"Rawr—!"
With a tiger's roar, Ju Fufu knocked out… stunned the last thug who was still stubbornly resisting.
Without expending much effort, Arden and Ju Fufu finished off all the thugs.
Those who could fainted, those who knew better surrendered, and those with quicker legs fled—scattering like startled birds and beasts.
"Wind, tighten up!"
Seeing the situation turn bad, the boy assassin also tried to run—but Ju Fufu wasn't about to let him go.
"Hmph!"
He had gotten her Brother Arden injured. How could she not give him a proper lesson?
"Heave—ho!"
Ju Fufu swung Hu Wei and hurled it like a mortar shell.
"!!"
Sensing danger behind him, the boy assassin immediately switched his escape route from a straight line to an S-shaped zigzag.
Unfortunately—it was completely useless.
Arden brought his index and middle fingers together in a sword gesture. Under his remote "guidance," the mortar shell Hu Wei turned into a guided missile, landing squarely on the boy assassin's head.
THUNK!
A head-on collision. The boy assassin was knocked unconscious on the spot.
"Fufu, time to head back."
"Mm."
Ignoring the remaining thugs, Ju Fufu grabbed the boy assassin with one hand and the thug leader with the other, preparing to return to the Meffer Mine for interrogation.
….
Meffer Mine, Break Room.
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"
The boy assassin and the thug leader—who had been so arrogant earlier—turned out to be shockingly weak-willed. Arden hadn't even used the "Punishments of Xia"; he merely described them, and they confessed completely.
"Speak. Who ordered you to ambush me?"
"It was…"
As expected, the thugs had been hired by Porcelumex. Their goal was to ambush Arden and Ju Fufu, capture them, and then negotiate with Yunkui Summit to seize the operating rights to the Meffer Mine.
As for who leaked Arden and Ju Fufu's movements to Porcelumex, neither the boy assassin nor the thug leader knew.
"Sigh… as expected of Porcelumex. Their ambition to destroy Yunkui Summit never dies."
Arden sighed.
"Brother Arden, what do we do next? Catch the traitor?"
Even Ju Fufu—who usually disliked thinking too hard—realized the crux of the problem. If the traitor inside the mine wasn't eliminated, then once she and Arden returned to Yunkui Summit, trouble would definitely start again.
As long as the traitor remained, the Meffer Mine would never have peace.
"Yeah."
Arden nodded, then frowned slightly. "But how do we find the traitor?"
Following the usual process, Arden gathered clues, conducted searches and interrogations, and used some technical means (divination). Eventually, he narrowed the suspects down to four people:
One of Yi Jing's disciples, two members of the engineering team, and one representative sent by Mayor Mayflower to the mine.
As for which of the four was the real traitor—that would require a bit of clever scheming.
Arden first took out his phone and sent a commission to the Boss of the Cunning Hares.
After receiving Nicole's confirmation that the commission had been accepted, Arden found Ju Fufu the next morning, just after breakfast, lying on her back and resting while patting her belly.
"Fufu, bring the boy assassin and the thug leader. We're taking a trip."
"Where to?"
"Porcelumex."
…..
Lemnian Hollow.Porcelumex—Director's Office.
"Trash! A bunch of useless trash!"
Director Laurent—a woman in her forties or fifties, very much a strong-willed executive—was livid as she stared at the report.
Over a hundred people couldn't handle two disciples of Yunkui Summit, got beaten senseless, and fled in disgrace. If that wasn't trash, what was?
"Director Laurent, bad news!"
Right as she was fuming, a subordinate burst into the office in a panic.
"Why all the shouting? Have some decorum!"
"S-sorry!"
"Speak."
Director Laurent forcibly suppressed her anger and steadied herself. She knew very well that anger solved nothing.
"It's the disciples of Yunkui Summit—they've come knocking!"
"What!?"
Director Laurent shot to her feet.
Useless people are bad enough—but they can't even keep their mouths shut!
Clearly, the thugs had sold her out as the mastermind, which was why they'd come straight to her door.
"Don't panic. Notify security immediately—"
Porcelumex had its own security forces, and TOPS behind them even had specialized security companies. She didn't believe Yunkui Summit could really turn the sky upside down!
Bang!
Before she could finish her order, the metal office door flew off its hinges as if hit by a train.
A Tiger Thiren burst in—it was Ju Fufu.
Arden followed right behind her.
"No need for all that trouble. We're already here."
"Hehe, so it's the two Daoists of Yunkui Summit. May I ask what brings you here?"
Although Director Laurent had never met Arden and Ju Fufu in person, as the personal disciples of Sect Master Yixuan, their profiles had crossed her desk more than once. She recognized them immediately.
Knowing full well they were not to be trifled with—and that she'd be beaten to death before security arrived if they attacked—Director Laurent instantly changed her expression, feigning innocence to stall for time.
"Hmph! I hate this type the most… still playing dumb at a time like this!"
Arden waved his hand impatiently. "Fufu!"
"Got it!"
Ju Fufu stepped outside and returned holding two unfortunate souls—
The boy assassin and the thug leader.
Thud!Thud!
They were unceremoniously thrown onto the floor.
"They've already confessed! Director Laurent, you'd better give us an explanation today—or else…"
As he spoke, Arden shot Ju Fufu a look.
"Rawr—!"
Ju Fufu let out a threatening tiger roar.
"This won't end here."
Arden added, looking very much like a fox borrowing a tiger's might. (Ahem.)
"….."
Director Laurent's expression darkened. She then shook her head slightly at the security captain rushing over outside the door.
If a conflict broke out now, she'd be the one who suffered.
"Are you not afraid of retaliation from TOPS, acting like this?"
Since soft tactics failed, she went hard—invoking Porcelumex's backer.
"Heh."
Arden merely scoffed. "So what? Worst case, we run."
"As for you, Director Laurent… once TOPS is alerted, whether we're captured or escape successfully, I doubt you'll still be sitting in that chair."
"….."
A flicker of panic crossed Director Laurent's face.
After all, the barefooted aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. Arden was right. If what happened here reached the higher-ups, she didn't know—or care—what would happen to them.
But she herself would definitely be finished.
It had taken immense effort to climb to her current position. Countless people below were watching her closely—
Just waiting for her to make a mistake, so they could drag her down and take her place.