At the Yang family's station area, every department was in complete chaos. The herbs and various types of raw materials that the Alchemist Association had brought to use in testing the contestants had been partially stolen.
What made it even more chaotic was that most of them were ancient raw materials that Grandmaster Bai Fanxian had brought to give them, and they hadn't taken them back to the Association yet before using them in the contest.
"Inspector, sir, we've already blocked off outsiders from entering."
A police officer walked in and saluted while reporting the situation.
This theft was quite brazen. More than twenty security guards and caretakers were injured. The more serious ones had already been sent to the hospital. As for the rest, they were in an unconscious state because they'd probably been poisoned with something.
"Good! What did those above say?" The inspector, who was around fifty years old, nodded. He was stationed at the nearest station, so he had to rush ahead first as soon as he received the report.
"...This is probably the work of cultivators, isn't it?"
Before the two police officers could continue their conversation, behind them a group of people walked in. It was a thin young man in plain white clothes who was raising his hand to his chin while deep in thought.
"You can't come in here!" The young police officer quickly came to block them. Right now, this place had become a crime scene. He couldn't let people enter randomly.
"Wait! They're the ones we invited."
An old man's voice rang out from the building. He was Chen Deming, who'd called Bai Fanxian earlier. His complexion looked a bit pale as he quickly came to welcome them.
"General Liu, you came too?"
Chen Deming was a bit surprised. The military had said they would arrive soon. He didn't expect the young General stationed in the eastern region to arrive first.
"I'm still on vacation. Coming today was a coincidence." Liu Yianfei smiled faintly. Bai Fanxian's party that had traveled here consisted only of Bai Fanxian, Liu Yianfei, and Huang Zihuan who followed to serve his lady. As for the three children, Bai Fanxian had ordered them to stay in their room with Sword Master Zheng Renyi helping to watch over them.
But even though he wasn't on work time, Liu Yianfei just glanced around at the situation and could guess that this was definitely the work of cultivators.
"We're truly sorry. It's our fault for not protecting them properly. The ancient herbs you gave us were stolen."
Chen Deming kept apologizing as they walked into the building. The inspector who was following at a distance turned to quietly ask the young police officer in surprise.
"They just stole herbs? I thought they would be more valuable than that."
"Yes, sir. And there were also several types of alchemy raw materials." The young officer flipped through the report papers in his hand and whispered his answer.
Because they were following behind, only the old butler heard them. The old man laughed lightly and immediately knew that these two probably weren't very familiar with this side of the world.
"Those raw materials and herbs? Even at one or two hundred million yuan, people would fight to buy them."
Huang Zihuan spoke with a smile while watching both their shocked expressions.
These weren't ordinary herbs but "ancient herbs"—herbs that could barely be found in this era anymore. So their prices naturally weren't ordinary. And perhaps even with money, you couldn't buy them. Perhaps their price was even higher than what the old butler had estimated.
They arrived at the warehouse where the incident occurred. This was where all the raw materials were stored for tomorrow's competition. So there was good security. Plus there were many skilled guards watching over it twenty-four hours.
Some guards were professionals. Others were Association members who'd been selected. So even if they didn't have Grandmaster-level skills, they could already be counted as top Martial Master level experts.
But even so, they'd still been knocked unconscious and seriously injured without any chance to fight back. So those who'd acted today must definitely have terrifying skills.
"...Only those ancient raw materials were stolen, right?"
Liu Yianfei looked at the crime scene while analyzing. There were slight traces of fighting. And the parts that disappeared were only the parts that were kept the most securely. As for other herbs, even if they were valuable or some were even Tier 3 herbs, they hadn't been touched at all.
Bai Fanxian walked around. She was interested in the faint traces of power aura still remaining in the room.
"...Why did you say this was Night Shadow's work?" The young woman asked directly.
Chen Deming took something out from his pocket. It was a card that was pitch black. In the middle, there was a white shadow stretching out to the card's corner.
"We found this card in the room. It's the symbol of this group—when they finish a job, they leave a card like this at the scene as a challenge to police and authorities..."
Bai Fanxian took the card and examined it. It was an ordinary plastic card with nothing interesting. Huang Zihuan, seeing that his lady probably didn't know this world-famous thief group, explained to her.
