MMORPG: War God, You are Invincible Again
Chapter 410 - 165: Mysterious Disappearance

Chapter 410: Chapter 165: Mysterious Disappearance

Lu Hong didn’t rush to leave, but loitered repeatedly near the transmission gate. The stationed civilians had done well, enveloping the Black Guard’s transmission gate without leaving any blind spots; the slightest disturbance, and everything could be seen clearly.

It looked as if someone was using my protection as a guise, secretly monitoring the Black Guard’s movements.

With this thought, it wasn’t just within the garrison that enemies hid; even among civilians, hidden foes lurked.

Since they could hide among both the garrison and civilians, these enemies wouldn’t be from other races; they were definitely human forces.

Lu Hong shook his head helplessly, we are all born of the same root, why rush to devour each other?

Before long, Lu Kuan, the head of the garrison, rushed over with two officials in tow, "This subordinate pays respects to... to... Baron, sir?!"

The ordinary soldiers might not be familiar with Lu Hong, but imperial officials surely would be.

Upon recognizing Lu Hong’s face, Lu Kuan nearly let out a shriek, "Why have you come?!"

Baron? Which baron? The squad captain only then realized, staring intently at the statue standing not far away, Holy shit?! It’s an exact match!

Lu Kuan’s words thundered like a surprise strike, exploding in the quiet afternoon of the small town.

"Baron? Where is the Baron, sir?"

"What? The Baron has come?"

"The Baron has really come to save us?!"

"Hahaha, I just knew the Baron would hear our prayers."

Suddenly, civilians squeezed out from the town.

"We pay our respects to Baron Yitian!" The civilians bowed in unison.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please rise," said Lu Hong with a smile, "I am no Heavenly God to deserve such reverence from you all."

One brazen civilian man lifted his head to ask, "Baron, sir, have you come to help solve the missing civilian case?"

"Yes, I have been ordered by Emperor Konstantin to investigate the missing civilian case on the Yuanhua plane. If I should summon you, I hope you, dear fellow townspeople, will cooperate fully."

"We will certainly cooperate with your lordship." As expected, it was the Baron who came to investigate; a resolution seemed guaranteed, and the civilians celebrated, overcome with excitement.

"Everyone, please go back home. I will discuss the case with Lord Lu; please trust me, I will give you all a satisfactory resolution."

Lu Hong’s words carried weight, and the civilians obediently dispersed, busying themselves with their homes, now free from the worry that had marred their faces before.

Lu Kuan couldn’t help but say, "It is the Baron’s authority." Before Lu Hong’s arrival, Lu Kuan had tried to soothe the townspeople countless times, to no avail. Just goes to show, comparing people can truly be disheartening.

"Lord Lu," Lu Hong began, "do you know where the Snowy Region reinforcements are now?"

"Reporting to the Baron, this subordinate does not know. After entering Yuanhua two days ago, the Snowy Region troops acted independently and didn’t allow our men to follow, so we have no idea of their current whereabouts," Lu Kuan said with a wry smile. These powerful beings from Snowy Region had plunged in and vanished just like the ghostly flicker of the titan arum bloom.

Lu Hong frowned. He didn’t believe the Snowy Region’s strong came here for a leisure visit; they might have uncovered some secret. They were either still pursuing it, or they had been wiped out. "Tell me in detail about the missing case."

"Baron, how about you come over to my residence so we can discuss at length?" Lu Kuan extended the invite.

Fine, well... after passing through two transmission gates in succession, we finally arrived at Lu Kuan’s luxurious residence.

"You live quite well, don’t you?" Lu Hong commented dryly after a glance at Lu Kuan. The empire had poured vast resources into the military supplies at the front line, leaving limited materials for civilian settlement on the plane; this mansion seemed grossly out of place.

"This was the residence of the Gold Family; they offered it up voluntarily, and I accepted." Lu Kuan was quick to explain, anxious not to displease Lu Hong, "If it displeases you, I can return it to them."

"The Gold Family?" Lu Hong reflected, "Are they still in Yuanhua?"

"They are, but most have gathered in Su He City. Nearly all the original residents of the Yuanhua plane were called to convene near Su He City. Vast tracts of land and houses were provided for the empire to settle civilians."

Fine, well... looks like the Gold Family, battered by the war, had indeed learned their lesson.

Once in the living room, a soldier brought over a pot of tea.

"Baron, try this. It’s the early tea from Yuanhua, tastes quite good."

I know, Lu Hong nodded slightly, "I’ve been here before."

