The sudden appearance of the woman with golden short hair plunged the Black Rabbit Gang's meeting room into a brief silence.
Leaning on the sofa, the golden-haired woman said somewhat lazily,
"Why has it gone so quiet all of a sudden? Have you got something to explain to the Black Whale Group? Keep talking, won't you?"
The newcomer's presence was that of a First Order Transcendent.
One brave Black Rabbit Gang member kicked over a chair and drew a black pistol, aiming it at the woman's head:
"Dare to break into our important meeting, do you have a death wish? Brothers, grab your weapons!"
Slap!
The next second, the gang's deputy leader, a bespectacled man, rose to his feet and delivered a resounding slap to the gang member, knocking him to the ground.
"Have you lost your mind?"
Then, the bespectacled man stood up, straightened his suit, and whispered to the gang member,
"She has a powerful background, we can't afford to offend her, just endure it."
At this moment, under the light, everyone finally got a clear look at the visitor's face.
Golden, beautiful short hair, blue eyes like a cat's, and a camera in hand.
She was not an ordinary person but the chief reporter of Moonstone City's Dove Times, the "Miracle Reporter" Perle!
However, Perle's hair was disheveled at the moment, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
In the gang legends of Moonstone City, although Perle was only a First Order Transcendent, all the gangs that tried to oppose her had paid a painful price.
No matter how big the trouble she caused, there was always someone to clean up after her.
People speculated that she might be an insane princess banished by the King of Bei Country, or a witch with demon blood, or perhaps the daughter of a mental hospital's director.
There were countless urban legends about her.
Seeing Perle, without a strong background, resistance was a suicidal choice. One either had to accept the interview obediently or run away.
The bespectacled man, of course, knew this, and he bowed proficiently at a ninety-degree angle:
"Miss Perle, I apologize, my subordinate was impolite just now. Please forgive us."
"At least you're sensible."
Perle walked up, looked around, and then found the most luxurious chair in the room to sit down.
That was the precious chair of their Black Rabbit Gang leader!
Only a speaker of the Black Rabbit Gang dared to sit in that chair.
The gang members were shocked; their boss had only been dead for one day, and already someone else was sitting in his chair.
Perle crossed her legs, took out her draft papers and pen, and said casually,
"Just a reminder, there's something serious going on right now, so you'd best cooperate with the interview."
Something serious happening! Could it be that the guards outside had already encountered an accident... The bespectacled man slowly straightened his back and asked,
"Miss Perle, may I ask, what is this serious matter?"
Perle dug her ear with her pen:
"Today, I'm in a very bad mood."
"..."
The bespectacled man was speechless.
A bad mood counts as a serious matter?
The next second, Perle looked at the dark images on the projector, furrowed her brows, and said,
"Do you know, I've been looking for the Flower Witch for three days, yet I've only gotten a tiny bit of information.
Besides, that jerk in the office who only knows how to draw men's and women's physiques has achieved a new sales record, almost surpassing me.
Furthermore, after three sleepless nights, I wanted to go to the seaside to enjoy a meal of moonlight fish made by my lovely fans, but that guy is nowhere to be found.
A Transcendent Chef, who's not at all professional or money-loving!"
From Perle's tone, one could clearly sense her irritability.
The bespectacled man calmly said,
"With the Crack Tide Descent, moonlight fish ingredients are indeed limited recently. That's definitely a terrible thing."
"Yes! Of course, the key point is I haven't had any good news lately.
I had no choice but to come here and interview you about your dealings with the Black Whale Group, hoping your troubles are worthy of making my newspaper."
As she spoke, Perle turned her head and placed her pen on the draft paper.
The usually composed bespectacled man now clenched his fists.
The gang's kidnappings, extortion, and other misdeeds were also allowed by the higher-ups.
As long as they didn't overstep, the third district's law enforcement often turned a blind eye.
However, collusion with pirates was a totally different matter!
A collusion with pirates, especially with the most notorious of the four major pirate groups, the Black Whale Group!
With the navy's recent reorganization, they were certain to reclaim Shell Country's dominance of the sea!
At this time, this was an unforgivable crime!
They could even be subjected to a punishment more severe than the death penalty, being used as test subjects by Shell Country's special agency.
They couldn't talk about it carelessly.
Perle yawned:
"Hurry up and talk; once I'm done with you, I still have to return to the paper, hand my article to the review team, then I can finally go home to sleep.
