Chapter 61
Exusiai grumbled a couple of times, then picked up her phone and dialed a number. Once the call connected, she spoke:
"Isu, I need a favor. Someone stole my motorcycle from the Underground Parking Lot last night. Can you help me track down the thief's escape route?"
If the Messenger is the hands of Penguin Logistics, then Isu also serves as the intelligence chief, must be the eyes.
After the Transportation Bureau
Taiwan's network firewall was as fragile as paper in front of him. He could freely intrude into and access street surveillance footage in the Upper City without being detected by the Lungmen Guard Department.
"Tsk, what a thief. Come on, let's play two more rounds of mahjong. This time, we're going to win big."
For a moment, it felt like an NPC who had lost a family member but was still happily playing a game of Gwent.
Before Isu found any clues, Exusiai knew that no matter how hard she tried, it would be useless. There was no specific time of the theft, and the other party would have to spend considerable time examining the evidence at high speed.
More than thirty minutes passed, until the last rays of the sun disappeared below the horizon, before she received Isu's reply.
Exusiai answered the call and waited for the connection to end before seeking help from her colleagues Shi Lei and Texas.
"It's a gang crime, currently in District 30. If you don't have anything else to do, could you come with me? If we find the motorcycle, I'll treat you to barbecue."
Everyone had been playing mahjong all day, so how could anything have happened? Texas, remembering her recent slight weight gain, wanted to revise the content:
"Let's eat something lighter. I've been eating a lot of barbecue and pizza lately, and I'm getting a bit tired of it."
Exusiai didn't care about these details and agreed:
"Okay, whatever you want to eat. And you, Miss Nian, would you like to come along?"
I'm waiting for the This Ship to arrive, and I have nothing to do while it's still there. Going along to take a look might be worthwhile; I don't necessarily have to participate.
"OK."
After making up their minds, the group locked the warehouse and went to the neighborhood Exusiai lived. Texas drove the other three to the District 30 of the Lower City.
En route they passed a candy store, Shi Lei remembered how reliable Croissant's intelligence-gathering method Croissant that day. He immediately yelled for the car to stop and pointed to the store's sign, saying:
"Sugar."
Texas instantly understood, pulled over, bought a few bags of candy, got back into the car, and started driving again.
The lack of surveillance cameras in Slums makes it difficult to track down criminals once they've escaped. However, while difficult to track down, it's not impossible. Especially in densely populated areas, there are always plenty of witnesses.
Texas drove into the District 30 and found homeless children in the plaza. These homeless minors without parents are numerous in the Lower City.
After paying with a bag of candy, they learned that the thief gang had headed north.
The children were sleeping on the benches in the square in the morning when they heard the roar of engines. But by the time they tried to pay attention, everyone had already gone far away, so they couldn't pinpoint the exact location.
Undeterred, the group followed the directions northward. Along the way, they encountered homeless children, and regardless of whether they could provide clues, they gave them bags of candy as New Year's gifts.
After several twists and turns, they finally found out the warehouse that the thieves had used as their base.
However, when Shi Lei arrived at the scene, he found it had become a ruin. Two men Feline in dirty white clothes were squatting on the steps smoking.
He looked around to confirm. Somewhat doubtful that he might have come to the wrong place, he stepped forward and asked:
"Hello, what's going on here?"
Feline looked up and saw a man exhaling plumes of smoke, saying in a sarcastic tone:
"I felt cold tonight, so I lit a fire here to keep warm. You wouldn't believe how damn hot the fire was; I even had some roasted sausages with my drinks."
"..."
Shi Lei found the reason absurd and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Exusiai, standing nearby, became interested and asked:
"Really? This warehouse can just be destroyed like that?"
Feline stared at her like she was an idiot. If it weren't for Sarkaz, he would have already started hitting her, cursing:
"**(Lungmen profanity), what do you think? Some damn bastard set this place on fire. He burned all our spoils, everything!"
In an instant, all four of them understood.
This was indeed a hideout for a theft gang. Perhaps they were double-crossed or something went wrong. In any case, a sudden fire broke out in the warehouse, burning everything inside. And the "loot" they were talking about was most likely stolen goods.
Exusiai confirmed her identity and immediately drew her musket:
"Damn it, it's you guys! Where's my car? Give me back my motorcycle!"
Seeing that the two sides were about to clash, Shi Lei instantly cast the [Jade Shield] on the four of them. He was just about to step forward to help when Texas stopped him:
"Leave this to us, you just need to watch from the side."
Ever since last night, when Nian revealed that Shi Lei might be a fragment of the Great Beast, Texas secretly resolved to keep a close eye on him from now on.
If Shi Lei were to summon meteorites to fall from the sky in person, it would undoubtedly cause quite a stir. Acting too ostentatiously risks being discovered by the Si Sui Tai a high-ranking official in charge of divination).
Texas secretly checked online during the day using her phone and found that there are currently no Great Beast in the Great Yan. Previously, an emperor mobilized the entire nation to slaughter all the Great Beast within its borders that resembled 'gods'. The Si Sui Tai department also truly exists.
If Nian wasn't lying, then as a fragment of Great Beast, she shouldn't have been able to shake the Yan. Perhaps because of Nian's forging abilities, the authorities felt that her survival was more beneficial than harmful, which is why they didn't eliminate her completely.
In short, Texas is willing to believe what Nian said and absolutely cannot let Si Sui Tai discover Shi Lei.
"All right."
These guys are just thieves; there's really no need for him to get involved. Let the professionals handle it. Their physical persuasion tactics are quite effective.
.
Shi Lei had no objection to this and stepped back behind Nian.
