damn trace to be found.

"Missing? A high-level captain going AWOL is serious business. Commander Marin, why didn’t you bring this up a few days ago? You need our security offices to help track him down?"

Chief Security Officer Freeman’s expression was unreadable, making it impossible to figure out what he was really thinking.

The high-level psionics below looked grim:

A captain-level guy actually disappeared!

This made them feel like some seriously scary undercurrents were flowing through Rock Sand City.

"Freeman, this is garrison business. It’s not the security offices’ place to stick their noses in."

Marin shot back without pulling any punches.

She was already sitting on a belly full of rage over a captain going missing, and now this guy was poking the bear.

Naturally, Marin’s tone wasn’t exactly friendly.

"Commander Marin, while a high-level’s disappearance is garrison business, it’s also a big deal for all of Rock Sand City. I think we should work together on this."

Chief Security Officer Freeman’s eyes narrowed a bit, seemingly unfazed by Marin’s hostile attitude.

"Ha, Freeman, I’m betting you’re the one hiding Conor!"

Marin just laid her suspicions right out there.

In Rock Sand City, if anyone could secretly stash a captain somewhere without leaving a trail, the security offices were definitely the prime suspects.

Plus, according to what her soldiers reported, that bastard Conor had mentioned heading to the Chief Security Office before he vanished, then poof—gone.

That was the main reason she didn’t want the security offices getting their hands dirty in this.

"Commander Marin, without proof, you shouldn’t go shooting your mouth off."

Chief Security Officer Freeman’s eyes flashed cold, apparently ticked off by Commander Marin’s words.

"Whether I’m shooting my mouth off, you know damn well!"

The two were ready to go at each other’s throats.

Their people below were clearly picking sides too.

By pure chance, Captain Barossa and Security Officer Willie were sitting next to each other.

They looked at each other and both saw the same "here we go again" look in the other’s eyes.

"Gentlemen, don’t forget why we’re here today."

Even though Sacred Medical Institute Director Nelson was getting up there in years, his old eyes weren’t cloudy but sharp as a tack, taking in everything.

Commander Marin and the Chief Security Officer still showed the old man some respect. With him stepping in, the hostile vibe cooled down a notch.

"Guess this old geezer’s gotta run the show."

Sacred Medical Institute Director Nelson sighed to himself.

An old coot like him still had to babysit meetings.

When would these two grow the hell up? Whether it was about interests or power, it was all just smoke in the wind.

"Marin, you’re up first."

Commander Marin nodded:

"Carlos Valois exposed the Golden Sand Society’s conspiracy to get in bed with the Black Poison Faction and took the lead in the cleanup missions that followed.

So I’ve decided to reward him with purple-quality spirit gear from the Death Herald pathway.

Anyone got a problem with that?"

Everyone there knew how things had gone down.

This achievement was definitely worth purple-quality spirit gear.

"No complaints here."

After Marin wrapped up, Chief Security Officer Freeman got serious and showed materials to everyone there:

"Some of you have already seen this stuff before.

In letters from Golden Sand Society president Salimo, we found content about him getting cozy with Black Sinners.

The situation’s pretty damn serious.

Under the Golden Sand Society’s secret protection, Black Sinners have already set up rituals in Rock Sand City.

You all know in your guts what kind of hell will break loose once Black Sinner rituals go live.

We’ve gotta root out the Black Sinners hiding in Rock Sand City as fast as possible!

We absolutely cannot let the ritual work!"

Several high-level psionics hearing this news for the first time suddenly got it.

So this was why the leadership had dragged them all back here on the double.

A heavy feeling immediately settled in their guts.

"Willie, break down the intel we’ve got."

The Chief Security Officer gave the newly returned high-level psionics time to wrap their heads around it.

Fourth District Security Officer Willie slowly got to his feet and started laying out the latest materials:

"Because time’s running short and Black Sinners are buried deeper than buried treasure, our search results are pretty pathetic—we haven’t found squat.

But yesterday, the Fourth District Security Office got a tip-off letter about a Black Sinner attack.

Based on this letter and with help from Young Master Carlos’s buddy Purple Vortex, we nabbed four Black Sinners who were gearing up to attack without breaking a sweat.

But here’s the kicker—after putting the screws to them good and proper, these four Black Sinners only knew they were following orders from upstairs and didn’t know jack about anything else.

The only useful intel we got was learning about their boss—what some Black Sinner named ’Luckybe’ looks like.

We’ve already got people putting up wanted posters and searching all the major districts.

We figure we’ll get results pretty soon."

Several Sacred Medical Institute deputy directors frowned.

Sounded like these were all small potatoes discoveries.

"No traces of Black Sinner rituals turned up?"

Willie paused for a beat and shook his head:

"Nada."

"Not even a hint?"

The Sacred Medical Institute deputy directors couldn’t believe it.

How could such a massive Black Sinner ritual leave no breadcrumbs?

"Let me break down this problem."

Third District Security Officer Sia jumped in:

"When Black Sinners first showed up, their rituals were flashy as hell with obvious signs, making it easy to spot clues and trash the rituals.

But after all this time scrapping with us, Black Sinners have gotten crafty as foxes.

Their ritual camouflage game is getting better and better.

Spotting them in a short time frame is a real pain in the ass."

Hearing this, everyone there felt like the situation was going to hell in a handbasket.

Nobody knew when the Black Sinner ritual would kick off.

Just then, Willie spoke up:

"Besides all that, this morning the Fourth District Security Office got another mystery tip-off letter.

The look and handwriting are almost dead ringers for the last one."

Marin shot him a questioning look:

"What’s it say?"

The previous letter had already blown Marin’s mind.

She hadn’t expected another one to show up.

Chief Security Officer Freeman also looked over, though with some irritation.

Why hadn’t this been reported to him before the meeting?

Fourth District Security Officer Willie held up the letter:

"Here’s what the letter says:

A hidden Black Sinner hideout!"

"What the hell?!"

"A Black Sinner secret hideout?"

"Is this for real?"

"..."

This immediately caused a total uproar.