And yes, I have to find time for a meal too, time is precious."
The man with glasses bit his lip and placed his hand on the gun at his waist, extremely conflicted.
The arrogant woman before him, though she had a significant background, was at the end of the day only a First Order Transcendent!
This was their turf.
She was merely flesh and blood; when a bullet pierced her skull, she too would become a corpse.
If the boss were still alive, even if they killed her and were pursued by the vast background behind her,
they could escape to the open sea and remain beyond the reach of the law.
And their Black Rabbit gang would become a renowned faction in Moonstone City for having killed Peilu.
If the boss had not encountered the sea overlord, if they had chosen another day to take to the sea, if the boss were alive,
they would have had the courage to act.
But now, the entire Black Rabbit ship lay buried in the storm at sea.
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The boss was beyond revival.
The Black Rabbit gang was in name only; not to mention killing Peilu, even the crime of killing a civilian was more than they could bear.
They could only kneel down obediently and submit to Peilu's judgment.
Without any room for resistance, without any room for negotiation... After recognizing the facts, the man with glasses slumped:
"I'll tell everything.
Three months ago, our leader, Black Rabbit, chanced upon the Black Whale Group's matriarch in the city's red-light district. Eventually, at her suggestion, we considered joining the Black Whale Group.
The Black Whale Group informed us that in about three months, the entire ocean would undergo drastic change. And to let the navy know who the true master of the Witch Sea was, they needed a large number of hands, so they extended an invitation to us.
Thus, under Black Rabbit's arrangement, we began preparations to set sail."
"The matriarch? That pirate matriarch who keeps a hundred handsome men, and your leader settled the details of joining the Black Whale Group with her in the red-light district? Roughly how many people were involved in this?
"A dozen people. All the officials of our gang participated, and we were almost caught by a navy officer."
#The Black Rabbit gang and the pirate matriarch conducting forbidden activities in the red-light district attracted the attention of the navy#
Peilu jotted down a headline on her paper, then after a moment's thought, she changed it.
As the reporter with the highest circulation for the Moonstone City newspaper, she did not need to resort to such deceptive titles.
She rested her chin on her palm and twirled her pen:
"So, the Black Whale Group knew about the Crack Tide's Descent coming in three months, interesting, something even the Bei Country Meteorological Bureau didn't know about.
What else?"
The man with glasses swallowed nervously:
"That's it. Many matters were settled by our boss, Black Rabbit. Unfortunately, he has now encountered an attack out on the open sea."
"Putting all the blame on a dead man, huh.
By the way, when he died at sea, it wasn't a staged death? Nothing more interesting to tell?"
Many gang leaders, before leaving their gang, would fake their own deaths to prevent being hunted down.
Peilu slowly wrote down the information.
In fact, there were more than just the Black Rabbit gang collaborating with the Black Whale Group.
Other newspapers had reported on related matters as well.
The news of the Black Rabbit gang could only be considered a minor piece.
The man with glasses said helplessly:
"No, it wasn't a staged death. The Black Rabbit ship encountered the sea overlord, Black Mud. We have evidence. This is probably the ultimate fate of our gang members."
"A sea overlord, Black Mud, the chances of an encounter with those two are quite low. Your gang is really 'lucky.'
Peilu became intrigued and walked over to the projector.
The images still played on a loop from the film projector, displaying the stormy sea.
The gray ocean, the howling storm, waves of black mud, and the terrifying sea overlord.
This footage was much more interesting than these boring gang members.
Peilu watched intently, not looking away:
"Hey, is there a possibility of infighting happening on your Black Rabbit ship?"
"Infighting? Unlikely. What's up, Miss Peilu?"
The man with glasses asked, puzzled.
Peilu bent over, a glint in her eyes.
"A shipwreck, you say?"
She replayed the footage once more, closely watching the images before her.
"No, that's not right."
She murmured to herself:
"The footage is blurry, yet many people in it are clearly looking at a target, something that instills fear in them.
The black mud on the ship has traces of being trampled in a short time.
And there's a fleeting shadow at the edge of the frame.
Upon your fallen leader, besides black mud, you can vaguely make out knife wounds..."
The crowd listened to Peilu's analysis, still somewhat bewildered.
"Miss Peilu, what are you getting at?"
Peilu's eyes flashed, and then she voiced a speculation that shocked all the gang members present.
"Someone on this ship, in the midst of the chaos, murdered your Black Rabbit gang."