Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Investigation

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There were some new changes to the cafeteria.

At noon, when Xia Ping’an reached the cafeteria, the latest hits were being played. The music was being played from a purple sound system that had an exaggerated design shaped like morning glories. The flower-shaped speakers were taller than Xia Ping’an.

In the center of the speakers was a set of broadcast equipment. Xia Ping’an recognized some of the parts but was unfamiliar with others. There were a set of bookshelves about half the height of a fully grown man. It appeared extravagant and should be very expensive.

The chefs on the buffet line were listening to the music. From the looks on their faces, they were enjoying themselves.

The sound system had astonishing effects. Once it let out sound, the entire cafeteria was like a music lounge.

Tu Polu, Fang Lingshan, and Cao Xinghua were already there.

The three of them weren’t surprised when they saw Xia Ping’an appearing with a tray of food from the buffet line. Big Tu merely asked, “You merged with it?”

Xia Ping’an nodded and replied, “I did.”

“Ha! You will need to join us for missions from now on,” Big Tu teased and continued to munch on his raw-looking steak.

Cao Xinghua cast a glance at Xia Ping’an and uttered, “Congratulations.”

“Thanks!”

As for Fang Lingshan, she only nodded slightly in approval at Xia Ping’an. She didn’t say a word.

They were unfazed by Xia Ping’an’s success in merging with the divine being boundary bead after they were shocked by his perfect merge with the divine fire boundary bead and his acquisition of the Requiem Banner. His success seemed certain. They would perhaps be more surprised if Xia Ping’an failed.

Xia Ping’an sat across from Big Tu. As he was sipping the ginseng chicken soup prepared by the cafeteria, he ed, “The speaker here is very luxurious. Does the National Order Council receive that much funding?”

“The speaker is left behind by Big Man.” Big Tu paused from eating. He had a reminiscing look as he said, “Yesterday, you weren’t here. Big Man was transferred by the higher-ups. He got promoted, and the headquarters sent him to Europe. So, he left his favorite speaker here in the cafeteria. It just so happened that you weren’t here, so you missed the farewell ceremony for him.”

Big Man? Was it Man Ziyi, the flashy guy who liked to wear a floral-pattern shirt?

Xia Ping’an remembered him. They had met twice before. The flashy guy used to be the person in charge of the Intelligence Unit of Xianghe City’s National Order Council.

“Big Man is quite a nice guy. His only problem is that he runs his mouth,” Cao Xinghua ed, which was rare since he was always very quiet. He added, “Big Man donates quite a lot to charities annually.”

“When he was around, I wanted to give him a good kick. Now that he is gone, I feel like something is missing from this building. It’s kind of boring, and I’m not used to it,” Fang Lingshan also added softly.

“No worries. It’s not like we will never see him again. Whenever we feel like being disturbed by him, we can always take leave and go to find him in Europe,” Tu Polu said nonchalantly.

From the gap in the gate that concealed the place, a person could easily make their way in by entering sideways.

Xia Ping’an went in first, followed by An Qing.

Xia Ping’an did not dare to lower his guard. Once he got in, he took out his gun.

After the fire rescue last time, he knew that there were things hidden in the city that were more terrifying than he had imagined.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds. Abandoned broken wooden boxes and a few rusty steel rails were scattered around. There was nothing else that stood out to his eyes.

The two of them searched around the courtyard outside of the warehouse first. After making sure that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the courtyard, they headed into the warehouse.

The warehouse was divided into top and bottom layers. Almost all the doors to the rooms were open. Some rooms were empty while some were filled with dusty debris. At a glance, there was nothing abnormal inside them.

Xia Ping’an shared the results of his clairvoyant search with An Qing.

An Qing said, “Let’s enter the building. Some things can only be discovered and sensed from a close distance.”

The two of them did a thorough search on the first floor of the warehouse and found nothing abnormal. Then, they went through the second floor and, again, discovered nothing.

“This is weird. More than one person reported about this place, saying that they saw dark shadows and heard sounds at night. Could it be that some homeless scavengers were here?” An Qing scanned the warehouse and frowned slightly. She continued, “But there’s no sign of occupancy by homeless or scavengers here.”

Judging from the new fresh shoe prints at the entrances of the first and second floors of the warehouse as well as the corridors, only two policemen had been here to search the place and had left after the fact. Aside from that, they did not discover anything else.

Xia Ping’an raised his head and looked at the beams and cranes above the warehouse. He then looked at the street lamps outside the window. Suddenly, he had a hunch. He followed the stairs to the cranes and climbed up onto a crane. He walked up to a place beneath the crane at the top of the warehouse where torn rucksacks and broken wooden boxes were placed. He heard a sound.

He squatted down and removed one of the planks. Underneath the plank was a litter of kittens that had just opened their eyes and were crying out to be fed.

“Meow.” At that moment, two tabby cats crawled in from a broken window at the top of the warehouse. They followed the beam and headed over towards Xia Ping’an. One of the tabby cats had two mice in its mouth. When they saw Xia Ping’an, the tabby cat without mice in its mouth meowed out fiercely in panic.

Xia Ping’an placed back the wooden board and went down.

“There is a litter of kittens up there. I think I know who the shadow the police reported belongs to,” Xia Ping’an explained as he pointed at the tabby cat on the beam and then at the street lamps outside.

An Qing immediately understood what happened too.

At night, when the two tabby cats returned to their den via the beam and the street lamps outside the warehouse shone on them, their enlarged shadows were projected on the wall. When someone passed by and looked inside the building from the window, they would see silhouettes dashing.

After Xia Ping’an and An Qing investigated the place, they concluded that there were no abnormalities in the warehouse, only two tabby cats starting their family. The police report was a false alarm.

Xia Ping’an and An Qing did not discover anything. However, over at Lingshi Plaza, Cao Xinghua and Li Yunzhou made an important discovery.

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