After leaving the Mayor’s office, Ye Xun went straight to City Hall’s archives to check Snezhnaya’s historical demographic statistics.
As a result, he discovered some intriguing numbers.
For instance, Snezhnaya’s population had experienced a continuous negative growth rate in recent years.
Yet miraculously, the number of newborns was increasing year by year.
So, the question arose—where did this population that should have grown actually end up?
Ye Xun didn’t dig any deeper.
He simply transcribed a key set of data, turned around, and left.
Stepping out of the City Hall building, the golden sunlight spilled over him, bringing a touch of warmth.
He stretched, then took long, confident strides forward.
However, before he had walked very far, a sudden chill swept down his back.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to look back.
What caught his eye was a magnificent, imposing building—the headquarters of Northland Bank.
Ye Xun cast a meaningful smile toward the building, turned back around, and continued forward into the sunlight.
“Interesting.” On the top floor of the building, a man wearing a bird-beak mask looked down at Ye Xun’s receding figure, the corners of his lips curling into a cold arc.
Beside him stood a refined, gentle-looking man, his eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses filled with a touch of curiosity.
“Dottore, why are you interested in him?” “Pantalone, humans are creatures ruled by hatred.” Dottore raised his head slightly, his tone low and calm.
“When revenge fails, that painful despair will slowly twist a person.” “Aren’t you afraid he might ruin your experiment?” Pantalone pressed.
Dottore merely offered a flat response.
“He is nothing more than a slightly clever ant.” His voice was entirely devoid of emotion, as if stating an indisputable fact.
Pantalone shook his head lightly.
“Still…
this isn’t a good bargain.” “That is the difference between you and me,” Dottore chuckled softly.
“A banker only calculates gains and losses, whereas I enjoy the experimental process of validating a hypothesis.” Pantalone kept his gentle smile intact.
“Then I hope things go as you wish.” Dottore didn’t answer, his eyes remaining fixed on that distant, fading figure.
For some reason, a persistent, lingering trace of irritation hovered in the depths of his mind.
…
Pushing open the creaking, rickety wooden door, Ye Xun walked into his room and sat down at his desk.
His eyes fell upon a yellowed photograph resting at the corner of the desk.
A moment later, he pulled a stack of blank paper from his drawer.
At the very top of the first page, he solemnly wrote four words—*She Who Vanished*.
After mapping out the plot in his mind, Ye Xun wrote furiously: “A young couple from Fontaine brought their adorable daughter to the Winter Capital for a vacation.
“Unexpectedly, their daughter vanished out of nowhere.
The husband searched frantically, only to be told by his wife that they had never had a daughter.
“…In the end, as his mind broke down, the husband revealed the truth—because of heavy gambling debts, the daughter had actually been…” At the bottom of the article, he added a set of fabricated figures: “According to incomplete statistics, over 1,500 children have gone missing in the Winter Capital over the past year.” Finishing the piece, Ye Xun shook his aching wrist.
Without a moment’s rest, he immediately set to work on another sensationalized “deep-dive analysis”: *Shocking!!!
The Truth Behind the Serial Disappearance of Young Women Is Actually…* In the text, he directly fabricated the unresolved case of serial young women disappearances in Fontaine, alleging that “the victims were lured to Snezhnaya and reduced to sacrifices in secret human experiments.” Unbeknownst to him, the sky outside had turned pitch-black.
Ye Xun carefully placed both manuscripts into a document folder, got up, and left the house in a hurry.
The moonlight was cold and clear, and the chilly night wind brought a rare sense of refreshment as it brushed across his face.
About half an hour later, holding the document folder under his arm, he stood before the doors of the House of the Hearth and knocked gently.
After a brief wait, the door slowly opened.
The person who opened it was an acquaintance—Lynette.
She wore a pair of soft, adorable pink pajamas, looking exceptionally charming and sweet under the warm yellow light.
Only, she seemed to be in a bad mood, her violet cat-like eyes glaring at him huffily.
“Ye Xun…
it’s so late, what do you want?” “Naturally, I have important business to discuss with your Father,” Ye Xun replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Lynette bit her lower lip, muttering in slight dissatisfaction, “Couldn’t you have come earlier?” “I couldn’t,” Ye Xun shrugged helplessly.
“Visiting at this hour is precisely to avoid bringing unnecessary trouble to the House of the Hearth.” Hearing this, Lynette’s expression softened slightly.
She stepped aside.
“Come in.
Father is in the study.” Ye Xun nodded and walked toward the study.
Inside the room, Arlecchino sat behind her desk, her expression as cold and stern as ever, exuding a dangerous aura of pressure.
“It seems you have already begun your move,” she said flatly.
Ye Xun nodded, stepped forward, and handed her the document folder.
Arlecchino reached out to take it, pulled out the stack of manuscripts inside, and lowered her eyes to read through them carefully.
Ye Xun ambled over to the sofa opposite her and leaned back casually in a relaxed posture.
The room fell into complete silence, save for the faint rustling of turning pages softly echoing through the air.
After a long while, Arlecchino turned the final page, looked up at Ye Xun, her eyes calm and deep.
“These tactics of yours are indeed quite clever…
but if you want to achieve your goal, I’m afraid this alone isn’t enough.” Ye Xun’s expression remained composed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the seal given to him by Pulcinella.
“Adding this, is it enough?” Arlecchino froze for a moment, a flash of surprise gliding across her eyes.
“How did you manage to get this from that shrewd old fox?” “Lord Arlecchino, you have some misunderstandings about the Mayor,” Ye Xun said, his lips curling into a gentle smile.
“He is actually a good person who stands in the dark while longing for justice.
He was the very first person to fully support me.” Arlecchino remained silent for a moment, her eyes dark as she slowly opened her mouth.
“…Does Pulcinella know he’s a good person?” “Of course he knows,” Ye Xun countered with a smile.
“Otherwise, why would he hand this seal over to me?” “Because you used swindling and deception, naturally!” “I, Ye Xun, am honest and trustworthy.
I would never use such shameless tactics!”