By the time Lin Huang finished perusing one round of information on the internet, the sky was beginning to darken on the Ricky Star.
He thought for a moment, then called Buried Heaven.
When Lin Huang heard the ring tone being cut off before it had even rung halfway, he smiled.
This was because it meant Buried Heaven was still alive.
If the communicator sensed the host’s death, it would be locked and shut down within less than a minute. If one called, they would get a message saying, “The number you have dialed cannot be reached”.
“He ended the call in such a hurry…” Lin Huang raised his eyebrows. “That means the investigators are still at Death Sickle.”
Now that he had ascertained this, Lin Huang composed a message and sent it off.
“If investigators arrive at Death Sickle, just give an honest answer to whatever questions they ask. There’s no need to cover up for me. If they want my contact, just give it to them right away. All of you can’t handle these people from the Raiders. Don’t put up any resistance; let me deal with them…”
…
Buried Heaven merely glanced at the communication page and ended the call immediately.
Beside him, Boundless Blood and the others glimpsed the name of the caller—Xiu Mu!
The atmosphere became even weightier now.
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from in front of them. “Why didn’t you answer the call?”
It was not clear when the red-haired man had shown up in front of them. Smiling, he barred Buried Heaven and the others’ way.
Almost at the same time, two figures appeared behind the Blood Sickle members. They were the subordinates who had not spoken at all in the conference room earlier.
Buried Heaven and the few Blood Sickle members looked extremely grim.
However, at that moment, Buried Heaven’s ring vibrated again.
The vibration was slightly gentler this time and only sounded once. It was clearly a message notification.
The red-haired man smiled at Buried Heaven. “Take a look and see. Maybe it’s Lin Huang?”
Buried Heaven kept his head down and did nothing.
He knew that he would die if he were to attack. He would not be able to escape either, even if he tried.
“Please open your communication page.” The red-haired man smiled as he looked at Buried Heaven, his tone still mild. “This isn’t a suggestion, by the way.”
Buried Heaven knew that he would die if he did not obey the order!
He raised his hand rather stiffly and tapped open the communication page.
A new message notification popped up instantly.
The sender was Xiu Mu!
The entire corridor instantly went silent.
The Blood Sickle members’ faces turned ashen when they saw the sender’s name.
Even Buried Heaven had some difficulty swallowing.
His mind was rapidly churning as he tried to find a counter-strategy, but nothing occurred to him.
“Ooh, what a coincidence! Isn’t this the friend we’re looking for?” The red-haired man smiled and walked over to Buried Heaven, then put an arm around his shoulders. “Why are you hesitating? Open it and see what he says. We can read it together.”
Feeling the weight on his shoulders, Buried Heaven tapped opened the message helplessly.
The moment the message popped up, everyone focused their eyes on it.
There were only a few short lines in the message. Practically everyone finished reading it almost at once.
After reading the message, Buried Heaven’s mind was a tangle of confusion. Since matters had come to this point, he no longer knew what he should do afterward.
The red-haired man next to him patted his shoulder with a smile. “This young fellow is certainly very loyal and self-sacrificing to suggest on his own that you should give him up.
“I think it’s not a bad suggestion at all. What about the rest of you?” The red-haired man tilted his head and stared at Buried Heaven.
Buried Heaven kept his head down expressionlessly and did not answer.
Clearly, despite matters coming to this, he was still unwilling to betray Lin Huang.
Observing that Buried Heaven said nothing, the red-haired man kept on smiling.
“Mr. Buried Heaven, Xiu Mu already sent you a message. Isn’t it rather rude not to reply?”
He paused, then shook his head. “You should call him back right away. I think a video call would be even more polite.”
Buried Heaven remained motionless.
He used silence to indicate his defiance.
However, he suddenly felt as if his body had lost control of itself.
His right hand lifted on its own. Not only that, his finger extended and pressed the sender’s name above the message on the communicator display. He then pressed the video call request in a practiced manner…
“You…” Buried Heaven stared at the red-haired man beside him, appalled.
“Since you’re unwilling to betray your friend, I had no choice but to give you a little help.” The red-haired man’s tone remained mild.
…
‘Eh? He’s calling back? Has he found a safe place to talk then?’
Seeing the sudden video call request from Buried Heaven on his communicator, Lin Huang did not give it another thought and accepted the call.
After that, he saw Buried Heaven and another person’s projections appearing simultaneously in front of him.
A red-haired man had his arm around Buried Heaven’s shoulders in what seemed to be a very friendly manner.
However, Lin Huang caught the stiff expression on Buried Heaven’s face at first glance and instantly guessed the red-haired man’s identity.
“If I’m not mistaken, you ought to be one of the Raiders’ investigators?”
“Amazing, Mr. Lin! It seems you’ve guessed my identity with just one look.” The red-haired man gave a thumbs-up sign. “You’re certainly worthy of being the man who destroyed our branch.”
“Let’s talk, shall we,” Lin Huang returned calmly with a smile.
The red-haired man had obviously not expected Lin Huang to be so calm. However, he nodded immediately. “Very well then, let’s talk.”
“How many of you came this time? Can you tell me?” Lin Huang asked, still smiling. His tone sounded as if he were catching up with a friend.
“Are you scouting out the enemy’s position?” The red-haired man asked with a smile.
“I just want to make sure beforehand so I can prevent any fish slipping through the net when the time comes.”
Lin Huang’s reply stunned the red-haired man for a moment. Clearly, he had not anticipated such a reply. He then laughed. “I never thought that you would be such a fascinating person. Since you’re so interested, I can answer your question.
“Nine of us have come this time. Of these nine, three are upper-rank Lords, and six are middle-rank Lords.”
The red-haired man stared at Lin Huang as he was talking, as if he wanted to see the shock on Lin Huang’s face. Unfortunately, from beginning to end, Lin Huang did not display any trace of being disconcerted in the least.
“That’s more or less what I anticipated.” Lin Huang nodded, smiling.
However, Buried Heaven found it hard to stay calm. He had earlier guessed that the red-haired man was an upper-rank Lord, but he had not expected that there would be two more upper-rank Lords on the way.
The Blood Sickle members behind Buried Heaven all displayed shocked expressions. They knew that the red-haired man and the rest were powerful, but they had not expected that there would be upper-rank Lords coming.
“You asked me a question, so now I can ask you a question? It’s only fair this way,” the red-haired man smiled and asked Lin Huang.
“Sure, ask away.” Lin Huang nodded with a smile.
“I want to ask…” The red-haired man continued after a moment, “Where are you right now?”
Buried Heaven’s pupils contracted slightly as soon as this question was asked.
The rest stared fixedly at Lin Huang’s video projection as well.
