Awakened Zhongli Template, Retiring in Terra

After lunch at the Safe House, Shi Lei suddenly received a text message on his phone. Opening it, he found a message from Croissant:

"My motorcycle is gone. Come help me find it."

Sure enough, without any surprise, something unexpected had happened. How could such a large motorcycle just disappear?

"Were there any cameras where you parked it?"

"No. This is the Slums; there aren't any surveillance cameras. It was still there last night, and then it suddenly vanished today. I searched for ages before asking you for help."

Shi Lei found it strange. A motorcycle was not light. Could this have been the work of a group?

"How could it have been stolen? Did you leave the key in the motorcycle?"

"Yeah. I left the key in it so Exusiai could use it as soon as she got it. I didn't take it out."

After hearing Croissant's explanation, he frowned in thought.

There were few surveillance cameras in the Lower City, but someone must have seen such a conspicuous motorcycle being driven away.

The Slums covered so many districts and had tens of thousands of residents. Searching alone would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If they wanted to find it before midnight, they would need Lin Yuxia's help.

With that in mind, Shi Lei got up and headed outside.

"Hey, Zhongli, where are you going?"

"I'm going out to take care of something. I'll be back soon."

An Unexpected Visitor

Shi Lei did not have a vehicle, so he asked Croissant to pick him up. Once they met, they would head to the Slums together.

Watching the scenery recede outside the window, Shi Lei asked:

"How could you be so careless? You actually left the key in the motorcycle?"

Croissant knew it was her

fault, and explained with a guilty expression:

"I put Exusiai stickers on the motorcycle that day. After I finished, I forgot to pull out the key. Then when I came over this morning, the motorcycle was gone. I searched around for a long time, but I had no choice but to ask you for help."

There was nothing Shi Lei could do about something like this.

He could listen to sounds through the ground by touching it, but that ability had a time limit. By now, there was nothing left for him to hear.

Moreover, unlike the Upper City, the Slums were an ungoverned area where even the Lungmen Guard Department could not intervene. Reporting a stolen motorcycle to the authorities would be useless.

If they could not find clues at the scene, they could only ask Lin Yuxia for help. Having the local boss of the Slums lend a hand would be better than the two of them searching blindly.

When asking someone to help with something, visiting in person was the most sincere approach.

Half an hour later, the orange pickup passed through a Lungmen Guard Department checkpoint and arrived at the place where Croissant had hidden the motorcycle.

Shi Lei inspected the area and reached the same conclusion as Croissant. He found no useful clues.

Logically, nearby residents should have heard the engine when the thief drove the motorcycle away. Yet after they questioned several households, everyone said they knew nothing.

Perhaps the thief had deliberately pushed the motorcycle for some distance to throw people off. With no tire tracks visible on the ground, the trail had been completely cut off.

After thinking for a moment, Shi Lei asked:

"Do you know where Lin Yuxia lives?"

Croissant often delivered cargo to the Slums. Though she was not familiar with the Lin family, she knew their address.

"They have a house in both the Lower City and Upper City. Let's check the one in the Slums first."

Shi Lei had done Lin Yuxia a favor, and asking her for help was purely a last resort. Croissant knew it was not ideal either, but time was tight, and it was better than nothing.

She drove the pickup and brought Shi Lei to the Lin family residence in the Slums. After parking by the roadside and turning off the engine, she accompanied him to the Lin family estate.

Two Zhalak guards stood at the front gate. The moment they saw strangers approach, they became alert and asked:

"Who are you?"

"Hello, my name is Shi Lei. I have business with Miss Lin Yuxia. Could you please inform her?"

The guards looked him over for a moment, exchanged a glance, then nodded.

"Wait here."

A while later, the guard returned. His earlier sternness was gone, replaced by a respectful attitude.

"Mr. Shi, please come in."

Croissant followed him inside, only for the guard to block her with his body.

"Sorry, you can't enter."

She tugged at the corner of her mouth and shrugged helplessly.

"Fine, I won't go in. Just tell her that the motorcycle was stolen in District 22 last night."

"Mm, I know."

Shi Lei followed the guard into the estate. The interior was extremely spacious. Quite a few Zhalak were training in the courtyard, making the place look like a gang headquarters. Amid the cramped block-like buildings that filled the Slums, owning an estate like this was, in a sense, a symbol of status.

Upon reaching the central building, the guard bowed.

"Mr. Shi, please come in."

With that, he remained at the door, showing no intention of following him inside.

Shi Lei did not mind and walked into the room. A fireplace crackled within, casting a warm red glow.

An amiable old man with a rat's head and a white overcoat sat on the sofa. He looked over the young man entering the room and grinned.

"Mr. Shi, I have heard my daughter mention you. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to meet. Since you have come to my door today, have you run into some trouble?"

Shi Lei had read quite a few books recently and knew that people with atavistic traits who resembled animals were called Ancients. Though he found them somewhat strange by his own standards of beauty, on Terra, animal-like Ancients were considered more sexually attractive.

"Yes. My colleague recently bought a motorcycle from out of town, but it was stolen in District 22 last night. It was meant to be someone's birthday gift tomorrow, so time is of the essence. I had no choice but to trouble you and hope you could help us find it."

