Split Zone No.13

17

Negotiations Between Districts

“Must you act so mysteriously and suspiciously?” I really disliked that someone would cause more worry in this kind of situation . I glared angrily at Sly S who was now standing in front of me .

“Sorry, this is a place that can’t be monitored, so everything is taken care of with caution . Your vision will only be as good as it is during the night . ” Sly S actually used her scratchy voice to apologize!

I looked at her with some confusion . This person was truly too difficult to understand!

She was dressed in a school uniform, cheeks rosy, eyes unquivering .

“Li Zhen, I want to know whether your group was the one who killed my subordinates . ” Sly S looked at me .

“No,” I responded without the slightest hesitation .

She slowly nodded her head . “I figured it wouldn’t have been you . You’re not yet equipped with that kind of ability . ”

Huh? Was that a compliment or…?

Her eyes moved ever so slightly . “As far as I know, there was a young girl who recently died in Westside, correct?”

I immediately recognized that she was speaking of Laurel and my expression grew grave . “Yes . ”

She nodded again . “Aside from the five B-rank officers who were assassinated in the past few days, Eastside also lost a young boy . However, from my investigations, that child’s body had been substituted with another’s . So, to be more precise, the boy has gone missing . ”

I quickly agreed . “It’s the same for us . It’s unlikely that she died, and instead, her body had been substituted . ”

“What clues have you discovered?”

Just as I opened my mouth, Nie Zun suddenly spoke up . “Why should we trust you and share this with you? We’ve yet to completely rule out that you had nothing to do with this matter . ”

I turned my head to look at him, but I didn’t say anything .

Sly S stretched her neck stiffly . Her actions always made others think they were looking at a lifeless doll for how unnaturally she moved .

Her eyes shifted slowly . “You don’t have to trust me, but not trusting me won’t get any of us closer to leaving the Split Zone . Since our goal is the same, why not work together?”

I stared at her as I said, “If you’re talking about working together, I have a question I’d like to ask first . ”

She turned to look at me . “Tell me . ”

“The Westside commander before me, Li Qing… Did you kill her?” My eyes were glued to her, not wanting to miss a single change of expression .

But even after hearing this question, she remained quite emotionless . “No . ”

“Then why didn’t you ever consider working with her while she was alive?”

“Because I didn’t understand the secrets of the Split Zone back then . ” Sly S suddenly gave an eerie smile .

“What secrets?” I quickly asked .

She took a long hard look at me . “If you’re willing to work with me to uncover the whereabouts of the two missing children, proving that we are of the same kind, then I will consider telling you about it . ”

“Seems that the child you’ve lost is very important to you . ” Nie Zun’s eyebrow raised slightly .

“Indeed . ” Sly S nodded without hesitating .

Nie Zun turned to me and nodded lightly .

So, I said, “Okay, we’ll work together with you . Then, what should we do now?”

Perhaps Sly S hadn’t expected my agreement to come so quickly . She took a moment to think .

“Your current plans are to travel to Northside?” She rotated her stiff neck once more .

“Yes . ”

Sly S’ next words were something I hadn’t expected to hear . “I’ll go along with you . ”

The bandaged man, Mu Li, suddenly spoke . “Commander, you cannot . You cannot leave Eastside on whim . Another B-rank officer was just killed, so there are many things waiting for you to take care of . Moreover, you cannot just trust their words that they weren’t involved in the members’ deaths . ”

“Are you suspecting my judgement now?” Sly S asked coldly .

Mu Li immediately lowered his head . “I wouldn’t dare . ”

Tao Lie also stepped forward . “Commander, what Mu Li said isn’t without reason . Even if you don’t suspect Ms Li Zhen, you cannot just leave Eastside . You cannot go to Northside . You—”

Tao Lie also stepped forward . “Commander, what Mu Li said isn’t without reason . Even if you don’t suspect Ms Li Zhen, you cannot just leave Eastside . You cannot go to Northside . You—”

“I’ve already made my decision,” Sly S cut him off .

Tao Lie was silent for a moment . Then he said, “If you must go to Northside, please take along the three masters . ”

The cogs in my head started turning . Three masters? He must be speaking of those three white-robed men . Of course she would bring them along . Wasn’t it the case that they never left her side?

Unexpectedly, Sly S shook her head . “I have something else I need them to do . I can’t bring them along this time . ”

An alarmed Tao Lie spoke up, “You want to travel to Northside on your own? We can’t allow that . ”

Sly S seemed a bit uncertain at first, but then it appeared that she’d made some kind of decision . With a determined expression, she responded, “I’ll bring Guan Nie along . ”

Tao Lie and Mu Li were both visibly surprised . They cried out at the same time, “That’s even worse!”

Sly S stiffly raised one arm and waved it, dismissing their concerns . Her expression remained unchanged .

My lip twitched . Guan Nie? If I wasn’t remembering wrong, that was the perverted and weakling man . He was going to travel with us? I was worried that I’d die from disgust before ever reaching Northside .

“Only with Guan Nie will we be able to remain undiscovered by Mr Blond . ” After saying this, Sly S appeared to think of something . She turned to me and asked me, “Surely Mr Blond would be aware of your traveling to Eastside? Don’t you know he has informers in all the districts?”

