180: organize

Leaving the hospital, the damp night breeze did not dispel the gravity between Shen Mingyuan's brows.

He sat back in the car, not starting the engine immediately. Instead, under the dim light of the overhead lamp, he reopened his phone's memo app and also pulled up the information on several locations possibly linked to Sun Qian that Xu Lang had sent earlier via encrypted communication.

Two lists, two sources, two seemingly independent incidents.

Shen Mingyuan's gaze shifted back and forth between the two address lists, as if an invisible city map unfolded in his mind.

Provided by Wei Ziqing: a Bar in the Edge of the Old City's Demolition Zone, a Billiards Hall in the North of the City, and an Unlicensed Internet Cafe near the School District. Provided by Xu Lang: an Abandoned Logistics Warehouse in the Southern Suburbs (the crime scene), Two Pawnshops Suspected of Loan-Sharking, and a Contact Point for an Underground Gambling Den.

At first glance, they were scattered everywhere, like randomly splashed ink dots. But when Shen Mingyuan roughly marked these locations in his mind based on memory and knowledge of the city's districts, a vague, uncomfortable regularity emerged.

Most of these locations avoided the city's core commercial areas and tightly secured residential zones, preferring urban-rural fringes, areas awaiting development, surroundings of old factory districts, or older neighborhoods with relatively lax management.

They resembled nodes on a crude network, distributed... not entirely randomly.

Shen Mingyuan's eyes sharpened. He opened the map app on his phone and began manually inputting and marking these addresses. As each coordinate was pinned on the map, that invisible net gradually became visible.

These locations seemed scattered, but when observed from the perspective of the chaotic zone at the border between the city's old industrial area and the newly expanding district, they faintly revealed a... loose, yet indeed existing, encircling formation.

Particularly noteworthy was that both the Bar identified by Wei Ziqing and the underground gambling den contact point mentioned by Xu Lang were precisely located at relatively outer positions of this 'encircling belt,' like peripheral tentacles or outposts.

The core of Xu Lang's case—that abandoned logistics warehouse—was located further south, seemingly independent, yet maintaining a certain not-too-far, not-too-close distance from this 'circle,' allowing for rapid response.

So, where was the center?

Shen Mingyuan's fingers slid and zoomed on the map screen, his gaze locking onto the less regular circular central area vaguely formed by these peripheral points.

The map showed a mixed area there: several old commercial buildings, a semi-abandoned storage market, some low-rise street-front shops, and numerous residential houses awaiting demolition or already vacated, with vague administrative divisions and weak management.

There was no clear stronghold pointing there, but it was faintly guarded in the middle by these known 'tentacles.'

'Hiding in plain sight... or a command center?'

Shen Mingyuan muttered to himself. The Detective's instinct gave him a strong urge to investigate this 'blank' center.

If Sun Qian wasn't dead and had the ability to suppress the incident and hide his tracks, he would need a place sufficiently concealed yet convenient for monitoring peripheral movements.

If the group Wei Ziqing encountered wasn't just street thugs but organized gray enforcers, they must also have a gathering point for receiving orders, not just a few scattered entertainment venues.

This encircled, seemingly ordinary central area fit both possibilities.

The risks were obvious. Going alone at night to investigate a place suspected to be the opponent's core area was like walking into a wolf's den.

But Shen Mingyuan touched the calm and reliable outline of the 'twin stars' in the satchel beside him. He thought of Wei Qingyuan lying unconscious in the hospital ward, Wei Ziqing silently weeping in the stairwell, Xu Lang's fear like a startled bird, and his own vow to 'resolve all darkness.'

Hesitation and excessive caution were never the attitude of a Detective solving mysteries, nor the way for a lawyer to obtain evidence.

He sent a brief message to Xu Lang: 'Arrived. Checking the locations you provided. Maintain silence.' He didn't reveal more details.

Then, he set the navigation, with the destination pointing to that central area on the map encircled by the invisible ring—specifically targeting near an old multi-story building labeled 'Hongli Comprehensive Market.' It was well-connected yet mixed with all sorts, an ideal starting point for observation.

The car slowly left the hospital, merging into the city's night traffic, heading toward that shadowy center hidden behind ordinary streets and alleys.

The night was like a heavy curtain, shrouding the silent cluster of buildings at 'Hongli Comprehensive Market.' Shen Mingyuan parked the car in distant shadows and silently infiltrated deep into a narrow alley piled with debris nearby.

Without hesitation, he pressed the crimson gem on the armband on his left wrist with his fingertip.

A barely perceptible warm current swept through his body. Matte black biomaterial fluid silently surged from beneath his skin, swiftly and orderly covering, fitting, and solidifying.