Leaning on his cane with one hand, Lin Gerei studied the young man before him. The fact that he cared so much about someone else's problem showed that his character could not be too bad.

Emperor, Emperor, I really envy you, you old bastard.

His daughter had been far too eager before. She had confessed after only knowing him for a few days, only to be brutally rejected. This was a perfect opportunity to repair their relationship.

"I can send people to help you search, but surely I cannot have everyone work for nothing?"

Shi Lei had come to ask for help, and the other party had named his price. Reaching an agreement and forming a contract was perfectly reasonable.

"Understood. How much would you charge?"

"Ah, talking about money is so vulgar."

Lin Gerei smiled kindly, without a trace of the fierceness expected of the underground emperor of the Slums.

My good daughter, this is all I can do for you.

Only by becoming friends with him first and gradually increasing their contact could she win him over.

"Ever since my daughter fell out with you last time, she has barely eaten or slept. Could Mr. Shi leave his contact information and become friends with her again?"

He had merely rejected Lin Yuxia's recruitment offer. Why did it sound like they had broken up and she was heartbroken? Still, Shi Lei was asking for a favor now, so he had no reason to refuse.

"Sure. As long as she doesn't bring those things up again, we can still be friends. My phone number is XXXXXX."

As someone experienced in such matters, Lin Gerei could tell at once that his daughter had no chance. But nothing was absolute; they could only take things one step at a time. Besides, words once spoken were like water spilled. Since he had promised to help, he could not easily go back on it.

After writing down the number, he sent one of his subordinates to investigate the motorcycle theft that had occurred in District 22 the previous night.

"Mr. Shi, would you like a cup of coffee? Sit here for a while. I'll notify you the moment there is news."

"One sugar cube, thank you."

After learning Shi Lei's attitude toward his daughter, Lin Gerei did not mention Lin Yuxia again, lest he kill off the relationship entirely. Like an elder one met upon returning home for the holidays, he asked about work, income, houses, and cars.

More than an hour later, a Zhalak lightly knocked on the door and entered to report.

"Master, we found out the thief's identity, but he isn't home, and no one knows where he went."

Oh boy. They were done for.

Shi Lei had originally held out hope after asking the Rat King for help. If even they could not handle it, he had even less chance. Should Croissant just get a different birthday gift?

Meanwhile, in the Upper City.

A blue-haired Sarkaz with black horns rode a motorcycle covered in Exusiai stickers to a park. Behind her stood a fiery red-haired Liberi.

"Why don't you return the motorcycle?"

"You saw it too. By the time I was about to return it, Croissant had already come back. I don't want the people around Xiao Le to know that I was here."

Recovered

The blue-haired Sarkaz with black horns looked teasingly at the red-haired Liberi and joked:

"What, do you care that much about whether I return the motorcycle?"

"My duty is only to monitor you, Mostima. As for anything else, I don't care."

"Is that so? Then why do I feel like you have something to say? Come on, come on, say it. Don't keep bottling it up, Fiamma."

The red-haired Liberi was utterly helpless. In her conversations with Mostima, she always seemed unable to gain the upper hand. But Mostima was right. She did have a question in her heart.

"Since you don't want to appear in front of her, why come back at all?"

"It's Xiao Le's birthday, after all. I was just passing by to take a look. You know this isn't the first time I've done this."

Fiamma snorted coldly and complained:

"Hah. You call traveling hundreds of kilometers passing by?"

"Oh, don't worry about those details. Passing through Lungmen means I was passing by, doesn't it?"

She could not be bothered to argue with Mostima over whether it counted as passing by, so she turned the topic back to Exusiai.

"What is the point of just looking at her from afar? She has never given up looking for you."

"You're wrong about that. Ever since Xiao Le joined Penguin Logistics, she has not deliberately searched for me. She has a life of her own now."

"So when are you returning the motorcycle?"

"Hahaha, didn't you say you didn't care?"

"..."

Seeing Fiamma's dark expression, Mostima stopped teasing her after laughing.

"This motorcycle was probably Croissant's birthday gift for Xiao Le. I just need to deliver it to her home before midnight."

December 23rd, 2:05 P.M.

Shi Lei walked out of the Lin family estate and told Croissant what the Rat King's people had confirmed.

"Since someone else stole the motorcycle, they probably won't return home anytime soon. By the time they catch the thief, Exusiai's birthday may already be over. Should we get a different gift?"

Croissant was deeply frustrated by the mistake she had caused and said dejectedly:

"A different birthday gift? Like what?"

Shi Lei had only known Exusiai for a month and did not know much about her preferences, so he offered a few suggestions.

"We could buy lots of beer and grilled meat, order an enormous custom pizza, and throw a lively party. I don't know whether she likes sweets, but if she does, we could order a birthday cake too. That's all I can think of. Is there anything you want to add?"

"Those are things she likes, but they don't really count as birthday gifts."

Shi Lei disagreed and argued:

"But the motorcycle can't be found, can it? If it could, we would not be considering these alternatives. Exusiai isn't a materialistic person. As long as we make her happy, it will be a wonderful birthday."

Croissant lowered her head and sighed helplessly: