“Damn, did you hear what Jason Long just said? He called that kid ‘sir’!” Jason Long’s teammate exclaimed, shocked as he discussed it with his partner.
“I heard it. Jason Long even said he wanted to consult that kid. What happened while we were out?”
“Exactly, Jason Long really respects that kid!”
Jason Long’s attitude left people feeling puzzled.
In the squad, Jason Long had always been the one who could take charge and lead the team.
Several times during life-and-death crises, it was Jason Long’s decisive orders that turned danger into safety.
For these team members, it was their first time seeing Jason Long like this, which clearly indicated that something they didn’t know had happened.
In the corner,
Jason Long looked at the information compiled on his phone and, with a heavy heart, asked, “Why did you stop me from sharing this? More people can help us find other clues.”
Charles shook his head and replied coolly, “It’s not the right time yet.”
“Not the right time? Do you know how serious this is? In addition to Cross Street, there are other places where children have gone missing, and the number has reached over twenty! And that’s without a complete count!” Jason Long tightened his grip on his phone.
He had initially thought this was just an ordinary bounty task, but thanks to Charles’s reminder, he discovered the underlying issues!
“I know; that number is about what I estimated. The number of missing children around Cross Street is also around twenty,” Charles said, understanding Jason Long. He was also shocked after calculating this figure!
The missing persons cases hadn’t just started a week ago; the earliest could be traced back three months!
At first, no one paid attention, as it was quite normal for a few children to go missing in these chaotic areas.
However, in the past week, the frequency of disappearances had drastically increased. Plus, the recent case of a missing little girl had a family that could afford the bounty, which led to the arrival of Charles and these Beast Masters.
“No, this isn’t something we can interfere with; we should report it to the sheriff. Clearly, some forces are involved!” Jason Long sighed.
He wasn’t naive; ordinary criminal gangs didn’t have this kind of power.
Charles looked at him as if he were foolish and asked, “Report it to the sheriff? Has reporting every missing case helped?”
“I’m talking about reporting your findings to the sheriff, telling them there’s a larger conspiracy behind this!” Jason Long explained himself.
Unexpectedly, Charles still disagreed. He voiced his concerns: “What if the sheriff is involved in this conspiracy?”
Once those words were spoken, Jason Long was taken aback. He said uncertainly, “No way, this is Genosha Calivia!”
“Yeah, this is Genosha Calivia. Do you really think that so many children could go missing quietly without anyone noticing?” Charles said softly.
Jason Long was at a loss for words. Although he was reluctant to admit it, Charles had a point.
He thought for a moment and asked, somewhat confused, “You don’t look very old, yet you think things through more thoroughly and cautiously than middle-aged people. So what should we do next?”
Charles ignored the first half of Jason Long’s statement. After thinking it over, he asked seriously, “Do you want to continue investigating this?”
Jason Long was taken aback again. He understood what Charles meant; behind the large-scale child disappearance, there was certainly a powerful force involved. If they were detected, there could be life-threatening consequences!
After a while, Jason Long reached up to touch the scar on his face and said, “This scar was left when I was saving someone. I’m not one to back down easily.”
Charles looked at Jason Long for a moment longer and gave him a contact number. He didn’t say anything else and turned to leave.
When the two of them returned to the crowd, all eyes were on Charles, filled with curiosity.
“It’s already noon, and class is about to start. Let’s head back,” Charles said to Celestine under everyone’s gaze.
Celestine nodded. She had classes in the afternoon as well, so it seemed she would have to wait until after class to discuss things further.
Just as they were about to leave, they encountered the couple rushing back. After Charles briefly explained, he took the map from them and left without looking back.
“What’s going on? Those two just walked off?”
“It seems like they still have class. Students are so unreliable. I think they just want to wait for us to find the clues before they make their move!”
“That sounds about right. While we were out looking for clues, they were just here resting and doing nothing!”
“Exactly! If they took on a bounty task, they should put in some effort. These young people are so lazy these days.”
