Awakened Zhongli Template, Retiring in Terra

Shi Lei soon returned to Tailless Cat Real Estate. As he entered, he happened to see the Female Feline from earlier walking out.

The fake smile on her face was extremely stiff. She bowed to the three of them in apology. "I'm terribly sorry, but we currently don't have any listings that meet your requirements. How about leaving your contact information? Once we find a suitable property, we can call you. Would that be all right?"

He was very conscious about protecting his personal information and would not casually hand over his phone number, lest some unscrupulous business sell it off and leave him receiving marketing calls every day.

"No need for a phone number. I'll come back in a few days to take another look. Let's go."

Without any hesitation, Shi Lei called Croissant and Texas over and left the scene.

They crossed the road to the opposite side of the street and stopped at a corner.

Texas was highly experienced and immediately understood what he had gone out to do. He knew his identity had been exposed and wanted to use those young men as bait.

She had not brought any weapons when she went out today, but her fists and feet alone should have been more than enough to deal with that bunch.

The three did not wait long at the corner before they saw Aak and Hoshiguma enter Tailless Cat Real Estate. More than ten minutes later, an employee dressed as a gangster led them out of the store. They headed north, taking them toward a secluded place.

"Come on, follow them."

Shi Lei and the others followed for a block until they reached an alley in the neighboring district. Several Cat Gang members in Suits and Leather Shoes stood guard at the entrance, positioned on both sides like door gods.

After Aak and Hoshiguma entered, the three lost sight of them. If they forced their way in through the alley entrance, they would be exposed no matter what.

He carefully surveyed the terrain, then waved for his two female colleagues to follow. There was indeed only one route on the ground. But in the air, there were limitless possibilities.

Shi Lei summoned a Rock Spine and had Croissant and Texas stand on it. He then activated his Rock Element, sending the stone pillar soaring straight into the air. Avoiding the many Cat Gang guards at the alley entrance, they flew up to the rooftops from the other side.

It was Croissant's first time seeing him use such an ability, and she immediately gave him a thumbs-up.

Standing on the rooftop and looking down, the three of them happened to be in the Cat Gang guards' blind spot.

Low-altitude flight made no sound. Further into the alley lay a place resembling a hideout. Many sections had been built with long bamboo poles, and it was impossible to tell whether they were illegal structures.

Crash!

The sound of a vase shattering from deep within the hideout drew the attention of many Cat Gang members.

Suddenly, a Feline in front shouted a warning.

"Someone's here! There's—"

Before the Cat Gang guard could finish, his entire body was slammed against the wall by a tremendous force, and he fainted on the spot.

A beast-faced man wearing a black top hat and black embroidered clothing, with a pair of fin-shaped ears exposed, barged in through the alley entrance by force.

The Cat Gang members responded swiftly, raising their weapons and charging into battle, but they were completely no match for him.

That man seemed capable of manipulating gravity, casually shoving aside the Cat Gang members who rushed at him. Anyone who hit a wall immediately lost the ability to fight.

Croissant recognized him and introduced him in a low voice.

"This is Mr. Lee, the president of the Koi-Style Detective Agency. He accepts all sorts of commissions and occasionally has business dealings with our company."

Shi Lei nodded to show that he understood. Like Aak and Hoshiguma, this man had the head of a beast. Did this detective agency only recruit furries?

Lee raised his hand, releasing a faint ring of golden light that pushed aside the Cat Gang members blocking his path. Once he had dealt with these minor thugs, he lifted a hand to adjust his top hat—only to unexpectedly notice three people standing on the rooftop, watching from above!

Recognizing the Penguin Logistics uniforms on them, Lee instantly confirmed their identities. They were standing on the roof as if preparing to strike in secret. Had his forced entry ruined their original plan instead?

"Perhaps I came at the wrong time?"

Shi Lei rode the Rock Spine down to the ground with Croissant on his left and Texas on his right, then smiled.

"No, you came at exactly the right time."

A January Bounty

As the title says.

The new year is here, so I'm setting up a bounty to motivate myself.

10,000 in tips = 100 blades = 1 extra chapter

2,000 recommendation votes = 200 monthly votes = 1 extra chapter

Period: January 1, 00:00 to January 5, 00:00

The requirements for recommendation and monthly votes are a little higher because they're useless to me unless I make the top ten, so I raised them a bit.

In the new year, I wish all readers who vote and keep reading will be more handsome than Daniel Wu and richer than Musk.

I Am Willing

Seeing Shi Lei descend from midair with two beautiful women, the single Lee could not help but frown slightly.

Crash!

Along with the sound of a window shattering, Aak flashed past from the second floor of the hideout. Everyone immediately abandoned their small talk and prepared to rush inside to help.

Before they could approach the hastily constructed hideout, they saw Hoshiguma grip her shield with both hands and ram someone flying out.

"Urgh... Aah!"

The Cat Gang members were in a wretched state, sprawled on the ground as they shouted to their companions around them:

"Quick! Call the police! Call the police!"

Their ridiculous stunt genuinely made Shi Lei laugh. To avoid getting beaten up and suffering even greater losses, they were calling the police for help?

Seeing that the situation had turned against them, the Cat Gang members actually gave up on the spot. They tossed away their weapons, squatted on the ground with their hands over their heads, and did so with remarkable familiarity.

Since they had surrendered so readily, it was no longer appropriate for Shi Lei to keep fighting. Since these guys had called the police themselves, he could just leave it to the Lungmen Guard Department officers.

After confirming that Aak and Hung were safe, Lee likewise did not make another move. He simply stood where he was and waited.

Before long, Officer Hoshiguma, who had been patrolling nearby, received the report and hurried to the scene with six officers.

"What happened here?"