Just as Lu Kuan was about to introduce Yuanhua’s specialty, he paused, suddenly remembering who had liberated Yuanhua.

"Let’s talk about the clues related to the missing persons cases instead."

Lu Kuan nodded, "Actually, the disappearances began quite a while ago, about six months back, but there weren’t many at first. Initially, I didn’t think it was anything serious, however, the number of missing people increased from one or two a day to four or five, and now we’re looking at hundreds, even thousands."

"A thousand people go missing in a day?" Lu Hong’s brows tightened, "and there truly isn’t a single clue to be found?"

"There is," Lu Kuan pondered for a moment before speaking, "All these missing people share one thing in common, a gray-white symbol found carved underneath their beds in their homes."

"What kind of symbol?"

Lu Kuan roughly sketched it out, and Lu Hong stared intently at the symbol imprint, thinking hard but he had never seen it before.

"Bring me the data on the missing people." Since there was a commonality among the missing, the investigation should start with their identities.

"Baron, there’s a lot of data. Are you going to look through it all?" Lu Kuan asked kindly, "As of today, nearly a hundred thousand people have gone missing."

"No matter, bring everything, and while you’re at it, bring all the data on the civilians who have been resettled here too." Lu Hong thought for a moment and added another instruction.

There were enemy spies within the garrison, likely with significant status. Lu Kuan seemed trustworthy, but he couldn’t be too careful – the Snowy Region powerhouses had come and started disappearing, likely having the same concern, worried that Lu Kuan was the mastermind behind it. Conducting an investigation under their noses would definitely yield no results.

"Are you sure?" Lu Kuan asked again, "There are more than thirty million civilians resettled in the Yuanhua plane. Even if you were to just flip through their data, it would take half an hour."

"Find a room, put everything in it, then... don’t disturb me," finished Lu Hong, who then took a sip of tea and said no more.

Lu Kuan understood Lu Hong’s intentions, nodded, and got up to make arrangements.

The efficiency was high and in less than an hour, the east wing room of the Golden Family’s residence was stuffed with the personal data of the resettled civilians.

The Empire kept comprehensive records on its citizens, updating the database with identity information almost every six months.

Thirty-six million, eight hundred and ninety-seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-two people – Lu Hong, looking at the overall information report, felt a surge of headache, knowing it would be impossible to go through it all. He had made the hasty decision to have it brought over, and at the mention of over thirty million by Lu Kuan, he immediately regretted it, but to save face, he had insisted on having it moved.

Seated at his desk, Lu Hong carefully reviewed the data of these individuals, finding without exceptions that they were all very ordinary civilians, with only a few who had some cultivation, the highest being at the First Transition, third level.

Who would be targeting these civilians?

Lu Hong was very curious; logically, these civilians, who hadn’t even embarked on any professions, were of what use to them?

"Holy King, come out and help." Lu Hong patted his ring, calling upon the slumbering Holy King.

"Boss, what are you doing?" The Holy King scanned the room filled with scrolls, "Did you rob some academy?"

"Cut the nonsense; why would I raid an academy? These are the civilian identity files. Help me sort them out, see if we can find anything," Lu Hong briefly explained the Yuanhua missing persons case.

The Holy King nodded, then his soul floated above the desk, joining in Lu Hong to sort through the data.

After a night’s effort, they finally uncovered something.

"From the beginning of the disappearances to three months ago, the missing civilians were all old people over eighty years of age. From three months to now, those who have disappeared are all young men and women under the age of forty. Does this mean the demands of the perpetrators are changing?" the Holy King proposed.

Lu Hong nodded, then said, "It might not be a change, but rather two groups committing the crimes."

"Ah?" The Holy King was startled.

"Disappearances from three months ago were handled by the plane’s highest administrative officer himself, but after that, the cases were reported up the chain, which means, the disappearance of the old people, Lu Kuan believed he could handle by himself, but the disappearance of younger people has panicked him," Lu Hong tapped the desk, making his deduction.

"That means there’s something fishy about that Lu Kuan!" The Holy King grasped the essence, "Let’s capture him first, interrogate and then decide."

"You think it’s that simple. Even though I have authorization from Konstantin, we’re far from the Emperor’s reach here. Do you know how many confidants Lu Kuan has below him? If we haven’t caught anyone and instead get ourselves trapped, then what?"

"So, what’s your plan now?"

"Make field visits, while seeking out allies in the Snowy Region." Lu Hong stretched, feeling numb from sitting all night.