CHAPTER 187.1: DAYBREAK (PART ONE)

When Lei Guangcheng walked forward, he saw Guan Yuming. The Cult Investigation Bureau was similar to the Resolution Department. They seldom had any contact with other departments.

Even so, its members knew the officials from other governmental departments. He gave a nod to Guan Yuming before motioning for the Cult Investigation Bureau members behind him to wait for a moment. He was showing respect to Guan Yuming and the Constabulary.

Guan Yuming gave him a nod too. His assistant said coldly, “Who’s the person-in-charge here? Have a representative come forward!”

Wei Jun’s butler put a hand behind his back and made a sign. A person immediately headed to the factory. Meanwhile, the butler went over to Guan Yuming and said, “I’m in charge for the time being. Do you have any instructions for me, Officer?”

“We received word that there is a large group of people possessing illegal firearms here. They also intend to hurt a Martial Valor University student. Is that true?” the assistant asked.

“Of course not. Whoever made the report was lying. You should not believe them,” the butler answered with a smile.

They had made the perfect arrangements. The men stationed outside were all unarmed. At most, they had some crossbows, which security guards were allowed to possess. As for the armed people inside? They had temporary permits granted by the Department of Administrative Affairs, so they were fine too.

Them planning to hurt a Martial Valor University student? Of course, they weren’t. If they hadn’t found any evidence before, they weren’t going to find any now.

The butler didn’t wait for the Constabulary to continue asking any questions. He turned to Lei Guangcheng. “Mr. Lei, why might you be here?”

“We received a report that someone here is performing a ritual. Since we’re paid by the government, we must carry out our duties in the proper way. We cannot ignore such reports.”

“Mr. Lei, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. No ritual is being held inside,” the butler hurriedly said.

The array was a problem. They had never thought that Lei Guangcheng himself would come to investigate since they had smoothed things over before this.

The people stationed at the entrances of the main roads had not sent them word, which meant that Lei Guangcheng had chosen to bypass those roads by going outside the city, then coming from the west. That explained why they had come from the other road. Clearly, they had come specifically for them. The only thing the butler could do now was to stall for time so that the ones inside could cover everything.

Lei Guangcheng cast him a glance and said calmly, “We’ll know once we investigate.”

The butler took a step forward. “Mr. Lei, this is private property—”

“And the government’s laws state that all members and organizations must cooperate unconditionally with us when we’re dealing with cultists. If you’re not involved in this, step aside. If we don’t see anything wrong, I will report to the higher-ups and accept punishment. Step aside,” Lei Guangcheng interrupted him.

Guan Yuming cast a glance at his assistant, and the latter held up a form. “This is the Constabulary’s search warrant. All constables, if anyone dares to stop us, shoot them!”

“Roger!”

The constables answered in sync and brought their guns up to direct their black muzzles forward.

While they were talking to the butler, most of the constables had spread out and surrounded the factory. Some of them even went to the back to set up barriers, clearly not wanting anyone to run away.

The butler said nothing else and stepped aside in silence. He had done all that he could. There was no way for him to stop what came next. He just hoped that his young master had ended things quickly after learning about this.

Once the security guards obediently moved out of the way, constables rushed toward the factory. They secured all exits and entrances, then set up various firing spots before ordering two security guards to open the rolling shutter door.

It slid up slowly, and the rays of the morning summer sun shone inside.

The constables immediately rushed in, but when they saw what was inside, they slowed down.

Chen Chuan stood at the center of the factory with a calm expression. In his hands, he held the unsheathed Frost King Saber. Its tip was turned to the floor. His clothes were clean of dirt. When the morning sun shone on him, it cast a long shadow behind.

Around him, the steel platform, the passageways, the corridors, and everywhere else they could see were covered in severed limbs. Almost no body was whole.

Wet blood flowed across the floor, mixing with the array. It flowed down the lines forming the pattern, as if they were spreading out from where Chen Chuan stood.

The constables were stunned. Even though most of them were veterans and had seen extremely brutal war scenes before, this was the first time they saw something like this, and they subconsciously trained their guns on Chen Chuan.

Some of the constables recognized him. They immediately pressed down on their colleagues’ guns and whispered to them.

The constables lowered their guns and pretended as if they didn’t see Chen Chuan. They just spread out and occupied the place.

The assistant came into the factory after the constables. When he stepped in and saw that Chen Chuan was okay, he smiled, but once he saw the severed corpses all over the floor, he too, was stunned and thought that he had walked into a slaughterhouse. But he soon regained his composure and schooled his face before turning around and giving instructions to the constable behind him. “Tell the guys to move the corpses out as soon as possible and not to take any photos.”

The constable responded with a salute.

The coroner waiting outside received orders to go in, and he came in with his equipment box. He looked around and mumbled under his breath, “Been a while since I saw such a crazy spectacle.”

He put on his gloves and noticed Wei Jun propped against a pillar, mainly because his corpse was relatively intact compared to the others.

Wei Jun’s hands were gripping the pillar, his mouth was wide open, while his eyes were rolled back as he stood tilted back. His expression was frozen from the moment before his death, and he looked as if he had seen his greatest fear turned real.

Before he breathed his last, he had lost consciousness, so he shouldn’t have been able to kill himself, but even in his unconscious state, his mutated tissue continued to contract, maintaining his grip, which led to his death.

The coroner could tell at a single glance that he died from asphyxiation, but this manner of death... He felt as if he had seen this somewhere before. After observing him for a bit, he had his students inspect the other corpses on the floor.

The constables searched the entire place before going back to the assistant and saluting him. “Sir, we found a large number of firearms, but we aren’t able to verify their owners for the time being.”

The assistant could understand that. Considering the situation, it would indeed be quite hard to determine which gun belonged to whom.

After half an hour, the coroner came back after giving all the corpses a general once-over. “Aside from one student, the others are all dead. Most of them died from being slashed by a saber. Judging by the strength and angle, they were all killed by the same person. A small number died from the attacks of an unidentified object. We also found two severed combat bio-weapons.”

While the assistant listened to the report, he couldn’t help but cast a shocked gaze at Chen Chuan. Before coming here, he had never expected to see something like this.

The Cult Investigation Bureau was the second group of people to come in. When Lei Guangcheng walked in, he immediately saw Chen Chuan and gave him a nod. As for the corpses all over the floor, he just gave them a cursory glance before looking away, as if he was already used to such a sight. When he saw the array on the floor and walls, his gaze sharpened.

After talking briefly with the Constabulary, the Cult Investigation Bureau members brought out bags of powder and spread them all over the factory. Soon, the array on the floor became clear, as if it had just been painted anew.

The Cult Investigation Bureau started taking pictures of the array. They even had someone use a spade to scrape up the paint and put it inside a prepared zip-top bag.

Guan Yuming had been waiting outside. After the assistant finished piecing together the situation, he came out to give him his report. Guan Yuming listened without batting an eyelid. Then, after a brief moment of contemplation, he walked into the factory and went straight to Chen Chuan.

He said grimly, “Chen Chuan, you’ll need to come with us. You’re the only one still alive here, so we’ll need your testimony on what exactly happened.”

“I’ll cooperate, Sir,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

Guan Yuming patted his shoulder. Fortunately, Chen Chuan understood what he meant.

Most of the deceased held high status, so it wouldn’t be easy to wrap this case up. Thank goodness they secured the place before word about it spread out. Once they were back at the Constabulary, they could ensure Chen Chuan’s safety. After that, they could begin thinking about what to do next.

Honestly, he had never expected to see something like this. Yangzhi City was about to be turned upside down.