Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Fatter Than Me

“Level 2 muscle enhancement and Level 2 vision enhancement. But all three of the kids he killed had powers ranked at Level 3.”

Officer Chen had brought Yiwen to the most secure facility in the city—“Arkham Underground Prison”.

The city might be dysfunctional in many ways, and even mocked online as a backwater, but its investment in the prison system was unparalleled. Some high-risk criminals from other cities, those too dangerous to detain locally, were transferred here after rigorous approval processes.

That said, those procedures were a hassle—especially since Fanzui City sent in new inmates on a daily basis.

“Real identity: a mercenary known as Mr. Silver from the Sulfur Coast. Multiple forged IDs. Real name unknown. Decent psychological stability. Tried to take the initiative during interrogation by making demands.”

Demands like improved meals, a five-star suite… They might have agreed to the food upgrade if he provided valuable intel, but anything more was out of the question. Police interrogations weren’t about cutting deals with criminals.

After passing through several layers of alloy doors, they finally arrived at the inner holding cells.

Detainment methods varied wildly, the most common being encasement in metal blocks molded precisely to the prisoner’s body, leaving only the head exposed. Movement was impossible.

These were criminals who didn’t warrant execution but had sentences so long they might as well be. Good behavior could reduce their restraints—but most only had their heads free, so “good behavior” was practically their only option.

The metal alloy used contained compounds that suppressed supernatural abilities. It immobilized the body completely—no leverage points to exert force, no matter how strong the prisoner was.

Even that little girl wouldn’t be able to escape from this thing.

Thinking of her, the faint ease Yiwen had felt moments ago was clouded once more by gloom.

When Officer Chen finally brought her face-to-face with the man, he was surprisingly relaxed, lounging in the interrogation chair and examining the new model handcuffs on his wrists with great interest.

Besides being sturdier and equipped with a tracker, there wasn’t much to them. For someone with both strength and vision enhancements, ability-suppressing cuffs were pointless anyway—they didn’t help.

When they entered, the man looked up. “Did my pork chop rice get here yet?”

He seemed genuinely surprised when he saw Yiwen. “Oh hell—your creepy mask just reminded me of ‘New Moon’. Damn, I almost pissed myself.”

“You know New Moon?” Yiwen showed no emotion at hearing her father’s codename. She casually took the seat across from him.

This was interrogation time—not time to let a criminal steer the conversation.

Her mask had been deliberately designed to mimic her father’s, though with some changes. Officer Chen had once insisted she pick another design after seeing it, but she had refused.

She wasn’t afraid of her father’s old enemies coming after her. On the contrary, she welcomed anyone who could provide clues to her father’s whereabouts.

“Of course I know him. Anyone from Night Hawk does. But his presence? Way stronger than yours. Compared to him, that outfit of yours is like pajamas.” He narrowed his eyes, thoughtful. “Now… were you his son or daughter?”

No big deal, really. The police were fully aware of Night Hawk’s existence. This wasn’t some cheap action movie where cops were clueless about the people beating them up while exclaiming, “Oh my god!”

Yiwen glanced at Officer Chen, who was already calling for a telepath with hypnotic capabilities.

Though Officer Chen himself had Level 2 suggestion powers, that was only good enough to sell conspiracy theories on TV. Interrogating someone with a strong will? That was another matter entirely.

“You know where he is?” Yiwen asked.

“Nope. But why don’t you ask that old cop beside you?” Mr. Silver replied with an exaggerated look of surprise.

“I don’t know,” Officer Chen said flatly. “And don’t think trying to stir things up makes you clever. Don’t forget how ridiculously you got caught.”

Mentioning this made even Mr. Silver frown. “Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you people? I just bought a deck of cards! How is that a crime?”

“If people like you keep it up, we’ll probably need ID just to buy cards in the future,” Officer Chen muttered as he stepped aside to let the hypnotist begin.

“Pfft, don’t be ridiculous—ID cards are way more dangerous than playing cards,” Mr. Silver shot back.

The hypnotist took a seat and leaned forward with a sympathetic smile. “Mr. Silver, right? Did you become a mercenary as a child? I have a son about your age…”

Yiwen looked over at the telepath—no older than 25 years old—and then back at Mr. Silver, who looked to be around 40 years old.

Despite the corny approach, it somehow worked.

Mr. