Chapter 1151: Riot of Safesoul City (1)

"You've found no problems?" Zheng Shuguo was scrutinizing the investigator before him intently with bloodshot eyes.

The investigator shuddered slightly, then gritted his teeth as he replied, "That's correct..."

Zheng Shuguo closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh, and only after a long while did he wave a dismissive hand in a dejected manner. "Alright, you can go now."

The investigator immediately fled as if he had been spared the death sentence. Thus, the office fell silent again.

The light fixture overhead was giving off a stark, white glow, illuminating the cup of bitter, black coffee sitting on the heavy wooden desk.

It had already been 23 hours since the escape of the inner demon's soul fragment, and Zheng Shuguo hadn't had a wink of sleep during that time.

He desperately wanted some type of breakthrough that he could report to the Yama-Kings. Otherwise, he would be too ashamed to continue his position. However, no matter which department was investigated or how the investigations were carried out, no issues were discovered.

Arthis had figured out that Secretary Zhang's bodyguard wasn't actually the culprit. Instead, he had only been there to silence the culprit, and he had arrived at this conclusion as well. The operator of the supernatural perimeter had also been possessed, but as a result of that, the one who had instructed the culprit could've been anyone, thereby significantly enlarging the scope of their search.

Two exhaustive investigations had been conducted back to back, but had yielded no results, and there was only less than an hour until the 24-hour timeframe that he had promised was up. He was so exhausted that he was already feeling numb, and a sense of powerlessness was spreading through his entire body like poison.

He slowly opened his eyes, then picked up his coffee cup before taking a sip.

The bitter coffee slid down his throat, and he heaved a long, forlorn sigh.

Never had he been so desperate to become a Yama-King.

Without sufficient power, he couldn't even understand the nature of the clash between those almighty beings.

Right as he set down his coffee cup and was about to press a button beside his desk, the door to his office was suddenly opened.

Zheng Shuguo cast his gaze toward his visitors, upon which a spark instantly returned to his dejected eyes. He then rose to his feet before quickly making his way toward the visitors as if he had just seen his saviors. "Why are you here?"

There were two elderly men standing at the entrance to his office, one of whom was Sword Master Xuanyuan, while the other was a thin man wearing a Mao suit.

The second figure was someone who appeared virtually every single day on news broadcasts and newspapers. Those in the government system were all extremely familiar with this man.

It was the director of the Organization Department, Rao Guanghui.

All resumes, appointments, and replacements of government officials had to be approved by him, regardless of what level the official was. Thus, he was certainly an extremely powerful figure.

"Thank you for your hard work, Director Zheng." Rao Guanghui also approached Zheng Shuguo quickly, and the two shared a tight handshake.

Following the handshake, Rao Guanghui immediately adopted a serious expression as he said, "Yanluo Qin left the city 10 minutes ago, returning to Hell alongside all of the other Yama-Kings. I was informed of this by the city god, so I presume that something's gone wrong in Hell."

Zheng Shuguo opened his mouth to reply, but could only give a wry smile in the end.

The four Yama-Kings had countless servants in the city, yet instead of getting those servants to inform him directly of their departure, they had informed the city god and lord of the land instead.

This was a clear display of their dissatisfaction toward the Special Investigations Department.

"The prime minister became aware of this quite some time ago, I must apologize for arriving so late." Rao Guanghui was already quite advanced in age, but his words and demeanor were as sharp as ever as he sat down onto the main seat. Sword Master Xuanyuan and Zheng Shuguo naturally sat down onto the sofas off to the side.

Rao Guanghui continued, "Following the supernatural disasters, the prime minister has made it a top priority for us to maintain close contact with the underworld and ensure peace and harmony between the two realms. Upon learning about this matter, the prime minister's orders were to launch an exhaustive investigation. Regardless of who is involved in this incident, it must be verified if they've been possessed, and if so, for what reason. For minor cases, a simple reprimand will suffice, but for major cases, they must be temporarily laid off."

Zheng Shuguo nodded in response. It was impossible for humans to ward off the inner demon. Thus, they had to find out who had been possessed and for what reason, as well as whether these people were fit to continue in their government positions.

"After realizing the severity of this issue, the prime minister has already arranged for a discussion with the brains trust of experts on Yin spirits, and an outcome has already been reached."

He pulled a brown paper bag out as he spoke, then gently placed it onto the table.

Zheng Shuguo's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this.

In his position, there were many unique obstacles that he had to face. The power system was a very abstract thing, and as an Abyssal Prefect, it was very difficult for him to see through the eyes of Yama-Kings and figure out what they were planning to do. He was already among the most powerful beings of the mortal realm, but in the face of the colossus that was Hell, there were many instances where he could only rely on educated guesses.

If something were to go wrong, he had to take responsibility, even though he had no idea what was going on, so it was a very frustrating job at times.

Thus, he required the full support of the nation. In the past, he had been capable of resolving all supernatural incidents himself. However, the national government had to make a decision in this case, and they certainly hadn't let him down.

This was the efficiency that could only be achieved by authoritarian nations!

The flames of hope were ignited in his heart, yet as soon as he laid his hand onto the brown paper bag, Rao Guanghui reached out to stop him.

"There are a few things that you must do now. Before we discuss the feasibility of the plan, we have to place everyone under surveillance."

