Awakening Zhongli Template, Retiring on Terra

With another kick, the door burst open.

"Bang!"

Shi Lei activated his shield, enveloping both of them. To his surprise, the fire here was even more intense than downstairs.

Without hesitation, he charged in. Texas, clearly not accustomed to the Jade Shield's presence, was still carefully surveying the terrain, searching for stable footing.

"I'm inside, where are you?"

No matter how fierce the flames, they couldn't harm Shi Lei; they couldn't even scorch his clothes.

He followed the old man's faint response to the bedroom doorknob, only to find it locked. Fortunately, the flames had turned the door red, and a single kick would be enough to break it down.

Shi Lei entered the room and saw the old man, who had fainted in his wheelchair. Before refreshing his shield, he had specifically checked if the person was Infected, to avoid accidental harm.

Confirming he wasn't, Shi Lei quickly carried the old man out of the room and handed him over to Texas, who was waiting outside.

Seeing Shi Lei charge back into the inferno, Texas's calm expression shifted, revealing a hint of worry:

"What are you doing? Hurry and leave."

"No, I can't leave yet." He stood in the living room, looking left and right as if searching for something. "Don't you understand? This wasn't an accident, it was murder!"

028 You Dare Hit a Woman?

"Murder?"

With time short, Shi Lei didn't have time to explain in detail to Texas. He instructed:

"You take them downstairs first, I'll catch up as soon as possible. That child is Infected, so be careful when you carry her. If you're afraid of infection, leave her at the stairwell on the tenth floor, and I'll bring her down when I come."

With that, he refreshed his shield and charged back into the fire.

After discovering the child was Infected, Shi Lei had suspected that the fire might have been caused by an outbreak or uncontrolled energy leak from the Originium within her.

But she was fine, her clothes intact, only unconscious from lack of oxygen. It was only after observing the scene's layout that he realized the fire had a deeper secret.

This was a high-end residential area in Lungmen's upper city, not a dilapidated thatched hut that would ignite easily. Yet, the fire on the twelfth floor was more intense than on the eleventh.

In the initial stages of a fire, there must be combustible materials nearby to fuel the flames. Otherwise, a normal fire wouldn't have escalated to this point so quickly.

Shi Lei squatted by the bedroom door, his hands, unaffected by the heat, searching through the flames. From the excavated ash residue, he found a corner of a hard-shelled magazine.

Following the fire's path outwards, he found a charred wooden cabinet. Next to it was a sofa with only its metal frame remaining, and a curled-up plush carpet. The flames climbed the curtains and extended to the balcony. This was where the fire was most intense, with a section having collapsed directly onto the balcony below.

Based on his on-site investigation, he had traced a complete burning path. The perpetrator's method of blocking and burning was tantamount to attempting to murder the old man. They even intended to use the Infected child downstairs as bait to fabricate an accident.

For Shi Lei, a transmigrator who had watched hundreds of episodes of Detective Conan, this method of arson and framing an Infected person was not sophisticated and had obvious loopholes.

If the fire had been extinguished promptly, the firefighters could have determined the point of origin based on the damage afterward.

Either the perpetrator was too stupid, or he had missed a crucial clue.

Shi Lei refreshed his shield again and examined the area near the collapsed balcony. In the scorching flames, he surprisingly found a glowing, hot Originium the size of a goose egg.

So that's it!

The perpetrator had piled a large amount of flammable material on the balcony, intending to heat the Originium to cause an explosion through high temperatures. The resulting power would have been enough to kill the old man in the adjacent bedroom. Afterward, all blame would be shifted to the Infected child.

It was estimated that the perpetrator hadn't expected the thermal energy converted from the Originium explosion to be as high as they thought, allowing Shi Lei, who was enduring the flames, to find the crucial evidence.

"Sizzle sizzle..."

As his thoughts raced, a strong stream of high-pressure water sprayed in from outside. It turned out to be the short firefighter from before, using the fire truck's ladder to reach the fire.

