The following morning, another headline rippled across Harland's news networks, stirring murmurs throughout the city. Several charred corpses had been discovered in a narrow, deserted alley along Pristine View Road, an upscale district located disturbingly close to the luxury villa where Lory and Zhao Li Xin were currently residing.
Mainstream media outlets quickly reported the incident as a violent altercation involving Gifted people, though the exact cause remained under investigation.
Authorities soon confirmed that none of the victims were Harland citizens. Fingerprint records exposed them as internationally wanted criminals, heavily sought by the Xiya government for their involvement in the assassination of one of the nation's most respected and influential elites, a wealthy patron whose death had stirred significant national outrage.
