Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

With a loud bang, thousands of steel balls propelled by gunpowder shot forward, riddling three people with holes in an instant. Furthermore, the waves generated by the explosion continuously shattered the wooden compartment walls and the brick exterior walls of the private room, blasting a hole half a meter in length and width on the third floor of the restaurant.

This was exactly the location Chaoyang had carefully chosen, to ensure the directional mine wouldn’t affect the other customers in the restaurant.

But even with the Broadsword Claymore, the duplicate less than half a meter behind him couldn’t possibly remain unharmed—the moment of the explosion, it was also hit by a piece of the shattered casing and collapsed onto the ground. However, this didn’t matter much, as the duplicate was meant to be discarded, and once his consciousness returned to the original body, he promptly erased the replica, leaving only Ziegler and his two bodyguards as the deceased at the scene.

The sudden explosion caused the patrons inside the restaurant to scream and flee, while the security detail and gang members waiting in the lobby below wanted to check the situation upstairs, causing the two streams of people to block each other on the stairs, creating an extremely chaotic scene for a moment.

This was precisely what Chaoyang liked to see.

Before Ziegler’s arrival, Chaoyang’s original body had already been hiding in a private room on the second floor. Seeing the restaurant in chaos, he swiftly changed into a bloody, charred jacket and limped out of the room, shouting, "Security! Where’s the damn security?! Assassins! Hurry up and protect me!"

Hearing Bariff’s cry for help, the security team became more frantic, pushing down several patrons blocking their way and stepping on their bodies to rush upstairs, shouting, "Sir, sir! Are you alright?!"

"Alright my ass! Can’t you see I’m injured! Get me out of here now!" Chaoyang cursed at them.

"Yes, yes! My apologies for the oversight!" the people scrambled to carry him, swarming out of the restaurant and heading straight for the tallest building in the wealthy district, which was the Governor’s residence.

"Stop, stop, stop, put me down!"

"But you’re injured, we need to take you to the doctor..."

"Idiots, my injuries aren’t serious; the priority is to catch the assassin!" Chaoyang instructed, "As long as I’m away from the restaurant, I’ll be safe. Leave two people to take me to the Governor’s Mansion, everyone else block off the restaurant and check every patron’s identity!"

"This..." The lead guard hesitated. The patrons who could afford to dine in the restaurant all had a measure of influence. While the company was dominant, they still relied on the support of smugglers and gangs—offending these people was clearly not a good move.

"What are you waiting for?! If we delay any further, the assassin will escape!"

"Understood, I’ll get on it now."

Seeing their boss glaring fiercely, the captain had no choice but to toughen up and comply.

"And, especially those gang members, make sure to investigate thoroughly! The one who tried to assassinate me and Ziegler must have been sent by other gangs!" Chaoyang didn’t forget to shout loudly. By that time, there were quite a few onlookers gathered on the street who would have heard the "killer’s" caution.

’It’s done; you can tell them that Ziegler is dead, their wish has been fulfilled.’

Meanwhile, Ailuodi looked up at the three contractors in front of her, "Ziegler is dead."

The three looked at each other, clearly in a state of shock.

Enkui was the quickest to react, "Are you sure? How did he die?"

"He died in an explosion at the Colorful Fish Belly restaurant in the Western District. You can go to the scene to check, or you can wait here for the news to spread. I estimate that within an hour, the whole city will know of the death of the Fish Harpoon boss."

"I’ll go and find out!" Marei was the first to speak up.

"We’re going too!" The three contractors came to their senses and exclaimed in unison. For them, who had blood feuds with Dead Gun Ziegler, the sooner they could see the gangster’s corpse, the better.

Ailuodi waved her hand, "Go ahead, I won’t make the trip this time. The divinities have already informed me of everything."

"Is this really the doing of the Paradise Master?" Enkui found it hard to believe that this was true... After all, it was only twenty minutes ago that she heard the Divine Envoy’s request to bring the three people here for signing the contract. And what about Ziegler? In the City of Defense, there were plenty who wanted him dead, and as the leader of the Fish Harpoon, he was always accompanied by a team of bodyguards wherever he went, and he himself possessed formidable martial prowess. He had made a name for himself for about seven to eight years, and Ziegler was still alive and well, while the number of people who had died at his hands amounted to hundreds. So, the contract had only just been signed twenty minutes ago and this big bad guy who was the center of attention was dead?

It sounded like a tale of sheer fantasy to her.

"Rest assured, it’s not that whenever anyone prays for revenge, the Paradise Master always responds. The goal of the Paradise Sect is to make the world a better place, and if someone is a thorn in the side of evildoers, no matter how many times they pray, the divinities will not heed them," Ailuodi answered very indifferently, as if punishing Ziegler was not something to boast about repeatedly.

Of course, she was a little nervous in her heart, for Chaoyang was about to report to the Governor with his real body. Such a big incident had occurred; Bariff could not possibly not see the Governor, and if he fled, this identity would be wasted. Theoretically, the safest approach was certainly to prepare another body double, but the two of them were now lacking that 160 points of wishing power—a capability that could usually be squandered at will, but now had to be used carefully on the blade’s edge.

Chaoyang, on the other hand, was confident.

Because Ziegler was an outsider. No matter how powerful or influential he was locally, to the Ransu Company, he was nothing but a useful dog. As long as the excavation of new energy wasn’t affected, the death of a dog was irrelevant, another tail-wagger could easily replace it.

For the gangs, however, the situation was different. Whether within the Fish Harpoon or other factions, Ziegler’s death was bound to create a power vacuum. Those power-hungry contenders would surely break into a fight to replace Ziegler, an action that essentially weakened the strength of the Ransu Company.

After all, gangs were not armies. Their sole purpose for existing was to gnaw on more flesh and wealth.

Once again, Chaoyang entered the lavish office to explain the situation to the exalted Governor.

The latter’s reaction was as he had expected, clearly showing displeasure but not blaming Bariff for the problem. "Are you sure it was another gang that did this?"

"Yes... A moment before the explosion, Ziegler shouted out that the culprits were from the Sea Snake Gang."

"A bunch of shortsighted fools," Haiboman cursed angrily, "I know. I’ll arrange for someone else to handle this matter. How seriously are you injured?"

Of course, he didn’t care about Bariff’s injuries.

Chaoyang, understanding, displayed the fabricated scratch on his arm to the other party while promising, "It’s nothing serious, I assure you it won’t affect the excavation work."

"Good. Go see Doctor Musha to have your wound treated, then get back to work as soon as possible."

"Alright, I’ll get to it then."

Chaoyang couldn’t wait to leave sooner, but just as he reached the door, the Governor called out to him again, "Right, you said you wanted to meet Ziegler to discuss expanding the labor scale, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn’t you ask him to talk at the excavation site? Business should be discussed over a meal only with those of equal status," Haiboman glanced at him, "You never used to get so close to those involved in gangs."

Chaoyang’s heart skipped a beat.

But on the surface, he remained utterly calm, "Because I need them to bring two hundred percent of their enthusiasm to serve the company, given the urgent timeline..."

When it came to the schedule, the Governor’s gaze withdrew, and he waved his hand, signaling Chaoyang to leave promptly.

"Your subordinate takes his leave." After Chaoyang closed the door, his heart settled down—without a doubt, the Governor had begun to suspect something, but not to the point of completely denying him, because the project still relied on Bariff to move forward. Perhaps after a few more days of interaction, the Governor would fully realize there was a serious problem with the project leader, but Chaoyang wouldn’t give him that chance.