Listening to the sound, Grego looked over and saw a tall, burly middle-aged man wearing a Hunter's trench coat, with messy brown hair and a full beard, walking step by step towards them. His expression was serious. When Brandon saw him, he was startled and quickly stood up and said.
"Mr. Turner, your team was just resupplied with ammunition yesterday..."
"We used it all up practicing shooting. What's the problem with asking for more today?" Coming to the table, the man named Turner looked down at Brandon and said. Although Brandon took a timid step back, he still spoke.
"No, I can't, Mr. Turner. I can't give you any more extra ammunition today. That doesn't comply with regulations."
"Tsk, regulations, regulations... Regulations are made by people too. Can't you make an exception?"
Turner said somewhat loudly. Brandon seemed intimidated by his shouting and didn't dare to speak. Seeing this scene, Grego from the side stepped in to mediate.
"Alright, alright, Turner, don't make things difficult for Brandon. If you want ammunition, my team has some extra. I can give you a bit."
Grego said kindly. Hearing Grego's words, Turner couldn't insist anymore and spoke directly.
"Never mind, never mind. If there's none, there's none. I was just asking anyway... Oh, right, kid, the gun I brought for maintenance last time should be ready, right? Even if you don't have bullets, you should give me the gun."
Turner continued to ask Brandon. Hearing Turner's words, Brandon nodded and quickly took out a single-shot pistol with a thick barrel from under the table and placed it on the table. Seeing this special gun, Turner's eyes lit up.
"Oh~ you're finally back, my darling."
Picking up the pistol, Turner kissed it before putting it back on his waist.
Just as Turner was about to say something else, a female voice sounded.
"Captain Grego, Captain Turner, there is something important. Mr. James has asked you both to go to the Director's office immediately."
Grego turned his head and looked towards the sound, seeing Eilina with light yellow curly hair, wearing a Hunter uniform, standing there with a serious expression. After exchanging glances with Turner, he immediately responded.
"Understood, we'll be right there."
After speaking, Grego and Turner walked with Eilina towards the distant corridor, while Brandon stood behind the table, silently watching their backs.
Following Eilina, Grego and Turner walked forward through the An Yin Bureau's underground base. After a while, they arrived at a door. After Eilina knocked twice, a slightly hoarse voice came from inside the door.
"Come in."
Eilina opened the door, and the three of them entered an elegantly decorated office. In the office, there was a carpeted sofa and a large bookshelf filled with books. Behind the desk stood a middle-aged man.
Medium build, neatly combed light yellow hair, a well-fitting suit, a small mustache, and a slightly protruding belly – these were the basic features of this man. After entering the room, both Grego and Turner saluted him.
"Mr. James..."
"Good morning, Director!"
Seeing the situation before him, the Director of the An Yin Bureau branch, named James, gestured to Eilina behind him to close the door, and then pointed to his desk.
"Look at this..."
Listening to their superior, everyone present shifted their gaze to James's desk, where a bouquet of colorful, fresh flowers was placed.
"This is... a bouquet?"
Grego's expression was puzzled, and Turner on the side also asked directly.
"Is there a problem with this, Director? Could this be some dangerous extraordinary item?"
Hearing his subordinates' words, James shook his head and spoke.
"This was received by Miss Ada at the front desk in the lobby just now. The flowers were delivered by the Lavender Flower Shop five streets away. They have a flower delivery service. This bouquet was commissioned to be delivered to the front desk at exactly 9:00 this morning... which was just now. The message is..."
As he spoke, James looked seriously at the subordinates in front of him.
"Dedicated to all the warriors who fight in the shadows, silently supporting the peace of Igwinte..."
Hearing James's words, Grego and Turner were startled and suddenly exchanged a look of astonishment.
Someone is actually sending something to the An Yin Bureau by name?
"That's not the most crucial part. What's more crucial is..." As he spoke, James took out a postcard from the flowers on the desk, flipped it open, and showed the writing on the back to Grego and the others. It was a sentence printed by a printer.
"A Red Communion Society stronghold is located at 22 Elm West Lane in the Lower District."
...
In the morning, within 22 Elm West Lane, Lower District, Igwinte.
One of the core members of the Red Communion Society, a middle-aged man named Burton, was sitting on a chair in his study, his expression serious, his brows tightly furrowed.
At this moment, Burton was worried about the kidnapping incident a few days ago, where he had sent his subordinates to carry it out.
According to the decision jointly discussed at the communion meeting, Burton organized some capable members of the society, preparing to hijack the sister of An Yin Bureau Hunter Squad Captain Gregorius on her way home from school, using this as a means against Grego. This should have been a simple operation; the target was just an ordinary thirteen-year-old girl, and his capable subordinates shouldn't have failed.
