In the room, Mu Qinglan muttered to herself: "There really are contract creatures that deliver themselves to the door."
And it was someone else's apology gift to her.
To be honest, Mu Qinglan hadn't been very curious about what the Seventh Prince had sent, because both sides knew that there was someone else behind Secretary Li; he was merely being used.
So naturally, she didn't think the gift from the Seventh Prince would be particularly precious.
Just a gesture.
But when she opened the box, she was truly surprised.
[Shadow Calamity (Unhatched) (Colored)]
Shadow Calamity, this name sounded impressive and powerful, and it actually was powerful.
The key was that Mu Qinglan happened to recognize this thing.
However, compared to its scientific name "Shadow Calamity," she was more familiar with this thing's other name—
[Great Shadow]
"Destiny's" one of the three world bosses, Great Shadow.
A super boss that tormented players not through mechanics or abilities, but through pure, ridiculous stats.
As the only non-human life among the three world bosses, Great Shadow had a not-so-bright intelligence but extremely terrifying destructive power.
As the saying goes, there are no nicknames given wrongly, only names chosen incorrectly. Great Shadow was called Great Shadow partly because it was huge, so big that one couldn't see its end at a glance, and partly because it would dissolve any creature captured by its shadow into the darkness within itself.
Wherever it went, all things fell silent.
And the most frightening thing about this creature was its growth speed.
[Great Shadow] first appeared at the beginning of version 3.0, when it had less than fifth-rank strength, but by the end of version 3.0, even second-rank experts in the plot couldn't do anything about it.
"So that's it. The reason Great Shadow only took the stage in version 3.0 was because the Seventh Prince was overthrown and his property was confiscated then."
Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have appeared.
"So him giving this thing to me means he doesn't know its true value? Well... that makes sense. Besides me, probably no one in the world can recognize this thing. That makes sense then..."
Mu Qinglan's eyes flickered slightly. If she could subdue this thing, she could breeze through the Human Gate test.
Not just the Human Gate.
If she truly succeeded, she would make a name for herself across the entire continent.
But all of this was predicated on her being able to subdue it.
Mu Qinglan was still somewhat confident.
After all, the future [Great Shadow] might be strong, but right now it was just an egg, and being an egg meant it wasn't born yet, and not being born yet meant it was easy to deceive. And she excelled at deception.
"So the preparations I just asked Shen Yao to make can come in handy now..."
Mu Qinglan lowered her eyes, the curve of her lips meaningful.
Shadows cast down among her white hair.
"A world boss? Interesting."
○
The next day.
"Do you know who I am?!!!"
"This is slander! Slander!!"
In the city, since a group of constables from the Six Bureaus went out in the morning, cries of anger and shock rose one after another from many officials' mansions in Heyang City.
Shen Yao watched another official being pushed onto a carriage and couldn't help but sigh softly.
Last night, after receiving Mu Qinglan's instructions, she had thoroughly investigated these officials based on the key points on that piece of paper.
The investigation revealed shocking findings.
Shen Yao knew that among officials in the capital, few had clean hands, but the people Mu Qinglan had given her were extraordinarily dirty—following those extremely secretive clues from who knows where, the things she discovered were enough to throw these scum into the imperial prison!
These were all fifth-rank high officials...
As soon as dawn broke, the Six Bureaus began to operate.
The officials on the list who had been investigated last night were arrested one by one.
And during the interrogation process, Shen Yao gradually discovered Mu Qinglan's intention—
These were all the Crown Prince's men.
'So the mastermind behind Mu Qinglan's assassination is the Crown Prince? Are Li Xin and that demon also related to the Crown Prince?'
Shen Yao had some guesses in her heart, otherwise, it was completely unexplainable why someone as intelligent as Mu Qinglan would suddenly target the Crown Prince, with whom she previously had no interaction.
As Shen Yao suspected, Mu Qinglan was indeed taking revenge on the Crown Prince.
Because with her plot advantage, she knew very clearly that there was only one prince in the capital who was colluding with the demons—
That was the current eldest surviving prince, the Fifth Prince.
