Chapter 194
"Sir, could you take a look at this for me too?"
Mudrock, dressed in a stunning white gown, stood in front of the dressing mirror, shifting her body left and right to check herself.
Her exposed, snow-white arms no longer bore the black marks left by the Originium. Her hands stretched out to the sides like lotus roots.
The Mudrock's overly broad chest made the dress appear as if it was about to burst open. The tight-fitting style outlined an alluring curve.
Shi Lei looked at her, then at Texas. He felt they were both very beautiful, and it was hard to say who was more attractive.
After a moment's thought, he answered truthfully:
"From a generally rational perspective, they're all quite good-looking. Don't ask me about this; you can decide for yourselves."
After saying that, he turned and left the women's clothing store.
Surtr chose a red outfit here, which paired with her red toenail polish. Overall, she looked even more youthful and vibrant.
FrostNova had never been to such a high-end shop before, and she was somewhat at a loss. Ultimately...
After consulting with Texas, she chose a blue dress.
She stood next to Surtr, their blue and red outfits creating a sense of ice and fire.
It must be said that the quality and style of clothing at Taigu Plaza are superior to those in the Commercial Street. They focus on high-end boutiques, not on price-performance ratios.
A moment later, Texas came to the counter.
The shop assistant stood beside me warmly and politely asked:
"Guest, is there anything else you need?"
"That's all. I only have two items here, plus hers and hers, that makes a total of four. Let's pack them all up."
"No problem, the total is 27,996 yuan, I'll round it down to 27,900 yuan. Will you be paying in cash or by card?"
"Swipe your card."
Texas opened her wallet and took out the bank card she used as her paycheck. Her gaze fell on Shi Lei sitting on a chair outside the store, but she suddenly put the card back.
A short while later, he pulled out another salary card:
"Use this."
Seeing that Texas had helped them pay for the expensive clothes that cost several thousand dollars, Surtr and FrostNova were overjoyed and kept thanking her.
"You're so kind, thank you!"
"I really like this dress, thank you!"
"You're welcome. Do you need any more trinkets? Let's go check out other stores."
After Texas finished paying, she led the group to the next store. Only after they finished shopping did they drive away from Taigu Plaza and return to the warehouse on Taiheng Road.
Two months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Everyone's life was relatively uneventful, with each day being ordinary yet fulfilling.
This winter wasn't as cold as last year, and you can often see pedestrians wearing short sleeves on the street.
All the illegal organizations and remnants in Lungmen City have been wiped out. Even the Lower City, which had long been a no-man's-land, is now completely transformed.
Ordinary criminal cases can be handled by the Lungmen Guard Department itself. There's no need to spend extra money to ask Shi Lei to take charge.
This resulted in him only completing one order in two months and no longer receiving any commissions from the Schwayer Group.
Television news coverage of the Rhodes Island riots is increasing. But those aren't Talulah's groups; they're infected people from various places using different names.
It's unknown whether the Patriot's guerrillas found enough food to survive the coming winter.
December 20, Year 1095, 4:05 pm
In Lungmen City, on the basement level of a half-finished construction site abandoned after the developer absconded with donated funds.
Perhaps due to poor ventilation, a damp smell permeated the air, making it very uncomfortable. The surrounding walls were extremely rough, without any decoration, and not even a uniform layer of cement was applied.
A man named Feline, dressed in a black suit and carrying a briefcase, arrived. His name tag, hanging around his neck, read "Maosheng Detective Agency" in small print.
The private investigator stepped over the scattered bricks and arrived at the designated location to meet with his employer.
"Hey, I've arrived."
The open space allowed his voice to travel far.
Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, an Old Man with graying Feline emerged from the shadows.
His clothes were somewhat worn, but his back was ramrod straight, not hunched over at all.
The Old Man paid great attention to his appearance, even taking out a comb to tidy the slightly upturned ends of his hair. He spoke slowly, exuding the composure of someone in a position of authority.
"How's the investigation going?"
The private investigator held up the briefcase and asked:
"Here's your final payment."
The Old Man took out a small stack of Lungmen Dollars of varying denominations, neatly stacked. This was the money he had saved up over several months after being swindled out of his entire fortune.
The private investigator gripped the banknote by the corner, but noticed the Old Man wouldn't let go. He tried to pull it twice without success, then frowned, coughed twice, and reminded him:
"Ahem, if you keep holding on like this, I'm leaving."
Upon hearing this, the Old Man reluctantly let go.
The private investigator counted the banknotes by the light of natural light and put them into the inner pocket of his suit:
"Don't worry, I have professional Morality. The matter concerning Zhongli has been Investigate Clearly."
Zhongli leaves home at 8:30 every morning and returns at 5:30 in the afternoon. She stays at the company during the day, occasionally going out for a stroll, and doesn't work on weekends.
Texas and Exusiai live in the same area as him, and their travel times are almost the same.
The Sarkaz named Mudrock goes to the supermarket to buy groceries every morning, at irregular times. After shopping, she returns to the warehouse and rarely comes out. Several other Sarkaz and one Casters follow the same routine.
There are several Sarkaz chefs who work at the hotel in Mount Choryu. They are usually not there during mealtimes, but may return at any other time.
If you want to kidnap that Nine Tails Vulcan, the best time is between 6:40 and 6:50 in the morning, those ten minutes.