The thieves were already seething with anger after the warehouse burned down. Now that the owner had come knocking, they had a perfect opportunity to vent their pent-up rage.
"Damn it, prepare to die!"
Looking at the devastated ruins, Nian thought to herself, "If only my little sister Xi were here."
Today's Limited-Time Featured Image. jpg
099 My heart surrenders
"Damn it, prepare to die!"
The two thieves pulled out short daggers and stabbed directly at him.
Exusiai and Texas knew that Shi Lei had cast a shield on them, so they stood still and took the hits head-on.
The power of the shield gives one a sense of security.
In just over a month, they had almost forgotten what dodging was. The feeling of attacking with all their might without needing to defend was simply too addictive!
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Someone come quick!"
"Ouch, my hand is about to break! Stop it!"
With the shield protecting them, dealing with these minions was a piece of cake. Exusiai grabbed one of the Feline collar and questioned him about the whereabouts of the lost item.
"Tell me, where is my motorcycle?"
Feline looked embarrassed and forced a wry smile:
"I... I don't know."
Exusiai, she copied Texas from the side, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back:
"Keep pretending. You think you don't know what you stole together?"
Feline was in so much pain that tears almost welled up in her eyes. She was forced to lower her center of gravity to make her arm feel a little better.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, be gentle! I did see the motorcycle you mentioned last night. Someone drove it back and parked it in the warehouse. The brothers were drinking late into the night to celebrate finding their New Year's money."
Later, everyone got tired and went back to sleep. Then, in the afternoon, the warehouse suddenly caught fire, and a lot of the loot was gone. Anyway, when I was putting out the fire, I didn't see the motorcycle. As for where it is, I really don't know.
Seeing that Exusiai's grip was still tight, Feline lowered his body with a pained expression, trying to lessen the pain of his counter-attack:
"Stop bending it, your hand will break! If I knew where the motorcycle was, would I still be squatting here?"
Judging from the fact that the arsonists set fire to the warehouse instead of looting it head-on, their numbers were likely smaller than those of the thief gang.
"What happened?"
Hearing the loud noise from the Feline, the thieves living nearby peeked out from different floors of the apartment building. A rough estimate puts it at about twenty people.
"Brothers, grab your weapons!"
Seeing the two men suffering, they quickly brandished their weapons and rushed towards them from the stairwells on either side.
Exusiai, unaware that Shi Lei had advanced, assumed his abilities remained the same and turned to remind him:
"Zhongli, leave these people to us. You don't need to fight, just remember to provide shields in time."
Shi Lei is now at the Immortal Realm, and can use his mind to cast Jade Shield on a designated target. Refreshing the shield is also just a matter of a thought.
Moreover, these henchmen were armed with ordinary weapons, which couldn't break his shield at all.
"Don't worry, I'm here."
Hearing Shi Lei's conversation with Exusiai, Nian, who was watching from the sidelines, looked puzzled and asked:
"Is this shield your ability?"
She had witnessed the power of the Jade Shield during her one-on-one duel with Texas. She initially thought it was Female Lupo's Originium Arts, but it turned out to be Shi Lei's skill.
It can summon rock pillars and cast light brown shields. All its abilities seem to be related to earth and stone. Were there any Great Beast related to the earth in the Yan before?
Maybe I should ask the older sister when I pass by sometime; she might know some secrets.
Shi Lei didn't see any trap in this question, and his shield ability was public knowledge:
"Oh, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I'm just surprised."
Last night, an agreement was reached with Texas that they would not delve further into his background. Therefore, the topic was dropped and not explored any further.
An infected warlock was lurking in a corner on the third floor, launching a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the beam of light hit Exusiai but did nothing, like a tickle.
"This is a tough one, get out of here!"
The warlock, disregarding the lives of the other thieves, immediately turned and fled after issuing the warning. At the same time, a gray flash appeared from the outside, scaling the railing and ascending to the third floor within moments, blocking the thief's path.
The thieves who rushed downstairs were writhing in agony from Exusiai's rubber bullets. She grabbed one of them and questioned him, only to receive the same answer:
"I don't know. When the warehouse caught fire, a lot of valuable loot was gone. After we put out the fire, we went door to door in the neighborhood to ask, but no one saw what the arsonist looked like."
Since the thieves were clueless, Exusiai three companions had even less of a way to investigate. At this point, the trail had essentially gone cold.
Nian was at a loss. Her expertise lay in forging and smelting; tracking suspects was not her forte. Just as everyone was at their wits' end, Shi Lei's phone rang.
"Ring ring ring".
Seeing that it was Lin Yuxia calling, he pressed the answer button:
"Hello?"
"Mister Shi Lei, this is Lin Yuxia." (This afternoon)
I just finished work and rushed over. But when I got there, the warehouse door was locked. Are you eating out? Can I join you?
It was 7 p. m., barely dinnertime. But they were so busy looking for a motorcycle that they hadn't eaten yet.
"Yuxia, we're in the District 30 of the Lower City. Exusiai didn't come home last night, and her motorcycle, which was parked in the parking lot, was stolen. We've been tracking it..."
After he explained the whole story, Lin Yuxia had no better solution:
"I see. So where are you now? I can send someone over to help you find us."
Shi Lei wasn't quite sure, so he walked to the vicinity of the residential building, found the iron nameplate, and gave them the address.
After hanging up the phone, Texas had already brought the warlock back to her side. Exusiai, holding her musket and aiming at the still-stunned thief, shouted in their direction:
"Zhongli, what's the next step?"
"Lin Yuxia said she would send someone over to help, so let's wait here for now."
This theft gang committed crimes in the Upper City last night. According to the principle of cross-district arrest, this should fall under the jurisdiction of the Lungmen Guard Department.