The Professional Rankings, in twelve volumes, each bearing the name of my lord.

The bureau chief noticed the change in Wang Miao's expression.

"Wang Miao, you were in charge of this escort operation. Now that the mutant beast is dead and the mission has failed, don't you have anything to say?"

The head of the second group in the bureau snorted coldly.

"This mutant beast's life force is unlike any we've seen before. It was an important research subject, and now it's dead! On a larger scale, we might have missed crucial intelligence for dealing with Dark Star's new offensive!"

Wang Miao stood up expressionlessly.

"If the mission fails, I take full responsibility."

The bureau chief shrugged.

"that's all?"

"I'll take all the punishment, but..."

"Speak your mind."

"Those bandits at the scene were indeed imposters; their life fluctuations were all 100. However, during the entire battle, four of them self-destructed."

What does this mean?

"There might be real bandits mixed in."

The group leader sneered.

"What, is self-destruction a universal skill only bandits can learn? These guys dare to go against our Special Affairs Bureau; they're already desperate criminals. What's so strange about them self-destructing? I think you're trying to shift some blame onto the bandits, aren't you?"

"That's not what I meant. The bandits are now moving around the city without any restrictions, so finding them isn't difficult."

You could ask them if they were involved; you might get more useful information that way.

"Maybe they can help us find out who's behind this, and also that old man carrying the Illusionary Divine Tablet."

Those fake bandits who were arrested had no backbone; they answered all questions in an attempt to get their sentences reduced.

But they didn't know who was hiring them; they only knew that the other party was very generous.

The Special Affairs Bureau didn't expect to find out who was behind it from these people. If they could find out the mastermind from this, then what they were doing was too frivolous.

The group leader of Group Two was too ambitious and seized the opportunity to attack Wang Miao relentlessly.

"Even if there were real bandits at the scene, how come their life force fluctuations were also 100? Weren't you the first to discover that these bandits had life force fluctuations slightly higher than normal? Now you're contradicting yourself?"

"I'm just providing a possible clue."

"This mission failed, and so many people died, all because you underestimated the enemy! If you had followed my plan—transferring them through the underground passage and hiring third-tier professionals for escort—there would have been absolutely no problem!"

"Who would have thought someone would want to steal the Aberrant Beast? The public doesn't even know it exists... That's it! Maybe this is the key to finding out who's behind it all. Who needs the Aberrant Beast?"

No one present was interested in hearing what Wang Miao had to say.

With such a huge mess, someone has to take the blame.

Wang Miao's colleagues are now tacitly blaming her.

The director pointed outside the door.

"Wang Miao, you don't need to work in the investigation team for now. Next week, you'll be in charge of the youth training camp, serving as a selection mentor and subsequent training mentor."

Several team leaders burst out laughing.

"The leader of the group that captured the most mutant beasts has been reduced to teaching high school students."

"He deserved it; he couldn't judge people well enough to not even realize he had a mole among his men."

"I estimate that the position of group leader will be vacant in a while."

"Group Two will definitely be promoted to Group One, and the benefits will increase."

Wang Miao left the conference room.

When he left, he still stood up straight, his expression unchanged.

Behind him, some gloated, some were smug, and some shook their heads and sighed.

When I got to the door...

Wang Miao stopped.

"Wang Miao, is there anything else you want to say?"

Wang Miao turned around and said seriously, "We've been overlooking one thing: why is this mutated beast, which is different from the ones we've seen before, appearing in the city?"

Someone said flippantly, "What's so strange about that? The mutant beasts were released by Dark Star to kill people; where else would they be but in the city?"

"Dark Star has always deployed aberrant beasts through the Abyssal Rift, but the Abyss closest to us has been calm for the past few months, with no invasion activity."

"Perhaps one of those who slipped through the net in the past?"

"We all understand the characteristics of the mutant beast. It can't survive a day without consuming negative human emotions. It's impossible for one of them to slip through the net for so long before we discovered it."

The bureau chief interrupted, "What are you trying to say?"

"This mutated beast looks like it was brought from somewhere and dumped in the city."

After saying this, Wang Miao left.

He has given all the clues he knew and speculated about, and has done his duty.

However, the people at the meeting didn't seem interested in the clue he mentioned.

"The power of Dark Star has always been mysterious, so what's so strange about it suddenly being deployed in the city?"

"Exactly, this Wang Miao, what kind of nonsense is he thinking about all day long?"

"No wonder the escort mission failed."

Wang Miao didn't go home; he first went to the Special Bureau's detention center to visit someone.

His team member, Xiaoling.

She has been fitted with a full set of Abyssal Rock shackles, stripped of all her equipment, her backpack emptied, and she can no longer use any of her professional abilities.

"Why do you do this?"

The two were separated by iron bars, and Wang Miao asked a question.

"Ha, the way you ask that makes it sound like I've betrayed you."

"Isn't that right?"

"From the very beginning, I was here as an undercover agent."

Who's behind you?

"I won't tell, give up."

"Do they deserve your loyalty?"

"It's none of your business."

"It's not easy to plant an undercover agent like you, but they're willing to sacrifice you for the Aberrant Beasts. Just who values ​​the Aberrant Beasts so much?"

Wang Miao felt as if he had grasped a clue.

Yet it is also like duckweed floating on water, elusive and hard to grasp.

He glanced at Xiaoling one last time. "You'll probably spend the rest of your life in prison. Don't you regret it? Your profession isn't bad; you'd be well-suited to be an investigator. I was thinking of giving you the team leader position."

Xiaoling sneered, "Don't think that just because you've been my team leader for a year or two, you have any special feelings for me. Compared to the people who raised me, you're nothing!"

Wang Miao was somewhat moved.

Is this what they call a trusted confidant?

If I want to continue fighting against Dark Star, shouldn't I also cultivate some loyal followers?

……

The Special Bureau suffered a significant number of casualties this time. They should at least give an explanation to the families of the victims, if not to the public, regarding the course of events.

They concealed the existence of the mutant beasts, saying it was just a routine exercise mission.

However, they were attacked by bandits and slaughtered by a mysterious and powerful old man.

Because the scene was so chaotic, the only remaining video footage consists of some blurry photos and a video recording of the fake bandits confessing to their crimes after being arrested.

This result is sufficient.

Zhao Wuji felt that the bandits' reputation was now ruined.

The public had no idea how to distinguish between real and fake bandits; they only looked at the bandits' distinctive attire.

Although he didn't manage to retrieve the mutant beast, he felt that this two-birds-with-one-stone strategy should at least hit one of the targets.

So he turned on the TV to watch the news.

The footage shows a reporter randomly interviewing citizens on the street about their opinions on the bandit attack on the Special Bureau.

"Hmph, now nobody should still think of you as heroes."