Chapter 256 Incident, Seeking Help
"Can you get through on the phone?" Daniel asked.
What York didn't know was that he and Emily had their signal blocked the moment they entered the village.
York, who was supposed to report to Daniel every hour, had suddenly lost contact.
Daniel had already arranged for others to head there.
The one speaking now was Oliver, who ranked below York in Dark Order.
"Sorry, Mr. Smith, York's signal has been blocked. We're working on breaking through it."
Obviously, if it required their professionals to work this hard, the person blocking the signal must be an expert.
A remote village with someone this skilled at blocking signals was telling enough.
"Go gather the team."
Daniel frowned. If necessary, he was even prepared to go there himself.
Oliver had already heard from York and could see Daniel's intention. He spoke up, "Mr. Smith, if you're planning to go to Cliff Village, I'm sorry, but for the sake of your health, we can't let you take that risk no matter what!"
Daniel was their leader and their backbone.
Dark Order existed because of Daniel.
Daniel frowned, "What, am I being sidelined now? You won't listen to me, and now you want to control me!"
These words were serious, just short of accusing them of betrayal.
Oliver felt bitter inside but still insisted, "Mr. Smith, even if I'm punished afterward, I'll still do this. York said this was Ms. Johnson's instruction. She's worried about you, and Ms. Johnson said that with your physical condition, you'd actually be a burden if you went!"
Daniel felt both frustrated and dejected.
He could actually sense his body's condition.
Unlike last time, he was clearly much weaker now.
"Bring me a computer!"
Daniel didn't mention going himself anymore, but no one knew what he was thinking.
His sudden request for a computer made Oliver think that as long as Daniel didn't take risks, he'd satisfy these requests.
Daniel could become Dark Order's leader because of his exceptional abilities.
Whether in combat skills, computer technology, or organizational ability, he was top-tier.
His fingers flew rapidly across the keyboard, his expression and movements remarkably similar to Emily's.
Sure enough, the signal was blocked.
Daniel now had to remove the block without the other side noticing, to avoid alerting them.
Additionally, he could use the necklace Emily wore to locate her exact position.
Then Daniel discovered that the method used to block the signal was essentially a suicide mechanism.
Once the block was removed, the system on the other end would crash immediately, alerting them.
Daniel needed time to handle this.
After a long while, he stopped.
He first located Emily's position, then stopped working on the computer.
Instead, he took out his phone and made a call.
"Daniel, why are you suddenly calling me? What do you need?"
The speaker was a middle-aged man, but his familiar tone showed they had a close relationship.
"I do have something I need to trouble you with."
This middle-aged man had connections through Daniel's mother's side. Daniel rarely asked anyone for help, so when he called Irvin, the man immediately became serious.
"Why be formal with me? Tell me!"
"I need your law enforcement team's help. My friend entered a village and lost contact. The signal's been blocked."
Daniel wasn't local, and even though the Smith family was powerful, it was hard for an outsider to overpower local forces.
To be safe, he bypassed the town's law enforcement and contacted the city's directly.
This was jumping two levels, mainly because he only knew people at this level.
A village installing signal blockers that could evade Daniel's detection—Irvin Hays, who could reach this position, truly had the ability and immediately sensed something unusual.
"Alright, I'll mobilize people immediately."
"Thank you, Mr. Hays!"
After thanking him, Daniel hung up.
But his tense nerves never relaxed.
Now he could only wait—wait for the people Oliver was gathering and those Gabriel was mobilizing.
Emily and York, whom he was worried about, were now sitting at a dining table.
The village chief and his wife had prepared a feast.
You couldn't say the chief's family was poor—though their house was still made of mud bricks.
But you couldn't say they were poor either—the food they prepared was truly abundant and generous.
And just as they sat down to eat, two more people arrived—an old man and a young one.
The older one was about the chief's age but clearly had a menacing air.
The young man with him was around Emily's age, at most in his early twenties.
But Emily noticed the dark circles under his eyes—clearly from excessive indulgence.
More importantly, the way he looked at Emily was obviously murky and lustful.
Emily had originally thought the village chief was probably the one in charge, but seeing this menacing man, he was likely the real power here.
As for the lustful young man, she had an unpleasant suspicion.
"We rarely get outsiders in our village. Now that you're here, we must treat you well. Are these things too simple?"
The menacing man spoke.
The young man immediately chimed in, "Yeah, village chief, such a pretty girl comes to our village, and you don't treat her better. Your name's Emily, right? Come on, eat more, don't be shy!"
As he spoke, the young man put a piece of steak on Emily's plate.
But York grabbed the food from Emily's plate first, "Emily doesn't like this. I'll eat it for her!"
Emily didn't even have time to stop him.
Still, this worked out—they probably wouldn't suspect she'd discovered the food was drugged.
The young man, though unhappy with York's action, showed amusement in his eyes when he saw York eat it.
The village chief, seeing Yosef's blatant stare, coughed lightly to ease the awkwardness and avoid Emily's suspicion.
"We know you city folks are particular and don't like others serving you food. Emily, don't be shy, help yourself. These vegetables were just picked from the field—fresh and all natural. Try them!"
"Okay!"
After the chief spoke, everyone's eyes were on Emily.
Emily knew she had to eat to dispel their suspicions.
She knew medicine—these drugged items wouldn't affect her.
So after agreeing, Emily ate openly in front of them.
The moment the food entered her mouth, almost everyone's smiles became genuine.
Based on the drug's effect, Emily knew when she should pass out. She rubbed her forehead with her fingers, her body swaying unsteadily.
She reached out to grab York beside her, trying to steady herself, "York, what's happening? I feel dizzy."
When Emily grabbed him, York was startled at first, but immediately realized Emily had slipped him a pill.
Hearing Emily say she was dizzy, he knew there was something wrong with the food.
Then he noticed his head starting to feel dizzy, which further confirmed his suspicion.
He first tried to comfort her, "It's okay, probably just tired, rest first..."
Before he could finish, his body slumped onto the table. As he fell, he swallowed the pill Emily had given him.