Holmes and Watson Have a Fight!

After hanging up, the inspector eagerly shared the latest news about the hostage rescue with the three people in his office. Learning that the old lady had escaped safely, Watson smiled for the first time in a long while.

"Nice work, Sitangna! You too, Sherlock." He patted Sherlock and Sitangna on the shoulders. His formerly stagnant state of mind had shifted a little. Maybe it was getting better. Who knew?

"The case is solved, and the hostage has been rescued. You shouldn't have any trouble handling the rest on your own, right? We'll take our leave, then."

Sherlock couldn't wait to get back to Baker Street and hear the answers he wanted from the young woman, who was at least ten years younger than him.

"OK, I'll have an available officer drive you back." Sherlock and his companions had helped the police station a great deal, so it was only right to give them a ride.

"That would be wonderful. Sweet dreams tonight, Inspector." Short on cash, Watson was more than happy to accept a free ride.

Damn it, he was the one who paid every time he went out with Sherlock! If it weren't for that check keeping him afloat, he'd soon be unable to afford 221B Baker Street.

"Good night, Inspector Lestrade."

"Good night, clever and kind Miss Sitangna."

As they were leaving, she once again reminded the inspector to leave some security personnel with the old lady to protect her fragile heart and keep her safe.

After politely saying goodbye to the police station's handsome face, the three got into the car for the ride back. This was Sitangna's first time riding in a police car in every sense, and the novelty delighted her. Unaware that she would become a regular passenger in police cars someday, she sat in the front seat, looking around curiously all the way.

Her first day here had been so eventful. This was much more interesting than simply sightseeing in London.

By the time they got home, Mrs. Hudson had long since gone to bed, but Sherlock wasn't sleepy at all. He was even a little excited. Watson also put off his bath and stood there with his clothes in hand, listening to how Sitangna had cleverly worked out where the elderly hostage was.

"Judging by the bomber's previous two choices, assuming Sherlock could solve this case, the police would have to rush to the hostage's location and defuse the bomb at once. He was bound to choose somewhere not too far away."

"The most important thing to M is this game he's playing with Sherlock. He doesn't care whether anyone gets hurt or dies because of it. One incidental benefit of that indifference is that he won't deliberately harm the hostages either."

"On top of that, the hostage was a blind elderly lady. Starting around the police station, we checked lists of elderly women and made sales calls in the name of a public nursing home. Those we couldn't reach became the main focus."

"Then we checked the surrounding neighborhoods and apartments for anyone acting suspiciously and had the snipers on the police team look for suitable positions themselves. The bomber definitely didn't choose his hostage at random. At the very least, he had to give his sniper enough room to hide and retreat."

"Of course, all I did was talk. The detectives at the station were the ones who really deserved the credit. And thanks to London's Guardian system for checking the surveillance footage and eliminating suspects one by one."

"And thank you for the blog post you updated last night, Watson. The detailed account of the incident was where I got the idea."

Sitangna had asked Guoguo, the system, to piece that explanation together from clues Sherlock and the others hadn't noticed. After all, she had seen the footage and had a god's-eye view, so she knew some of the hostage's key characteristics.

She had been terrified they wouldn't find the poor old lady and would miss the best chance to save her.

"Looks like you have more potential as Sherlock's assistant than I do."

"No, please don't say that. Sherlock can't do without you."

After hearing her explanation, Sherlock remained silent, lost in thought. Watson praised her, then went off to take his bath, satisfied. The attic had its own bathroom, so Sitangna didn't have to fight two grown men for the shower.

As the evening grew late, she said good night to the great detective, who sat deep in thought, and went upstairs to wash up and get ready for bed.

Today she had completed both a main quest and a side quest. Although she had only advanced a little on the main quest, she had made decent progress on her first day of doing quests. She couldn't wait to take a look at the system store.

"She understands psychology and can pick out distinctive traits. More importantly, she knows how to make good use of technology. Very good. With the two of them involved, my life from now on shouldn't be too boring."

Sherlock crossed his legs and propped his face on one hand, his arm resting on the edge of the sofa. His blue-green eyes were dark and unreadable.

