Huojin sat deep in thought in his office, leaning back in his chair. Through that Insurance Ball, he had seen everything that had just happened at the Cunning Hares.
Although this snooping of his was not exactly good behavior, it was fine as long as he was not caught. After all, he had only used this function once, and all he had done was eavesdrop on their conversation. At any rate, Huojin saw nothing wrong with it.
He had only recently deleted his Knock Knock contact with Billy, and was now considering his next move.
Ever since he returned from the last incident, he had felt the rift between father and daughter growing wider. Although he had previously done some things that made him angry, his brain told him that was definitely not the only reason.
Then he had thought of using a temporary "undercover agent" to probe Nicole's true feelings about her "old home" or "old parent."
As for why he did not ask in person, he had already tried that. Because if he asked her himself, she would not tell him the truth, and would just brush him off again.
So he had approached Billy, who became an undercover agent after being promised a tiny benefit. But his results amounted to practically nothing. Perhaps Nicole did not want to volunteer anything.
And another thing: Billy had asked a few casual questions and then run off, without getting me any information at all. Who knew whether he had done it on purpose or really could not handle the job.
Now Huojin was considering whom to send undercover next, or finding a helper who could settle this matter for him.
Anby was immediately ruled out. She was too loyal to Nicole, and would certainly report directly to him within ten minutes of contacting Huojin.
There was also the newcomer, Nekomata. Personally, he felt this new member would definitely be no more useful than Billy, so she was ruled out immediately.
Now he would have to look elsewhere for someone who had considerable dealings with her, was on good terms with her, and knew quite a lot...
As before, Huojin quickly swiped through the individual holographic dossiers on the desk before him, looking over people who had dealings with Nicole.
Soon, after going back and forth through them several times, he finally settled on two candidates.
Famous among Proxies, possessing a super AI specialized in tackling Hollows, the Cunning Hares' long-term primary partner, with extensive dealings with them, neglecting their side business, the Cunning Hares' biggest creditor for commission fees, on friendly terms, often inviting them out for fun, fellow sufferers-the legendary Proxies, "Phaethon."
Huojin: "I'll have to pay them a visit later. Hopefully they're reliable."
"En-na, en-na-na." (All wrapped up for you, sir.)
"Mm."
Heili took the goods wrapped by a general store's "Purchasing" Bangboo, then pulled several Denny notes from his pocket and paid the "Change" Bangboo before striding away.
"Consultation" Bangboo: "En-ne, en-ne!" (Thank you for your patronage. Please come again!)
Heili walked along the bustling street, dressed in a dark green military overcoat that covered his entire body, with a pair of sunglasses that offered very little visibility on his face.
The other pedestrians on the street could not help taking a few extra looks. They thought this intelligent construct had a truly unique look, wearing such thick clothing in this heat without worrying about overheating.
He really was not afraid of overheating. The various high-performance alloys used in his body would let him swim through lava without a problem.
He had started wearing this outfit a long time ago. To conceal his even more eye-catching body, he had ordered a custom-made ordinary military overcoat nearly two meters long, and had also bought sunglasses to hide his eyes.
Although it reduced his presence a little, his disguise stat was still nonexistent. Of course, he did not care.
And now, he was enjoying this peaceful vacation...
"Get out of my way, move! Don't block the road!"
"Stop!"
A panicked-looking man ran up from behind, sprinting with several bags clutched in his hands and knocking over quite a few pedestrians along the way. Two Public Security officers were chasing him, so what was happening went without saying.
They were making quite a commotion, but Heili showed no concern. He merely slipped his free right hand quietly into his pocket and pulled out a Denny coin.
After the man had passed him by a few meters, Heili forcefully flicked the coin held between three of his fingers.
Then the coin, less powerful than a live round but stronger than a rubber bullet, struck the man's calf with perfect accuracy.
"Ow! That hurts!!"
The man cried out in pain and fell hard to the ground. The Public Security officers chasing him then caught up, pinned him down, and subdued him.
"Don't move! You sure can run, thief. Come quietly with us to the station!"
As for Heili, he walked past them as though nothing had happened.
Along the way, he also casually used electromagnetic force generated from his palm to retrieve the coin without a sound.
But unlike the previous few times, this had not gone entirely unnoticed. A woman had witnessed Heili's entire sequence of actions.
"Wow! This gentleman with a sense of justice seems to have a device using Ether electromagnetic technology installed in his right hand. That approach is worth considering too!"
She was a beautiful older woman with a fine figure, wearing tight, midriff-baring work clothes and industrial goggles on her head, with a hint of fascination and excitement on her face.
She was on the sidewalk across from Heili, watching all his movements through a monocular, and had developed a strong interest.
She had originally come out with his younger sister to have fun and relax a little. Who knew that when they split up to buy a few things, she would happen to spot a very interesting intelligent construct.
Her years of experience and intuition told her that the technology and materials in this gentleman's body were definitely extremely advanced.
Then her interest took control of her brain, and she involuntarily followed him for quite a while, completely forgetting everything she had originally intended to do.
"Miss, are you done looking? Can you give me back my telescope?"
A little boy was asking this older woman, who had suddenly borrowed his toy telescope, to return it.
"Ah, okay, here you go. Thank you, little boy... huh?"
She turned and returned the telescope with no magnification to the child, then looked back to find Heili nowhere in sight.
"Where did he go? Wasn't he right there just now? Ah, found him, over there. He walks so fast!"
She frantically turned her head back and forth to search, then spotted Heili's conspicuous styled hair at a corner and hurried after him.
"...That lady's so weird. And what's so good-looking about that man? He's dressed so tackily."
The child watched the strangely behaving woman quickly disappear from view, then turned to go find his friends to play.
"What's taking Sis so long? Does buying spray paint really take that much time?"
She was a hot-tempered, petite young woman with an eyepatch and red twin tails tied with hair ornaments shaped like large iron balls, wearing a skimpy top and a jacket bearing the Belobog Heavy Industries logo draped around her lower body.
She held a shopping bag in one hand and an ice cream that was about to melt in the other, waiting anxiously.
"What's she gone off to do this time? She won't answer her phone, and I have no idea where she's run off to. And I even brought her ice cream. Seriously... hmph!"
Helplessly, she could only reward herself with another ice cream.