Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 1416: Striking the Elite Forces

Chapter 1416: Chapter 1416: Striking the Elite Forces

According to the arrangement, Lin Xi, Su Hui, and Irina were to live at Li’s place, making Li’s home their secret residence. Although Li’s house was a three-story building with ample rooms, the sudden move-in of three beautiful women didn’t make him feel like a lucky man; he was actually afraid. That was because he saw that none of the women were of the gentle kind. Lu Yi and Ouyang Jin were arranged to stay together, living at the bespectacled man’s place. That was for safety considerations, to avoid being completely wiped out in the event that one of the hiding spots was discovered. Gu Fan still lived alone, and although Lin Xi wanted to stay with him, and she had assured him time and again that she would be careful and not be discovered, he still asked her to go to Li’s house. There was no helping it; Gu Fan was worried that Catherine might come looking for him to throw herself into his arms again, which could upset Lin Xi and prompt her to confront Catherine. Well, now everyone had successfully infiltrated, and everyone’s residence was arranged, the next step was how to rescue Jie and Li Shi. The Tower of Darkness was heavily guarded by a formidable force, and with the Blood King and Lord Xiong in charge, a frontal assault was definitely not possible. Only if a large force could be drawn to openly conflict with Organization X would it be feasible, but after the previous battle, there were few who dared to go against Organization X. At the moment, the only option seemed to be figuring out how to infiltrate the Tower of Darkness, but the difficulty of getting in was simply too high to even consider. Even if Gu Fan really managed to enter the Tower of Darkness, he might be recognized as Gu Fan the next second, resulting in him being hunted down. The Tower of Darkness was heavily fortified; bypassing everyone’s watchful eyes and all the surveillance was impossible. To take a gamble or not, betting that few in the Tower of Darkness knew what Gu Fan looked like? Moreover, with the Tower being so extensive, how to determine Jie’s location presented another dilemma. Rely on what Xue Yin said about that laboratory? Worried that when Xue Yin escaped, he broke the laboratory wall, which would inevitably lead to Jie being moved. The greatest difficulty of this mission wasn’t rescuing one person but two, and to extricate both at the same time.

"Difficult?" Gu Fan began to scratch his head, pondered for a long time, and couldn’t figure out a good solution whatsoever. Time was of the essence, otherwise, Organization X would realize that the people assigned to monitor Lin Xi, Su Hui, and the others in town had already been controlled, and thus Organization X would be alerted to their lost trace of Gu Fan and the others, certainly reinforcing their defenses in Dark City.

"If only Li Shi and Jie could be in the same place, maybe it would be possible," Gu Fan thought to himself, but then shook his head, unable to come up with a way to bring Li Shi and Jie together to rescue them. Unable to think of a good solution, Gu Fan walked outside to catch some fresh air and clear his thoughts. The Dark Avenue was still bustling tonight, with all sorts of people seeking amusement, some heading to casinos, some to nightclubs, their laughter and tasteless jokes filling the air—it all seemed to reveal the uglier side of human nature. Generally, those who fled to Dark City were criminals at the end of their rope, pursued for their wrongdoings. There were also a few wrongfully accused, forced to leave their homes, or those who had offended someone powerful, with no way out.

At that moment, a cargo truck bearing the emblem of Organization X drove by, heading straight for the Tower of Darkness. All passersby and vehicles had to give way. Although many were discontent, they dared not speak out, as Organization X was the authority here. The sight of the cargo truck filled Gu Fan with deep disgust; it transported many innocents who had done nothing wrong, yet they were to become sacrifices for Organization X. Gu Fan truly wanted to teach Organization X and the vampires a lesson, to deter them from drinking human blood indiscriminately.

"Wait a second, how could I forget this?" Gu Fan glanced at his own arm. He had ingested the blue potion, which was a weapon against vampires, causing his blood to turn from bright red to blue after leaving his body for a period. He wasn’t sure just how effective this blue blood would be against vampires or what it would do to ordinary people who drank it.

"It looks like I need a test subject," Gu Fan considered, already formulating a plan in his mind. Just as he decided to return, he suddenly received a call from Catherine with an urgent mission, asking Gu Fan to come immediately. Gu Fan wondered why another emergency task, why it always had to be him that Organization X called upon. When Gu Fan arrived at Catherine’s office, he saw that Li was also there, and his heart skipped a beat, sensing that it wasn’t good news—the worst scenario being that the activities they had been conducting behind Organization X’s back had been discovered. Once everyone was present, Catherine explained the operation. It turns out that after Xue Long’s recent conflict with the Hunter’s Guild had ended in debacle, attracting Organization X’s attention, the organization now focused more on the Hunter’s Guild. Hearing this, Gu Fan was internally grateful to the Hunter’s Guild for drawing the enemy’s attention away. If the enemy had concentrated on watching Su Hui and Lin Xi, they would’ve likely been exposed by now.

Catherine continued to explain the situation’s critical points. Since the last battle, the hunters and the Hunter’s Guild had vanished without a trace, and it was suspected that they had entered the Dark Primitive Mountain. Gu Fan frowned. "Now that Xue Yin has also fled into the Dark Primitive Mountain, if they were to join forces..." Catherine nodded, "Exactly. Xue Yin carries the research results of our Organization X, so we can’t allow her to fall into the hands of the Hunter’s Guild." Hearing this, Li seemed troubled, "Lady Catherine, look at the two of us, neither scholarly nor martial. If you send us, we’ll only hold you back." Gu Fan agreed, but Catherine seemed to have no choice, "There’s no way around it. Xue Long personally requested your involvement, insisting that the Western Aristocrat and Northern Aristocrat join forces again to wash away their shame." It sounded like significant action was imminent, which boded ill for Gu Fan. Catherine added one more thing, "Organization X was planning to intervene directly, but the Western Aristocrat and Northern Aristocrat were adamant about taking on this task. So, Organization X decided to host a competition, letting the Four Great Nobles play their hand, to see who can achieve merit."

"If the Four Great Nobles take action, then isn’t the Hunter’s Guild done for?" Gu Fan’s heart sank. In the rush of last time, he had forgotten to confirm with Irina whether the hunters had also come to this place. Catherine’s expression grew more solemn, "We have no choice. This time, the Hunter’s Guild has assembled their elite. In that case, we will crush their elite forces."