Finding Someone

At ten in the morning, after finishing his workout in the basement, Meng Zu drove to a three-story building in Flushing, Queens, where the Free Detective Agency was located.

"Happy New Year, Li Xue." Meng Zu pushed open the door, saw the young woman at the front desk, and greeted her.

"Happy New Year, Meng Zu." Li Xue replied with a smile.

When Meng Zu reached the second floor, he saw a young man and a middle-aged man sitting at a desk, discussing several forms. Noticing Meng Zu's arrival, the middle-aged man smiled and asked, "Ah Zu, looks like you had a good New Year!"

"Not bad. Uncle Yang, what are you and Xiao Hai discussing?"

The middle-aged man was named Yang Guang. He had been Meng Zu's adoptive father Zhang Jun's partner before Zhang Jun died. He was also Chinese and a mercenary. The young man was Yang Guang's son, Yang Hai. This detective agency had been opened by Zhang Jun and Yang Guang together. After all, everyone grew old eventually. Once mercenaries aged, they were no longer suited to the work, so the detective agency was the fallback they had arranged for themselves. Unfortunately, only a few years after the company opened, Zhang Jun died of cancer. Meng Zu naturally became one of the two owners.

Yang Hai had studied law in college. Private detectives often handled commissions that skirted the edge of legality, so they needed someone knowledgeable about the law to hold the fort. Otherwise, the police would come knocking all the time.

"Brother Zu, there's a commission here. Are you interested?" Yang Hai asked, waving a form.

"Oh?" Meng Zu took the form and looked it over. The Foxes' son had traveled to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, with friends during the holiday. Three days ago, the Foxes had lost contact with their son and his friends. Worried something had happened to them, they came to the Free Detective Agency yesterday on a friend's recommendation and commissioned an investigation, hoping to find their son and bring him home.

Ever since Meng Zu gained the Clue Guidance skill, he had completed all the time-consuming and difficult commissions entrusted to the agency. This had earned the Free Detective Agency quite a good reputation in the industry.

"Fifty thousand dollars. Looks like they're well-off," Meng Zu said with a smile as he looked at the amount on the commission form.

"Ah Zu, if the clients are willing to pay fifty thousand dollars and only came to us after three days, they probably already reported it to the police. The police just couldn't find them either. Do you want to take this job?" As an old mercenary, Uncle Yang could naturally glean some basic information from the Foxes' commission. Jobs like this were never easy to complete.

"It's fine, Uncle Yang. No matter what, there'll be an answer." Meng Zu was unconcerned. Finding people was troublesome for others, but with his Clue Investigation skill, it was easy enough for him. Whether they were alive or dead, he could get an answer.

After all, it was already 2010. Yesterday had been the last day of 2009. Meng Zu remembered that Tony Stark seemed to have become Iron Man in 2010. After Tony became Iron Man, it was as though he had sent a signal to the world. Supervillains and superheroes gradually began emerging one after another.

Earth had also started becoming unsettled that year. So Meng Zu planned to work twice as hard from now on, allowing him to earn more Contract Points. The stronger he became, the safer he felt. As for why he had not worked twice as hard before? What a joke. Just like students doing homework during vacation or employees completing work targets, who did not wait until the very end before cramming and working overtime to finish?

After Meng Zu decided to accept the job, the system generated a mission as well: Mercenary Mission: Find Sam Fox and bring him back. Contract Points: 50.

Mercenary Mission: Find Sam Fox and bring him back. Mercenary Points: 50.

It's actually worth fifty points. Looks like this really is a difficult mission. Meng Zu muttered to himself. He had accepted plenty of missing-person cases before, and they usually awarded just over twenty mercenary points. Cases worth fifty were the kind with no leads and people who were extremely hard to find—in other words, people who had already gone missing. If Meng Zu did not have the Clue Guidance skill, the final result of such missions would probably be the same as for most private detectives: nothing.

Meng Zu took the photograph the Foxes had left behind. Looking at the young boy in the picture, Sam Fox, he walked over to the detailed map of United States cities hanging on the wall and activated Clue Guidance.