"Great! Six quest points! Guoguo, open the store and let's see what I can exchange them for!"

Quest points were different from energy. They were awarded according to how well each quest was completed and could be exchanged for advanced-tech items in the system store. There was no limit to how many points she could earn; the more side quests she did, the more she received.

[Sure thing! It's my first time seeing what the store list looks like too. We can't use it ourselves before we've bound a host.]

Candy quickly opened the store and thoughtfully selected the "available for exchange" option, placing the items Sitangna could currently use at the top of the list. She was lucky: as soon as it unlocked, she could exchange points for the first ten items. Everything beyond them was still locked and grayed out.

"Mind-clearing pills, strength pills, knockout drugs? Why does this feel like a wuxia movie?"

Sitangna scratched her head in confusion.

"The ones farther down are a little more normal: a tracker, a listening device, an ultra-fast USB drive. All right, now I'm a secret agent. And there's a signal blocker and a signal jammer. Aren't their functions a bit redundant? Oh, this one's expensive."

The other items all cost one quest point, but the tenth, which looked like a sticky note, stood out with a price tag of five. She only had six points in total.

"A cheating device? What kind of cheating is it for? Exams? Screening?"

Curious, Sitangna opened the item description.

[Cheating device (basic): Ignores any form of rules or restrictions within a ten-kilometer radius. Single-use item. Available for purchase only once.]

"Whoa, really? There's something this good? It just ignores the rules?" Sitangna was ecstatic.

"Isn't this a divine artifact? Does 'available only once' mean I can buy it once in each world, or only once across all worlds?"

[Of course you can buy and use it once per world. I checked for you.]

This was Candy's first time being a system, but she handled things with great care.

"Yay! Then let's buy one right away as a protective charm. That leaves one point in reserve, and I can buy the other items anytime."

[Purchase successful. Once activated, it will appear in the form of a sticky note. Please write a detailed wish on the paper at that time.]

She understood how it worked now. The item was basically a wishing device, with a limited ability to make wishes come true.

On her second day at Baker Street, Sitangna got up especially early to watch the news. Sherlock and Watson arrived late and each claimed an armchair in the living room, so Sitangna had to fetch a stool from the kitchen and sit between them.

The morning news aired as usual. When Sitangna saw the familiar footage of reporters crowding around someone, her heart finally settled. It meant the elderly hostage was completely clear of the terrorist incident, as long as she didn't let any details about the bomber slip afterward.

The inspector's people had specifically told her that both comforting and questioning the old woman were being carried out in secret.

"This time, he accidentally chose an old woman with impaired hearing, which forced him to come to the front line himself."

"Usually, he stays behind the scenes, coordinating everything and planning these cases, but never coming into contact with anyone."

Sherlock had also received a copy of the information Lestrade had obtained. His brilliant mind raced as he analyzed the dangerous man who claimed to be an avid fan.

"Do you think he planned Connie's case? Like people plan holidays, he offers people plans for their crimes?" Watson thought the man was completely nuts.

"That's a very interesting idea."

Sherlock's hint had worked, and the clever Watson caught on at once. Satisfied, Sherlock assumed his characteristic thinking pose, leaning against the side of the sofa with one hand supporting his face. Watching Raoul being arrested on the television screen, Watson also adopted a thoughtful pose.

"He came out himself this time."

Sitangna took a bag of sliced bread out of the fridge. Thank goodness, there were no human heads inside as she had expected. Kindhearted Watson had put those things away in Sherlock's bedroom.

Surely he would be quite happy to sleep alongside those ladies and gentlemen.

"Any new developments in the Carl Powers case?"

"No."

"We've checked every living classmate. Nothing suspicious and no connection."

"Maybe the killer was older than Carl?" Something suddenly occurred to Watson.

"I thought of that too."

"Then why is he doing this? Is he playing this game with you because he wants to be caught?"

"I think he wants to pass the time."

Watson laughed in anger. If Sitangna hadn't been quick-witted enough to locate the hostage immediately last night, they might have seen an innocent corpse on the news today. Perhaps even many corpses.

