"I wish to purchase milk tea, prepared as usual: your number-one bestseller, large, seventy percent sugar, with a touch more engine oil."
"Of course, Mr. Heili. It'll be ready shortly."
Having wandered into Lumina Square, Heili stopped at the area's Lixing Milk Tea Shop to order milk tea.
He was a longtime customer here. Several batches of managers and staff had come and gone, and whenever he had time, he would generally come here for a cup of milk tea.
"Something urgent has arisen. I have a minor matter to attend to and shall collect it later."
Without waiting for the employee to respond, Heili paid his Denny and left. Shortly after he left, Coco, an employee at the milk tea shop, happened to notice a woman running with sweat flying off her, chasing in the direction Heili had gone.
Although Coco had no idea what was happening, she dutifully went back to preparing the milk tea.
Grace was getting a little breathless. She had followed Heili for several streets already. Three or four streets in, she had intended to approach him, strike up a conversation, and then beg him to open his heart to her for research or something.
Yet no matter how fast she approached, he could always maintain a certain distance from her. His steps clearly didn't look fast, but his walking speed somehow matched her running speed.
Naturally, this only intensified her desire to learn about Heili.
Grace: "Sir! Please wait! The long-haired gentleman in the winter coat!!"
Grace shouted, but he kept doing his own thing, showing no reaction.
Seeing no response, Grace thought for a moment, then shouted again:
"The young lady in the winter coat! Please wait!!"
That worked. After Grace finished shouting, he visibly stumbled.
Just as Grace thought she had gotten it right, Heili dropped the act entirely, unfastened the clasps beneath his military overcoat that restricted his legs, and broke into a run, dramatically increasing his speed.
Grace: "Hey! Miss! Wait! Ma'am! Ma'am!!"
Shouting, Grace tapped into her potential and chased after him with all her might.
They darted all over this part of Lumina Square, running upstairs one moment and jumping off buildings the next, causing a commotion that was neither small nor particularly large. Naturally, they attracted the attention of the local resident Public Security officer...
"Officer Mewmew, I'm here to help. What's the situation?"
Seth, who had been preparing to patrol another area, had been reassigned on short notice by his superior to help Officer Mewmew, who was stationed in Lumina Square, handle a sudden civil dispute.
Officer Mewmew, who had been at a complete loss, saw Seth arrive as though seeing a lifeline and excitedly clasped his hand, pumping it up and down.
"Officer Seth, you're finally here! I really don't know what to do with them. I can't stop them at all! They're too fast!"
Seth: "Calm down, Officer Mewmew. Calm down. Could you tell me what's happening here first?"
Officer Mewmew quickly calmed down and explained the situation to Seth...
Officer Mewmew: "Here's what happened, Officer Seth. Someone here is being chased all over the place by someone else.
"The one being chased is a tall, heavily dressed intelligent construct. The other is a lady with black hair and black clothes... I think she has goggles on her head, too.
"I originally wanted to stop them myself, but they're too fast. I simply can't catch up. One moment they're chasing each other upstairs, and the next they're back downstairs. They can really run!
"They've caused quite a commotion and disturbed quite a few citizens already. There are lots of children watching here, too. It wouldn't be good if the children copied such dangerous behavior!"
After listening carefully, Seth nodded. "I see. I understand. Officer Mewmew, where are they now? I'll stop them right away before they cause an even bigger disturbance."
Officer Mewmew: "Uh... where they are... I don't know that either."
Seth: "Have they already run far away? In that case, Officer Mewmew, point me in the direction they last went. I'll go find them right now!"
Officer Mewmew hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.
"No, Officer Seth, that's not what I mean. They haven't gone far. They've been circling around this whole area. I just really don't know exactly where they are."
"I see. Then I'll contact the investigation team and have them check the surveillance footage to find those two's current location..."
As Seth spoke, he was about to use his radio, but Officer Mewmew suddenly stopped him.
"Wait, Officer Seth. There's no need to trouble our colleagues on the investigation team. Look over there. That's them."
Seth: "What? Where!?"
Following the direction Officer Mewmew pointed, Seth saw Heili running over from the pedestrian bridge in a military overcoat. Along the way, he even saw Heili casually steal (collect) a cup of milk tea from the Lixing Milk Tea Shop. Coco poked her head out of the shop, watching Heili with a helpless (puzzled) expression.
Seth saw that this person matched Officer Mewmew's description perfectly, and he even dared to steal in broad daylight, right outside a Public Security branch office!!
Seth immediately stepped into Heili's path, attempting to stop him.
"Stop right there! You little..."
Before Seth could finish, Heili, who had reached him, pushed off hard with his feet. Then Seth could only stare in shock, his mouth hanging open, as Heili leaped over his head.
"Coming through."
Leaving those words behind, Heili continued running, even circling around Officer Mewmew, who also tried to stop him.
"Damn it, stop right there!"
Seth turned and gave chase, but an even faster figure came up behind him.
"Miss, stop running! I really mean no harm!"
Shouting as she ran, Grace overtook Seth. As he pursued them, Seth watched dumbfounded as the two ran farther and farther away from him.
He gritted his teeth and did his best to catch up, while also requesting support from Public Security over his radio.
"Headquarters, headquarters, this is Seth. I've encountered the troublemakers Officer Mewmew mentioned. One of them is a thief.
"My location is XXXX Street. I need assistance..."
Still running, Heili looked back and saw that a Public Security officer capable of keeping up had joined the pervert behind him. His black face grew even darker. He had been running for over half an hour. Never mind failing to lose anyone-how had he gained another pursuer?
Heili had noticed the stalker Grace right from the start and had secretly contacted Butler to dig up her personal information.
After learning that she was merely a hundred million times too obsessed with machinery, bore no ill intent, and only wanted to study him in depth in the physical sense,
he had decided to shake her off. He wanted nothing to do with her, so he couldn't be bothered to report her to Public Security. After all, he had an appointment and didn't want to waste so much time.
Yet she stuck to him like a plaster, impossible to shake off no matter what he did, so he had decided to simply speed up and run away.
Although he was deliberately controlling his current speed, he was still traveling at seventy kilometers per hour. Yet she had managed to keep running after him for half an hour, even going up and down buildings several times along the way.
He had originally thought of reporting her to Public Security to get rid of her after ten minutes of running. But when he thought about how he, a dignified intelligent construct with Void Hunter-level strength (Pseudo-Void Hunter Level), couldn't even shake off a mere citizen, he had simply stubbornly kept competing with her.
Now he was late, and he still hadn't shaken off Grace. On top of that, a somewhat dim-looking Public Security officer who could run just as well had joined the chase.
If only flight weren't prohibited in the city, and if only his master hadn't imposed power restrictions on him within the city except when necessary. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have caught a whiff of his exhaust.
Just as a storm raged inside Heili's core, another obstacle appeared directly in his path. Upon seeing this obstacle, however, Heili finally stopped running.
"Oh my, oh my~. Who would've thought? So you're the one making me work overtime on short notice. I was just wondering why you were late today~."
Dark teal twin tails, a petite body, a skimpy Public Security uniform, a humanoid intelligent construct, and a long police baton that could turn into a three-section staff-Officer Qingyi.
Upon seeing the acquaintance who had come to apprehend him, Heili immediately hid behind her and pointed at Grace, who had finally stopped as well, panting.
"Thou hast come at just the right time. We shall discuss the particulars later. First, help me stop her."
"Very well. No need to be agitated. As long as you haven't broken the law, I'll naturally help you. But why are you so afraid..."
As Qingyi spoke, she noticed that Grace's gaze toward Heili seemed to be growing increasingly fervent... No, wasn't she looking at me!?