Caught-Except Not. / Big Brain-Xia Keke!

Her words came across as completely casual, as if she were saying something as simple as eating or drinking, as if she were saying, "It's just teleportation, right? Anyone can do that, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Keke didn't find anything wrong. Instead, her eyes lit up with admiration as she exclaimed, "Brother is so amazing! I only know a little bit of basic spatial skills, but you can already teleport around and travel everywhere!"

"Uh... hehe, it's nothing. Hurry up and finish your breakfast. I'll take you out to play later." Ling Mengxue chuckled dryly, feeling a little guilty.

She's so innocently cute, oh, absolutely no offense intended.

Xia Keke nodded excitedly, dangling her little legs as she sat on the bed. Her petite figure occupied only a tiny space on the large bed, her long hair cascading down her back and onto the white bedding.

Perhaps because of her petite stature, her nightgown appeared somewhat loose, with the fabric slipping halfway down her right shoulder to her elbow, revealing her smooth, white shoulder.

Something seems... off?

[img=368,286]htt [img=700,646]htt Chapter 150: Caught, then not caught.

Then, Xia Keke struck by a sudden thought, became interested again and smiled, "Brother Duskfall, your hair seems longer than other boys', it's so handsome! I mean in our world, if it weren't for your clothes, I would have thought you were a girl at first glance. Is there some special reason for that?"

Ling Mengxue thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "No, it's just that I'm too lazy to get it cut."

Because of her original hairstyle, her hair has now grown longer and falls naturally, giving her a youthful and girlish look.

If I let it grow any longer, it'll be almost completely long and straight black. There's a barbershop in town, so I guess I'll have to cut it back...

Etc!

Her current form is just a magical illusion, okay?

Thinking about her own situation, Ling Mengxue was speechless again.

The reason I keep my hair long is to avoid being exposed. If someone reaches out to touch it, the length will definitely be even longer!

Soon after Xia Keke changed her clothes, Ling Mengxue closed the door and prepared to go out to explore.

Spatial Blink must never be done in public view, so after they left, the two of them selectively moved to deserted paths.

This world doesn't have magic, it's just that women's genes are stronger. If teleportation suddenly appeared, wouldn't that cause panic?

A few cases are fine, but what if they're caught on camera?

For the remaining distance, Ling Mengxue led Xia Keke into the streets and alleys, beginning their leisurely stroll through this bustling land.

All sorts of shops come into view: clothing stores, pawn shops, supermarkets, fresh food markets...

All of this gave them the illusion that they were still in the same world as before.

But when her gaze returned to the powerful women and the frail men, Ling Mengxue slapped her face with both hands, immediately waking herself up.

An illusion is just an illusion; reality remains cruel.

As we walked, the square ahead suddenly became much noisier, with a bustling crowd. Several police officers in blue uniforms stood in the middle, seemingly announcing some news.

As they got closer, they were finally able to hear the gist of what was being said.

But it was precisely because she learned the truth that Ling Mengxue became even more bewildered, not for any other reason than the inexplicably shocking content.

The Murder Demon has been caught!

In the town square, three bloody corpses lay scattered about. They were all victims from the previous night: one man and two women, all young-looking. They were covered with a white sheet, and their genders could only be roughly determined by their outlines.

However, the problems were too great. Although she didn't embody any game character, Ling Mengxue was still clear about the rules for winning the main storyline.

"Once the serial killer is killed or brought to justice, the mission will automatically end, and all players can leave the instance early."

But so far, they haven't received any task notifications. What went wrong?

Either the system is malfunctioning, or the police have arrested the wrong person. Ling Mengxue is more inclined to believe the latter.

After all, the secret realm had only been open for one night. Without any clues or leads, even the greatest detective would be helpless.

Unless you're incredibly lucky, the probability of that happening is really low.

Just then, a female detective, her face lighting up with joy, stepped out from the crowd and called out, "Ling Feng, Master, over here!"

"Yi Ren??"

"Yes, yes! I'm a police officer now!"

Ye Yiren grinned, tossed her hat up, and couldn't help but show off, which also made her look somewhat heroic.

However, due to the role being replaced, her appearance is no longer her own. She still looks like a beautiful woman, but she gives people a more mature feeling.

