Taking advantage of the other students looking away, Charles quickly activated his [Darkness Cloak] and slipped away from the crowd, returning to his dorm.
Just as he was about to rest, a message popped up on his phone. Upon opening it, he saw that Zachary and Camilla had sent over the file regarding the missing child information.
Charles quickly got up and went to the desk, opening his laptop to conduct a comparative analysis.
As time passed, the expression on his face grew more and more disappointed.
The files sent by Zachary and Camilla contained a lot of accurate information, but it was specifically about false case details.
“It seems there really are people from the other side inside the security office. He must have modified this information to make it look fake.” Charles muttered to himself.
He sent his deductions to Zachary and Camilla.
At the same time, he also messaged Jason Long, arranging a meeting place for the following morning.
It seemed like there were no further developments, all leads had gone cold, and finding the enemy within the security office was not an easy task.
After all, Charles was just a civilian now, and he had no authority to conduct an investigation. Moreover, doing so would likely alert the enemy.
However, Charles had other methods!
The next day just happened to be a rest day at Cyber Academy, with no classes scheduled.
Charles woke up early, finishing his grooming before dawn had fully broken.
After a quick breakfast, he practiced for a while. When it was almost time to meet Jason Long, he headed straight to the café outside the academy.
Inside the private room, Jason Long anxiously awaited Charles’s arrival. Something had happened last night that made him reconsider whether to continue.
“Charles, I have something to discuss with you as well.” Jason Long said hurriedly as he spotted Charles, eager to speak.
“Perfect timing. I have some new findings too. Let’s go inside and talk.” Charles replied.
Once they entered the private room, Jason Long tightly shut his mouth, unsure of how to begin.
Charles seemed to sense something was off and asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Did something happen yesterday?”
Jason Long nodded slowly and began to speak, “Last night, someone came to my house, and I didn’t even notice! It wasn’t until this morning that I found a bloody dog’s head in the living room!”
Upon hearing this, Charles furrowed his brow instantly.
Logically, the other party shouldn’t have reacted so quickly to their investigation, especially since no information had been leaked at all.
Could it be that there was some sort of oversight during Zachary and Camilla’s information gathering yesterday that alerted them?
Did that lead the enemy to realize someone was investigating the child’s disappearance, prompting them to send a warning to Jason Long?
Charles’s mind raced. He felt that wasn’t the case, the warning Jason Long received seemed too mild. It was more like a preemptive warning to discourage him from continuing the investigation.
“So, do you have any thoughts on this?” Charles asked.
Jason Long hesitated, opening his mouth only to close it again, and after a moment, he said, “Well, I really have no choice. The safety of my family is more important. Charles, I don’t want to continue the investigation.”
Charles wasn’t surprised, he understood. He replied, “In that case, it’s probably best if you don’t know about some of the upcoming matters. It’s okay, I understand your choice.”
“Yeah, I want to keep going, but…” Jason Long opened his mouth but didn’t say anything further.
He nodded at Charles, his previously straight posture now slumping. He walked out of the café with a heavy sense of despair.
Charles stayed alone in the private room, scratching his head in frustration. He still had other methods to uncover the forces behind the child’s disappearance case.
But now he was all alone, which would slow him down significantly. Over time, that could lead to unexpected incidents.
As Charles contemplated whether to hire some Beast Masters, his phone vibrated.
Zachary sent a message: [No classes today, Charles. Where are you? I’m feeling unwell at home and want to go out for a walk.] freёwebnovel.com
There was also a message from Camilla: [How’s it going? Do you need help?]
Compared to Camilla’s straightforwardness, Zachary was a bit more roundabout, but both expressed a willingness to help.
A faint smile appeared on Charles’s face. Zachary and Camilla were not ordinary citizens, they could dispatch a large group of Beast Masters from their families.
Moreover, they didn’t have to worry about the information leaking.
Without hesitation, Charles changed to a different café and sent the new address to both of them.
In the private room, Charles summoned Mousie and had it use [Darkness Cloak] to blend into the shadows.
Then, Charles left the café.
In the shadow of a nearby building, a figure was closely watching him, relaying messages through a walkie-talkie:
“The target has left the café. Should we continue tracking?”
