Chapter 225: The Real Culprit
“Click ”
Accompanied by a burst of hurried footsteps, the four people stepped through the entrance of the tunnel.
The next moment, they all stopped in their tracks.
What appeared before them was a sizable underground laboratory. Every piece of equipment in the lab was etched with signs of deliberate destruction and was now inoperable. Despite that, it was clear that the tech level here was far beyond what Star River Manufacturing Factory could produce.
“There’s actually an entire lab underground!” Pei Yue was completely taken aback.
The Public Security Management Department in Miredi City was completely unaware of its existence!
Qin Lang glanced around and quickly walked to what seemed like a file cabinet, attempting to find some useful clues.
“Damn it!” Having already reached a workstation, Zhang Chuan tried a few attempts before smashing a fist on the console. “All the equipment here has been destroyed, especially the storage drives like disks.”
“This seems to be intact.” Qi Xian’s voice came from the other side of the lab.
He was standing near a transparent glass vessel, pointing to the container connected to numerous pipes and devices, “This is fully intact.”
“Let me check it out.” Zhang Chuan swiftly rose up and hastily walked over to Qi Xian.
The glass container was empty, but some traces remained along its edges.
It was a shiny viscous liquid, whose remaining traces enabled Zhang Chuan to sense an unowned Star Power equal to the intensity of Starstone.
“This…” An expression of shock gradually took over Zhang Chuan’s face, “Is this the source of the anomalous Star Power?!”
“What?!” An excited look flashed through Pei Yue’s eyes, and she quickly walked over.
Meanwhile, Qin Lang, who had been looking for clues on the other side, also paused.
They found the source?
He quickly stood up but accidentally knocked over a cabinet next to him.
“Boom!”
The sudden sound surprised the other three.
Qin Lang smiled apologetically, then his gaze landed on a piece of paper that had fallen from the toppled cabinet.
Paper documents, that’s what he had been focusing on in his search.
The criminal organization seemed to be exceedingly cautious, as he hadn’t found any paper documents in the vicinity.
But now with the cabinet overturned, a piece of paper originally hidden in some crevice appeared before him.
Unable to resist, Qin Lang picked up the paper to examine it.
The paper was covered in messy formulas, with a purple crescent moon and a pentagram overlapping at the corner.
Seeing the others walk over to him, Qin Lang handed over the piece of paper, “I just found this. See if it’s of any use.”
“A paper document?!” Zhang Chuan took the paper, scrutinizing it with growing excitement before eventually shaking his head, “This is only a draft. Not much help.”
“No, it’s very important.” Qi Xian, standing nearby, looked at the symbol on the paper and his mouth curved up slightly. “That symbol belongs to the Star Gathering.”
“The Star Gathering which has been attempting to obtain Star Power via fake fights and other underhanded means?” Pei Yue was well-informed about the crime organization pursued by the Association. She immediately recognized the symbol on the paper, “This really is the symbol of the Star Gathering.” Then, she couldn’t help speaking out, “Could it be that this incident wasn’t caused by the Star Hunter, but by the Star Gathering?”
Zhang Chuan, who had previously been sure that the Star Hunter was the criminal, fell silent for a moment.
Actually, after entering this place, he had already begun to have doubts.
The Star Hunter is a world-class criminal organization that has not acted many times in the state of Tianhua.
Could such an organization leave behind an obvious long-standing lab in Miredi City?
That didn’t make sense.
And now, they had finally found traces of another criminal organization.
Unlike the Star Hunter, the Star Gathering is a crime organization that only operates in Tianhua State. Therefore, they have every reason to operate longterm in Miredi City.
In addition, the Star Gathering is a criminal organization formed by a group of lawless people who covet Star Power. It totally makes sense that these anomalous unowned Star Powers are related to them.
So, the Star Hunter symbol on the factory wall, was it really used to frame and divert attention?
“Maybe it was indeed the Star Gathering.” Zhang Chuan hesitated, “Regardless, the priority now is to protect this place and let the Association send more people here.”
“The source equipment is intact, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find a solution to these anomalous Star Powers.”
Hearing these words, Qin Lang felt completely relieved.
The issues with Dan Bao and Spicy are solved!
“Miss Pei Yue, thank you.”
Standing at the gate of Miredi City’s Spirit Chef Association, Qin Lang sincerely expressed his gratitude to Pei Yue.
After they found the hidden lab under the factory, the Association staff quickly arrived and took away the intact equipment.
Since their Food Spirits had absorbed these anomalous Star Powers, Qin Lang was accompanied by Pei Yue back to the Association.
Everything went smoothly. The researchers who originally had thoughts on how to eliminate the negative effects of these anomalous Star Powers meticulously examined those equipment, and using them as a basis, quickly found a solution.
Those Food Spirits that had lost their senses and become frenzied completely returned to normal.
And although Dan Bao and Spicy exhibited no visible changes, after testing with equipment, it was confirmed that their risk of absorbing anomalous Star Power had completely disappeared.
What had disappeared along with it was the accelerated growth of the two little ones due to absorbing the anomalous Star Power.
For this point, Qin Lang had no objection.
On the other hand, the investigation into the true culprit of this incident also yielded results.
The other several investigators who didn’t make it to the factory in time were all delayed by some clues they found on the way.
After pooling these clues together and combining them with the paper document found as key evidence, the Association finally determined that the real culprit was the crime organization, Star Gathering.
“It’s our duty.” Pei Yue gave a small smile, “Actually, if we really consider it, you being accidentally involved in this incident was partly our responsibility.”
“It’s because my curiosity got the better of me.” Qin Lang scratched his head sheepishly, then asked, “By the way, where’s Qi Xian?”
“The amount of anomalous Star Power absorbed by Qi Xian’s Food Spirit was very small and can naturally dissipate over time, so he left early.” Pei Yue changed the subject, “After you leave, we’re going to get busy.”
“Although the investigation of this incident is almost complete, erasing the effects brought about by those anomalous Star Powers and pacifying the affected citizens is no easy task. ”
“And…” A murderous intent flashed across Pei Yue’s face, “Now that we’ve found traces of the Star Gathering, we’re going to conduct a major operation to arrest them!”
“Good luck!” Qin Lang gave her a thumbs up.
The operation to capture the Star Gathering wasn’t of great concern to him.
He needed to return to the hotel in preparation for the examination for becoming Tang Mi’s Food Recommender.
Shortcut: [Monthly Pass][Recommendation]