Fleecing the State

The captain entered the interrogation room with his phone. The staff members, who had originally been separated, were gathered together to await Sheng An's questions over the video call.

Neither Qiu Yu nor the captain understood what she was doing.

Even Hao Jingye and Song Linwei had no idea what Sheng An intended to ask.

Looking at the staff members on the screen, Sheng An smiled and asked gently-

"Please think carefully. Before the grain disappeared, did any of you feel a chill at the back of your head? Or, to put it another way, have any of you recently... encountered a ghost?"

What kind of bizarre question was that?!

Encountered a ghost?

That was one damn familiar way of putting it.

Hadn't Zhang Jialiang seen a ghost and then reported it to the authorities?

The people on the other end were clearly taken aback as well.

Confusion filled their eyes.

Sheng An said, "This is the last question we'll ask today. I hope you'll all think back carefully and leave out no detail. It will help us uncover the truth."

The captain immediately added, "Tell us anything that comes to mind."

"Yes, even if it was just your imagination, or something that left you slightly puzzled, you can tell us." Sheng An's voice was very gentle. "It's fine if you're mistaken. You're all helping the country."

At that, the captain instinctively glanced at Qiu Yu.

Sheng An was different from Qiu Yu.

Sheng An was gentle when questioning people, while Qiu Yu was imposing, her sternness intimidating.

After just a couple of questions, Qiu Yu had even used her ability directly.

He had to admit it.

Although Qiu Yu was efficient, Sheng An put people more at ease.

The staff members all relaxed, their faces thoughtful as they earnestly searched their memories.

Some shook their heads, while others looked puzzled.

But one person... slowly raised his hand.

Sheng An immediately said, "Go ahead."

The man was clearly hesitant.

Sheng An reassured him again. "It's all right. You can tell me anything."

She was very gentle, and the captain turned the phone toward the man.

Seeing Sheng An's smiling face, he stammered, "I think I really did encounter a ghost recently."

Everyone: "???"

There really was something to this!

Hao Jingye and Song Linwei instantly sat up straight. Even Qiu Yu, the captain, and the others on the other end grew serious.

The man continued, "When I went home after work last night, it felt like something bumped into me, but when I turned around, I couldn't see anything. I thought I was just so tired I was imagining things. My mom said I'd encountered a ghost and even burned a talisman for me."

Qiu Yu frowned.

This incident had nothing to do with today's theft, so she hadn't asked about it when she controlled him during questioning.

He had also thought it unrelated to today's events and hadn't mentioned it.

Her feelings were complicated, but she didn't interrupt Sheng An.

"When I was in the warehouse today, I thought... I felt a breeze behind me?"

He paused, then hurried to add, as though afraid of being misunderstood, "Of course, my back was to the door at the time. It could've been a breeze from outside."

With his back to the doorway, he certainly could have felt a breeze behind him.

Sheng An smiled and nodded. "All right, I understand. Thank you for your cooperation."

The man looked completely bewildered.

Sheng An told the captain, "I'm done with my questions. With an unnatural phenomenon like this, every detail matters. Since he felt a breeze, we need to investigate it even if it was only his imagination. Check where he was standing today right away, then examine the scene carefully again."

The captain replied solemnly, "Understood. We'll investigate immediately."

With that, he ended the call.

Qiu Yu pressed her lips together, her expression grim.

Sheng An was smart, but she wasn't stupid either. He had encountered a ghost yesterday and felt a breeze today...

At such a critical moment in the granary theft investigation, this was information they absolutely couldn't overlook, even if the connection wasn't clear yet.

She had come to the scene and questioned them in person, yet missed this information.

Meanwhile, Sheng An had specifically asked about it remotely.

Clearly, Sheng An had already thought of something. She might even have deduced quite a lot.

-She had lost again this time.

Qiu Yu clenched her hand into a fist.

They hadn't found the culprit yet. She refused to believe she couldn't dig out the thief with her ability.

