Caught a Thief

News of the Dream Restroom on Financial Street spread like wildfire across the entire district.

People at practically every company were discussing it in hushed voices.

Anyone who worked there and had a small social circle limited to coworkers would have found their WeChat Moments completely flooded that day.

Some began asking what material had been used for the restroom's walls.

Employees renovating their homes wanted a few walls like that, too. The place would look spectacular.

But the restroom had not officially opened yet, and construction workers were still finishing the interior, so no one could find out which company had built it.

Of course, none of them would admit that when they had stood outside staring at it, they had not even found the door.

Now that was embarrassing as hell.

The eyewitness accounts left those who had not seen it for themselves burning with curiosity.

Before noon, even bigger news swept through Financial Street: the restroom's gorgeous walls had changed. The exquisite garden had become a scene of bridges and flowing water!

What was going on?

That morning, some had guessed it was a display screen. But after careful inspection, a few people with relevant expertise had concluded that the wall was probably a new type of glass. Some astonishing process had embedded an image inside it, and the glass's transparency and thickness gave the image a depth no flat display could achieve.

That alone was technology straight out of science fiction.

No one had ever heard of a technique capable of embedding an image in glass with such realism and detail.

Now the change had shattered their understanding all over again.

The image could change? Could glass do that? There had to be some kind of imaging unit inside it.

It was a mystery. An utter mystery.

Plenty of people wanted to solve it, but none knew where to start.

As talk of the restroom swept through Financial Street, it naturally reached the headquarters of the Nancy Group.

One of Rongcheng's largest enterprises, the Nancy Group operated in construction, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and other industries. Its headquarters alone employed over a thousand people.

At that moment, nearly thirty percent of them were quietly discussing the Dream Restroom.

That included the Nancy Group Chairman, Fang Yuanming.

"Manager Zhao, a restroom has become the hottest topic in the company today. What do you make of it?" Fang Yuanming asked.

The Nancy Group's General Manager sat across from Chairman Fang. As the head of such a large enterprise, he had his own way of looking at things.

"The contrast is the key, Chairman," he replied at once. "That Miracle Glass, used in a restroom of all places, strikes people as novel and makes them want to investigate. If it were just a high-tech product sitting on a display stand, it wouldn't generate nearly this much discussion."

Fang Yuanming sighed. "Our new headquarters is about to be topped out. It won't just be our office. It's a major commercial complex combining a hotel, shopping center, office space, and more. The Nancy Group may be one of Rongcheng's largest companies, but the Nancy Building hasn't attracted much attention. We need to give people something to talk about and build real excitement around it."

"Don't worry, Chairman. I know what to do."

"The Golden Dragon District Sanitation Bureau is responsible for that restroom. Ask their director about it. You should be able to get firsthand information."

Manager Zhao nodded and left.

Shen Bing had spent the past few days in his rented apartment, keeping an eye on his phone screen.

But damn it, Lu Ban had vanished three days ago without a trace.

What the hell was going on? Was he under house arrest?

Unfortunately, Shen Bing had not received the mission reward yet, so there was nothing he could do.

Over the past few days, he had also tried putting Divine Puppets, Mechanism Beasts, and the like into his storage space. Every attempt had failed.

That morning, Dong Qiang called him in a panic. There had been a thief at the factory.

After asking for the details, Shen Bing finally pieced together what had happened.

The two Black-Backed Shepherds stationed at the Illusion Immortal Glass Factory had started their duties a few days earlier and had performed admirably.

The previous night, a thief had sneaked into the factory, and the dogs had spotted him.

Then his luck had run out.

They had torn every stitch of clothing off him. He stood naked in the factory yard, and whenever he tried to move, a huge mouth lunged at him.

The dogs had not actually injured him. They had been craftier than that, snapping straight at the thing between his legs.

Imagine being a grown man with that thing held in the jaws of a hostile Black-Backed Shepherd. Anyone would be scared sick.

The thief had spent the whole night in terror.

Who knew whether that thing of his would ever stand up again?

It also showed how smart the dogs were. If they had bitten down for real, the man might have died that night, bringing endless trouble to Phantom Immortal Technology and Shen Bing.

