Chapter 0029: Grade-A Wanted

The deputy squinted, eyes fixed on Ning Fan.

"Deputy Meng, this little punk needs a lesson. Hand him over to me — I guarantee, within a day, he'll learn how to talk properly."

The lanky man sneered.

The deputy considered for a moment.

"Bring him in first."

The lanky man looked a little disappointed, but didn't dare push things further in front of the deputy.

Soon, Ning Fan was escorted into a building deep in the inner district.

In a completely sealed room, his hands and feet were bound to a stool.

Across from him sat the deputy.

"You know that person?"

The deputy leaned back in his chair, smoking a sharp-smelling cigarette, one leg crossed over the other.

Ning Fan said nothing.

"Just the fact that you mentioned Spirit Servants inside the zone — that alone is enough to lock you up for ten years."

The deputy said flatly, "Playing tough won't get you anywhere with me."

"Deputy Meng, right?"

Ning Fan suddenly smiled. "Let me ask you something — did I kill anyone?"

The deputy's expression darkened immediately.

Ning Fan continued, "Did I use a Spirit Servant inside the zone?"

The deputy's brow furrowed.

Ning Fan's smile turned scornful. "The one breaking the rules was out there — beyond the zone!"

"Kid, watch your—"

"If you people had any real ability, the one sitting here being interrogated should be the man with the arrows, not me."

Ning Fan cut the deputy's warning short.

The cigarette had burned all the way down between the deputy's fingers.

Yet he didn't even notice — his dead-fish eyes stayed locked on Ning Fan without blinking.

"Seems like you've got quite a problem with us Observers."

"I didn't, originally."

"So it was because we let that guy get away. That's what turned you against us?"

"More or less."

Ning Fan was genuinely dissatisfied with how the Observers had handled things.

He didn't care that they couldn't catch the man.

What bothered him was that they had blocked Ning Fan.

Otherwise, once they were outside the zone, he could have found a way to lure the man near the cave and taken him down together with Qiao Fei and Huizi.

It might not have been guaranteed to work, but at least there would have been a chance.

But the giant axe thrown by the deputy had killed that chance entirely.

"You have a grudge against him?"

Ning Fan went quiet again.

"But you don't seem to know much about him."

The deputy picked up a sheet of paper from the table and placed it in front of Ning Fan. "This is his file. Take a look — then you'll understand why us failing to catch him... was no accident."

Driven by curiosity, Ning Fan looked down at the paper.

At the top was a photograph.

That was him.

Ning Fan had already burned his face into memory.

Below it was his basic profile.

Name: Su Bei

Age: ~25

Spirit Servant: [Light Arrow]

Soul Tier: [Hundred-Soul Tier] (or above)

Crimes: Zone F7 — illegal use of Spirit Servant and murder of 7 residents and Observers. Zone F11 — illegal use of Spirit Servant and murder of a senior zone administrator and 9 Observers. Zone F19 — illegal use of Spirit Servant and...

Wanted Level:

Ning Fan froze.

This person was actually [Hundred-Soul Tier]?!

Back then, based on Qiao Fei's assessment, she had put him at roughly [Ten-Soul Tier].

It seemed Qiao Fei had been wrong.

This man named Su Bei was far stronger than any of them had imagined.

But then — the blade wound on him...

Brother Chuan was only [Single-Soul Tier]. Could he really have cut someone like that this badly?

The questions in Ning Fan's mind piled up one after another. He desperately wanted to find Su Bei and demand answers.

And Su Bei's list of "accomplishments" stretched on for well over ten entries.

He had essentially caused trouble in every zone within the F district.

Someone like that still hadn't been caught — and somehow kept appearing in zone after zone.

"Think about it. If you had chased after him just now — would he be dead, or would you?"

The deputy broke into Ning Fan's thoughts.

Ning Fan looked up to find an amused smirk on the deputy's face.

"Don't tell me you stopped me because you were trying to save me."

Ning Fan quickly steadied himself. "Based on how your people treated me, I don't see much goodwill there."

"Of course — I had no reason to save you."

The deputy admitted plainly. "I just wanted to learn a little more about Su Bei from you."

He shrugged.

"But clearly, you know even less about him than we do."

Ning Fan had no way to argue with that.

Truth was, Ning Fan had noticed lately that he'd been changing.

Once, he had been someone who prepared everything thoroughly before acting.

But ever since he joined the Hound Shelter, nothing had given him time to prepare.

Being played by Yang Beihai — that came out of nowhere.

The deaths of his companions — just as sudden.

He'd had no time to think, no time to sort himself out.

Without realizing it, he had turned into someone who acted purely on instinct — a reckless brute.

Whether or not the deputy had good intentions in stopping him, at the very least...

It had been a wake-up call.

Ning Fan suddenly thought of Lin Chuan.

On the surface, Lin Chuan seemed rough and careless, hot-tempered and impulsive.

But the moment Su Bei appeared, he had made the most rational response possible.

No matter the situation, you had to stay calm enough.

You couldn't let your emotions cloud your judgment.

Once that settled in, it was the first time in nearly three days that Ning Fan felt something in his chest...

Quiet.

He was slowly starting to adapt to the world beyond the zone.

"Thanks."

Ning Fan said softly. "I apologize for acting recklessly earlier."

The deputy had already stood up and was about to leave, but paused at Ning Fan's words.

He looked at Ning Fan with curiosity, then broke into a smile.

"Changing your approach now?"

"No. I just genuinely think you saved my life."

Ning Fan licked his lips. "But what your subordinate did to me — I'll remember that too. One thing at a time."

"Oh? Holding a grudge against my man, right to my face?"

The deputy tilted his head with mild amusement. "What, you planning to beat him up?"

"If I get the chance — absolutely."

Ning Fan's tone turned serious. "But right now, I'd rather talk about working together."

The deputy blinked, then let out a dismissive laugh. "What could we possibly collaborate on?"

"Su Bei has caused incidents across multiple zones and no Observer team has managed to catch him. If you — the team from F27 — were the ones to pull it off, wouldn't that be quite something for your reputation?"

"Catch Su Bei?"

The deputy looked at Ning Fan like he was an idiot. "The man already ran. You saw it yourself. What are you talking about?"

"Who said just because he ran, he won't come back?"

Ning Fan raised an eyebrow. "If you trust me, I'm eighty percent confident I can take him down."

The deputy finally dropped his smirk.

Even if he doubted the credibility of Ning Fan's words, the prospect of bringing in Su Bei was simply too tempting to ignore.

Just like Ning Fan said — if all those Observer teams across all those zones had failed, and he was the one who managed it...

The F27 Observers would be the talk of the whole district.

Just as the deputy was still weighing things over, an impatient voice rang out from behind the door.

"It's the middle of the night and you drag someone out of bed for this? Don't you know women need their sleep or they age faster?"

With the voice came the sound of the door being pushed open.

Ning Fan looked toward the doorway and froze.

The person who had just opened the door froze as well.