Seemingly understanding Ling Mengxue and the others' doubts, Ye Yiren took advantage of the fact that the group was still busy and had some time, and after saying hello, pulled them to a coffee shop next to the square.

"Since you've all come this far, you must have already heard about what happened, right?"

In a window seat, Ye Yiren forced a somewhat distressed smile.

She stirred her coffee, gently blew on it, and the wispy white steam swayed in the air before dissipating. She took a small sip, and her mood at that moment was as bitter as the coffee.

Sure enough, I should add some sugar, right?

Ling Mengxue's expression gradually calmed, but a hint of worry appeared between her brows. "Since you're a police officer, you must know more than we do, right? Has the Murder Demon really been caught?"

"We caught him, but it also feels like we didn't." Ye Yiren shook her head, then a hint of indignation flashed across her face as she clenched her fists in anger. "There's another player who's also a police officer, a guy. On his first night on duty, he took advantage of his 'policewoman' status and acted recklessly. Most people were on his side, and because of that, all the clues are completely messed up! I really want to beat him to death!"

"... And then what? What happened to that Murder Demon?" Ling Mengxue continued to ask.

That's some amazing skill; could it have been a random grab?

Xia Keke sat to the side, blinked, and looked on blankly, completely unable to understand what the two were saying, only feeling that they were very impressive.

After Ye Yiren gave a brief explanation, Ling Mengxue seemed to have something to think about.

It turns out that the "Murder Demon" caught last night was just a suspect who happened to be at the crime scene and was captured by a player who happened to be passing by. But there are still many things that are hard to explain.

That simple-minded player didn't conduct a thorough investigation, so the one who got caught was really unlucky.

Relying on a lack of evidence, I heard they even rushed through the interrogation and convicted the person directly?

And the referendum is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning?

"No way? Do all your people really listen to that guy?" Ling Mengxue smirked.

It's understandable for one or two people to be foolish, but it's not normal for a whole group of people to be foolish.

Ye Yiren shook her head and silently took another sip of coffee. "No, it's just that the director seems to trust him a lot, so he put him in charge of the whole case. Many of us below objected, but there was nothing we could do."

"Speechless, I give up, okay? I'm starting to suspect this sheriff is Murder Demon, probably a lecher too. He hasn't caught a single criminal in all this time. Doesn't he feel ashamed sitting in the station?" Ling Mengxue silently complained, turning her head to look at the square outside the glass window. (")

It wasn't intentional targeting; after all, the difficulty of investigating these cases is different. But the bureau chief's actions were just too foolish, almost unbelievably foolish.

Surely the system isn't activating a collective intelligence-lowering aura to increase the difficulty of the missions, forcing players to explore on their own as much as possible?

"Oh, right, that player also has a friend who is the famous 'Great Detective' of Happy Town. Many of his colleagues in the hall trust him implicitly and have no doubts about the clues he deduces. It feels like blind worship!" Ye Yiren quickly spoke up, remembering something else.

[img=700,971]Sorry for being late. I'll try to update more in the next few days, but my attendance record is off again~

[img=700,990]http://Chapter 151 The Great Cleverness - Xia Keke!

"The Great Detective?" Ling Mengxue looked on with suspicion.

"Yeah, even just standing there listening, I have this inexplicable urge to believe him. It's like when we hear the name 'Sherlock Holmes,' don't we subconsciously feel that there's no case he can't solve?" Ye Yiren said nervously.

Ling Mengxue nodded, not taking it to heart; it was just a normal psychological reaction.

Perhaps in this world, the great detective Que Shi was originally a legendary figure, but now he's being portrayed by a "primary school student." That doesn't change anything; there's nothing we can do but rely on ourselves to find the clues.

"Do you have a photo of the suspect? Could you show it to me? And what other clues do you have so far?"

"Of course! I prepared it for you a long time ago! I was counting on you to help me get a high score!" Ye Yiren chuckled and pulled the pre-prepared document directly from under the table without leaving a trace.

Ling Mengxue gave a dry laugh and took the things.

Does she really think she's Conan? I'm just an ordinary high school student, at most playing a supporting role and helping out as much as I can.

"That's it, it's up to you now, great detective!"