Seeing the man standing in the center of the fire shocked her. She quickly adjusted the aim of the high-pressure water gun and sprayed continuously at the balcony.

"Sizzle sizzle..."

Shi Lei also saw the other person and, spreading his hands, refreshed his shield again. He used the high-pressure water spray, akin to Wallace's, to cool down the scorching Originium.

A moment later, he turned and went into the kitchen. He found a dark thermos from a cabinet and used it as a container for the Originium. Then, he ran out the door and hurried downstairs.

Finally, at the stairwell on the eighth floor, he rendezvoused with Texas. At this moment, she was carrying the paralyzed old man on her back, leaving the lighter child to Shi Lei.

He shook the thermos in his hand and explained:

"This contains Originium. I'm afraid something might react if I carry her. You carry her instead, and I'll take the old man."

Texas didn't waste words. She transferred the old man onto Shi Lei's back. Then, she picked up the little girl and wrapped the Originium on her arm with her clothes before they descended together.

When they appeared at the building's entrance, the surrounding crowd erupted in gasps.

"Oh my god, look, they're out!"

"Wow, this young lady is amazing, she saved another one! I wish she'd carry me too."

"Quick, quick, take a picture of me with them, I'm posting it on my social media homepage."

The middle-aged woman saw her daughter, broke through the security guards' obstruction, and tightly embraced her daughter.

Shi Lei returned the old man to his family and then moved to the side. Thinking of the child's special condition, and that sending her to the hospital would expose her Infected status, he kindly reminded:

"Quick, find somewhere private, unbutton her collar to let her breathe. It should be fine."

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

[Gained 5 Role-Playing Points based on host's performance]

[Current Role-Playing Points: 31]

The woman knew this wasn't a place to linger. She wrapped her daughter tightly in her coat, eager to find a spot where she could air her out.

But after only a few steps, she was stopped by a Ratwoman from the Zalak tribe, who was incredibly hostile.

"What are you running for? Damn it, guilty conscience? If it weren't for you, my home wouldn't have caught fire. I'm not done with you about today's losses!"

The Ratwoman cursed and reached out to snatch away the coat covering the girl. Shi Lei sensed something was wrong and quickly grabbed her right wrist with his left hand. She struggled to break free but failed, only managing to shriek ineffectually:

"Let go, let me go!"

Seeing Shi Lei still gripping her wrist, the Ratwoman began to raise her voice, trying to gain the moral high ground:

"Help! Everyone, look here! Judge this for yourselves. My elderly mother was napping in her bedroom today and wasn't using any appliances. But then, a child from this family started a fire and almost burned her to death, and now they're trying to escape. This man is with them and is trying to stop me. Tell me, is there any justice in this world?"

The onlookers murmured amongst themselves, but out of respect for him being the hero who rescued people from the fire, they didn't dare gossip openly.

The Ratwoman struggled continuously and even tried to hit him with her high heel. But Shi Lei had the Jade Shield and wasn't afraid at all.

With no other options, she became unusually furious and yelled to a Ratman standing nearby, accompanying the rescued elderly woman:

"Husband, are you even a man? The arsonist is about to escape, and you're still worried about that old geezer? Hurry up and come help me pull him away."

The Ratman wore glasses and looked refined. He walked over and first expressed his sincere gratitude to Shi Lei, but showed no intention of intervening in the fight.

"What are you standing around for? Come help me."

"Enough, just calm down. The responsibility for the fire will be determined by the fire department after they survey the scene. If legal proceedings are necessary, then so be it. There's no need to make things difficult for the mother and daughter at a time like this."

"Oh, so you're defending outsiders now? Do you know that little girl is an Infected..."

Shi Lei's ears perked up at the wrongness of her words and he immediately slapped her to interrupt her. They had already caught the culprit, and he would provide the evidence once the Lungmen Guard Department arrived.

Before that, the fact that the girl was Infected absolutely could not be revealed. Otherwise, even if the Ratwoman went to jail, the family of the recipient wouldn't be able to continue living here.