At this point, the private investigator pulled out a photograph taken from a distance from the files in his briefcase. In the center of the picture was Surtr, with his red hair.
In order to get this reward to tide him over, he knowingly did something illegal:
"This is the nanny who escorts Vulcan to and from school, an ordinary Sarkaz. I specifically..."
They even tried to find someone to stir up trouble, but nothing came of it. It's probably someone related to the Sarkaz from Mudrock, so the threat level is low. Anyway, I've said what I should and shouldn't have said. Once we leave this construction site, we have nothing more to do with each other."
"Very, very good!"
The Old Man gritted his teeth, his tone extremely fierce:
"I'm going to make those guys at Penguin Logistics pay the price they deserve!"
The private investigator, who was about to leave, paused for a moment upon hearing this and then said:
"Mr. Charlie Suiya, there's really no need to go this far. Looking across Lungmen, no one dares to mess with Penguin Logistics. If you push them too far, aren't you afraid of losing your life?"
"Don't call me Suiya. I have been expelled from the family and am not worthy of this surname. Now, I am just an Old Man who has been abandoned by everyone and is hated by all."
The private investigator secretly thought to himself, "Wasn't it your son who hired someone to kill me first?" But he had, after all, done this job against his conscience, and had no right to judge others.
"Alright, Mr. Charlie. There's a chance... oh no, maybe not. Good luck."
Having said that, he turned and left.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the sound of crossbows whistling through the air rang out behind them.
Before the private investigator could react, a sharp pain shot through his heart.
"You fucking..."
The private investigator, with a complicated expression, tried to turn around, but suddenly everything went black, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Why is FrostNova 258 laughing? (3K)
Before arriving at the construction site, the private investigator seriously considered the possibility that the client might kill him to cover it up.
Charlie knew perfectly well that Penguin Logistics was not to be trifled with, yet he still planned the kidnapping; he probably really didn't want to live anymore.
Since he had no way out, whether this matter was exposed or not was not so important. He could risk being implicated to make some ill-gotten gains, and then leave as soon as he got the money.
Unexpectedly, things didn't go as planned.
Charlie slowly crouched down and retrieved the reward he had given to the other party from the lining of the corpse's right breast.
He accidentally got blood on his hands, so he simply wiped it clean on the private investigator's cheap suit.
Finally, he got up.
Charlie found a well-lit spot and went through all the documents in the suitcase. He kept the useful ones, like the route map, and threw the rest onto the corpse.
Since being expelled from the family, Charlie felt as if he had fallen from the sky into an endless abyss.
His job was taken away and his property was confiscated.
Some private real estate that could not be transferred in time was also seized by relatives through various means.
Those family members Charlie supported were all ingrates. They all turned their backs on him when he fell from power, even kicking him while he was down.
To survive, Charlie came to work on the construction site, doing the manual labor he used to despise.
Charlie naively believed that with a little effort and some savings, he could make a comeback abroad. But he was too naive and was slapped hard by reality.
No house, no savings. They drink tap water when they're hungry. They sleep in makeshift shacks when they're tired. They struggle daily for three meals a day and can't save any money at all.
Without accumulating initial capital, and having lost all local connections in Lungmen, there was no hope of turning things around.
A former CEO who used to sit in an air-conditioned office all day and was always chauffeured around could easily earn hundreds of thousands of yuan a month by simply playing around for a month.
Now, I work myself to the bone for such a meager amount of money. A month's hard work doesn't even amount to the price of a single meal I used to have.
The harsh lessons of reality dealt a cruel blow to Charlie's mental state, pushing him to the brink of collapse. A buildup of negative emotions created an urgent need for an outlet.
He felt he had done nothing wrong, so he blamed all the blame for his current predicament on Shi Lei of Penguin Logistics and Texas.
The sun was about to set, and the sky was gradually darkening.
Charlie didn't linger and quickly left the construction site.
Just as the private investigator said, no one in Lungmen dared to mess with Penguin Logistics. He was determined to teach Shi Lei and the others a lesson, and he never thought he could survive.
Half an hour later, Charlie arrived outside the prison and submitted a visitation request. He had to wait quietly in the family lounge until he received official approval.
Staring at the red banner on the wall that read "Justice will not be absent, evil will be severely punished," Charlie pursed his lips, feeling extremely anxious and irritable.
After a moment's thought, he finally decided to disappear. He didn't want to be too soft-hearted and hesitate to take drastic measures later.
"Officer, could you please help me? Could you give this money to my son? His name is Richard Suiya, and his prisoner number is XXXXXX."
"Didn't you apply for a prison visit? It'll be quick."
"No, no. I have something urgent to attend to and I need to go back right away."
Charlie touched his nose hesitantly, but quickly realized the inappropriateness of the gesture and immediately withdrew his hand.
"If he comes later, please pass on a message for him. Tell him that Dad is sorry. Also, tell him to be careful with the money."
In that instant, Charlie felt utterly lost. All those past, tangible, and targeted hatreds seemed to hang suspended in mid-air, refusing to settle.
"You don't need to give me this money, it's according to procedure..."
"That's all, thank you."
He didn't have time to hear the details of the procedure before he forced the money onto the prison guard and fled in a panic.
Charlie left the Lungmen Guard Department prison and strolled down the street, heading towards his destination. A feeling he couldn't quite describe, mixed with a sense of loss, welled up inside him.
I feel terrible.