The Patrol Officers at his side immediately saluted and responded.

The medical examiner from the Patrol Bureau, who had been waiting outside, now received the notification and walked in, carrying his toolbox. He surveyed the scene and muttered to himself, "Been a while since I’ve seen a scene this big."

He went about putting on his gloves, and his eyes fell upon Wei Jun, who was propped against a steel pillar. It was mainly because his was the most intact corpse at the scene.

Wei Jun’s hands were locked in a death grip on the steel pillar, his mouth agape and eyes rolled back. He was frozen in a backward-leaning posture, his expression fixed in the moment before death, as if he had witnessed something utterly terrifying.

He had actually lost consciousness while gripping the pillar. Logically, he shouldn’t have been able to strangle himself to death. However, even after he fainted, the Mutated Organization on his body, spurred on by some force, continued to apply pressure until he was completely dead.

The medical examiner could tell at a glance that he had died of asphyxiation, but this method... ’Hmm, I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before.’ After a few more glances, he took his apprentice and went to examine the dismembered corpses on the floor.

After searching the entire area, inside and out, one of the Patrol Officers came over, saluted the deputy, and reported, "Sir, we’ve found a large number of firearms on-site. We are currently unable to identify their owners."

The deputy nodded in understanding. Given the state of the scene, it was indeed difficult to tell who was who.

After half an hour, the medical examiner returned from his preliminary inspection and said to the deputy:

"Aside from a single trainee, no one else in the entire factory survived. The majority died of blade wounds, and judging from the force and angle of the cuts, it was the work of one person. A smaller number were killed by unknown combat organisms. Furthermore, the remains of two damaged combat organisms were also found at the scene..."

As he listened to the report, the deputy couldn’t help but look over at Chen Chuan, his eyes filled with shock. He had never imagined he would be walking into a scene like this.

The people from the Review Bureau were the second group to enter. The moment Director Lei walked in, his eyes landed on Chen Chuan, and he gave him a slight nod. He swept his gaze over the surrounding corpses before looking away, seemingly accustomed to such sights. It was only when he saw the patterns on the floor and walls that his eyes sharpened.

After a brief consultation with the Patrol Bureau, the personnel from the Esoteric Review Bureau took out clumps of powder and sprinkled them around the area. Soon, the arcane patterns on the ground became clearly visible, as if they had just been painted.

They began taking photographs of the patterns, while specialists used scrapers to collect samples of the paint, placing them in pre-prepared evidence bags.

Guan Yuming had been waiting outside. After getting a handle on the situation, the deputy came out and relayed his findings. Guan Yuming listened with an impassive expression, then paused in thought for a moment before heading into the factory himself.

He walked right up to Chen Chuan, looked him over, and said in a grave voice, "Chen, you’ll need to come back with us. You’re the only survivor, so we need you to clarify what happened."

Chen Chuan nodded. "Director Guan, I’ll cooperate."

Guan Yuming raised a hand and patted him on the shoulder. As long as Chen Chuan understood his unspoken meaning, that was enough.

The identities of the deceased were anything but simple. This incident wouldn’t be easy to close. Thankfully, he had sealed off the scene, so the news hadn’t gotten out yet. Once they got to the Patrol Bureau, they could keep him protected. Everything else could be dealt with later.

To be honest, he hadn’t expected this outcome when he came today. He couldn’t help but feel that a great storm was about to break over Yangzhi City.

The butler was waiting anxiously outside. The Patrol Bureau officers were blocking his way, so he had no idea what was happening inside. But when he saw the shattered corpses being carried out one by one, his face instantly turned pale. He rushed forward in a panic, shouting, "Young Master! Young Master, where are you?"

The members of the Fenxin Society had also been held back outside. They were extremely worried about the situation, and now they too watched as body after body was carried out.

Though "carried" wasn’t quite the right word. Most of the corpses weren’t whole, and it was impossible to reassemble them on the spot. They were simply piled onto stretchers and taken away. Once outside, associated remains were roughly grouped together and stuffed into a single body bag, ready for transport to the Patrol Bureau for formal processing.

When the first stretcher emerged, they couldn’t make out the full bodies from a distance, but the heads were largely intact. They could see them clearly even from far away. And then they froze. Those... were members of the Mutual Aid Association?