Zheng Shuguo sighed, "They're already under surveillance, and investigations have been launched, but nothing has been found."

"That's not enough!" Rao Guanghui leaned forward slightly as he said, "The brains trust suggests that everyone who has displayed any abnormal behavior from the arrival of Yanluo Qin in the mortal realm to the activation of the supernatural perimeter is to be placed under surveillance of the highest level! Until this matter is resolved, they won't be allowed to go anywhere!"

Zheng Shuguo's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. The scope of the surveillance was going to encompass extremely important officials like Ji Changqing and Zhang Junliang, and that was an indication that the higher-ups were serious this time.

Rao Guanghui paid no heed to what Zheng Shuguo was thinking as he continued, "At the time, the situation was extremely urgent. Have you considered why these people were in the mood to go and do other things?"

This question struck Zheng Shuguo like a bolt of lightning, and he instantly rose to his feet as he stared at Rao Guanghui with a dumbstruck expression. His chest was heaving violently, and he opened his mouth to say something, but remained silent in the end.

That was a fantastic point!

At the time, the entire city had been in an extremely tense situation. If anything had gone wrong, which it ultimately did, everyone from the municipal government and the Special Investigations Department would be in deep trouble!

In a situation like that, who would be in the mood to do other things?

How was Zhang Junliang still thinking about sending messages in group chats discussing postponements of meetings?

That was extremely suspicious in itself!

"I'll organize that right away!" He quickly rushed out the door, and thus, Rao Guanghui and Sword Master Xuanyuan were the only ones left in the room.

Several seconds later, Sword Master Xuanyuan said in a forlorn voice, "It's a pity that the mortal realm is unable to produce a Yama-King. Ultimately, we were unable to see things from the same perspective as Hell, and that resulted in this major accident."

Rao Guanghui lit a cigarette before taking a deep draw, and amid the cloud of cigarette smoke, he said, "That's why we need to give Hell an answer."

He gently stroked the brown paper bag with his wizened fingers as he continued, "And this is our answer. We'll let Hell know that no matter where the inner demon is hiding, we'll be able to track it down so long as we put our mind to it! This method will be rather complicated to execute, and it'll take a long time and be rather dangerous, but as long as we have the determination, we'll be Hell's strongest allies!"

Sword Master Xuanyuan was looking at the brown paper bag with mixed emotions in his eyes, and only after a long while did he nod in agreement.

"This method really is a show of the prime minister's determination."

Rao Guanghui snuffed out his cigarette as he closed his eyes. "We've already placed everyone under surveillance, and we'll be able to give Yanluo Qin a satisfactory answer as soon as he gets back!"

……………………………………

Safesoul City.

This city was located in the westernmost region of the Cathayan Underworld's territory, sitting on the border between the Cathayan Underworld and the Hindustani Underworld. Of course, it was still very far away from the actual border. At the moment, the population of the Cathayan Underworld was nowhere near sufficient to take up the entire territory.

This was the difference that time could make. Among the other three pillars, even the one with the smallest population, the Argosian Underworld, had one or two billion netherworldly citizens, yet the Cathayan Underworld's current population was only comparable with that of Usonia in the mortal realm.

Safesoul City wasn't a very large city. Prior to the establishment of the free trade zone in Formosa, all of the cities had been much the same with the exceptions of cities like Everburn and Ashmound. However, ever since the Cathayan Underworld had opened itself up slightly to the rest of the world, the developmental advantage that coastal cities had over inland cities became far more apparent.

Safesoul City only had a population of around 100,000, and the city corresponded with Tibet in the mortal realm, so the buildings and attire worn by the netherworldly citizens here all had strong Tibetan influences. The style wasn't as pronounced as it was in the mortal realm, but it was still quite a refreshing sight to behold.

7 PM.

A series of lights had already been turned on, and right at this moment, the golden sunset in the sky suddenly began to warp and twist.

"What's that?" a little girl asked as she looked up at the sky with a curious expression, clutching the bowl of lollies she had just bought.

Not only was her interest piqued by this sight, all of the netherworldly citizens in the entire city quickly turned to look up at the sky. The dark clouds up above were beginning to twist and revolve, quickly transforming into a massive vortex! At the center of the vortex, a golden eye that resembled the eye of a deity emerged before looking down at the city.

"What is that?"

"Is that a new art developed by Hell?"

"Is a Yama-King going to be announcing a new law?"

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Is that... an eye?"

Everyone was merely curious, and no one was under the impression that they were in any danger.

Ever since Hell had been founded, nothing had been able to pose a threat to them. Their lives were growing better day after day, and as a result, even the Yin soldiers stationed in the city were growing a little complacent.

In contrast, the mayor of Safesoul City hadn't grown complacent at all.

He was a square-faced man who appeared to be in his forties, and in contrast with his citizens, he shuddered at the sight of the giant golden eye in the sky, following which a resigned smile appeared on his face.

"So it's our city's turn... I didn't think we would be so unlucky..." He pressed the button beside his desk, then closed his eyes.

Just a day ago, Ghost King Zhao had issued an order in person, calling for mayors to report to their higher-ups right away and await reinforcements if they were to spot any abnormal phenomena taking place in their cities.

In the instant that he pressed the button, the giant eye in the sky exploded violently, transforming into a series of golden light screens that rapidly descended from above.