Hearing the murmurs, Jason Long shouted, “Enough! Instead of gossiping, why not think about how to find clues?”
He watched Charles’s departing figure, tightening his grip on his phone with increased intensity.
Clues about the missing children have emerged, but for the sake of future progress, no one can speak about it yet; they can only wait for Charles’s next move.
Jason Long took a deep breath and walked up to the couple standing at the door, looking lost. He comforted them, saying, “Don’t worry, things will be resolved soon.”
The couple exchanged glances, then turned to stare in the direction Charles had left, their eyes filled with anticipation and hope!
In the afternoon,
at Cyber Academy in Classroom A, the teacher was conducting the lesson.
Charles sat alone in the back row of the classroom, analyzing the case. The map that had been brought back was not very useful.
The reason he had asked that couple to do this was simply to help them feel a little better. The helplessness of facing a loved one’s disappearance is the greatest pain. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Charles deeply understood this; his own parents were still missing, and he could relate to that feeling.
In front of him was a laptop displaying a 3D map of Calivia.
Charles sent Jason Long a message, asking him to compile the information on the missing children, including specific locations. If exact locations weren’t available, a general area would suffice.
Jason Long was quick to respond, sending over one piece of information after another.
Charles input the addresses into his computer while analyzing the data.
It wasn’t until the afternoon class ended that he finally wrapped up this work.
The teacher stood at the podium, clearly aware of every student’s actions. He knew that Charles hadn’t listened to a single part of the lesson today, but for an outstanding student like Charles,
occasional absences from class were understandable. Besides, just being present in the classroom was enough to show respect to the teacher!
As Charles walked out of Cyber Academy, he didn’t pause for a moment. He headed to a nearby café, found a booth, and waited quietly.
Before long, Zachary and Camilla arrived one after the other at the café.
As soon as they sat down, Zachary looked at Charles and asked, “You sent us a message and called us here to meet. Is there something urgent?”
Charles nodded. He sought out Zachary and Camilla because, among the people he knew, these two had sufficient backgrounds and could ensure they wouldn’t be involved in the missing children cases.
“I need you both to help me investigate some information,” Charles replied.
“Investigate information? What kind of information?” Camilla blinked, her curiosity piqued.
Charles continued, “Information about some missing cases, and it must not be known to anyone else.”
“Missing cases? And it can’t be known to others?” Zachary frowned. He had no idea what Charles was getting at.
Before he could ask more questions, Camilla readily agreed, “No problem! Charles, do you have anything else you need?”
Zachary turned to look at Camilla. He took a deep breath and voiced his confusion, “Charles, what exactly are you trying to do? If you don’t clarify, I won’t help.”
Seeing the determination on Zachary’s face, Charles decided to stop holding back and explained what had happened today.
“What! You’re saying you uncovered a huge conspiracy from a simple missing case? And it might involve other forces?” Zachary’s mouth dropped open, his first reaction was disbelief!
“These must be coincidences. Even in Calivia, kids going missing isn’t that unusual. It shouldn’t be as serious as you think,” Camilla said cautiously.
Charles sighed and showed them the information on his laptop, saying, “I wish these were coincidences. You can see for yourselves.”
Zachary and Camilla took the laptop, and the data was clear!
“The number of missing cases three months ago wasn’t high; it fell within a normal range. However, after that, the numbers became alarmingly exaggerated,” Charles explained briefly.
His data wasn’t entirely precise, but it was sufficient for making judgments.
“Is this true?” Zachary eventually looked up, staring at Charles.
Charles nodded and continued, “Whenever a missing case occurs, the victims’ families report it to the sheriff. The online information isn’t comprehensive, so the rest depends on you two.”
“I still need some missing addresses to accurately analyze the key clues.”
Zachary and Camilla exchanged glances, both nodding as they said, “No problem, we’ll head back to investigate right away!”
After the two of them left,
Charles looked at the 3D map on his laptop.
In fact, he had already deduced some important information.
However, to convince others, this evidence wasn’t enough!