Chapter 306 - 272
Chapter 306: Chapter 272
Late at night.
The city lights of Zone 15 dimmed from the outskirts inward. After nightfall, this ordinary but strictly controlled Central District city fell into a deep silence, where even the slightest noise was like a pebble dropped into a still lake.
Gunshots echoing from the central area drew a nearby patrol from the Security Department.
They were "nearby," but still several streets away.
By the time they arrived, the scene was long deserted.
The captain of the Security Department’s Seventh Squad stared at the chaotic signs of a struggle and the bloodstains in the snow, his eyes scanning the area with confusion.
This area wasn’t technically his jurisdiction, but the gunfire had lasted for too long. His department had recently received a tip that a major criminal had infiltrated Zone 15, and he worried the local patrol wouldn’t be able to handle the situation, so he had brought his squad over himself.
Zone 15 had worked hard to be promoted to a Central District city, finally earning the right and opportunity for females to reside here. Security was their top priority; they couldn’t afford a single misstep.
Staring at the empty scene of the fight, the Seventh Squad’s captain tried to contact the patrol team responsible for this street. However, his terminal’s signal was extremely unstable—almost nonexistent. It was impossible to make a call.
"Do any of your terminals have a signal?" the captain asked the other squad members.
The squad members raised their wrists, lighting up their terminals, and shook their heads one by one.
"The signal’s weak."
"Nothing."
"That’s strange. We had a signal a minute ago. Why’d we lose it as soon as we got to South Street..."
The Seventh Squad captain frowned, his gaze fixed on the lights of a distant building. ’Zone 15 hasn’t had any power or water outages, so how could there be no signal? And this is the central area, no less.’
’Could this be the work of that major criminal the higher-ups warned us about, the one who infiltrated Zone 15?’
The captain of Squad Seven aimed his flashlight at the bloodstains in the snow, examining them closely. He crouched down, dabbed a small amount with his finger, and raised it to his nose to smell.
Just then, he glimpsed something lying in the snow about ten feet in front of him.
The captain stood, walked over to pick it up, and examined it closely in his hand—
It was a black, buckled strap.
The strap was about a finger wide and half an arm long. The metal buckle on one end was snapped in half. It must have come off an article of clothing. It looked like a belt, but it was far too thin.
The captain examined the strap, rubbing it between his fingers. The material was high-quality, and its metal adornments were rather exquisite.
He brought the strap to his nose and sniffed it again.
"..."
’This scent?’
Disbelieving, the captain sniffed it carefully several more times. The faint, unusual fragrance on it grew more distinct.
"Captain, did you find anything?"
A squad member approached to ask, noticing the captain had been standing there for a long while, motionless, holding the strap.
As the squad member drew near, the captain instinctively tightened his grip on the strap.
’This is too important. I have to report this back at the station.’
’No...’
The captain swept his flashlight over the bloodstains on the snow, his expression grim. "Lock down this street. No one comes near. Follow the blood trail and find them."
After giving the order, he called another squad member over. "Go find a signal nearby. If you can’t get one, head back to the sub-station, file a report, and get in touch with Squad Two."
Squad Two was on duty for this street tonight.
The squad members immediately complied. Following the two distinct trails of blood scent in the air, they split up and moved out in different directions.
After his men had left, the captain tore a piece of fabric from his uniform. He carefully wrapped the buckled strap and tucked it into his pocket, then tore off another piece to dab at the two different bloodstains on the ground.
’If it really is the major criminal, they might have a female with them.’
’But it’s also possible this belonged to the criminal himself. According to our intel, he’s from Zone 19. Zone 19 is the most lawless of cities; smuggling all kinds of goods, including personal items belonging to females, is commonplace there.’
’I hope it’s the latter,’ the captain thought, silently praying as he caught the last, fading trace of the fragrance in the air.
’If it’s the former, then everything Zone 15 has worked for these past few years will be for nothing.’
*
In an underground garage of a building on the edge of Zone 15’s Central District.
"Report your situation."
"They drew me off with a decoy. The target never showed."
Wanai sat in the darkness, wrapping the wound on his right palm as he replied to the Beastman on the other end of the terminal. The smell of antiseptic mingled with the thick odor of blood, filling the small utility room.
"Make it fast," the Beastman on the terminal said, his tone anxious and impatient. "They’ll probably leave Zone 15 in two or three days. It’ll be even harder to get close to them by then."
"Two or three days is enough," Wanai replied coolly, the faint glow of the terminal illuminating his pale face.
With that, he ended the call and disconnected his terminal from the network.
After shutting down the terminal, Wanai was plunged into complete darkness.
The darkness, however, made him feel calm, at ease. He leisurely finished dressing his wound and sat in the dark for a long time before turning his head to look at a backpack lying on a table amidst a pile of junk.