She couldn't lose to Sheng An again.

Meanwhile.

After ending the call, Sheng An rested her hands behind her head and rocked back in her chair, her tone leisurely.

"Now we just wait for the results. What about the investigation into the Aberrant Zhang Jialiang reported? Has any information come in?"

No one had expected her to switch immediately to another Aberrant.

Hao Jingye froze for a moment, then hurried to check the messages they had received. On their way back, the various departments had already been notified and begun their investigations.

He immediately compiled the live updates.

Song Linwei, however, was still puzzling over the Aberrant involved in the theft and couldn't help asking,

"Sheng An, why did you suddenly ask whether they'd encountered a ghost? And how were you so sure someone actually had...?"

Who would suddenly think of the phrase "encountered a ghost"?

At his question, Sheng An rubbed her chin. "I wasn't sure. That's why I had to ask. Someone actually having 'encountered a ghost' supports my theory.

"Of course, it's only a theory. We still need to investigate further. I'll explain it to you later."

She looked at Hao Jingye.

Hao Jingye printed out all the material and handed it over.

"It's still what we had before. We've obtained the guesthouse's surveillance footage, along with footage from every nearby road, and they're being compared and screened one by one. We're also obtaining spy satellite footage from the relevant times."

Sheng An nodded, picked up one of Zhang Jialiang's photos, and studied it carefully.

All the photo revealed was that the person wore a hat and black clothing.

With the four photos together, it was obvious they showed the same person. Each had a time and location, too. Once they obtained the nearby road surveillance and spy satellite footage, they would soon be able to find the person.

That was the power of the state apparatus.

A terrifying power from which nothing could hide.

Beep, beep-

A notification sounded, and the folder updated.

Hao Jingye immediately opened it.

-Investigators had examined the scene based on where the staff member who had "encountered a ghost" had been standing. They discovered an extra mark resembling a footprint, but strangely, there was only one in the entire warehouse. That was why they had missed it during their initial examination.

If they hadn't pinpointed that staff member's position and inspected it carefully, they would probably have struggled to notice such a faint mark.

Both men drew sharp breaths.

They printed out the photo.

Sheng An smiled, her eyes bright. "They really do have some skill. They even know how to avoid leaving footprints. Much more cautious than the Aberrants we've encountered before."

Jiang Yu had ordered batch after batch of takeout at home.

Li Wanyun had raised money and built a bunker.

Li Xin went without saying. If they hadn't gone to catch him, he would have popped up on his own.

Of all the Aberrants they had discovered so far, the one who robbed the warehouse was the most cautious.

Of course, they hadn't discovered the even more cautious ones yet.

Cautious, but pretty brazen, too.

There were still fifteen days until the Apocalypse, yet they had already started fleecing the state.

Hao Jingye asked urgently, "Sheng An, what do we do next?"

Song Linwei said, "This information is shared. Group Leader Qiu has received it too. They'll probably start screening immediately. We have to act as well."

At that, Sheng An flicked the photo of the faint mark with a finger and said calmly-

"Push them to hurry. Use the spy satellites to locate the Aberrant Zhang Jialiang photographed as soon as possible."

Hao Jingye: "?"

Come on!

Focus on what matters!

He said anxiously, "That person may be powerful, but can't we put them aside for now? There could be more than one Aberrant involved in the granary theft. We should prioritize this case."

Song Linwei agreed. "Right. We can't let Group Leader Qiu find the crucial information and identify the target first, or this Aberrant will end up in Group A."

On one side was a single ability user; on the other, a small group.

Clearly, the latter was more important.

Right now, they should have been competing with Qiu Yu to find the key information first. Only by finding something important could they identify their target Aberrant.

Yet Sheng An shook her head.

She placed two photos together: one of the "ghost" Zhang Jialiang had photographed, and one of the faint mark in the warehouse.

Sheng An smiled-

"We've already found it."

"Who said they aren't connected? This 'little ghost' is a key figure in the theft."