Published: February 10, 2025
Gong Shangming had a sullen face as he stared at an opened safe in the wall before him, which was now completely empty.
"Forced open with a sharp weapon," the female assistant remarked after observing the situation.
"Can you stop with the nonsense?" Gong Shangming snapped, his irritation evident even towards his most trusted subordinate.
The female assistant shifted her gaze slightly, saying, "This safe is custom-made. Judging by the smoothness of the cut, it should be a high-level weapon."
"At least golden-grade," Gong Shangming muttered, realizing he had overreacted and missed the implication of his assistant's words.
"The loss isn't severe; it's only about a week's worth of production." After a moment's hesitation, the female assistant added, "It depends on how you want to handle this."
Gong Shangming walked over and sat down on a chair, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, remaining silent for a while.
He understood what the female assistant meant.
The loss of the stone beads could be serious or trivial.
On one hand, these were items needed by the five rings society; although he wasn't entirely clear on their exact function, their importance was undeniable. Gong Shangming even felt that he himself might not be as important as these stone beads.
The reason he was able to maintain his position at Waterfall Stronghold and why his subordinate teams were growing stronger was all thanks to these stone beads. If something went wrong here, it would mean certain downfall for him.
At that point, whether he could keep his life would be questionable.
On the other hand, this matter could actually be easily covered up; the number of lost stone beads wasn’t significant, and it could be concealed through various means.
As long as this issue was kept under wraps, everything would return to normal.
Naturally, Gong Shangming wanted to suppress the situation and continue his life as the local emperor.
However…
Where did the person who stole the stone beads come from? Why did they only take these beads and nothing else? How was this storage location leaked? Was it a coincidence or premeditated? Could this be related to the mines?
Gong Shangming had many unanswered questions, which was why he hesitated.
"Is there any news from below?" he asked.
"None," the female assistant replied, which gave Gong Shangming a slight sense of relief. He pondered for a moment and then asked, "When is Old Yan coming up next?"
"He just came up recently; it will be a while before he comes again, at least ten days from now."
Gong Shangming stood up. "Forget this ever happened. Keep a close watch on any news from below, and inform me of any anomalies promptly."
He decided to suppress the matter and adapt as needed.
………………………………………………………………
Ye Zhongming carried a large backpack, which made him look a bit strange. It didn't contain any stone beads; those were all stored in his space. The backpack held materials and magic crystals from his previous time in the space, which simply made room for the stone beads that couldn't be exposed.
As he approached the gathering spot indicated on the invitation to the Ming Shui Feast, he encountered two individuals a few kilometers away.
One was a man and the other a woman. The man was incredibly robust, at least two meters tall, clad in full Gothic armor made of refined steel, wielding a massive sword that was about one and a half meters long. He looked like a door god, with that sword serving as a door itself.
The woman was much smaller, dressed in a beige long robe, holding a short staff embedded with red jewels. Her long black hair flowed behind her, swaying gently in the breeze.
"Avoidance Action Team, Gao Yi!"
"Avoidance Action Team, Lin Xiangxue!"
Ye Zhongming nodded to the two of them but furrowed his brow slightly.
This was the first time he had met these two.
However, he had been aware of them for quite some time.
The Avoidance division was now divided into three parts. The first was the intelligence department, which was the largest part of the Avoidance.