There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Three critically injured parties, one was accidentally hit in the left arm by a stray bullet during the chaos, one whose ribs were broken by the crowd after falling down unintentionally, and one who, in an attempt to flee the hotel unsuccessfully, was severely beaten while wrestling with a soldier for a weapon.

Their identities were respectively the general manager of a multinational corporation, a well-known figure in the literary and art circles who had come for the social season, and the nephew of a certain legislator from District 13.

Among them, the artist and calligrapher was slightly older, having already reached his fifties, so the injuries he sustained from the stampede seemed more severe than the gunshot wound.

At least Manager Zhang was in his prime, and even with a poor complexion, he held up better than an old man.

The young man who'd been beaten had a bruised and swollen face, numerous cuts and bloodstains on his body, and walked with a limp, clutching his stomach as if in considerable pain.

As soon as he was brought to the rest room at the front desk, he was directly tied to the interrogation chair.

Daring to attack even soldiers, the young man's courage could not be understated, but now, faced with the impartial Capital Commandant, he was too scared to let out even half a word of the curses he had been uttering before.

"This elderly gentleman's injuries seem quite severe, I suggest we transfer him out for medical attention sooner rather than later—he couldn't possibly still be an agent, could he?" Xu Shuo said as he checked the old man's injuries upon entering, and immediately frowned.

"It's hard to say," the Capital Commandant glanced over indifferently.

"You..."

Xu Shuo was about to get angry when the elder, who was still quite lucid, immediately grasped his arm, "It's okay, it's okay, I can hold on."

Anyone with eyes could see that the Capital Commandant was without reservations at this point; their identities simply didn't matter.

This was not the time to be stubborn.

So, Xu Shuo too, went along and reigned in his anger that seemed about to erupt, and silently started treating the elder's injuries.

He was a doctor, after all, and it fit his identity quite well.

...

...

The night was dark and deep.

Damp mist drifted in the black night, and a fine rain fell quietly. Apart from the brightly lit, strictly guarded Five-star Hotel, there were hardly any pedestrians left on the streets.

The parties prepared by the social season's dignitaries were hastily concluded due to the sudden incident in District 13.

The chaos and gunfights that broke out suddenly both downtown and at the city gates meant that those who were still outside enjoying themselves quickly scattered, leaving the deserted district to be dealt with by the military forces, rendering the streets incredibly quiet.

Now, at least several kilometers away from the Five-star Hotel, in a bungalow area close to the edge of District 13,

a deputy drenched with moisture slipped into the courtyard, his movements agile and swift, causing no sound or disturbance.

"Lord Ying, you've returned?"

In the pitch-black room, a group of people were on high alert, only relaxing once they recognized the deputy's face.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

'Ying' was the deputy's code name for operations, which was seldom used, just to avoid being traced by anyone with an agenda.

But now, they had already been exposed anyway.

The deputy was still wearing the dark blue military uniform, after all, the color of the uniform was quite beneficial for moving around at night, and sometimes, when encountering soldiers who were slow on the uptake, it allowed him to bluff through, so he didn't bother changing it anymore.

Glancing at the few people in the room, the deputy nodded and said, "I've delivered the items, but there was a slight hiccup, and there might be an operation tonight."

The man who had previously arranged the 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' plan was in charge of this base; upon hearing this, he furrowed his brows, "We've only just gotten the map, shouldn't we prepare a bit more?"

The deputy shook his head, not addressing that issue yet, and instead showed concern, "How many brothers did we lose just now?"

"Six, and one was injured and managed to escape, he didn't come back in order not to expose this base," the man said in a low voice, causing the atmosphere in the room to grow even heavier.

"It's been hard on you all," the deputy sighed.

Two groups, one causing chaos in the city to use the limited visibility of the night and the panicked crowds as cover, escaping wasn't that difficult.

But the group sent to attract attention at the city gates was pretty much destined for death, having one escape was already fortunate.

The deputy then asked, "How is the investigation into the traitor going?"

Even without orders, members of the Radiant Corps stationed in District 13 would have set about the inquiry, as the traitor had almost caused them all to fail their mission!

How could we not investigate?!

Upon hearing this, the head of the stronghold went to the cabinet, opened a secret compartment, and handed a stack of documents to him.

"'Ming' has been hiding it from us. He met a woman in District 13 two years ago, and that woman suddenly disappeared a while ago," the man said, his implication clear without further words.

The adjutant opened the documents to check for himself.

The contact person, codenamed 'Ming', whom he'd disposed of prematurely, had been using his identity as a seeker of medical treatment to stay active in various political districts for handoff activities.

It was after a stopover in District 13 two years ago that he met a woman in a dance hall there and started a secret relationship with her.

For an agent, it's best to avoid unnecessary encumbrances, because once you join an underground organization, the chance to settle down and start a family likely won't come until the network is dismantled.

But this man couldn't resist getting involved emotionally.

Perhaps it was his frequent travels between districts that caught the attention of District 13's undercover agents, who took control of his woman to probe him.

And the probe was a direct hit!

The adjutant's temples throbbed as he read.

All because of a woman?!

With a sigh of resignation, the head of the stronghold said, "That's the whole story. However, he did not expose our stronghold here or the list of operatives involved."

Perhaps, that was the only bit of rationality he had left.

The adjutant tossed the documents down irritably.

He remembered the very moment he joined the game; his hands were tightly clutching a neck, and he was so disoriented by the situation that it caught him completely off guard.

The damned system sure knew how to pick its moments!

Luckily, the person he attacked did not resist fiercely, only struggling subconsciously when facing death. So, during his moment of confusion, the other party did not take advantage of his loosened grip to fight back or flee.

After hearing footsteps outside the door, the adjutant couldn't be bothered with much more and simply followed through with what his character was doing at the time, decisively stabbing the person dead and then leaving through the window.

Now that he thought about it, the traitor had probably always known how much danger his actions posed to the organization.

As a member of the Radiant Corps' special agent team, after choosing to betray his beliefs and honor, guilt could only be resolved by death.

"What about his woman?" the adjutant asked next.

"We've received intelligence that she's been detained within District 13's military area," the head responded coldly.

"Leave her be, if she survives after this operation, she's just lucky," said the adjutant, his face even colder.

Although everything was part of the plot, if it had not been for this person's betrayal, their handoff activities wouldn't have faced such a huge crisis, even leading to his exposure.

Some emotions are inevitable.

Remembering how he nearly got killed by the Capital Commandant in the hotel, the adjutant couldn't help but seethe with hatred.

"Bring me the map, I need to make tonight's arrangements," said the adjutant, setting aside these distractions to focus on the task at hand.

"Are you planning to rescue 'Yao' at the hotel?" the head continued: "We've received a coded message that the hotel's backyard defense will be relaxed at ten tonight."

"Is that so? However, I'm afraid what we'll be welcoming is our own main force," the adjutant said.

Saving people was one thing, but the adjutant didn't want to face that human tank again.

Moreover, compared to rescuing people, his mission was more important.

The District 10 Special Envoy who had stopped the Capital Commandant for a talk, the Green Mist Corps that appeared outside the city for unknown reasons, and the recent acquisition of District 13's military deployment map, as well as a hotel full of people with their own agendas...

All these events put together seemed to hint at an inevitable major upheaval!

And his side mission: [Support the Radiant Corps entering District 13.]

The plot had already started to thicken.

...