At ten in the morning, Meng Zu finished his workout in the basement and drove to the three-story building in Flushing, Queens, named Free Detective Agency.
"Happy New Year, Li Xue." Meng Zu pushed open the door and greeted the young woman at the reception desk.
"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, "Homelander, looks like you had a pretty good New Year!"
"Not bad. Uncle Yang, what are you and Xiao Hai discussing?"
The middle-aged man was Yang Guang, his adoptive father Zhang Jun's former partner. He was also Chinese and a mercenary. The young man was Yang Hai, Yang Guang's son. This detective agency had been opened jointly by Zhang Jun and Yang Guang. After all, everyone grew old someday, and once mercenaries aged, they were no longer suited to the work. This detective agency was the backup plan they had arranged for themselves. Unfortunately, only a few years after it opened, Zhang Jun died of cancer. Meng Zu had naturally become 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 keep watch. Otherwise, the police would be paying them frequent visits.
"Brother Zu, there's a commission here. Are you interested?" Yang Hai asked, picking up a form and waving it.
"Oh?" Meng Zu took the form and looked it over. The Foxes' son had gone to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, with friends during the holidays. Three days ago, the Foxes had lost contact with their son and his friends. Worried that something had happened to them, they had come to 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 acquired the Clue Guidance skill, he had completed all the time-consuming and difficult commissions taken by the detective agency. This had given Free Detective Agency quite a good reputation in the industry.
"Fifty thousand dollars. Looks like they're doing pretty well," Meng Zu said with a smile as he looked at the amount on the commission form.
"Homelander, 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 did not think much of it. Finding people was troublesome for others, but with his Clue Investigation skill, it was easy for him. Whether they were dead or alive, he could find an answer.
After all, it was already 2010. Yesterday had been the final 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, and one supervillain and superhero after another slowly began emerging.
The Earth had also begun growing restless that year. So Meng Zu planned to work twice as hard starting this year, so he could earn more Contract Points. The stronger he became, the safer he would feel. As for why he had not worked twice as hard before? What a joke. Like students doing homework during vacation or employees completing performance targets at work, who did not wait until the last minute before 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.
It's actually worth fifty points. This really is a difficult job, Meng Zu muttered inwardly. He had taken plenty of missing-person cases before, and they usually gave him only twenty-some Contract Points. Those worth over fifty were the kind with no leads at all and were extremely difficult to find—the sort people called completely missing. If Meng Zu did not have Clue Guidance, the outcome of jobs like this would probably be the same as for most private detectives: nothing.
Meng Zu took the photo left behind by the Foxes. 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 formed from Sam Fox's photo, pointing 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 photo into his pocket, said goodbye to the two men, then headed downstairs and left.
New York was not particularly 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 sat on the plane with his eyes closed, resting. When he woke up, he had arrived in Sault Ste. Marie. Rather than calling it a city, it was more fitting to call it a small town. It was not large, only four or five kilometers across.
Meng Zu first went to a car rental company and rented a car, making it easier to search for clues everywhere. He did not use Clue Guidance again. After all, each use consumed twenty Energy, and he had only recovered to fifty-five Energy. He needed to conserve it.
Meng Zu drove to the local police station. According to what Uncle Yang had said, the Foxes should have already reported the case. The police here should have searched for Sam and the others as well, and perhaps he could get some leads from them.
When Meng Zu entered the police station, a white police officer in his forties did not approach him with a bad attitude simply because Meng Zu was Asian. Instead, he politely asked, "Hello, sir. Is there something I can help you with?"
White Police Officer (;￢＿￢): Bad attitude? What, can't you see this guy is obviously dressed like a rich man? Offending rich people could easily lead to a real complaint.
"Hello, my name is Meng Zu. How should I address you, Officer?" Meng Zu asked, shaking the man's hand.
"My name is Ryan."
"Officer Ryan, I'm a private detective. There are some things I'd like to ask about. Perhaps we could talk at the coffee shop across from the station?" Meng Zu said with a smile.
Officer Ryan's eyes flickered slightly as he smiled. "Of course. As a United States police officer, helping others is my duty."
The two went to the coffee shop and sat down. Meng Zu ordered two coffees. Once the waiter brought them over, Meng Zu smiled and handed the waiter a ten-dollar tip.
Seeing Meng Zu casually give a ten-dollar tip for just two coffees, Officer Ryan could not help but curl his lips upward. Meng Zu took out Sam's photo and placed it on the table. Then, while pulling one green Franklin after another from his wallet, he said, "Officer Ryan, this kid is Sam Fox. He came to Sault Ste. Marie with friends earlier. Do you know where they went last?"
Seeing five Franklins placed on the table, Officer Ryan sat up straight and calmly took them away. Then, with a righteous expression, he said, "Ahem! Mr. Meng Zu, leaving money on the table like this can easily attract the attention of gang punks. I'll hold onto it for you."
"This child's parents came to our station before to report him missing. Our investigation showed that they last headed toward Lake Superior near Marquette. We asked around at the bars and motels in the area. They had only seen these kids come through once and never saw them again. We also found nothing on the surveillance cameras along the nearby roads."
"If you want to find them, all you can do is ask around over there. But I don't think there's much hope."
"Officer Ryan, thank you very much for your help. This is already good news to me. Then I'll be taking my leave." Meng Zu had finished his coffee by then.
"Just as expected of a rich man. He's so generous," Officer Ryan muttered as he watched Meng Zu leave, slowly sipping his coffee in high spirits. Meng Zu had already paid for both coffees.
In the United States, if you wanted to question the police for leads or case information, unless you were FBI, IRS, or a lawyer connected to the case, the police would not give you the time of day. Of course, as a capitalist country, most matters could be solved with Franklins. As for the small portion that could not be solved, it only 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 how correct they were.
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