On the other end of the walkie-talkie, a response came: “Continue. Remember to avoid being detected, and do not engage the target. Just investigate everyone he has met.”
“Understood.” The figure replied while following Charles.
In the darkness behind him, Mousie was closely monitoring the figure.
As Charles walked down the street, he pulled out his phone and sent the same message to Zachary and Camilla:
[The address has changed, let’s meet at the academy, in the private room on the second floor of the cafeteria.]
Ever since Jason Long mentioned his experience from yesterday, Charles had suspected there would be someone tracking him outside. Perhaps the target wanted to send him a warning as well.
No matter what the other party wanted, they likely wouldn’t dare to enter Cyber Academy, which was why Charles changed the meeting location with Camilla and Zachary to inside the academy.
When Charles returned to the academy,
the person following him indeed didn’t dare to go any further. Instead, they stopped at a beverage shop at the entrance, ordered a drink, and waited quietly.
Charles didn’t call Mousie back, he wanted to see if he could track this person in return and gather more clues.
When Charles arrived at the private room on the second floor of the cafeteria, Camilla and Zachary were already waiting.
Before Charles could even take a seat, Zachary impatiently asked, “Charles, there’s a problem with the information from yesterday. Could there be someone from the other side at the security office?”
He had completely come to trust what Charles had said. As the son of a general, Zachary couldn’t just ignore such serious matters!
Camilla felt the same way. As a member of the royal family, she had a responsibility and duty to care about the safety of the people. Moreover, this was directly related to the case of the missing children, she wouldn’t turn a blind eye to it!
“Yes, the leads have run cold now, and it seems the other party is also aware of it. If we wait any longer, the clues will dwindle even further!” Charles replied.
Originally, he just wanted to complete the bounty task and obtain a piece of orange-quality rare metal.
But after learning about the developments, Charles couldn’t just disregard it. He needed to not only finish the bounty task but also uncover the forces behind the child abduction incidents and resolve the issue completely!
“What should I do now? Charles, do you have any other plans?” Zachary asked. He understood the situation and had thought for a long time, but he really didn’t know what to do next.
Investigating the enemies within the security office was a decent approach, but it wasn’t something he could handle alone, he would need to seek help from the elders in his family. Right now, there was no solid evidence.
Everything relied on Charles’s judgments and speculations, making it difficult to convince the elders at home.
They had to make some tangible progress first!
Camilla turned her gaze to Charles. As the second princess of Genosha, this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.
Growing up in the royal family, she had only heard about things like abductions, disappearances, and murders.
Camilla had no ideas for solving the problem and could only rely on Charles.
Charles spoke calmly, “There’s a way, but I need your help. The three of us alone aren’t enough, we need more people!”
Zachary responded without hesitation, “No problem! As long as you have a plan, I can gather a lot of people who are absolutely safe and reliable!”
“Cross Street has drawn the attention of Beast Masters due to the bounty task. If the other side isn’t foolish, they definitely won’t act in the near future!” Charles expressed his thoughts.
Camilla and Zachary both nodded in agreement, they felt the same way.
Charles continued, “However, we can see that the frequency of all the missing persons cases has greatly increased over the past week. This indicates something!”
“This mysterious force must have encountered some abnormal situation in recent days, prompting them to need more children!”
“In other words, they won’t act near Cross Street, but the frequency of missing persons cases in other backward and chaotic areas will likely rise significantly!”
“This is our opportunity.”
After Charles shared his thoughts, Zachary and Camilla contemplated carefully and agreed that Charles had a valid point.
Zachary asked, “Charles, are you suggesting we should send people to monitor those areas and then apprehend them?”
Charles replied, “No, capturing them will only alert the other side. What we need is the most up-to-date and accurate information about the cases. Once I pinpoint their location, everything will be resolved!”
“Additionally, I need someone to investigate discreetly. We need the accurate addresses of families whose children have gone missing but haven’t posted anything online!”
Charles looked at Zachary and Camilla, laying out his needs.
Camilla and Zachary nodded, these tasks were not difficult for them. One was the son of a general, and the other was the second princess of Genosha. The resources they could mobilize were not something ordinary people could compare to.