As stretcher after stretcher was brought out, they craned their necks, anxiously trying to identify the bodies. A member of the Mutual Aid Association... another from the Mutual Aid Association... still more from the Mutual Aid Association!

Anyone could tell that a horrifically violent battle had taken place inside the factory. What on earth had happened?

Shen Shao, who was standing next to Shu Han, suddenly thought of a possibility. He hesitated, then said, "Hey, you guys... you don’t think it was Chen Chuan, do you? Could it be?"

"No way, could it be...?"

The other Fenxin Society members had now reached the same conclusion. Some began to tremble with excitement, but the idea was so fantastical, so utterly incredible, that they couldn’t bring themselves to believe it.

Just then, a shout erupted from nearby. "That’s our Young Master’s body! You can’t take him!"

The man moving the body was a member of the Review Bureau. He said, "I’m sorry, but this individual is suspected to have died as part of an Esoteric Ritual. According to bureau regulations, we need to take the body back for review."

The butler yelled, "Do you have any idea who he is? He’s the heir to the Wei Conglomerate!"

The Review Bureau member scoffed. "With all that shouting, I thought he was the heir to the Molan Company." He raised a hand. "Take him away!"

The butler tried to rush forward and stop them, but an agent from the Esoteric Bureau punched him twice without hesitation, knocking him to the ground. The agent pointed at him and said, "This is your only warning. Interfere with official business again, and we’ll treat you as a cultist." Then they left with the body.

Watching this unfold, a member of the Fenxin Society muttered, "That was Wei Jun..."

"Wei Jun is dead?"

The Fenxin Society members felt like they were in a dream. Wei Jun had been one of the main conspirators behind Shen Zheng’s murder years ago. They hated him with a passion but had been utterly powerless against him. They never imagined he would end up dead here today.

"Good riddance!"

one of the members cursed aloud.

"Yeah, he had it coming!"

The surrounding Fenxin Society members all nodded in agreement, clenching their fists and pumping them in the air. It felt as if a long-held, suffocating frustration had finally been released.

Just then, a sharp-eyed member noticed something and pointed excitedly toward the factory. "Look! It’s Chen Chuan! He’s coming out! He’s all right!"

Everyone whipped their heads around to look.

Chen Chuan emerged with Guan Yuming, escorted by a group of Patrol Officers. He carried the Snow Monarch Blade in one hand and a case in the other.

As the sun climbed higher, the morning light grew brighter, casting a gentle warmth on everyone. The trees lining the road, which had been dark and menacing the night before, were now a vibrant green, their leaves swaying gently in the breeze.

Chen Chuan stood in the morning light and took a deep breath of fresh air. Despite not having slept all night, his eyes were still exceptionally bright.

He now saw the members of the Fenxin Society standing behind the police cordon, looking his way with excitement. He immediately understood they must have heard what happened and rushed over.

’Even though we’ve had our disagreements, they still came when they thought I was in danger. They genuinely wanted to help.’

He gave the Fenxin Society members a nod, then strode forward and got directly into Guan Yuming’s car. The door shut, the engine started, and a convoy of armored patrol cars fell in behind them, heading toward the Ding’an District Headquarters.

The Fenxin Society members watched him leave with excitement, but their euphoria quickly faded, replaced by concern for Chen Chuan.

The deaths of the Mutual Aid Association members were clearly connected to Chen Chuan. Would he be all right? Behind the Mutual Aid Association was an immense and powerful faction; the mere thought of it was enough to make their hearts pound with anxiety.

Someone immediately proposed, "We should go to the academy instructors and ask them to intervene! We can’t let the people behind the Mutual Aid Association get away with twisting the truth!"

"Right!"

"Exactly!"

"Let’s head back now!"

Having reached an agreement, the Fenxin Society members quickly dispersed, getting in their cars and leaving the scene.

In the open area in front of the factory, the Wei Family’s butler shakily climbed to his feet. He grabbed onto a security guard who was helping him up and said weakly, "The radio... get the radio. Send a message to the Master... Tell him... something’s happened to the Young Master... and all his friends..."

...

...