Monster Paradise

Two days ago, in the middle of the night, in an old, dim warehouse in the eastern suburb of the White Capital, three people appeared out of nowhere when there was usually hardly anyone.

The three of them wore black robes that had no logos on them. They hid their faces under the hood. Under the dim light, their masks under the hood could be faintly seen.

”Let’s wait for a while. The Purple Crow will be here soon.” The leader’s voice was gentle and deep under the voice-modulating shell. The other two persons stood there without saying a thing as they waited patiently. Soon, another four people appeared in the warehouse. The four of them were dressed the same as the three. They were wearing black robes with hoods and masks of different designs on their faces.

”Alright, since everyone is here, let’s get straight to business,” the gentle voice was heard again.

Among the Purple Crow members, the man standing on the second left spoke, ”What I heard is that the Union Government has brought Gong Sunhai and Lu Yuan to Building 33, but I’m not sure which floor they’re on. Nobody knows that at the moment.” His voice was also deep but was huskier than the leader’s voice.

”In reality, aside from the first floor, we have no idea where the remaining 32 floors are at.”

Building 33 was the Union Government’s underground department that was scattered everywhere in 33 different locations beneath the White Capital. Although the depths of the levels were different, the floors were not arranged according to the depth of ground but to the build order instead. Aside from the first floor that was under the Union Government’s office building, the remaining 32 floors were scattered everywhere under the White Capital where nobody can pinpoint. Only some of the top management in the Union Government know where the exact locations of the 32 floors are and a couple of them were privy to where the bodies of the two Saints elders were hidden.

”That’s not a problem. We’ve found someone who knows the locations of Building 33 these few days. It’s not difficult to get him to tell us the building’s exact location. I’ll try to find out which floor the two elders are on,” the gentle voice spoke and looked at the four of them.

”Have you guys tracked the number of guardians?”

”Yes, there are six of them on imperial-level in the White Capital now. However, aside from the six families including the Shangguan and the Li families that we know of, there are at least two powerful humans of the same level. Therefore, there are at least eight imperial-level guardians in the White Capital and that’s just an estimation.” It was a voice that was slightly high-pitched. Although the person used a voice-modulating shell, it was not difficult to distinguish that it was a lady.

”I heard that the one guarding Building 33 are their director, Zhou Xiong, and deputy director, Wu Sheng. I’ll try to distract two of the eight imperial-level humans these two days. But the most I can take care of are those two, or else, the Union Government might suspect that something is wrong,” the husky voice added.

”Do you mean Zhou Xiong and Wu Sheng…” The gentle voice trailed off with a sigh.

”Why? Do you know them?” The husky voice asked.

”Nothing. I heard that Zhou Hou is powerful, so it might be tough.” The man with the gentle voice shook his head.

”Zhou Xiong is really powerful. Even if we get the exact location, it’s inevitable that we will face him when we get to Building 33. One of us will have to go in while the other one would have to watch the entrance,” the husky voice said in all seriousness. He was clearly one of the leaders in the Purple Crow with strong power.

”Then, you’ll stay at the entrance and I’ll go in. I’d like to see what the forensic room in Building 33 looks like,” the man with the gentle voice decided without thinking twice.

”As long as you don’t take too long, or else, I’ll leave you behind,” the husky voice from the Purple Crow warned.

”I like how straightforward you are.”

”Please don’t, I’m not interested in men.”

”Let’s talk about the details. Since it’s our first time working together, we have to cooperate so that we miss nothing,” the man with the gentle voice said.

…

It was 1 a.m. on the 19th floor in Building 33. Zhou Xiong sat in the room next to the mortuary while staring at the two bodies across the one-way mirror. Nobody knew what he was thinking about. Wu Sheng seemed to be bored while he put another colorful lollipop into his mouth.

”I’ll take a look at the monitoring room,” he said to Zhou Xiong.

”Go, I’ll be here. Let me know if something is up.” Zhou Xiong nodded.

Wu Sheng went to the top floor slowly by taking the elevator and walked to the monitoring room. There was only three staffmembers working in the massive monitoring room. Since they could not sleep as they were on shift, the three of them started playing cards. Wu Sheng opened the door as they were playing. The three of them were shocked to see Wu Sheng as he was the deputy director of Building 33. They should not be seen playing instead of working.

”Deputy Wu!” The three of them stood up immediately and greeted him while covering the cards behind them.

”You don’t have to cover. I saw what you guys were doing.” Wu Sheng smiled wryly as he walked towards them.

The three of them looked even more upset after hearing that.

”I’m so bored too. What are you guys playing? Count me in,” Wu Sheng smirked at the three of them.

They were stunned and the one who looked the oldest responded immediately, ”Deputy, we were just playing Beating the Tycoon. The both of them will play with you while I’ll go back to work.”

”Alright then, let’s play.” Wu Sheng nodded.

Beating the Tycoon was a card game that was similar to the game called Fighting the Landlord on Earth. It was two against one but instead of a total of 74 cards, there were five more cards to be drawn in this game. On Earth, poker had 13 cards in a group with four groups of suits and two trumps. However, the game here needed 18 cards in a group, four colors, and two trumps.

Although Wu Sheng hardly played, he was familiar with the rules as the three of them started playing. The man who had left the game was observing the screen at first, but soon he could not help himself but join the game while he peeped back at the screen occasionally. Just when they were getting engrossed in the game, four black shadows appeared somewhere near the 19th floor quietly…