Seeing that the situation outside was almost settled, Ye Yiren didn't linger and quickly packed her things before slipping out of the coffee shop.

Hmm, I haven't paid for the coffee!

Ling Mengxue glanced outside; it wasn't the first time, anyway.

Fortunately, the girl knew she was poor, and in the past, she would only ask her to pay for drinks.

There weren't many people around their spot, and no security cameras. Ling Mengxue thought for a moment, then opened the envelope containing the documents under the table.

As soon as I opened it, a photo popped up.

Picking it up, Ling Mengxue couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Is it the delivery lady from last night??"

"That food delivery lady?"

Hearing the noise, Xia Keke tiptoed over.

Ling Mengxue nodded, unsure of what to say.

Could it be that they really ripped off the customer because of the takeout they ordered?

Seriously? This is unlucky!

She was certain the deliveryman wasn't a Murder Demon, but now the problem was, the referendum was tomorrow morning, and she couldn't just stand by and watch, could she?

Ling Mengxue felt somewhat guilty for indirectly causing someone's arrest.

How about we break them out of prison?

She quickly skimmed through some useful and useless information, then stored everything in her mission storage space.

Much of the existing intelligence is useless; it includes trivial details, and it's unclear whether these are just for padding the word count or not. In any case, they're all pieced together without any connection, making the whole thing more and more confusing, almost as if someone did it on purpose.

Fortunately, we now know where the delivery woman is. She was apprehended last night and is currently being held in solitary confinement.

Not long ago, Ling Mengxue had already located the exact location of the Happy Town Police Station using her mobile phone, and had even booked a job at a bar/KTV across the street, so she could take this opportunity to gather more intelligence.

White Night Bar.

At the steamed bun shop not far from the entrance, Ling Mengxue gave Xia Keke some instructions, transferred some 'Soul Coins' to her, and then told the girl to leave first, while she would stay there for the time being.

In crowded and noisy places like bars and nightclubs, there's a lot of gossip, and you can often glean some useful information from the conversations.

Moreover, she can detect any situation at the police station across the street immediately and make preparations in advance.

It was exactly 8:30 a. m., and the bar had already officially opened for business.

There are fewer people now, but the number of customers will gradually increase later. Nighttime is when the customer flow is the largest, and it's easier to do things under the cover of darkness. We can try to break into the prison then...

Oh well, whatever. We'll leave once the mission is over. This isn't their world anyway. What can possibly harm a superhuman who can teleport?

Ling Mengxue walked into the bar; it was her first day at work.

If the task progresses quickly and the time is short, I can resign in a day. Otherwise, I can stay a few more days and then find an excuse to resign from the bar manager. Now I'm just waiting for the right opportunity.

"Huh? Are you Duskfall's younger brother?"

Upon seeing someone, a beautiful woman in a red dress stepped forward, a friendly smile on her face, and an undisguised delight in her eyes. "Little brother, you're so handsome! You look even better in person than in the photos."

"Manager Zheng?"

Upon seeing the newcomer, Ling Mengxue greeted him somewhat uncertainly.

The two had spoken on the phone before, and she only realized how familiar the voice sounded when she heard it.

The woman in red in front of her was her boss, whose full name was Zheng Yalan. She was the person in charge of White Night Bar, the manager and owner. According to the official website, she was also an excellent bartender.

As for the name 'Duskfall', it's just a temporary disguise, a name I adopted based on the first two characters of my game ID.

Zheng Yalan poured a glass of orange juice from the vending machine next to her, handed it to him, and said with a smile, "Duskfall, you don't need to be so formal. Just call me Sister Zheng like everyone else. I'll have someone take you to get familiar with the work environment later. We're pretty relaxed during the day, not too much to do, but it gets busier in the evenings."

Ling Mengxue, observing her condition, took the orange juice, took a small sip, and smiled sweetly, "Okay, Sister Zheng, then I'll go and get back to work?"

"It's alright, you just arrived, no need to rush." Zheng Yalan tossed her hair, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said, "How about I let you leave work early tonight and treat you to a candlelight dinner?"

"...No need, my sister is still waiting for me at home." Ling Mengxue politely declined, naturally seeing through the woman's thoughts at a glance.

This is such an obvious indication that he's pursuing her; it's not just a hint anymore, is it?