In the blink of an eye, the Shadow Form was fully equipped. The lightweight helmet closed, and the red visor glowed with a faint light.

The world instantly looked different in his eyes.

It wasn't a simple 'switch,' but multiple enhanced senses simultaneously and naturally unfolding, becoming his instinctive way of perceiving the outside world like breathing.

Super-long-range vision allowed him to clearly capture every detail on building surfaces hundreds of meters away: peeling walls, rusted pipes, window orientations.

And more notably, thermal vision—it didn't replace but superimposed on his original visual information.

Cold walls showed dark blue-purple outlines, while behind windows of residential buildings still inhabited, orange-yellow, variously shaped life heat sources slowly moved, sketching a quiet picture of ordinary people's night lives.

His gaze swept over this mixed area like precise radar.

Most heat sources were distributed normally, sitting or lying down, fitting nighttime routines. However, when he directed his gaze toward the old commercial-residential building suspected to be the 'center,' anomalies appeared.

The heat source image of that building showed an eerie stillness and chaos.

Most heat sources inside the rooms weren't active shapes but blurry-edged, gradually cooling and spreading orange-red patches irregularly scattered at floor positions—signs of residual body temperature slowly dissipating after losing life activity.

Not one or two, but almost the entire building, large swathes of such 'cooling patches.'

Many people had died. And not long ago.

Shen Mingyuan's heart tightened. His gaze rapidly moved, finally locking onto a higher floor of this 'death building.'

There, only two heat sources still maintained clear, active humanoid outlines and were moving, seemingly rummaging through the room. A cruel and stark contrast to the cold, dead patches downstairs.

That was the place.

Shen Mingyuan delayed no longer. The Shadow Form brought not only enhanced perception but also matching agility and strength far beyond ordinary people. Like a true shadow, he used the buildings' own uneven surfaces, pipes, and external air conditioning units to climb upward with astonishing speed and near-silent posture, heading straight for where the two only active heat sources on the higher floor were located.

He quietly approached the room's outer wall, securing himself in a visual blind spot above the side of the window. The main light wasn't on inside the room; only flashlight beams occasionally swept through gaps in the thick curtains. Enhanced hearing clearly captured the dialogue and movements inside.

A slightly impatient male voice, accompanied by the rustling of metal prying and paper flipping: '...Damn, this old fox hid it deep. Cash bundles, small gold Bars, and these bearer bonds... finally dug out from this hidden compartment. When the Boss told us to 'clean up,' he meant these, right? The amount isn't small when tallied up.'

Another voice, deeper and more cautious, seemed to be checking something: 'Yeah. Sun Qian did dirty work for so many years, handled countless 'goods' and money, of course he skimmed a fat cut for himself.

These are hard assets, easy to handle. Other troublesome things like properties and accounts, the Organization will send others to 'take over.' Be careful, don't miss anything, especially things that might involve 'Supplier' and 'Client' lists. Must take or destroy them.'

'Got it, got it... Tsk,'

The first voice paused, lowering further, 'How did he, a local snake, get 'counter-killed' by a lawyer fleeing in panic? Capsizing in a ditch, what a pity. I really wanted to hear his screams, see him beg me for mercy.'

'Hmph, arrogance, carelessness, or... knowing what he shouldn't have.'

The deep voice said coldly, 'Better dead. Such middlemen too deeply entangled with ordinary society are risks themselves. Hurry up and clean up. All traces here related to him and 'past transactions' must be erased. Can't leave any clues for outsiders to follow.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah... Ugh, just feels unlucky.' The rummaging continued, 'But, is the channel for 'Experimental Supplies' cut off now? Sun Qian was quite effective at scouting and delivering 'Materials' before.'

Experimental Supplies. Materials.

Prometheus!

Shen Mingyuan's heart suddenly tightened, his fingers gripping the wall unconsciously.

Sun Qian wasn't simply a black-hearted force leader; he was a peripheral pawn of the insane Organization 'Prometheus.'

And Sun Qian was involved in human trafficking, so he was responsible for scouting 'experimental Materials' for them—which likely meant living people!

His actions, though not directly involved, must have touched a nerve in this Organization, hence this cold 'cleanup' and 'trace erasure' now!

Inside the window, the deep voice spoke again, with an undeniable warning: 'Channels can be found again. Watch your mouth. What you see and hear today, keep it to yourself. If you talk too much like Sun Qian, or act carelessly...'

The voice deliberately paused, chillingly, '...You don't want to end up on the 'Experimental Table,' becoming the next batch of 'Materials,' do you?'

The first voice immediately fell silent, leaving only increasingly hurried and light-handed cleaning sounds.