Lu Mingfei slapped his forehead, realizing he had gone astray.
He clearly knew there was a risk here, yet he insisted on going down the mine. The interpretation of the 'middle-to-upper' fortune stick seemed to mention a way to break through: working in tacit agreement with teammates.
The fortune stick didn't limit the number of teammates. As the special commissioner for this operation, Lu Mingfei could have found more people to come along, but he only brought two.
Lu Mingfei lowered his head in reflection. After this mission, he would have to go to the library and seriously read some books on interpreting fortune sticks.
There was still a chance to correct this mission. It wasn't too late to mend the fence.
Since he decided to fully implement the interpretation of the 'middle-to-upper' fortune stick, he would see it through to the end.
He pressed one hand to his earphone and returned along the tail's original path.
"Senior, what's the maximum number of people for this operation?"
"20, of course."
"I think we need those 17 people."
"Junior, you've finally grasped the truth of how the Execution Department operates."
Thus, the CC1000 express train roared into Chicago train station. A crowd of people in black trench coats orderly boarded the train, rushing non-stop to a certain abandoned industrial park in Chicago.
An S-Class authorization issued by Noma sent out a dispatch order. Instantly, all special commissioners remaining in the Execution Department on campus received the command and quickly assembled their forces.
Two hours later, the night deepened.
Outside the industrial park, the sound of neat footsteps rang out. Owl was startled for a moment, thinking someone had invaded, but then he thought that an invader definitely wouldn't make such a big commotion. He peered towards the entrance of the industrial park. Before he could even step forward to ask who they were, a uniform group of black trench coats stormed into the bumpy industrial park.
Everyone was dressed terrifyingly alike, with the silver-white semi-decayed World Tree emblem on their chests, exuding a cold, murderous aura.
Owl counted carefully: 17 people, a very strange prime number. Could it be that the other party's boss had some strange Hobbies?
He lowered his head to send a message to his boss but didn't receive a reply for a long time, so he had to continue observing the group in black trench coats.
The black trench coats were well-trained; a single glance was enough for them to coordinate their next move. Even though the intelligence stated there was no risk of casualties in the industrial park, they still quickly completed their deployment, waiting for the S-Class who had summoned them.
Owl couldn't help but sigh that each person on the other side had the strength to crush him in a few moves. Their cautious attitude made it seem as if they weren't coming to an abandoned industrial park, but a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.
In comparison, he felt like a useless security guard. Perhaps holding a hot dog as dinner would be more fitting at this moment.
Owl raised his hand, intending to greet the other party to prove that there were still people alive here, but he found that the other party had already sent someone over to ask if he had accidentally stumbled in, and that they could lend him a car to take him home.
They were truly considerate to the extreme.
Why hadn't Kassel's people been so gentle before?
Oh, he used to be a tomb raider, specializing in stealing from dragon lairs. So, never mind.
While someone was entangled with Owl here, another person had already pressed their earphone to contact the special commissioner's... deputy.
The person in charge never imagined that one day he would be reduced to working under Fingel, obeying Fingel's instructions. It was said that the S-Class was still a freshman and hadn't learned much about commanding, which was why the command was handed over to Fingel.
"Fingel, what should we do next? Control the other party's boss?"
Fingel was still hesitating whether to use a delaying tactic, but Lu Mingfei had already joined the voice call: "Yes, control the other party's boss. White suit, blue tie."
In just two short hours, Lu Mingfei had figured it out. He was following the path of good fortune; there was no need to take unnecessary risks. Since he could capture Bern, this unstable factor, he shouldn't let him go.
Better to kill by mistake than to let go.
Lu Mingfei sighed inwardly, avoiding bad luck was nothing more than this. After this mission, it was time to properly read books on divination.
The Execution Department had always engaged in high-risk work. His guaranteed job after graduation was this very thing. It was not too late to learn divination now to avoid risks and prepare for the future.
"Received."
Lu Mingfei's decisive nature suited the Execution Department's taste. They weren't here to be led by a wishy-washy leader.
With a few hand gestures, combined with Fingel's intelligence from the helicopter's overhead view, Bern had no room to struggle and was tied up and thrown next to Owl.
Two hot dogs were used to plug their mouths.
The Execution Department was currently taking compressed biscuits and countless energy drinks from Bern's car.
It seemed Bern and his group had long planned for a prolonged battle here.
"Speak."
Fingel jumped from the helicopter, grandly pulled over a red plastic stool, and sat in front of Bern. "I'm very curious how the Howard family has flourished again these past years. Is it through tomb raiding?"
As he spoke, the Execution Department brought out the two people from the mine and tied them up as well.
Both men looked pale, lying beside Bern and groaning in pain.
Owl also knelt to the side, not daring to look up at the black trench coats. Since they could recognize where the black trench coats came from, they certainly knew the methods of these people.
The entire industrial park was brightly lit by the large lamps brought by the Execution Department, even making the shadows behind the black trench coats several shades lighter.
"I remember the Howard family used to be one of the top political new nobles, with considerable influence in England. How did they end up doing tomb raiding business in Chicago?"
Fingel, with a half-smile, extended a retractable baton and pressed it against Bern's shoulder. "How many alchemy creations have you sold so far? And why did you deliberately throw out a few dragon bones to attract our attention?"
Bern was dripping with cold sweat. When he saw Lu Mingfei go down into the tomb, he thought he had successfully tricked these people from Kassel. He smugly believed that Kassel College's intelligence work wasn't that great.
But as Fingel's words pressed on him, he realized he had underestimated these people.
The truly terrifying thing was not their intelligence gathering ability, but their lightning-fast reaction speed once they realized something was wrong.
In less than three hours, the entire industrial park was under control. This was partly related to his deliberate lack of defensive arrangements here, but looking at the quality of these black-clad men, Bern admitted that his subordinates would definitely not be able to hold out for more than six hours.
"Did you get it out?" Lu Mingfei's voice appeared in Bern's ear.
Bern subconsciously looked up at Lu Mingfei, deliberately lingering on Lu Mingfei's eyes for half a second. Before even making eye contact, a stinging sensation appeared in his brain.
"Just started asking. Bern hasn't opened his mouth yet."
"Ask about those few Dead Servants at the end of the mine. The dragon bones that the research professors are curious about might have come from there."
Bern lowered his head and swallowed, two lines of clear tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes. He hastily lowered his demands for his subordinates—
Definitely not more than three hours!