"I hope the two of you work well together." Watson got up and left in anger. Sherlock was puzzled; he didn't quite understand why Watson was angry.

"That was a living, breathing person, Sherlock. Don't you care at all?" Still upset, Watson turned back to question the man before him, who seemed to be thinking.

"Will caring about them save them?"

Sherlock's question only added fuel to the fire. Watson could understand failed rescues where nothing could be done, but he couldn't understand disregarding other people's lives as though it were a game.

"Have I disappointed you?"

"Don't worship me as a hero, John. Heroes don't exist in this world, and even if they did, I wouldn't be one of them."

Sherlock rested his chin on his hand and looked at Watson. Seeing the tension between them steadily mounting, Sitangna cleared her throat.

"Ahem. I think you both have a point. Sherlock wants to find the mastermind as soon as possible, and Watson wants to keep people as safe as possible. Neither of you is right or wrong, okay? Don't push each other to extremes."

Sherlock pulled out a tissue and handed it to her now that she had finished her bread. Sitangna gave him a knowing smile. Under normal circumstances, Curly Fu was still quite humane.

Ding.

Here it was. The bomber had come up with something new.

Sherlock carefully analyzed the information in the photo and, while he was at it, caught Sitangna trying to slip away.

Nana: Ah!!! Let go of me! I want to go sightseeing in London!

"You two look through the newspapers. I'll check online."

His uncompromising tone stirred Watson's rebellious streak. Neither of them moved: one was still angry, and the other didn't want to move.

"Oh, are you angry with me, little John? You don't want to help anymore? Looks like you don't care all that much after all."

"And you, I don't think you should waste your intelligence filling your head with meaningless jewelry and accessories. You'll have free time to go shopping eventually, won't you?"

"Please, you two, just pretend I can't manage without you."

Sherlock's fingers flew across the keyboard. Just listening to him, Sitangna thought he was typing fast enough to develop tendonitis. Didn't his thumbs ever cramp?

Watson stared intently at Sherlock, who was already immersed in the investigation. He had known this man for less than a few days. As for caring, please, give him a break. He cared more about public safety.

Sitangna forced a helpless smile and sat on the sofa beside them, flipping through recent newspapers in search of information related to the River Thames. Watson looked a little aggrieved, but he still sat down beside Sitangna and joined her in searching the papers.

"Why should you listen to him? I don't think wanting to go shopping is meaningless. As long as you like it, that's what matters."

"If you want, you can go out and have a look around now. If you're scared, I can go with you. We won't take him." Watson leaned close to Sitangna and whispered, but he made no particular effort to avoid Sherlock, who heard him.

"Please focus." "Fuck you."

Holmes and Watson spoke at the same time. Sitangna couldn't suppress the smile tugging at her lips. It was fate that had brought everyone together here! That damned chemistry.

"We haven't found any important information in the papers yet. Why don't you just ask Inspector Lestrade?" Sitangna offered a friendly suggestion.

After searching for quite a while, they still came up empty-handed. But there was no way the bomber had sent this photo just because he was bored. Sitangna hesitated over whether to give them another advance warning about the plot.

After struggling with the idea, she rejected it. She had already managed to rewrite the ending of one side quest. If she gave Moriarty another surprise, she would be the next one abducted and strapped to a bomb.

"Something's on your mind." Sherlock put down his phone and rubbed his aching brow. He had always been good at reading people.

"A little, but it's not important, Mr Holmes. If there's nothing else, I'll go shopping with Watson."

Watson agreed and took the opportunity to put the newspapers they had messed up back in order, one by one.

"Though I don't know much about the things ladies like, I'd be happy to offer you my humble advice."

That was extremely British. Combined with Watson's expressive gestures, he was exactly like that blogger on the internet who imitated an elderly British lady writing emails.

"Haha, I'd be honored!"

It was still early, so Sitangna went upstairs to get her shoulder bag. She was wearing a khaki cashmere trench coat today, so she had deliberately chosen a reddish-brown bag. A long beige skirt fell beneath the coat, paired with ankle boots of the same color.

It was a very elegant outfit, perfectly suited to the local style.