The Night Shadow thief group first appeared about fifteen years ago at a royal jewelry exhibition in a western country. They were able to steal a fist-sized blue diamond adorning the Queen's crown without anyone noticing.
After that, there was news about grand thefts in various countries. The things stolen were mostly treasures, valuable minerals, or strange items that people didn't really know. In this country too, there'd been one millionaire who had what he called a "monster's horn" stolen—a horn piece from an unknown type of creature.
Each time, they would leave the same black card behind as evidence of their action.
They appeared and disappeared without a trace. No one could capture them. Until governments of many countries had to cooperate to declare them wanted criminals worldwide.
It had been big news about five years ago. But it had gone quiet because Night Shadow hadn't appeared in this country again. So it wasn't strange that many people would forget about this criminal group's name.
"...Night Shadow, is it?"
Bai Fanxian flipped the card in her hand while her eyes showed she was thinking.
.
.
.
On the other side of the world, in a city in a western country, there appeared a large mansion built in a valley. The defenses here were tight and secure. Even most people in the nearby city barely knew that a mansion had been built here.
"Barbatos and his group succeeded..."
An old man put down the phone and reported. In this spacious room full of amenities, there were only five people. They were all busy with what they were doing, not caring what the old man said.
"Well that's good, isn't it?" A young man laughed lightly. He raised a finger and flames flared up on that finger. He used it to light his cigar comfortably.
"...I've told you many times not to smoke in this room, haven't I?"
In another corner, a young woman in black gothic clothing was sitting sewing a torn doll. Under her eyes were dark like someone sleep-deprived. Meanwhile, her voice was full of hoarseness. Some dark shadow was moving behind her that could easily make ordinary people's hair stand on end.
The young man felt the aura of death creeping in until he had to furrow his brow. He waved his hand once and large flames shot out to burn something on the floor until it screamed out mournfully.
"Come on... don't fight." The one who came to stop them was a brown-skinned middle-aged man. He was dressed in old cloth wrappings and had feathers and small skulls as decorations.
"Sheesh... you disgusting witch doctors."
But the moment he heard that, the brown-skinned middle-aged man made a displeased face. One skull on his neck glowed as his personality started changing slightly. His eyes narrowed along with faint pressure that started radiating out.
"...Don't lump shamanism together with dark magic. It's disrespectful to both me and her, you know?"
"Can you two stop already?" The old man had listened for so long that he was starting to get annoyed.
But before the old man could act, black light flashed at the entrance along with the mansion trembling slightly. When everything stopped, the figure of a young woman in black clothing walked into the room.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and immediately stood up to show respect. There was no sign of the bickering from moments ago. She just waved her hand carelessly and walked to sit down on the large sofa.
"Don't be angry yet, Bael. What about the dragon matter I had you investigate?"
That young woman lifted her tea to sip lightly and told everyone to act comfortably.
"We already sent Barbatos's group into the country. We happen to have a new member there, so arranging things was easier than expected."
"Mm... and what did you find?"
The old man quickly bowed his head apologetically and said, "I apologize. Even our network hasn't found anything on that red dragon yet."
Seeing that his lady was starting to get displeased, she started coughing lightly along with a small bit of blood. He quickly reported what they'd just received and handed her a small handkerchief worriedly.
His lady needed certain raw materials from that dragon. So the moment they got news that it had appeared so openly, it attracted their attention quickly.
"But Barbatos's group managed to obtain the ancient herbs my lady needed."
His words surprised the young woman.
"How did you get them?"
"It seems that country's alchemist association has a Tier 4 alchemist. She's the one who gave them those ancient herbs." Bael reported straightforwardly.
"I have information about that alchemist too..."
"...I believe her name is Bai Fanxian."
The moment Bai Fanxian's name came out of the old man's mouth, the fluctuation in the air nearly exploded. Those sitting in the room all trembled with the sudden pressure they received. They looked toward their lady with both fear and respect.
"My lady... you're still injured..."
Bael tried to warn her with concern. When the young woman came to her senses, she controlled her power once more. The situation returned to calm in a short time.
But this time, her gaze changed. It was filled with coldness and mystery.
"Bai Fanxian... a name worth missing so much."