82: Chapter 82 I'm Busy
"You suspect the Dark Alliance did this?" he asked.
Fang Bin gave a violent start and looked up at Lin Fan, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
"The… the Dark Alliance? How is that possible!"
"The Dark Alliance is notorious and has always taken pleasure in wantonly provoking major factions. Why would they target children?"
"Besides, the modus operandi of these kidnappers is not the style of the Dark Alliance at all; they never leave anyone alive."
Fang Bin spoke at a very fast pace.
It was clear he did not want to believe that the Dark Alliance was involved in the child abduction cases.
Lin Fan's eyes narrowed beneath his mask.
The fact that Fang Bin was so flustered at the mere mention of the Dark Alliance made him even more certain that this organization possessed terrifying strength.
He had to find out more information.
"You seem to know the Dark Alliance quite well," Lin Fan said calmly.
Fang Bin's expression stiffened.
He looked at Lin Fan's mask and hurriedly explained:
"Does Mr. Chen suspect that I am a member of the Dark Alliance?"
"What I said is merely common knowledge. Furthermore, I have never had any dealings with the Dark Alliance before."
Fang Bin leaned back in his chair, trying to steady his emotions.
Lin Fan did not ask any more questions and stood up to head toward the door.
"Does Mr. Chen intend to intervene in the disappearance cases?"
Fang Bin's voice came from behind him. Lin Fan paused his steps and nodded slightly.
A light instantly ignited in Fang Bin's eyes. He stood up abruptly and pressed his hands onto the desk:
"That's wonderful! With a powerhouse like Mr. Chen taking action, there will surely be progress!"
"If you have any findings, please feel free to contact the Alliance at any time. We will certainly cooperate fully!"
"Hmm."
Lin Fan responded with a sound and pushed the door open to leave.
A few seconds after Lin Fan left the office, Fang Bin slumped back into his chair, his face full of exhaustion.
"That was truly exhausting."
He gazed at the ceiling and let out a soft sigh.
Meanwhile, Lin Fan had already arrived on the first floor of the building. Just as he was about to head out, someone suddenly called out to him from the side.
He turned his head to look.
A trace of surprise appeared on his face beneath the mask.
The person who arrived was the burly man from the Tide Expedition Team.
Behind him followed Fang Lu with her short hair. The two walked toward him with respectful expressions.
"Good evening, Mr. Chen. You've finally come out. We have been waiting for you."
The burly man spoke first, his tone extremely respectful.
"Is there something you need?" Lin Fan asked.
Since the other party could not recognize him behind the mask, he did not need to be deliberately friendly.
"Nothing major. Our squad will be joining other teams tomorrow to encircle and suppress magical beasts. We wanted to invite Mr. Chen to join us. We certainly won't take up too much of your time."
Fang Lu stepped forward, her expression sincere.
"I don't have time."
Lin Fan dropped that one sentence and walked away directly.
The two of them: "..."
Lin Fan walked straight out of the Alliance Building, not giving the two of them any chance to persuade him.
Follow them to encircle magical beasts as Mr. Chen?
Then how would he use his own identity?
Absolutely not; he could only refuse.
Soon, Lin Fan arrived at the alleyway where he usually changed his robes and mask.
After confirming no one was following him, he recalled the two items back into the system, changed back into his daily clothes, and only then headed toward home.
When he returned home, his family was in the living room, including his father—he had returned early today.
As soon as he entered the door, Lin Duo excitedly told Lin Fan that Mom had prepared a gift for him.
The girl had held it in for a long time and finally couldn't help but say it.
Mother hurriedly covered her mouth.
This child, her mouth was just too fast.
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow.
A gift?
What gift?
He was curious, but his mother refused to say more, only telling him to look after dinner.
In the evening, after the family finished dinner, Lin Fan finally saw the gift.
It turned out that after his parents paid off the debt to that fat man, they used the remaining money to buy him a communicator.
His mother had bought it specifically when she went out with Lin Duo today.
Lin Fan took the communicator.
It looked almost identical to the mobile phones from his past life.
It was just that the functions were more advanced, and the material was sturdier, making it not so easily damaged.
He sincerely thanked his parents.
This communicator was worth thirty thousand yuan.
His parents said they would pay for it first and he could pay them back once he opened an account.
Lin Fan wanted to tell them not to worry about this money, but his parents were very insistent.
"If we bought it with your money, would that still be a gift?"
His mother's words left Lin Fan unable to refute.
In the end, he could only agree, though he mentally planned to give more money to the family in the future.
Afterward, everyone returned to their rooms.
Lin Fan did not go to sleep or read as usual.
Instead, he began studying the new communicator.
It already had several contacts saved: his parents and Aunt Mi Xue.
He also discovered that he had been pulled into a group chat.
He took a look; it was indeed the Tide Expedition Team's group, and Aunt Mi Xue had added him to it.
Quite a few members had already sent messages in the group, welcoming him to the team.
Lin Fan did not reply immediately but instead opened the network.
Just like in his past life, this world also had a network and countless social platforms.
He opened the browser and typed in four characters: Dark Alliance.
Since it was inconvenient to ask the people around him, he would search for it online!
Time passed rapidly.
The chill of the night in Baiyun City grew deeper.
The bright moon hung high, yet the streets remained brightly lit, with streetlights illuminating the entire road.
Even though it was late at night and the cold wind was biting, there were still many pedestrians on the streets, each busy with their own affairs.
In an area of Baiyun City filled with high-rises.
A building of several dozen stories stood among them.
It looked unremarkable, no different from the surrounding architecture, making it easy for people to overlook.
Yet, beneath this building, there were actually eleven full floors!
In one of the underground spaces.
Five figures stood in an observation room, looking down through the glass at the massive platform below.
The platform was dozens of meters wide and divided by glass walls into compartments resembling prison cages.
In each compartment, a child between the ages of six and seventeen was locked up, all of them having fallen into a coma.
In the observation room, the five people watched the platform in silence.
Three of them wore robes of various colors that covered them from head to toe.
The other two wore ordinary clothes, standing in a 1+2+2 formation.
The robed figures were in front, and the ordinary people were behind, standing with their hands folded and bowing, their expressions tense.
"Is there anything to report?"
The figure in the very front, wearing a pitch-black robe, emitted a hoarse and grating voice from beneath the hood.
Hearing the black-robed person's words, one of the two robed people behind him immediately stepped forward and bowed:
"It has been confirmed: Chen Ping is unrelated to the Dark Alliance and intends to intervene in the recent disappearance cases."
This person was wearing a yellow robe and was identical to the other yellow-robed person beside him.
"Oh? Is there any other information regarding this Mr. Chen?" the black-robed person asked.
"Yes, he brought back the corpse of a Dread Bear. We suspect he slew it single-handedly. His strength must far exceed the Fourth Order."
It was still that same yellow-robed person who answered.
"I see. If he insists on being our enemy, dealing with him will be somewhat troublesome without the help of the Red-Robed Lord."
"However, since he is unrelated to the Alliance and is not a member of the Dark Alliance, there is a possibility of winning him over."