Chapter 2771: The Disappeared NS Biological

"Is there anything else?" Xu Huo pressed further, "Whether it’s buying your work for 980 million or relying on Gu Hui Peak’s reputation, normally, it’s not worth taking such a risk to deal with a celebrity, especially since he’s currently in the limelight."

"Is there something else you don’t know, but he mentioned? Or is there something you’re still hiding?"

No need for guesswork, he straightforwardly said, "I’m only interested in your work. The sooner you clarify the issue, the better it will be for you. If Gu Hui Peak isn’t trying to abandon you and you can’t find him despite the information network in Zone 022, then his situation might be very dangerous, at least it’s a crisis he can’t escape with his own strength."

"If time drags on, even his last traces in this world may be erased."

The woman was clearly aware of something, hesitated repeatedly before making a decision, "Before he started selling bone remains, he was always investing in a biological company specializing in tackling genetic diseases."

"Before disappearing, he said that if the work was sold, he could get a large sum of cash to help the laboratory through tough times, and my illness would have hope for a cure..."

"I don’t know if this has anything to do with his disappearance, but apart from carving, the only time he’d leave home for outside activities was during exhibitions. I can’t think of anyone he’d offend; this is the only thing he was following up on, but I’m not aware of the details."

"What biological company?" Xu Huo asked.

"NS Biological," the woman said. "But after Gu Hui Peak disappeared, I went to this company’s address and found that the company didn’t exist. Everything related to the company on the Collection of Information Terminal was fake, and there were no medicines or any medical-related products produced under this company’s name in the division."

"Since Gu Hui Peak pledged he could cure you, he must have truly seen this company," Xu Huo paused for a moment and asked, "Are you sure he wouldn’t betray you?"

The woman took out a piece of paper sealed in a waterproof bag from her clothes, unfolded it, and placed it on the table. "I checked this potion’s patent application number previously at the patent supervision department; the name and content matched up, but when I checked yesterday, it was already gone."

"This is indeed something that a sculptor would find hard to achieve." Xu Huo glanced at the paper, "I’ll find someone to ask, wait here."

After his speech, he vanished from the room. The woman sat for two seconds, realizing he had truly left, she immediately sprang up and instinctively ran towards the door. But after taking a couple of steps, she abruptly halted, hesitated for a long time, then returned to her seat, tightly clutching the paper, her despair mingling with a courage willing to risk everything.

Less than twenty minutes later, Xu Huo returned to the room.

"This patent application is indeed real, but it was deleted a few days ago through the internal system of the patent review department. Although there’s no trace of the deletion left, I’ve found the person who did it. He admitted to helping someone; the one who requested it was the executive secretary of Earth Star City, meaning this matter is related to the governor of Earth Star City."

The woman, after a brief shock, quickly accepted his statement, "Why would the governor do this? Could it be NS Biological Company was involved in something illegal?"

"If that’s the case, there’s no need to completely erase traces of the already applied patent. About that potion, I asked, it’s indeed a treatment potion specifically for genetic diseases, real and effective."

"Since NS Biological no longer exists, it’s highly likely that this potion has been renamed along with its patent source. If you want to follow this line to investigate, you can only try to contact the governor or the executive secretary."

"However, since they are local government officials, they usually have interference chips implanted in their heads. Approaching them rashly might yield no results."

"You could look into NS Biological itself. If you haven’t contacted anyone from NS Biological, do you have contact information for any related personnel? Anyone connected is fine."

The woman immediately took out her terminal, "Gu Hui Peak mentioned a person to me. He invested in the biological company because of this person’s introduction. But this person is also out of contact now."

Xu Huo obtained the contact details, a full name, and the places he frequently visited, making it not difficult to find him.

He stood up to leave again, and the woman hurriedly asked, "Could you take me with you?"

"You’re safer waiting here," Xu Huo said. "Don’t put any information about Gu Hui Peak on the Collection of Information Terminal. If anyone contacts you about going home, don’t respond."

Sparing no more words, he left the hotel after giving his instructions.

He easily found information about the manager near the former NS Biological’s location. This person was originally not exclusively employed by NS Biological, he merely acted as a middleman to attract investments for any company in need, NS Biological was one of his employers.

But after NS Biological vanished overnight along with everyone at the company, he had appeared around the vicinity of the company, seemingly also quite frightened by the situation, hurriedly leaving, and hasn’t been seen since.

Xu Huo went to the other companies he worked at, and those frequently in contact with him are now not reachable, his personal terminal remained turned off all the time, indicating he likely is hiding.

In the game zone, a normal person trying to disappear completely without leaving any trace isn’t easy, so after checking this person’s travel records, he concluded he hadn’t left his familiar place. Hence, he spent some money to have a local private organization assist in finding him, under the pretext that this person deceived him out of a substantial investment then vanished.

It turned out he quickly caught a lead. People have their ways, mice have theirs, a place like Zone 022 isn’t fully transparent, banding together for warmth is customary, especially for those lacking strength and resources.

Xu Huo found the hiding person in an underground neighborhood.

The person, plump and prosperous in the photos, was now not only half as thin but also very haggard, resembling a startled bird as he walked with head lowered along the street’s edge. Noticing a figure ahead, he didn’t dare lift his head and timidly changed direction.

"Nong Zheng," Xu Huo called his name.

The middle-aged man, upon hearing, no longer shrank his body, frantically sprinting forward. But he didn’t run far before being blocked by an invisible wall. In panic, he pressed the instrument in his hand, but unfortunately, it didn’t work.

Xu Huo said nothing, taking the man directly back to the hotel.

Changing places suddenly, the middle-aged man knelt directly on the ground, looking around in alarm. Seeing there was only a woman in a face covering in the room, he slowly regained composure and even took the initiative to say, "I recognize you, you’re Gu Hui Peak’s lover, Xin Qin."

Xin Qin stepped up to Nong Zheng, grabbed his shoulders and asked, "Gu Hui Peak is missing, you must know where he is!"