The door opened a crack with as little noise as possible, and a figure slipped inside, tiptoeing with practiced familiarity around the hallway, the table, and...
"Hello, miss."
Li Wei's voice rang out, forcing the intruder to stop.
"I hope you won't do anything rash."
Li Wei sat in a chair, the Persuader in his hand. The room was pitch-black, but under [Soul Sight], the glow of the soul before him was perfectly clear.
"I might not be able to kill you with one shot, but I can guarantee the gunfire will wake everyone in this building. I imagine you wouldn't want that either."
The figure paused for a moment. Then a hoarse, elderly voice spoke.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Li Wei. I'm a detective."
Li Wei stood, looked at her, and continued.
"I came here to find Miss Annie Delint Darwin."
"Why are you looking for her?"
"Because Cront is threatening the Empire, and we need to rally every force we can against the Beastmen Legion."
"How can you be sure she'll be able to help you?"
"Simple. Because the Kingdom of Kront has put her on its wanted list."
Li Wei shrugged.
"Cront wouldn't put out a warrant for a biologist without a reason, unless that biologist was important to them. Given the Kingdom of Kront's current circumstances, anyone who could get them that worked up must have something exceptional to offer."
"That's your deduction? Interesting. How did you find this place?"
"Her mailing address was listed in the journal Biological Research."
At Li Wei's answer, she fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly.
"Right. I'd forgotten about that..."
Her voice was still just as hoarse and grating. Then the figure walked to the window and carefully lifted a corner of the curtain. Moonlight spilled