West District, Harbor Restaurant.
Bruce watched the passing crowd, his pale eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Lately, he hasn't been doing well.
This man, nearing fifty years old, due to years of overwork and the blood qi depletion from cultivation in his youth, now has a head full of white hair.
Moreover, a recent incident has left him utterly exhausted.
But as a wealthy man, he must maintain his appearance under any circumstance.
Outside the restaurant.
Bruce was dressed impeccably, his luxurious black suit meticulously groomed, his hair fixed with gel, each strand distinct, making him look spirited.
He swung his gleaming leather shoes, propped himself with a cane, and walked into the restaurant.
He looked around.
The person who had arranged to meet him was not in the designated spot.
Bruce opened his phone and checked the messages on the live streaming app.
"Meeting time changed to three in the afternoon."
The person only sent this message.
Bruce's expression revealed no change, he chose a corner by the window and quietly ordered a cup of coffee.
Time passed by the minute.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Bruce's blue eyes slowly scanned the surroundings, his wrinkled face had a hint of coldness.
"Hello."
At this moment.
A homeless man walked in, "A gentleman just told me to hand this to you, he said it must be delivered personally to you."
The homeless man placed a phone down and quickly left.
With a serious expression, Bruce picked up the phone, on its interface there was only an app for playing videos.
This was a specially processed phone.
"So cautious?"
Bruce's impression of this meeting's person was raised another level.
He opened the app.
A tall, skinny man appeared in the center of the screen.
The man wore simple casual clothes, reminiscent of a student outfit, with a black and white mask clipped to his face, his whole being filled with vigor, with shiny black hair.
The video's background was an empty room, not much useful information could be discerned.
"Hello, I apologize for meeting you this way."
The voice from the video sounded very young.
This also matched Bruce's deduction.
"Sir, it's just a meeting, do we need to go to such lengths?"
Bruce said with a steady voice.
Due to the mask, the man's expression could not be seen in the video, only from his body language could one deduce his seeming mockery.
He had guessed the man's identity.
Maybe someone who also had contact with the female livestreamer, or perhaps a survivor of the Extraordinary incident.
Bruce's voice was hoarse: "Did I say something wrong?"
"If you play dumb like this, there's no point in continuing our talk.
There are six martial artists around you.
Among them is one nearing Tier Eight in blood qi.
You have the latest R8-Cranial Crusher from the East Prosperity Imperial, capable of shattering the mechanical patrol's armor and damaging the mechanical armament.
Your cane is made of a D Level alloy steel sword, cutting through iron like mud.
Though I don't know your personal condition.
But I can deduce.
You possess extremely strong combat capabilities, even beyond the martial artists you arranged around you.
Do you take me… for a fool?"
The man's tone was extremely disdainful.
Bruce's face changed slightly, his thoughts racing.
Encountered a tough nut!
With just a few words, the other side had uncovered several of his cards.
This meeting, he was already at an absolute disadvantage.
No.
The two sides hadn't met yet.
Just through one conversation, all his arrangements from the past few days were nearly undone.
An imbalance in information sources!
The other side chose to meet in the West District for a reason.
His subordinates were adept at hiding, making it difficult to be discovered.
Yet they still didn't escape the eyes of the other side.
"Your intelligence capabilities are remarkable, it's me who's being petty. How do you want to arrange the meeting, speak."
Being directly pointed out in his arrangements.
Bruce neither shied away nor hesitated, instead directly said: "I need to confirm if you have what I require. If you do, I will continue discussions with you."
"Are you referring to the Demon Paper?"
"It seems you know quite a bit, a survivor from the last incident, who luckily acquired it, then followed the trail to find me here?"
Bruce's blue eyes flickered.
"Hehe, no need to bait me into talking, I have only two requirements.
One, know the purpose and side effects of this sealing object, and you need to prove it.
Two, your objectives."
"Do you think that's possible?" Bruce said with a steady face.
"Of course it is.
If you don't cooperate, tomorrow the government of Linjiang City, Anomaly Bureau, Steam and Machinery God Church will receive an anonymous letter with your photo, along with that Demon Paper."
Bruce pondered for a moment, then lightly smiled:
"I can provide you a large sum of money, or promise you some special requests.
Even offer you some special magic elixirs.
That kind which grants people extraordinary power.
Just pass me that paper.
Trust me.
Keeping it doesn't benefit you in any way."
On the other side of the screen.
Baiyu almost couldn't maintain his persona.
If not for wearing a mask, he would surely have shown a shocked expression.
Professional Magic Elixir!
The opposition indeed had backing from a massive organization!
Even able to offer something like a Professional Magic Elixir, is it so cheap now?
Of course.
There's a possibility the other side is bluffing.
But the opposing side definitely could produce a Professional Magic Elixir, otherwise, the bluff would be too easily exposed.
In other words.
The other side is an Extraordinary.
The danger level of the situation is escalating rapidly.
"Brother Yu, should we do it?
This man has the formula for the Professional Magic Elixir!
That's Professional Magic Elixir, any one of them can bring terrifying profits, and could even cultivate a batch of Extraordinary individuals!"
Qin Shou's voice came through the earphones.
Baiyu turned off the video mic, "The other side clearly feels confident they have us figured out.
When I proposed to report him to the authorities, he didn't show any fear or apprehension, but after pondering, paused briefly, then suggested a deal."
"Ah, what does that mean?" Qin Shou asked puzzledly.
"It means the other side is not afraid of the Demon Paper falling into the hands of Anomaly Bureau, nor afraid of identity exposure.
Possibly the identity is entirely fake!
There's also another possibility.
The officials might have their people in it as well!
And the position is not low, capable of retrieving the Demon Paper. Maybe, they originally intended for the Demon Paper to fall into the hands of Anomaly Bureau!
I was just pondering earlier.
Given its importance to them, why couldn't the investigators solve the Extraordinary incident and collect the Demon Paper initially?
They personally placed it.
Whenever an Extraordinary event erupted, shouldn't they have first sought to retrieve the Demon Paper?"
Qin Shou realized: "Yeah...I remember you told me Anomaly Bureau had collected three identical sealing objects."
"That was the case data Lin Shan showed me, it's accurate."
Baiyu said solemnly:
"Highly likely the opponent's aim is to distribute the Demon Paper, inciting Extraordinary incidents, achieving a certain goal.
By leveraging Anomaly Bureau's hand, ensure all the Demon Papers are collected.
I don't know what means the Anomaly Bureau uses to house sealing objects, but there might be some loophole in it for them to exploit."
"Is it really that frightening? Anomaly Bureau is Linjiang City's strongest counter to the Extraordinary, are they plotting against Anomaly Bureau?" Qin Shou's tone was exaggerated.
In truth, Baiyu's deductions seemed quite incredible.
These unofficial Extraordinary forces, organizations, aren't they supposed to avoid Anomaly Bureau?
Much like the relationship between mice and cats.
Now the mice are actually plotting how to deal with the cat?
"Unfortunately, there's a strong possibility this is the case.
Because I accidentally preserved this Demon Paper, preventing Anomaly Bureau from obtaining it.
Accidentally disrupting the opponent's plan, making them need to retrieve this paper from me, or directly cause an Extraordinary incident, letting this paper fall into Anomaly Bureau's hands."
Baiyu rapidly processed thoughts.