Chapter 224: Today's Headlines

Yan Shang, the business magnate who founded the Starfall Merchant Guild, possessed an exceptionally keen sense for crises. His years of investment in the law enforcement system had granted him access to secrets unknown to outsiders. He knew very well that if he didn't sever connections now, everything would vanish into thin air.

As the train whistled under the grey sky, a city enveloped in the aurora gradually drew closer outside the frost-covered windows.

“We're almost there,” the black-haired woman, who had been sitting in the corner, suddenly said.

The train rumbled towards the city wall, and a beam of green light suddenly illuminated above its front, which was covered in mysterious writings. Moments after the light appeared, as if a signal had been transmitted into Aurora City, a city gate, specifically paved with tracks, slowly opened.

The train slowed as it passed through the gate, proceeding directly into a station located within Aurora City's military management zone.

Pneumatic hiss—As the train came to a complete stop, its whistle hummed, and several figures stepped onto the platform one after another.

“My bones feel like they're falling apart after such a long ride,” the squinting man said, stretching.

“Let’s head straight back to the Guild. We’ll have plenty of time to rest once we’re there,” Yan Shang said, glancing at his wrist-watch before turning to the man and woman. “You two have worked hard this time.”

“We take money to do a job; it’s only natural,” the black-haired woman replied flatly.

The trio then walked out of the station onto a street. Pedestrians hurried past, and at a street corner, a few figures huddled together, pointing at a newspaper, their expressions filled with shock. A subtle atmosphere hung over the entire city.

Seeing that the car meant to pick them up hadn't arrived, Yan Shang frowned slightly. He checked his watch again, murmuring in a low voice:

“Why aren’t they here yet… What are those people at the Guild doing?”

“Maybe they got the time wrong?” the squinting man asked, puzzled.

As the two spoke, a newsboy, carrying a backpack full of newspapers, quickly crossed the street, his youthful voice loud and clear:

“Extra! Extra!!”“Overnight, the Starfall Merchant Guild headquarters leveled! Bodies everywhere!”“Is it human depravity, moral decay, or divine retribution?”“Exclusive report! Major revelations! On-site photos! All in the Aurora Daily! Only ten copies left, get yours now…”

The moment he heard this, Yan Shang froze. Not just him, but the two foreigners beside him also froze, looking at the newsboy in bewilderment, wondering if they had misheard.

“Starfall… Guild?” Yan Shang asked, uncertainly. “Did he just say… that?”

“...It sounds like it.”

Many people approached from all directions, surrounding the newsboy and pulling out money to buy newspapers. Seeing this, the squinting man darted forward.

“Give me a newspaper!” he demanded, not waiting for the newsboy’s reply. He snatched the last copy from the boy’s hand, shoved a silver coin into it, and then turned back towards Yan Shang.

“President, here’s the paper…”

Without a word, Yan Shang grabbed the newspaper. As he saw the large, bolded headline, he felt a clap of thunder explode in his mind!

—“Overnight, the Starfall Merchant Guild Wiped Out?”“Late last night, the Starfall Merchant Guild, Aurora City’s largest commercial organization, was mysteriously wiped out. A total of 142 bodies were found at the scene, with no survivors…”

“According to an anonymous passerby, a Mr. Chu, he was merely passing by the Guild entrance when he inadvertently noticed that there were no lights on inside and that the main gate had been split in half and collapsed inwards. Curiosity led him to enter…”

“When our reporter entered, the scene was gruesome. All buildings and trees had been strangely displaced, and many bodies bore bite marks, not consistent with human perpetrators…”

“During the on-site investigation, our reporter accidentally discovered a hidden chamber beneath the Guild, containing a large quantity of organs and documents of unknown origin. It is suspected that illegal organ trafficking was taking place. A deeper investigation is underway…”

This single news story occupied the largest section of the entire newspaper. The photos and text couldn’t even be contained on one page, extending onto the second. By the time he finished reading the last word, Yan Shang’s hands were trembling uncontrollably.

“...President,” the squinting man said cautiously, “What do we do now?”

Yan Shang’s eyes were bloodshot. He violently crumpled the newspaper into a ball and clutched it in his hand, speaking each word distinctly:

“Back to the Guild!”

At the Newspaper Office.

“Are you saying that while you were going to get your camera last night, you accidentally discovered someone searching my apartment, and so you followed him all the way to the Starfall Merchant Guild?” Wen Shilin asked, setting down his newspaper thoughtfully.

“That’s right,” Chen Ling nodded. “I was thinking, although we caught those two surgeons, we still didn’t have conclusive evidence. Since this person was searching your apartment, they must be involved in organ trafficking, so I decided to take a risk and see if I could find more evidence.”

“So, you actually entered the Starfall Merchant Guild by yourself? But why did the newspaper say it was discovered by a passerby?”

“Because I’m investigating the organ trafficking, and I can’t expose my involvement yet. I discussed it with Editor-in-Chief Feng, and she agreed to let me slightly obscure that detail. That way, law enforcement won’t hold us accountable for withholding information…”

Wen Shilin nodded; he was very familiar with this method. He had used similar tactics before when investigating sensitive matters that he still needed to publish articles about.

“And then?”

“That person searched your apartment, found nothing, and was about to leave. I found his car downstairs, so I hid in the trunk beforehand and followed him into the Starfall Merchant Guild. After the car stopped, I kept hearing people talking outside, so I didn’t dare to get out. When it got late, I was about to look for a chance to go out and find clues, when I heard a scream outside… followed by sounds like wild beast roars. At the time, I felt something was wrong, so I stayed hidden in the trunk. Only when the sounds outside had almost completely faded did I open the trunk a crack…”

Hearing this, Wen Shilin’s eyes lit up slightly.

“Did you see what the perpetrator looked like?”

“...Only a little. It was too dark then, and I couldn’t see clearly… Also, this whole situation was so bizarre that I didn’t include it in the article…”

“What did the perpetrator you saw look like?”

A look of recollection, tinged with residual fear, appeared in Chen Ling’s eyes.

“It looked like… it looked like two bears.”

“Bears?” Wen Shilin paused, surprised.

“Yes, if I remember correctly, one was brown and the other was yellow… They just flashed through the manor.” Chen Ling seemed to recall an unpleasant memory, pressing a hand to his forehead. “I… I don’t know how to describe it. There were gnawed corpses everywhere on the ground. I… I’ve never seen a sight like that.”