He was unable to even keep his thoughts functioning.

In the end...

He closed his eyes in pain and weakness.

At the very last moment before his consciousness was completely swallowed by darkness, he vaguely heard a voice.

"Shanlong's number one? That's all there is to it."

Chapter 10 Clues

Night had fallen.

Emily Harris finished her day's work and returned home.

Although the Harris family wasn't a major clan in Tiannan Province, thanks to Old Master Harris's boldness and determination in his younger days, they had accumulated assets worth billions.

So, even though she only worked in Yunmeng City, Emily Harris was still able to buy her own apartment of over eighty square meters.

At the Guard Bureau, she was originally responsible for major and serious cases, so her days were usually quite relaxed.

But in the past year or two, cases like these had clearly increased.

Especially cases involving missing persons—there were thousands every month.

Although more than half of them could be found, on average, the number of people who went missing each month still exceeded five hundred.

Although she wasn't directly responsible for such cases, they greatly drained the Guard Bureau's manpower, indirectly affecting their work progress.

Just as Emily Harris lay down on the sofa, planning to take a good rest, her phone rang at an inopportune moment.

She glanced at the number displayed.

"James Bolton? What's up?"

She asked.

On the phone, James Bolton's words were extremely brief: "The killer has appeared again! This time not in Yunmeng, but in our neighboring Shanlong City! Inspector Morgan wants us to coordinate with the Shanlong Guard Bureau to facilitate Consultant Cooper's operation."

Emily Harris, who had been sinking into the sofa, immediately sat up straight: "I'm on my way!"

"I knew you'd want to get involved. The car is almost downstairs."

...

Five minutes later.

Emily Harris got into a police command vehicle.

There were already several people inside.

James Bolton, William Cooper, and Sarah Bennett were all there.

There were also a few elite officers from the Yunmeng Guard Bureau who had been seconded to assist William Cooper with the case.

At this moment, everyone was discussing and busy with something.

When Emily Harris arrived, William Cooper just nodded at her and then continued with his work.

"Is it the same person?"

Emily Harris asked.

"Yes."

James Bolton nodded. "After killing Edward Reed, according to information from a witness, he also said, 'Shanlong's number one, that's all there is to it.' This shows that it's not a conventional act of revenge, but a life-and-death duel between martial artists, which matches our speculation about the killer's motive."

"Were there any witnesses?"

Emily Harris's eyes lit up.

"They were far away and couldn't see the killer's face, only heard the conversation."

James Bolton said, frowning, "The killer is extremely ruthless, almost never leaving any survivors. Like last time with Emily Parker, although she survived, her head was severely injured and she's mentally deranged. According to the diagnosis, it's unlikely she'll recover. I even suspect..."

The veteran officer paused. "He deliberately leaves us clues in various ways every time."

"You mean..."

Emily Harris glanced at William Cooper and lowered her voice: "He's hunting these famous martial artists not for the title of Tiannan's number one?"

"I just can't believe anyone would do something so insane for the so-called 'number one in Tiannan' title."

James Bolton shook his head.

Even if it was for the title, this kind of behavior was no different from a madman.

"If that's not the reason, then why is he killing people for no reason? And the victims have no connection to each other—the only thing they have in common is that they're all famous martial artists."

Emily Harris asked.

James Bolton couldn't come up with an answer.

The vehicle sped along.

About an hour later, they arrived at the crime scene. By then, it had already been cordoned off by officers from the Shanlong City Guard Bureau.

The group entered.

At that moment, a burly man in a suit was sternly reprimanding a middle-aged man wearing a Chief Inspector's badge.

William Cooper's gaze immediately fell on him.

Almost at the same time as William Cooper looked at the man in the suit, the man seemed to sense it and glanced back.

The instant their eyes met, William Cooper suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body.

That was...

As if he was being stared at by some terrifying monster.

But after the man saw the badge hanging on William Cooper, he quickly looked away, said a few more words to the middle-aged man, and then, surrounded by several people, turned and walked toward a luxury car parked not far away.

"Wait a moment..."

William Cooper immediately stepped forward.

But two of the people surrounding the man blocked him: "Sir, please don't get too close to our boss to avoid any misunderstanding."

"I need him to answer a few questions."

William Cooper said.

At this moment, the middle-aged man who had just been reprimanded hurried over. "Consultant Cooper, President Walker absolutely has nothing to do with this case. He's a major shareholder of Yulong International, and President Reed also held shares in Yulong International. That's why, after hearing about President Reed's death, he came to inquire personally..."

A major shareholder of Yulong International?