I nodded . “I considered that . We let Jie Pa take care of it . The path we’re taking is clear of informants . If Jie Pa says that Mr Blond is unaware, then it’s likely he’s yet to find out . ”

“Jie Pa? The legendary gentleman with extreme skill in information acquisition?” For the first time, Sly S’ eyes seemed to glimmer with curiosity .

I was taken aback . Was there such a legend? Why hadn’t I ever heard of it?

Nie Zun helplessly shook his head . To Sly S, he said, “No need to ask her . All she knows is her own name . If you have any questions, it’s better to ask me . ”

I suddenly choked . But his words weren’t incorrect . Instead of asking me, it was better to ask him .

Sly S gave me a hard look . Then she told her two subordinates, “In any case, you both understand the reason why I’m traveling to Northside with them . I must bring Guan Nie along . ”

“Actually, Commander, before we arrived here, Mr Guan seems to have taken the Westside visitors into his room for a personal visit,” Tao Lie said .

“That’s right . But that wasn’t our only meeting . When we first arrived to your district, the beautiful Guan Nie was already waiting for us in the forest . ” Nie Zun suddenly gave a smile .

“Oh? That must have just been a coincidence . ” Sly S’ empty eyes didn’t seem as lifeless as before, as if she were considering something unfathomable .

“Oh? That must have just been a coincidence . ” Sly S’ empty eyes didn’t seem as lifeless as before, as if she were considering something unfathomable .

“He’s the third A-rank member in your clan?” Nie Zun suddenly asked .

That surprised me . That weakling was an A-rank officer? How did Nie Zun figure that out?

Sly S was also a bit surprised . “You could tell?”

Nie Zun gave a lazy smile . “It wasn’t anything in particular . He just resided on the 29th floor, so he must have been important . I just took a guess . ”

Sly S nodded slowly . “He is indeed an A-rank officer, along with Tao Lie and Mu Li . ”

She paused, and then suddenly smiled strangely . “But he’s the only subordinate I have whom I cannot control . There are even times when he doesn’t listen to me . So, if he were to cause you any trouble on the trip, I’m afraid I can’t take any responsibility for him . ”

Hearing her words, I was suddenly uneasy . Recalling the earlier events, I couldn’t help feeling a desire to turn down this collaboration opportunity .

How did Sly S learn of our intentions? And why did she suddenly want to work together with us? All these events seemed to be happening too abruptly .

I truly couldn’t understand it, so I turned to Nie Zun .

Nie Zun wasn’t looking at me . Instead, he nodded to Sly S . “Okay . You and Guan Nie will come along with us . But we must stay the night in your district . We’ll head out tomorrow . ”

Sly S nodded . “Okay . You guys can decide where you’d like to stay . I won’t arrange anything, as I expect you have your own plans . ”

I nodded . I don’t need you to arrange a place to stay . I want to actually have a good rest .

When Nie Zun and I returned to the first floor of the residential building, Song Lu and the rest of the group were anxiously awaiting us .

Song Lu saw me and quickly interrogated, “So, what happened?”

I hung my head dejectedly . “Nothing much . Just that Mr Nie Zun here invited Sly S, as well as that weakling man we met in the forest, to come along with us . ”

Jie Pa asked curiously, “Weakling? The one in the white robes? Why would we bring him along?”

“He’s the last A-rank officer in S clan . ”

Yu Liang nodded . “I’d already guessed that he wasn’t someone ordinary . ”

Well, yes . With such a peculiar appearance and odd behaviour, it would be strange if he were someone ordinary .

Nie Zun looked around us . “We agreed to set off tomorrow . Let’s head over to the school building to request for short-term living quarters . Remember to lay low . ”

Well, yes . With such a peculiar appearance and odd behaviour, it would be strange if he were someone ordinary .

Nie Zun looked around us . “We agreed to set off tomorrow . Let’s head over to the school building to request for short-term living quarters . Remember to lay low . ”

“They’re probably monitoring that place . ” I pressed my lips together .

Song Lu laughed and kneaded my head . “You have us . What are you afraid of?”

I could only nod . True . At least with them by my side, I could rest assured .

When we arrived at the school building, Nie Zun and Jie Pa took care of the formalities . We got two rooms in the dorm . Nie Zun, Jie Pa, and I would take one, and the other was for Song Lu and Yu Liang .

All the rooms in the school dorm were pretty much the same . One bunkbed per room .

“Nie Zun, you take the floor . Jie Pa and I will sleep on the bed . ” I motioned for Jie Pa to take the top bunk .

Jie Pa pushed his glasses up . “No need . Ms Ah Zhen and Nie Zun can take the bed . I’ll be fine on the floor . ”

“Hear that?” Nie Zun gave his lazy smile and then climbed onto the top bunk .

I glared after him, annoyed that he only moved with such speed in these kinds of situations .

Jie Pa slept on the floor in the corner .

Cold and heat didn’t greatly affect us in any case, so I closed my eyes to sleep .

Although it wasn’t yet dark out, resting a bit more is never bad . In the Split Zone, you could sleep as long as you wanted .

As I thought over the recent events, a sleepiness came over me .

In my drowsy state, I sensed that Nie Zun was tossing and turning in the bunk above me, but I didn’t bother opening my eyes to check .

With him and Jie Pa in the room, I didn’t have to worry about questions of safety .

After sleeping for some time, a knocking on the door woke me up .

Song Lu’s anxious cry sounded from outside, “Ah Zhen, open up! Something’s happened to Yu Liang!”