A change appeared in Meng Zu's vision. A red dotted line with an arrow emerged from Sam Fox's photograph and pointed toward Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on the map. "He's still in Sault Ste. Marie. He's been there for quite some time, so at least someone should remember seeing him."

"Uncle Yang, Xiao Hai, I'm leaving." Meng Zu put the photograph into his pocket, said goodbye to the two men, then went downstairs and left.

New York was not too far from Sault Ste. Marie. It was only a two- or three-hour flight. After returning home and parking his car in the garage, Meng Zu took a taxi to the airport.

Meng Zu closed his eyes and rested on the plane. When he woke up, he had arrived in Sault Ste. Marie. Rather than a city, Sault Ste. Marie was more accurately described as a small town. It was not large, only four or five kilometers across.

Meng Zu first went to a rental car company and rented a car, making it easier to search around for clues. He did not use Clue Guidance again. After all, each use required twenty energy points. He had only recovered to fifty-five energy points, so he needed to conserve them.

Meng Zu drove to the local police station. According to Uncle Yang, the Foxes should have already reported the matter to the police. The officers here should have searched for Sam and the others, and perhaps he could obtain some clues from them.

When Meng Zu entered the police station, a white police officer in his forties did not approach him with a bad attitude just because Meng Zu was Asian. Instead, he politely asked, "Hello, sir. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Hello, my name is Meng Zu. And you are, Officer?" Meng Zu shook the man's hand.

"Hello, my name is Meng Zu. And you are, Officer?" Meng Zu said, extending his hand for a handshake.

"My name is Ryan."

"Officer Ryan, I'm a private detective. There are some things I'd like to ask you about. Perhaps we could talk at the coffee shop across from the station." Meng Zu smiled.

Officer Ryan's eyes flickered slightly as he smiled. "Of course. As a United States police officer, helping others is my duty."

Seeing Meng Zu casually give a ten-dollar tip for just two cups of coffee, Officer Ryan's lips curled up slightly. Meng Zu took out Sam's photo and placed it on the table. Then, as he pulled one green Franklin after another from his wallet, he asked, "Officer Ryan, this boy is Sam Fox. He came to Sault Ste. Marie with friends before. Do you know where they went last?"

Seeing Meng Zu casually give a ten-dollar tip for just two cups of coffee, Officer Ryan's lips curled up slightly. Meng Zu took out Sam's photo and placed it on the table. Then, as he pulled one green Franklin after another from his wallet, he asked, "Officer Ryan, this boy is Sam Fox. He came to Sault Ste. Marie with friends before. Do you know where they went last?"

Seeing five Franklins placed on the table, Officer Ryan sat upright and calmly took them away. Then, with a righteous expression, he said, "Ahem! Mr. Meng Zu, leaving money on the table like this could easily attract the attention of gangsters and hooligans. I'll keep it safe for you first."

"This boy's parents previously came to our station to file a missing-person report. Our investigation found that they last headed toward Lake Superior near Marquette. We questioned the bars and motels in the area. They had only seen those kids come through once and never saw them again. We also found nothing on the surveillance cameras along the nearby roads."

"Officer Ryan, thank you very much for your help. This is already good news to me, so I'll take my leave now." Meng Zu had finished his coffee by then.

"Officer Ryan, thank you very much for your help. This is already good news to me, so I'll take my leave now." Meng Zu had finished his coffee by then.

"Just what you'd expect from a rich man. So generous." After watching Meng Zu leave, Officer Ryan happily sipped his coffee. Meng Zu had already paid for both cups in advance.

In the United States, if you wanted to ask the police for clues or case information, they would not give you the time of day unless you were FBI, IRS, or a lawyer connected to the case. Of course, as a capitalist country, most things could be solved with Franklins. As for the small number of things that could not be solved, that simply meant you did not have enough Franklins.

Meng Zu's adoptive father Zhang Jun had taught him all these principles while he was alive. After graduating, Meng Zu had come to truly understand just how correct those principles were.