In the days that followed, undercurrents surged in Amber City, and things became increasingly unstable.
A series of bizarre deaths occurred in the city, yet it was impossible to determine if they were the work of humans or supernatural forces.
Some committed copycat crimes, wearing the Clown's exaggerated smile to kill, later attempting to escape punishment under the guise of mental illness.
Worse still, some utilized lingering "rules" to achieve various illegal ends.
The intertwining of genuine supernatural incidents and copycat crimes kept the Investigation Bureau quite busy.
In stark contrast was the "leisure" within the Special Operations Section office.
Bai Wanyang sat at his workstation with a pile of documents on his desk, his fingers occasionally tapping the keyboard, looking very busy.
But a closer look revealed his eyes were vacant, his finger movements meaningless; he was entirely... efficiently slacking off.
Yue Shi logged into the Supernatural Forum, searching for useful clues amidst the constantly refreshing junk data.
Yue Shi had yet to see any sign of the people sent by headquarters.
According to Ling Xun, they had been stationed directly at the scene outside the city for the past few days, conducting investigation and tracing work almost day and night. They allowed no outside interference and rarely returned to the city.
Ling Xun would occasionally remark, “The people from headquarters really give it their all when handling a case.”
The only one frequently making his presence felt in the Investigation Bureau building was that Mr. Wang.
He seemed to have completely forgotten about being beaten by Yue Shi that day—at least on the surface. He roamed randomly through various departments like an inspection official.
The Amber City Investigation Bureau had left a terrible impression on Mr. Wang.
Personal grudges aside, Mr. Wang had no affection for this local branch, especially the transcendents of the Special Operations Section.
He had never seen such a lax way of doing things!
Even though Amber City was currently a chaotic mess, the atmosphere in the Special Operations Section remained relaxed and leisurely...
Several transcendents spent all day clamoring about being “busy to death” or “exhausted from work,” but their workload was nothing in Mr. Wang's eyes.
The twin sisters even had the mind to go get their nails done!
Only Ling Xun was somewhat responsible, but even that was only “relatively” so.
In branches of other cities, every transcendent Mr. Wang had seen was busy, striving to keep the peace. He couldn't rule out that they were intentionally performing for a headquarters commissioner, but the people in the Amber City Investigation Bureau didn't even bother to pretend.
Mr. Wang truly couldn't help but offer a few reminders, hoping they would work seriously and not shame the uniforms they wore.
He was truly acting out of pure goodwill.
Initially, out of respect for his position at headquarters, everyone humored him slightly.
However, they soon discovered that Mr. Wang was the type to give an inch and take a mile, and he thoroughly enjoyed preaching.
Thus, Mr. Wang ushered in a special period of his own.
The Wei sisters were the most polite, only offering occasional passive-aggressive remarks.
Aunt Gu was more direct, treating Mr. Wang entirely as if he were air, ignoring him as if he didn't even exist in the Bureau.
Bai Wanyang took a different approach, entering nonsense answers mode. No matter what Mr. Wang said, whether it was criticism or questioning, Bai Wanyang would always reply with “Okay,” “Received,” or “No problem.”
As for Yue Shi...
Because Mr. Wang couldn't help but look at Yue Shi with hostile eyes, Yue Shi once stated publicly:
“I really love it when certain lowlifes give me attitude. After all, that’s how a streetwalker looks at a phoenix~”
Pure, malicious vitriol.
After just two days of contact, Mr. Wang felt like he was suffocating!
What exactly was wrong with the Amber City Investigation Bureau?
From top to bottom, male to female, there wasn't a single normal person!
How did they dare treat a special commissioner from headquarters with such an attitude?!
Mr. Wang recorded one grievance after another in his little notebook.
...
That night, Yue Shi walked out of the bathroom drying his damp long hair, water droplets sliding down his skin.
His phone screen on the table was lit up, showing three missed calls from the same unknown number, once every five minutes, quite persistent.
Yue Shi glanced at it, having no intention of calling back.
The other party might have something urgent.
But... what did someone else's urgency have to do with him?
Just as he set down the towel, the phone vibrated again. This time it was a text message from the same number, containing only a short sentence:
“It's Zhong Mo.”
Yue Shi's movements paused.
Zhong Mo?
This name hadn't appeared in his life for a while now.
Since Zhong Mo left Amber City, the two had been like strangers, with no further contact.
Why would the other party suddenly call at this time?
Yue Shi raised an eyebrow slightly.
A few minutes later, when the number appeared on the screen again, he pressed the answer key.
“Hello?” A gentle male voice came from the other end, sounding as if they had just met yesterday. “Yue Shi, long time no see. How have you been lately? Are you still working at the Amber City Investigation Bureau?”
Yue Shi had no interest in pleasantries. “Just say what you have to say. Our relationship isn't close enough for midnight greetings.”
Zhong Mo fell silent for two seconds, seemingly taken aback, but his tone remained unchanged. “Fine, you're the same as always. Then I'll be blunt. I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Speak.”
“I heard that an armored transport vehicle ran into trouble near Amber City? And the items on board were hijacked?” Zhong Mo lowered his voice, his tone probing.
Internal alarm bells rang in Yue Shi's mind, but his voice didn't betray a thing as he asked back, “Where did you hear that? Why are you asking?”
Zhong Mo chuckled softly, avoiding the point. “I have my channels. Is it convenient to share some of the investigation progress? Have any suspects been identified? Who did it?”
Yue Shi spoke with a mix of truth and lies. “There was indeed such an incident near the Amber City jurisdiction. But the case has been completely taken over by special commissioners from headquarters. Our local branch can't get involved.”
“I only know that an armored vehicle had an issue. I had no idea the items on board were stolen until you just mentioned it.”
“Really?” Zhong Mo sounded a bit skeptical. “You're right there in Amber City, so close to the scene. How could you not have heard even a whisper?”
“Is that item very precious? Does it have something to do with you?” Yue Shi threw the question back.
Zhong Mo: “...”
The two went back and forth over the phone, testing each other. Eventually, Zhong Mo seemed to judge that he couldn't dig up more intelligence from Yue Shi, so he yielded slightly and revealed a few scraps:
“I'm not entirely sure what it is exactly. I only heard that it's something created through the collaboration of several large organizations, and headquarters was also involved. I don't know anything more than that...”
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