That is—
The Crown Prince of Great Xia.
Great Xia had an old saying, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
To be honest, Mu Qinglan had never particularly agreed with this saying. If someone hurt her and only had to pay this kind of price, who were they kidding? She was the type who believed in breaking ten of your fingers if you hurt one of hers.
Besides, hadn't she died once?
A life for a life was reasonable, right?
And sending all your subordinates down to accompany you too.
Because the Crown Prince was powerful, Mu Qinglan didn't have the ability to kill him now, but her small goal of revenge had never changed. Sooner or later, she would send all of the Crown Prince's forces to cry in the underworld.
And this was just the first step of her revenge.
Shen Yao looked at the list in her hand, silently calculating who to investigate next and how to arrest them.
There were only a few people on the list, but investigating them could pull an entire line out from the darkness, enough to expose several minor subordinate officials. So even though she had investigated all night, the Six Bureaus had only uprooted two lines so far.
And at this moment, a sweet voice came from behind.
"Sister~ What are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Shen Yao frowned, silently putting the paper away.
Taking advantage of this moment, the owner of the voice had already run close. It was a very cute little girl with black hair, wearing a constable uniform, her little boots bouncing on the ground as she hopped.
"Let me see, let me see~"
The young girl's voice was sweet as she coaxed.
"No, I have important business." Shen Yao refused.
"Isn't your important business just arresting people? I can help you arrest them too. I haven't led a task force many times since joining the Six Bureaus! And Master sent me here to check on you, to make sure you don't go too far." The young girl was eager to try.
"I know what I'm doing." Shen Yao knew she just liked to join in the excitement.
"Hey, just satisfy me, Sister. After all, I'm also a trainee constable," the young girl put her hands together in supplication: "Please. I won't tell the master!"
Shen Yao hesitated for a moment.
There were still three major targets on the list, and at the current pace, she really couldn't arrest them all and put them in prison within today.
For the efficiency Mu Qinglan required, Shen Yao was investigating and arresting simultaneously.
But this also gave them the opportunity to clean up their traces.
"I'll write you a note later. You can investigate according to the clues on it." Shen Yao said.
Bai Yuyu's family had good relations with Prince Qi's faction, and she was also the Chief Constable's disciple. The two had a good relationship, so she wasn't worried that she would take the opportunity to cause trouble.
"Yessir!"
Bai Yuyu, having received an affirmative answer, happily stood at attention and saluted, her voice exceptionally soft and cute: "I knew Sister was the best~ If Master asks, I'll say Sister only arrests bad guys!"
The young girl's cheerful voice echoed on the street.
The constables worked with much more energy.
○
Eastern Palace.
A row of porcelain cups was angrily swept to the ground.
"What does the Six Bureaus think they're doing?! Arresting four of my men in one day!! Have they gone mad?!"
The gloomy-looking man dressed in luxurious clothes was furious.
"What are these useless people doing? How many handles have they left for others? How can the Six Bureaus arrest them at will?!"
He knew that this must be revenge from Prince Qi's side against him, but he really hadn't expected the revenge to come so quickly and so fiercely.
Is she not afraid of me at all?
The Crown Prince couldn't believe it.
As the Crown Prince of Great Xia, his status was noble, his forces in hand far exceeded those of Prince Qi in the capital, and he had the demons backing him. It could be said that as long as the emperor and experts above third rank didn't intervene, he was the sky of Heyang.
But now he was being provoked?
And at the critical time point when he had been plotting for many years and was about to make his move?
The Crown Prince's heart was bleeding.
"Your Highness, could this be...?" The advisor hesitated.
"Get out," the Crown Prince raged, "if this were my old man's doing, do you think I would still be alive now? This must be that little bitch surnamed Mu's doing!"
The Crown Prince gritted his teeth, his eyes almost devouring people with ferocity.
And just at this moment.
"Report! Another official has been taken by the Six Bureaus!" A panicked shout came from outside the door.
Bang!!
The Crown Prince was furious, instantly crushing the porcelain cup in his hand.
"This is too much!!"