"**You dare hit me!"

029 No Retreat

The Ratwoman clutched her reddened cheek and shouted loudly:

"Did everyone see that? This man is shameless, hitting a woman, and covering for an Infected..."

"Slap!"

This time, the sound was even sharper.

Shi Lei had no sympathy for the arsonist. He slapped her so hard her mouth was almost crooked:

"If you dare speak again, I'll keep hitting you."

"You..."

"Slap!"

The Ratwoman wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with one hand, successfully convinced by physical means. But the murderous look in her eyes couldn't be hidden.

The Ratman couldn't watch anymore and chimed in:

"Sir, while I'm grateful you saved my father, you can't bully people like this."

"Heh."

Shi Lei chuckled: "If you knew she set the fire to burn your father to death, you'd be bullying her too."

"You... What did you say?!"

"She started the fire upstairs. I know you don't believe me, but please wait a moment. Once the Lungmen Guard Department arrives, I'll provide you with concrete evidence."

The Ratwoman stared at Shi Lei in shock. Unwilling to wait for death, she struggled fiercely:

"You scoundrel, you're just spouting nonsense!"

She was truly panicking, but she was helpless against the man in front of her. As soon as she opened her mouth, she received another slap.

"Is what he's saying... true?"

The Ratman asked solemnly, his hands clenched tightly. Shi Lei noticed his clenched fists, seeming unsurprised by his wife's motive for attempting to kill her father-in-law.

The Ratwoman covered her face with one hand, not answering.

"Hey, friends from the Lungmen Guard Department, over here!"

Shi Lei saw the familiar uniforms and waved. When they approached, he suggested:

"To protect the victim's privacy, could we discuss this in a quieter location?"

The two officers, who had just arrived at the scene, were a bit bewildered. But they nodded in agreement and followed him to a nearby building. If they let the Ratwoman continue shouting over there, the Infected child's identity would eventually be exposed.

"Alright, speak. What is it?"

Shi Lei explained the general situation of the rescue. He then pulled out a dark thermos from his pocket. The Ratman recognized it and exclaimed in surprise:

"Isn't this from my house?"

"That's right, I took it from your place. Inside this thermos is the Originium your wife used to catalyze the explosion. She deliberately placed it on the balcony, intending to blow your father up. Before she left, she also intentionally locked the door from the inside. She piled magazines near the bedroom, trying to make the rescue more difficult. When the firefighters put out the fire later, you can identify her as the suspect based on the scene assessment. My advice is to cuff her first, and once confirmed, you can take her away directly."

The Ratwoman was in a difficult position, with no way to retreat:

"Nonsense! That's utter rubbish! It was the people downstairs who did it! They have an Infected child, and the fire started because that guy's Originium-related illness flared up!"

Shi Lei scoffed upon hearing this, pointing to his head with his right hand:

"Putting aside the fact that you didn't witness it yourself, you're immediately blaming the downstairs neighbors. Use your Rat-brain and think carefully. If it were the people downstairs, the explosion's force would have been from bottom to top, overturning the balcony. But the explosion on your balcony was from the inside out. The firefighters will see this immediately; it's not that difficult to figure out."

Unless the power of the Originium explosion was enough to level the entire building, there would be flaws in any attempt to cover it up.

The Ratwoman's face turned pale, and she grabbed her husband's arm with one hand. She blinked her eyes, squeezing out a few tears:

"You'd rather believe an outsider than the wife you've been with for several years?"

The Ratman trembled with anger, now largely convinced by Shi Lei's account. He demanded:

"Then tell me, he has no grudge against us, so why would he lie and target you?"

"Th-that... how would I know?"

"You wicked woman! Do you know how hard it was for my father to raise me to adulthood? I tolerated you calling him an old fossil behind his back with your girlfriends. I never thought you'd actually dare to do something like this. You're so venomous!"

"No, I didn't..."

"Slap!"

This time, Shi Lei didn't need to intervene.