468: Offline reality?

Shen Bei's activities that night could be said to have yielded nothing.

The Sheepskin Assassin was killed by him, and Thunder King Ye Leng was corroded and swallowed by the dirty green light of the blood-colored ancient lamp, leaving no trace.

Shen Bei himself was almost dragged into the abyss by the abstract forbidden world.

He had finally found a Breakthrough, but now it was all gone.

According to Principal Qin, the Mind's Eye Potion was refined at the moment a Martial Artist was killed.

But this was only one of the prerequisites.

It was obvious that a Martial Artist who truly needed the Mind's Eye Potion would not follow the Sheepskin Assassin and take the potion at the moment of a Martial Artist's death.

This potion must have been produced.

If it was produced, then it might involve a certain base.

Now that some clues were cut off, it was unknown when he would get another good opportunity like the Sheepskin Assassin.

Shen Bei sniffed, took out his brick-like work phone, and was about to call Two Headed Vine to ask if she had any more information.

Unexpectedly, Two Headed Vine called him instead.

Shen Bei went to the balcony and answered the phone.

Her first words were: “Did you kill the Sheepskin Assassin?”

“If you continue to set traps in your words, you won't get any information from me,” Shen Bei said unceremoniously, a small act of leverage.

“I'm very sorry, but what I want to say is, if you are currently chasing him, then I hope you can postpone this matter,” Two Headed Vine suggested somewhat urgently.

Shen Bei had initially purchased the intelligence of “the Sheepskin Assassin's whereabouts” from Two Headed Vine to capture the Sheepskin Assassin alive and obtain information about the Mind's Eye Potion.

Therefore, whether the Sheepskin Assassin lived or died should not be a concern for Two Headed Vine.

Her previous question, “Did you kill the Sheepskin Assassin?”, could be considered “trying to extract information from me using verbal tricks.”

Shen Bei thought for a moment.

She might not have done it intentionally. Just like when Shen Bei faced enemies, he would unconsciously speak in a harsh tone.

Similar to Professor Gu Xinrou's elder brother, Gu Changfeng, who had been a patrol officer for a long time, he would unconsciously interrogate others as if they were criminals.

As a merchant who trades intelligence, Two Headed Vine having this unconscious “professional habit” was something Shen Bei could understand to a certain extent.

But her subsequent question plunged Shen Bei into confusion: Why did she not want him to kill the Sheepskin Assassin?

The awkward thing was, Shen Bei had already killed him.

He couldn't exactly be asked to spit him out.

“Regardless of my relationship with the Sheepskin Assassin,” Shen Bei decided to probe first, “assuming I really killed the Sheepskin Assassin, would it cause you any trouble?”

“I want to find the Sheepskin Assassin and ask him some questions; this is very important to me.”

Two Headed Vine paused on the other end of the phone, then continued, “So, if your purpose in buying the intelligence earlier was to seek revenge on him, then I hope you can hold off for a while. If you still insist on seeking revenge on him afterwards, or decide to take on another job, then I am willing to use my credit as a guarantee to provide you with free intelligence support to a certain extent, as a return for your concession this time.”

“What do you want to ask him?”

“No comment.”

Hearing this, Shen Bei was not angry. For an intelligence dealer, there were as many things that were “no comment” without money as there were mites on a pillow.

Shen Bei, however, candidly said, “Unfortunately, your call came too late.”

“What?” For the first time, a hint of shock appeared in her usually indifferent tone, and there was even a sound as if something had been knocked over on the other end of the phone.

Two Headed Vine questioned, “Did I hear wrong? I gave you the intelligence about the Sheepskin Assassin's possible whereabouts around seven in the evening, but it's not even midnight yet, and you've already found him and killed him?”

“If you had called me before nine in the evening, you might have still seen him alive and kicking.”

“This... is unbelievable. Seriously, who exactly are you?”

“No comment.”

Shen Bei returned the phrase to her, and although he wasn't angry earlier, he now felt inexplicably relieved.

Two Headed Vine was silent for a long time, presumably finding it hard to believe Shen Bei's words.

After a while, she said again, “Please wait a moment, I'll hang up for a second.”

Three minutes later, she called again.

“I have a client who wants to meet you. Are you free tomorrow evening?” After speaking, Two Headed Vine added, “I will also be present at that time.”

Shen Bei frowned. This kind of offline, real-world meeting... did not conform to the rules of the black market.

If you can contact online, don't meet offline.

Who knew what would happen during an offline meeting.

Black-on-black, revenge, framing, and so on, no one knew what might happen.

Therefore, online contact was the best method, and very few people would suggest an offline meeting.

Shen Bei did not immediately agree, but instead said, “First tell me, who is your client, and for what reason does he want to see me?”

“He is someone who is investigating a local mysterious organization. I don't know his true identity, nor do I know the origin of that mysterious organization.”

To Shen Bei, what Two Headed Vine said was almost like nonsense.

“Based on certain interests, I am also investigating that mysterious organization, and just half an hour ago, that client called me and told me that the Sheepskin Assassin, who failed the Martial Arts Exam three times and was an illegal auto repair shop owner who never received Martial Artist-specific training, suddenly became a Martial Artist one day and was promoted to an Eighth Grade within less than five months. This is likely related to that mysterious organization.”

Shen Bei was silent for a moment.

No wonder the Sheepskin Assassin was a bit weak.

So, he wasn't promoted through normal means...

“Can I understand it as: that mysterious organization has the means to turn ordinary people into Martial Artists, and the Sheepskin Assassin was a Martial Artist promoted through abnormal means?” Shen Bei only asked about the parts that interested him.

“You can understand it that way,” Two Headed Vine affirmed.

Shen Bei chuckled, wasn't this the Mind's Eye Potion?

The only problem now was that this medicine was not refined instantly.

Where was the refining base?

Wait—

Shen Bei recalled what Two Headed Vine said, the third party he was going to meet was investigating a mysterious organization...

If the name was correct, this mysterious organization was definitely not the Apocalypse Cult.

Otherwise, Two Headed Vine's description would definitely have been the four characters for Apocalypse Cult.

This... was there a new clue?

Shen Bei said, “What specific time and place?”

Two Headed Vine let out a sigh of relief, then gave the time and place.

Shen Bei secretly noted it down and hung up the phone.

...

The next morning, Shen Bei woke up from bed.

He pushed Jian Tong, who was wrapped around him, away.

He was stunned for a moment.

“The daily settlement panel isn't activated?”

Whenever a task was completed, he would definitely receive rewards the next day.

But this time...

There was no movement.

“I seem to have fallen into a big pit.”

Shen Bei twitched his mouth: “If I don't figure out the Mind's Eye Potion matter, I'm afraid this settlement panel won't be activated.”

Damn it, it's still a long-term mission.

Shen Bei rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

However.

This was nothing.

Several hours later, Shen Bei was completely dumbfounded.

On his conscious level, an extremely disturbing aftereffect appeared...