However, up until now, the hijacking squad has remained silent, and not a single person has returned. This has caused the anxiety of many Holy Communion Society core members, including Burton, to deepen day by day.
'It's been several days... and there's no news at all. Could it be that they failed? Did the An Yin Bureau detect our operation beforehand and set up an ambush?... No, that's impossible. It must be that those guys were careless when they acted, alarmed Gray Hill, and were all taken care of by Gray Hill... Damn it, I told them not to cause any big disturbance around that school, but they forgot all about it when it came to execution!'
Rubbing his temples, Burton thought with a frown. The anxiety in his heart became increasingly difficult to calm. Although the losses were ordinary members who were normal people, they were capable individuals who had been trained with effort. Losing them all at once was still a blow to their vitality.
Now, Burton and other core members are almost certain that Gray Hill intervened in their operation. They are thinking about when to contact the other party. Burton is also thinking about how to negotiate with Gray Hill. The recent series of situations makes his anxiety difficult to calm.
...
Just then, outside his house, deep in the alley, two figures were hidden behind the corner of a building, silently staring at the door of No. 22 in the distance.
Both figures were men. They were both in rags, covered in blood, and many parts of their bodies were still bandaged, clearly looking like injured people.
At the feet of these two men, a small coffin was quietly placed.
One of the men looked up at the sun in the sky, then lowered his head to look at his wrist, seeing that the time displayed on his watch was 8:40 AM.
"It's starting..."
Murmuring softly, the two men lifted the small coffin from the ground with effort and walked forward step by step, all the way to the entrance of No. 22.
Then, they put down the coffin, and one of them walked to the door and began to knock with a specific rhythm.
After he finished knocking, a voice sounded from behind the door.
"What do you seek..."
After hearing this voice, the man coughed and then replied.
"Eternal satisfaction..."
Immediately after, a small window opened on the door of No. 22, and a pair of eyes looked out at the visitors' faces, then let out a surprised sound.
"Thomas? And Oliver? Is that you? You're back? Where are the others?"
"Cough, cough, cough... It's me. Quick, open the door and let me in. Our mission was successful, but we were attacked halfway... The others are probably in grave danger, but we've successfully brought the mission target back!"
Coughing up blood, the man named Thomas said with difficulty, and the voice behind the door immediately responded.
"Wait a moment, I'll go inform Mr. Burton!"
Then, the sound of footsteps came from behind the door. Thomas did not wait long before the door in front of him suddenly swung open, and the doorkeeper standing at the entrance said eagerly.
"Come in quickly, Mr. Burton is waiting for you upstairs. He said for you to quickly bring the item up."
"Cough, cough, cough... Okay, but we're both injured. It might be a bit difficult to carry the item up the stairs..."
"Then let us do it. You follow behind..."
Saying this, the doorkeeper called down three more men from upstairs, and together they lifted the small coffin and went up the stairs, while Thomas and his companion Oliver followed closely behind them.
After a short while, Thomas and Oliver, along with the four men carrying the coffin and the small coffin, all entered Burton's study.
Seeing Thomas and Oliver entering the room, Burton couldn't help but stand up immediately.
"It's the two of you... Where are the others!?"
"Cough, cough... Mr. Burton, our mission was successful, but we were attacked by unknown assailants. The situation of the others is currently unclear, but we protected the mission target and successfully escaped. We were delayed on the way for some reasons..."
As he spoke, Thomas opened the small coffin that had been placed on the ground. What appeared before everyone was a white-haired girl inside the coffin, her eyes closed, deeply asleep and unresponsive. Seeing the scene inside the coffin, Burton's eyes lit up, and he immediately said.
"You two will explain the detailed situation to me later..."
As he spoke, Burton walked to his bookshelf. After turning the candlestick mechanism, he opened the secret room behind the bookshelf, revealing a bloody altar.
Burton now needed to immediately inform the other core members of this news. The entire Holy Communion Society was currently anxious about this matter.
Burton quickly walked towards the altar, while on the other side, Thomas and Oliver silently watched all of this.
Looking at Burton's back, the pained and uncomfortable expressions on their faces suddenly disappeared, replaced by a chilling indifference.
Then... Thomas and Oliver quickly reached inside their clothes, each quickly pulling out a revolver, and swiftly pointed them at their companions beside them.
Without any warning, the two suddenly attacked. One pointed his gun at Burton's back, the other pointed his gun at the other men around them, and then they fired continuously at the same time.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
For a moment, gunshots erupted in the study, and bullets flew everywhere. The four men who had been waiting in the study were hit by continuous close-range gunfire when their companions suddenly attacked, and they were all hit one after another, completely unprepared. Burton, who was walking towards the altar, was also shot several times instantly, and his eyes immediately filled with bloodshot veins.
...