Bai Xiaowen didn't ask Ahan to stay either. He knew that the main mission of the missing persons case still depended on Ahan to solve the mystery.
Bai Xiaowen spent the entire morning in the archives room, carefully flipping through the information. The information he read wasn't limited to the 13 missing residents, but all the information in Hodge Town's archives room.
There were more than 30,000 registered legal residents in Hodge Town, so it was obviously impossible to look through each and every one of them. When Bai Xiaowen browsed through the list, he also listed some of the wealthier, nobler, and more influential families in Hodge Town as his focus. Other than that, he also listed the families that had undergone major changes in the past two months.
"Did you find anything?" Li Shuyi hadn't been idle. He had been acting as Bai Xiaowen's assistant. When Bai Xiaowen finished browsing, he frowned and immediately asked.
Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes and said, "There were some unexpected discoveries. I now suspect that … the missing persons case has something to do with the patrol team under Ahan. "
"Huh?" Li Shuyi had a good impression of the sheriff, Ahan. When he heard Bai Xiaowen's words, he was shocked. "Are you saying that Ahan is a thief pretending to be a thief? Ahan … doesn't look like such a person. "
Bai Xiaowen said, "Ahan himself probably doesn't know. I mean, there should be a mole in the patrol team. "
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen pointed at the information of the 13 missing residents and said, "After Hodge Town implemented the curfew system, the patrol team patrolled at night, but there were still new cases of missing residents. Every time, it happened in the patrol team's blind spot. It could be said that they perfectly avoided the patrol team. This is quite strange."
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen said, "This alone doesn't mean anything. However, from the information of the missing residents, the missing people all have some common characteristics. First, they are healthy and don't have any diseases. Second, they are middle-aged and in the prime of their lives. Third, they are mostly men. From these common characteristics, we can infer the motive of the mastermind behind the kidnapping … "
Li Shuyi thought for a moment and said, "Human experiments?"
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "Don't let the Norton incident mislead you. Human experiments required samples of all ages and genders. Therefore, the culprit shouldn't be doing human experiments. In my opinion, it's more like they're keeping slaves. "
Li Shuyi: "Slaves? When I was studying the history of Earth in the Christian era, I learned about the black slave trade. The black people in Africa were sent to the newly developed United States to be serfs … "
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "That's right. I think there must be a slave trade going on behind the scenes in Hodge Town. The kidnapped residents definitely can't be kept in Hodge Town. They must be transported to other places, or else it would be too easy to be exposed. In order to support such a slave trade without being discovered, it must be someone who holds the public power of Hodge Town and has a strong influence. "
"So you think there's something wrong with the patrol team?" Li Shuyi followed Bai Xiaowen's train of thought. "The captain of the patrol team is Ahan, and he should be very talented in running an army. He shouldn't be unaware that his subordinates are doing such a big thing behind his back … Could it be that our main mission is to deal with Ahan in the end? "
Bai Xiaowen shook his head again and denied it. "It can't be Ahan."
Li Shuyi blinked.
"Do you still remember the prefix of our ticket? Isn't one of them called 'speculation'? "Bai Xiaowen explained," Where does the 50% reduction in the difficulty of the main mission manifest? From what I understand, this 50% reduction in difficulty manifests in the area where we live. We live on the same street as Ahan, and he has some impression of us, so he accepts us very well. This is also the reason why we can live in Ahan's house. "
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "Therefore, Ahan is an important NPC in the main mission. According to the rules of the Spiritual Realm, having Ahan's implicit trust is equivalent to completing 50% of the main mission. This shows how important and powerful he is. If the main mission is to deal with Ahan in the end, then where does the 50% reduction in difficulty manifest in the prefix 'speculation'? "
Li Shuyi believed that Bai Xiaowen inferred that Ahan had nothing to do with the mastermind behind the missing persons case based on this "off-site" information. After eliminating this possibility, she thought about it. "So you just focused on the files of the influential and powerful families in Hodge Town in order to find the dealer of the slave trade? Did you find it? "
Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes slightly. "Unfortunately, most of the influential families in Hodge Town aren't at the level to support the slave trade. After eliminating many possibilities, there's only one left, and it's also the one that Ahan finds the most difficult to accept. There's this possibility … "
"Don't keep me in suspense …" Li Shuyi grabbed Bai Xiaowen's hand and shook it. "Hurry up and tell me."
"The mayor of Hodge Town, Hiram David's family."
Li Shuyi said in surprise, "Isn't that Jenny's family? Hiram, the mayor, is Ahan's father-in-law, right? "
"That's right."
"But … why would the Davids do this? Logically speaking, they're the rulers of Hodge Town, and a stable Hodge Town should be in their best interests. Now that the town is in a state of panic and the market is depressed after the curfew, the Davids will lose their interests. "Li Shuyi could see this point clearly.
"Don't worry. I'm just suspecting. I don't have conclusive evidence yet. The fulcrum of all this logic is based on the inference of the 'slave trade,'" Bai Xiaowen said. "We don't have to reveal this to Ahan for the time being … Let's investigate it ourselves first."
…
This time, Bai Xiaowen finally found some clues after looking through the information. He and Li Shuyi passed through the bread mill on Windmill Street and walked to the Davids' mansion in the north of town.
Two militiamen were standing in front of the gate of the Davids' mansion.
Bai Xiaowen tried to enter, but was stopped by the militiamen. "Stop, you don't have permission to enter."
Bai Xiaowen blinked and took out the "militia patrol nameplate."
"This is not a valid pass," the militiamen said seriously. "If you have personal matters to discuss with Mayor Hiram, please make an appointment in advance. But I have to remind you that Mayor Hiram is rarely willing to see guests, especially a young boy like you who has no status. "
Bai Xiaowen said, "Hey, your helmets are so cool. Can you lend them to me? Let me tell you, I also want to be a sentinel. "
The two sentinels looked at Bai Xiaowen as if he were an idiot. Then, they pushed and shoved Bai Xiaowen ten meters away from the gate. "Go away, don't get in our way."
"Okay, I'll go." Bai Xiaowen shrugged.
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