Investigation

Lin Yi wasn't bad-looking as a child; after all, his facial features and bone structure were what they were.

Long-term malnutrition and habitual taciturnity have cast a gray shadow over his entire being. When he's not smiling, he appears somewhat gloomy, and when his clear black and white eyes glance sideways, they reveal a hint of ruthless fright.

It's like a piece of frosted glass, not as transparent and clear as Yuan Xi's, nor as willing to hone and conceal its sharpness as other children.

--He gives off an unlikable vibe.

Lin Yi felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze. "Why... why are you looking at me like that?"

Tao Yuan laughed and said, "If you were a little fatter, you'd definitely be better looking than him."

This was the first time Lin Yi had heard someone praise him like this, and he touched his face somewhat awkwardly. "Really?"

After saying that, he rarely looked up and sized up Tao Yuan and Wang Ding, but after just one glance, he quickly looked away. "You two are very good-looking, and your levels will rise soon."

Tao Yuan's appearance was outstanding among the children, but more importantly, she had a commanding presence, unlike the poor orphans who had never seen much of the world and were habitually timid and hesitant.

She was like a rich family's little princess, just like the daughter of a big boss he had once seen; he never saw a trace of defeat in her.

Then there's Wang Ding. Although he can be quite dull at times, he carries a deep sense of composure.

These two are the kind of kids the head of student affairs would like. As long as they don't make any big mistakes, they'll be promoted to B-Rank in no time.

Tao Yuan wasn't particularly happy. She felt that even if their points increased rapidly, they couldn't keep up with the rate at which theirs were being deducted...

They shouldn't even think about the path to getting 1000 points.

Wang Ding asked, "What's the point of these points system?"

Lin Yi said, "I don't know much either. Those who receive fewer points will be kicked out of the Orphanage, while those who receive more points will be able to find suitable adoptive parents. People like us will stay in the Orphanage, working here in exchange for daily meals and shelter."

"Are there many people adopting orphans?" Tao Yuan asked, recalling the densely packed children she had seen while eating. "There must be over a thousand here. How can so many children be adopted?"

Lin Yi shook his head. "Many people will come to adopt. Children with high scores are very popular, and they take away many at a time."

Tao Yuan and Wang Ding felt that the number of people was not quite right.

None of them had ever stayed in Orphanage, and their understanding of the place was second only to the information they had gathered before coming here.

However, there was little prior record of the Chocolate Orphanage; all that was known was that it was a relatively famous Orphanage, and nothing else was known.

The three of them had just reached the second floor when they heard a dignified voice broadcasting from outside.

"Everyone, assemble in the Prayer Room."

The Prayer Room was the Dining Hall they had mentioned, and the three of them felt a chill run down their spines.

Is this going to be a thorough investigation?

All the children walked toward the Dining Hall one after another. On the way, they saw Qin Rang, An Ying, Mi Chuchu, and even a familiar girl.

Mi Chuchu stared at the girl for a while before leaning closer and asking, "Are you Flower Language?"

Flower Language, with her drooping eyebrows, glanced at her indifferently, then frowned and walked forward with a low, menacing expression.

"It's me, what do you want?"

Mi Chuchu asked, "Meeting you is fate! It's too dangerous for you to be alone. Do you want to come with us? There's strength in numbers!"

"I'm not going." Flower Language was very depressed. She had been inside for so long, but for some reason, she couldn't sense any trace of her Master's presence.

The connection was still there, albeit faintly, which made her very uncomfortable, and naturally she had no desire to pay attention to Mi Chuchu.

An Ying and Qin Rang then approached Mi Chuchu: "Let's go find Wang Ding Tao Yuan and Lin Yi; they've already gone inside."

Flower Language suddenly looked up. "Lin Yi?"

"Then I'll go too."

Mi Chuchu didn't understand why she suddenly changed her mind, but that didn't stop her from welcoming the addition of the Flower Language.

The seven met in the Prayer Room, where it was so quiet they could hear themselves breathing.

All the children knelt on the ground reverently, and they found a corner to squat in, following the example of others.

In the open space in front of them were the remains of a bomb and a wall. It was clear that the bomb was quite powerful, shattering all the stones near the secret door, leaving only a few broken pieces of wood behind.

On the stage, several Disciplinarian Directors and administrators stared sternly at the thousands of children below.

"This is utterly absurd! In all my years, I've never seen anything so ridiculous!"

"You lot can't even handle a simple task! If those things find out about this, how are you going to explain yourselves!"

The man who spoke had small eyes and a big mouth, and his voice was harsh. None of the directors who were being reprimanded, despite their large bellies, dared to utter a word.

"Our Orphanage has done so many good deeds and saved so many orphans over the years, and we've never had such a terrible incident before! Who? Who bombed it?"

"Nobody's saying anything, are they waiting for me to speak?"

One of the female Disciplinarian Director tried to explain, "Mr. Xie, we don't know where this thing came from. We've checked the security footage; no one was passing by. The door blew itself up—"

Mr. Xie's eyes turned cold. "You blew it up yourself?"

The woman said, "No, no, we suspect... there might be a mole among us."

"What mole! Don't try to cover things up with 'mole' every time something happens!" Mr. Xie said, then suddenly lowered his voice and glared at them all warningly, "When the Orphanage Director comes, I'll let you handle this however you want, but whatever you do, don't let the Orphanage Director continue the investigation, understand?"

"But with the Orphanage Director's help, we can find—"

Should I listen to you or not?

Mr. Xie pointed at them and said disdainfully, "If it weren't for my brother's factory sending you money, would your Orphanage be able to operate? Would you be able to live so happily with my brother's money?"

The Disciplinarian Director all bowed their heads and said, "We understand."

"We need to handle today's matter lightly, but we really need to thoroughly investigate these kids to see if any outsiders have snuck in," Mr. Xie said. He added, "By the way, give me the list of the recent batch of children; I want to take a look myself."

"The list is still being compiled; we'll send it to Mr. Xie tonight."

Flower Language kept her head down, but the Thorns burrowing into the ground had already overheard their conversation.

She glanced at Lin Yi, who was some distance away, and manipulated Thorns to throw him a Recording Weird Object from her body.

Lin Yi was stunned for a moment after taking the thing that emerged from the ground. Before he could react, the green Thorns disappeared back into the ground.

Lin Nieran patted his shoulder and said lazily, "Don't worry, just accept it. It's a gift from a friend. If you don't want to keep it, you can give it to someone else."