Before Shi Lei and the others could explain, one of the Cat Gang members stood up and took the initiative to accuse them to Hoshiguma.

"Officer, they trespassed into our hideout and started beating people without saying a word. So many of our brothers were hurt. You have to stand up for us!"

Aak's expression darkened at those words, and he argued back.

"Trespassed? What kind of joke is that?! We only mentioned those people's disappearance case. You brought the two of us here to interrogate us because you felt guilty. And now that there's an officer here, you're trying to turn the tables on us?"

The Cat Gang member flatly denied it, looking deeply wronged.

"No, no. We saw that you were trying to extort money, so we brought you here for our deputy leader to decide what to do. Who knew you people had no sense of honor and started beating us the moment you arrived? Officer, we've been wronged! There are no missing people here."

That explanation was somewhat unexpected.

Seeing that both sides insisted on their own version of events, Hoshiguma decided to verify things herself. She ordered the officers behind her to search the Cat Gang's hideout while gathering more information about the disappearance case from Aak and Hung.

More than ten minutes later, the officers returned with their report. Aside from a large number of Felines, they had found no missing persons here.

This was awkward.

One moment they were detectives investigating a disappearance case; the next, they had become violent troublemakers.

Lee raised a hand to catch the brim of his top hat. Looking somewhat helpless, he asked his employees:

"Tell me honestly. Did you see them bring anyone here with your own eyes?"

"No..."

"Then how were you sure they did it?"

"..."

Seeing Aak and Hung lower their heads in silence, Lee finally understood. Even if the Cat Gang really had been involved in the kidnapping, they should have tracked the hostages' whereabouts before making a move. Barging into someone else's territory like this had undoubtedly alerted the enemy.

The urgent priority was to seek a settlement with the Cat Gang, lest his two employees be taken away by the Lungmen Guard Department for criminal detention.

"My apologies. This was our fault. We'll compensate you for the medical expenses."

"Hmph!"

The Cat Gang member snorted and continued playing the victim.

"Officer, you have to stand up for us brothers! They beat us terribly. They're completely lawless! I demand that they be detained!"

Expressionless, Hoshiguma took out a notebook and began recording. She lifted her chin slightly toward Shi Lei.

"What about those people? Did they also attack anyone?"

Every Cat Gang member knew the man codenamed Zhongli. If not for him, the gang would never have grown to its current scale. The man lowered his eyes, glanced at Shi Lei, then hurriedly looked away.

"No, this gentleman didn't do anything. It was just him, him, and him—the three of them did the beating."

Aak was furious and wanted to argue further, but Lee pressed a hand onto his shoulder and forcibly cut him off.

"You two won't be handling the disappearance case anymore. This ends here today."

They had not found the missing people, so everything else was empty talk. Aak and Hung lacked experience. They should have brought Waai Fu along. Now they had no grounds to stand on, and the more they said, the more mistakes they would make.

"Fine. I'll take the two of them to the Lungmen Guard Department for questioning and handle this according to procedure. But..." Hoshiguma looked around. "Do you have approval documents for this place? If it's an illegal structure, it needs to be demolished."

"N-No, Officer, we're the ones who got beaten! We're the victims!"

"I know, but one matter is one matter. They assaulted you first and are willing to pay your medical expenses. Whether you settle is between you. But illegal construction is a separate issue. The two cannot be conflated."

The Cat Gang members lowered their heads like quails and said nothing. It seemed they had no permits or approval documents at all.

Shi Lei called Lee aside and explained the whole situation. The Cat Gang members had recognized him, making it impossible for him to gather information. So he had asked the two of them to act as bait, hoping to follow the trail—but he had never expected things to turn out like this.

"In any case, I'm partly responsible too. I'll cover half the medical expenses. Afterward, I'll find a way to continue tracking down the missing people."

Lee often had to clean up after his employees, so he knew roughly how much the medical costs would be. He politely declined.

"No need. I was the one who beat them. If you feel bad about it, just leave your contact information. We can share intelligence in time if anything comes up and solve the disappearance case sooner."

"Alright."

Lower City.

Mudrock was at a broken third-floor window, making more than twenty Clay Sculptures.

Warm sunlight fell over her, giving her the innocent air of a sweet girl next door.

She usually liked tinkering with such things, calling these Originium Arts creations her "friends." This was not merely a matter of Mudrock's personality or hobby, but an expression of the emotions she invested in her creations.

One of the clay sculptures looked very much like the man she had seen that day. But since she had never seen his real face, the sculpted face wore a mask, with only a rough outline beneath it.

Mudrock wanted to use this skill to make more clay sculptures and sell them in the Upper City. As an Infected, she might face resistance from customers if she set up a stall herself. But there were uninfected Sarkaz mercenaries in the squad who could go in her place.

The squad had twenty-one people in total, eight of whom were non-combatants. With so many people crammed into a dilapidated building, even without paying rent, they still had to eat every day.

Money, money, money.

Everything required money.

But finding work was not so easy.

Quite a few Infected lingered near the ruined building, and they carried weapons. The fact that their weapons had not been confiscated at the border checkpoint was likely due to this very consideration.

"Boss, that police officer from the other day is looking for you."

Mudrock hurriedly stopped what she was doing and went downstairs to meet the benefactor who had helped them before.

Chen was teasing a few little girls on the first floor. When she saw Mudrock come down, she stood and said:

"Have you found work recently?"

Mudrock forced out a bitter smile. Without her armor, she was merely an ordinary young woman.

"Not yet."

"I have a job ready for you, though the pay isn't very high. A gang has an illegally constructed hideout that needs to be demolished. I don't know whether you're willing to take it."

This job was a godsend. To keep everyone in the squad fed, Mudrock had no reason to refuse.

"I'm willing!"