Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 283 - 202: The Poison of Suspicion

Chapter 283: Chapter 202: The Poison of Suspicion

For the Medical Health Team, it was still a busy day.

Patients continued to stream in, many with familiar faces. The difference was that their ailments from yesterday had become today’s injuries: some had heads split and bleeding, others had arms dislocated, and the most serious injury was someone who arrived for treatment with a knife still embedded in their abdomen.

It appeared that the entourage of the council members had also learned various combat skills, like Jiuyue, and joined the unrestricted combat faction.

Yet, the atmosphere made it hard to imagine this place as the solemn meeting venue of the Sixteen Star Summit, rather than a back alley rife with gang fights. As the patients with increasingly severe injuries were brought in, Duan Mingyuan couldn’t help but worry that if this continued, sooner or later, lives would be lost.

The other members of the Medical Health Team, on the other hand, were regaining confidence; treating external injuries was their area of expertise. The "patients" today were much more within the norm, at least no one was coming in with "Dehydration Syndrome"—a cosmic level complex illness. They provided simple medical assistance to those with lighter injuries, who were then asked to return to their rooms to rest. Those with particularly severe injuries were arranged to be taken into the medical room.

Although Duan Mingyuan was capable of discharging these seriously ill patients immediately, he still kept them in the medical room, considering their safety.

Most of the severely injured were the entourage members of the eight councilors who had attended yesterday’s banquet; they were seen by others as traitors.

The most severely injured was this patient with Dehydration Syndrome in front of him, she hadn’t even had the chance to enjoy her new lease on life when she got stabbed by someone running out from a corner while delivering documents today, and her head was cleaved open. Enduring the pain, she managed to stagger to the medical room, only to lapse into unconsciousness right after.

Duan Mingyuan contacted Mr. Earth Wolf Twelve, the head of security, who was an Interstellar Cowboy, gathering information on each of the assaults.

"Something’s strange."

Not long after, Earth Wolf Twelve stepped out of the medical room with a grave look on his face.

The first few who were lightly injured had been arguing with their accusers and were beaten up in a mobbing, a release of emotions. The entourage members didn’t want to escalate the situation. Although the delivered patients were bruised, none were seriously harmed.

But the seriously injured and nearly life-threatening cases that followed were different.

"They were all attacked without any warning, they couldn’t make out their assailant’s face, and the intent of the attacks seemed quite clear; it doesn’t appear to be just an act of venting anger."

The sudden surge of patients was undoubtedly a dereliction of his duty.

He admitted he had spent some time being intimate with Mocking Pigeon in their room early in the morning, but the security personnel of the Gear Hotel were all professionals; they should have detected any armed attackers. Earth Wolf Twelve now really wanted to question the staff in the surveillance room about what exactly they were using their eyes for.

"It should be an organized attack with a specific purpose; they seemed to know the victims’ routes and managed to avoid the patrolling security staff and the cameras."

"What’s the purpose?"

Duan Mingyuan was puzzled.

They were well-trained, yet they did not severely harm these victims’ lives.

Take the patient with Dehydration Syndrome as an example: if her attacker had been a little bit more "professional" and stabbed her directly in the neck, she wouldn’t have been able to stumble here, drenched in blood.

"Maybe that’s exactly their objective."

Stepping outside the medical room at last, Earth Wolf Twelve could finally light up a cigar. "The injured are all entourage members of the councilors who were invited last night. For them, this is an act of retaliation, and for those whose stances are wavering, such acts could very well push them to the opposing side."

This was his view.

He felt that someone was exploiting the council members’ mutual suspicions to their own advantage, and the beneficiary behind it all was obvious at a thought.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Gear Hotel.

Tang Qianqian and Yang Ping halted their steps, or rather, they were blocked by an unexpected visitor who had suddenly come around the corner.

These people were clad in voluminous trench coats, wearing sunglasses and masks, and the iron clubs and blades they held did not look like the tools of the well-intentioned.

The way behind them was also blocked.

There were a total of four people in the same attire, who, without uttering a word, confirmed their "target" and then moved to flank the two from both sides in a pincer attack.

"Who are you?"

Tang Qianqian asked a question, but no one responded.

"I’d advise you to stop right now!"

The four people ignored Tang Qianqian’s warning. Their intent was clear, as they swung their iron clubs and blades, as if they were street hoodlums in a brawl, heading straight for the two of them.

In the next moment, the weapons in their hands veered off in eerie ways, slamming into the faces of their unprepared comrades. Some, in this critical moment, accidentally tripped, face-planting with several teeth flying out, leaving all four wailing on the ground in less than a second.

Their wounds were open, flesh split, and the acute pain rendered them unable to move on the ground.

"I warned you earlier to stop."

Tang Qianqian sighed.

If these people had heeded her advice, they wouldn’t have to suffer these flesh wounds.

They had already heard about the attacks on accompanying personnel. The reason why she and Yang Ping were in the corridor at this time was a typical instance of fishing law enforcement, aiming to secure safety, they had resorted to their utmost ability—summoning the Mistress.

Only today, the Mistress acted much more forcefully than usual. Seeing the one who had tripped with his nose caved into his face, Tang Qianqian could only imagine the immense pain of the fall.

Jiuyue, with a cold face, ascended the stairs, and for her, enveloping several floors with a Barrier was a trivial matter.

The Third Prince believed that these attackers were not the accompanying personnel of the directors, but assassins planted by the Silver Lotus Family, aiming to muddle the waters and further inflame the conflicts between the directors.

She bent down and removed the mask from one of the assailants.

However, the visage that met her eyes left her stunned for a while—even though his face was disfigured from the impact of the iron club, she could still faintly recognize it as a face she had seen before in the restaurant.

After examination, the facts seemed to contradict the Third Prince’s deduction.

All four assailants were accompanying personnel of the directors, staunch members of the opposition. Once their faces were revealed, they glowered fiercely at them, appearing more like part of a pure act of revenge.

Tang Qianqian delivered the culprits to the department where Earth Wolf Twelve was located, but the interrogation results left even Earth Wolf Twelve puzzled.

The four admitted they had attacked the "traitor" accompanying personnel of the directors, and there were others in the hotel just like them who had sprung into action as well.

They believed the directors, restrained by decorum and cultivation, couldn’t openly scold the treachery of those eight directors, so they took it upon themselves to represent the directors and teach these cowards a lesson.

They weren’t instigated by anyone; it was entirely a spontaneous act of "punishing the traitors."

"Could it be that I was wrong?"

After the interrogation, Earth Wolf Twelve leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.

Could it be that this affair wasn’t actually a conspiracy of the Chamber of Commerce?