As it was, they had done him no physical harm, but the lesson had been more than enough.

Shen Bing made a trip to the factory and saw the thief for himself.

One look at the strips of cloth scattered on the ground and the man's miserable state, and Shen Bing called the police without another word.

He knew that turning the man over to the Police Station would, at most, mean a few days of administrative detention. If the thief admitted his wrongdoing, he might get off with a lecture.

Unlike other offenses, theft was judged by the value of what had been stolen.

The man had not managed to steal anything, making him hard to punish under the law.

After the police took the thief away, Shen Bing told a young factory worker named Wang Dong to follow them discreetly.

Wang Dong was a new hire, solidly built and reportedly a former soldier—and a reconnaissance soldier at that.

He had originally planned to look for work on the coast, but his younger sister worked in Rongcheng, so he had stayed. That way, they could look out for each other.

With nothing more to do at the factory, Shen Bing returned to his rented apartment.

He had barely stepped inside when his father called to say that the local-breed dog had sold for a good price.

The buyer was apparently some well-connected rich kid. What did Shen Bing care? As long as he paid.

Shen's Father had not called just to brag about the sale, of course. He wanted Shen Bing to find more dogs.

This time, though, he wanted valuable breeds rather than more big yellow dogs.

The local-breed angle was a good selling point, but too many of them would probably cause problems.

His father knew him well. The request had clearly been prompted by something he had noticed about those two big yellow dogs.

Shen Bing said he would try his best and hung up.

He was about to open the Gate to the Immortal Realm and take a look around when his phone rang again.

"Damn it, will this never end?" Shen Bing grumbled. Seeing Wang Dong's name on the screen, he reluctantly answered.

"Boss, I found something," Wang Dong said excitedly. Following and investigating someone clearly thrilled him. The kid was not one to sit still.

"What did you find?"

"The thief left the Police Station a little while ago and took a taxi to Kehua Avenue in the south of the city, where he met a middle-aged man. I overheard a few things, and it sounded like that man had put him up to it. I followed the middle-aged man to Rongcheng People's Hospital, where he met someone in a private ward. I didn't go in because I was worried I'd be spotted, but I learned from the nurses' station that the patient's name is Lin Zijian."

"Lin Zijian? Are you sure?"

"Boss, you've got to trust a reconnaissance soldier's professional skills."

"Uh... all right!"

After ending the call, Shen Bing gave a cold smile.

"Hah! So that's what you were planning. I was wondering why Fatty Chang hadn't made a move after all these days."

When Shen Bing had seen the fabric of the thief's clothes and the look on his face that morning, he had suspected there was more to the matter.

Besides, the factory had stood there for years without attracting a thief. Someone broke in barely ten days after he took over? That was too much of a coincidence.

That was why he had used the police to let the thief go, then had Wang Dong follow the trail.

Sure enough, something was going on.

Shen Bing now had a rough picture of it. Coupled with the conversation he had overheard by chance at Romantic Fish Restaurant ten days earlier, the matter was almost clear.

Anyone else would have forgotten a few stray remarks almost immediately. But Shen Bing's brain was better than a computer, and he remembered every word.

"Doesn't Lin Zijian's family company make LCD substrates? Why are they getting involved with glass curtain walls? Sure, they both use glass, but that's a pretty big leap!" Shen Bing was puzzled.

"I have to get to the bottom of this, or I won't be able to eat or sleep!"

Shen Bing turned to Little Doudou, who was eating a fresh wild sea bass nearby with an unmistakable look of disdain. An idea came to him.

"Little Doudou, I need a favor."

"What is it?" Little Doudou asked haughtily.

"Follow someone for me. The guy you first treated to Plague God Possession. Remember everything he says and everyone he meets."

Little Doudou's little head drooped, and a pitiful voice sounded in Shen Bing's mind. "Master, that's really hard. Little Doudou can't do it."

"Do a good job, and I'll find a way to get you a fish from the Immortal Realm," Shen Bing tempted her.

"It's a deal! A master who lies isn't a good master." Little Doudou looked wary, as though Shen Bing lied all the time.

Shen Bing felt wounded.

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