At 7 PM, Huang Peiyu and Zhuang Mo, along with a group of about one hundred undercover officers, infiltrated the Whale Fall City hall. They chose a quiet corner to sit, covertly observing the movements of the other attendees.
Two days ago, the president of the Duma Society, Chang Ming, had died suddenly in the hall. The scene was nothing short of shocking, with the media painting a horrifying picture. The circumstances of his death, combined with the sensational news coverage, quickly drew a lot of attention.
Right now, the Space Police Bureau was under a lot of pressure. On the one hand, they needed to solve the mystery behind Chang Ming's public death as soon as possible and give the public some answers. On the other hand, they had to ensure such an incident wouldn't happen again.
From what was currently known, it seemed likely that Chang Ming's death had been a murder.
If the killer was indeed a serial murderer, there was a high chance that another person might be killed tonight, in a similar manner.
As a result, the police had made extensive preparations for tonight. The undercover officers weren't just limited to Huang Peiyu and Zhuang Mo, but included several others, scattered among the various factions in the crowd. Additionally, many patrol ships had been deployed outside Whale Fall City, ensuring a show of force to pressure the killer into abandoning any further plans.
Just as Huang Peiyu and Zhuang Mo settled into their position, they overheard some quiet chatter from the people nearby.
Merchant A: "Did you hear about it? Duma Society had a chain collision accident this morning, two people seriously injured, and over forty others lightly injured!"
Merchant B: "Yeah, I saw the news early this morning."
Merchant A clicked his tongue in amazement: "Duma Society really is unlucky. Their president died the day before yesterday, and now they've got a bunch of injured employees. Not only did they destroy more than 20 transport ships, but they'll also lose all the goods on those ships. They're going to be in serious trouble this time!"
Merchant B: "I don't think it's just bad luck. Duma Society is clearly being targeted. You saw how Chang Ming died, right? It was obviously a public murder. Everyone's saying that the collision accident this morning was also caused intentionally—someone's trying to ruin Duma Society's business."
Merchant A shuddered: "It's said that shooting stars attract bullets. If only Chang Ming hadn't exposed his identity so early, maybe he could have attended today's meeting."
Merchant B shook his head in disagreement: "Haha! But you're missing the point. Chang Ming's death was so strange; it proves what? It means his identity as Player One had already been exposed, and the killer had everything planned out. Otherwise, how could he have died at that specific moment?"
Merchant A's gaze involuntarily shifted toward the direction of Tianmi City's delegation. He looked at Xiaojingji from a distance and muttered, "The City Lord of Tianmi is Player Two. What if she's the one to die tonight?"
Merchant B cautiously pointed toward Xiaojingji's direction: "Look, there are more men around Xiaojingji tonight. Those must be her bodyguards. If Xiaojingji dies tonight, the next one will probably be her sister, Xiaomeigui."
The two merchants spoke of others' life and death with an air of indifference, almost gleeful at the misfortune of others. After all, as long as those with higher player ranks died, it had nothing to do with them. The death of others was just more gossip for them.
In contrast, the undercover police officers scattered throughout the crowd were on high alert.
Huang Peiyu glanced around, noting that the number of people was similar to the last time, with the only major change being the Duma Society's reduced presence. They had only sent a manager and a secretary, which, in terms of posture, made them seem much less formidable than the other major families.
Zhuang Mo whispered, "Duma Society really has been hit hard! The president died the day before yesterday, and now this chain collision accident. I heard that the president's two sons didn't come to the meeting today because they were busy dealing with the aftermath of the accident."
Huang Peiyu didn't say anything, but he could clearly feel the tremendous losses Duma Society had suffered.
Duma Society was the largest logistics and transport company in space, handling 95% of the total transport volume for both passenger and cargo services. The Chang family ranked fourth among the seven major families in space.
Losing the president the day before yesterday was already a huge blow, and now with the chain collision incident today, including the losses in personnel, machinery, and goods, it was understandable that the president's two sons were overwhelmed.
However, a dark intuition, one that only a police officer could have, suddenly flashed through Huang Peiyu's mind. Could the source of this accident actually be within Duma Society itself?
He spoke quietly, "Xiao Zhuang, tomorrow, investigate the models of the transport ships involved in the accident this morning. How long have they been in service? Also, find out what kind of goods they were carrying, and the value of the losses."
Zhuang Mo, naive as ever, didn't think much deeper into it. "Got it!"
But Huang Peiyu had a very unsettling feeling. Perhaps the actual loss in this accident was much greater than what the media had reported.
Before long, Wu Qiong appeared, walking into the hall with a beautiful girl by his side.
Wu Qiong was dressed in a black robe with white patterns and made a series of polite bows to the people around him, speaking hurriedly, "Dear guests, I apologize for the lack of preparation! I came here two days ago, and I didn't expect to be visiting again so soon!"
The crowd wasn't particularly interested in Wu Qiong's theatrics. Instead, their attention was focused on the girl beside him.
The girl was striking: thick brows, large eyes, a high nose bridge, and fair skin. She looked like a typical Middle Eastern girl.
Persian? Xinjiang? Indian? Or perhaps Arab?
Xiaojingji, the leader of Tianmi City, looked at Wu Qiong's companion with great interest and asked, "Is this young lady your daughter, Wu Daozhang?"
Wu Qiong respectfully bowed to Xiaojingji and replied, "I'm ashamed to say that this is indeed my daughter."
He then whispered to Bai Shuang, "Double, don't forget to greet everyone."
Bai Shuang, clearly embarrassed, reluctantly waved at the crowd. Her face showed signs of shyness and discomfort as she said, "Hello, everyone. I'm Bai Shuang."
In a quiet corner on the edge of the hall, Zhuang Mo stared at the girl under the spotlight, muttering in disbelief, "Double?"
Huang Peiyu turned to look at his young apprentice, his brow furrowing with suspicion. "What? Do you know her?"
Zhuang Mo's mind raced as he realized that he had been dating Bai Shuang for nearly six months! Just two days ago, he had been with her on the Whale Fall City observation deck. Later, Wu Qiong had suddenly appeared and taken her away. Zhuang Mo thought it was because Bai Shuang had neglected her duties.
Who would have thought that the reason Wu Qiong took her away was because she was his daughter?
This meant that Wu Qiong, whom Zhuang Mo had seen for the past three days, was very likely to be his future father-in-law!
Zhuang Mo was thunderstruck, feeling like a fool. All the while, Wu Qiong had looked at him with blatant disdain.
It turned out that Zhuang Mo was being rejected by his future father-in-law!
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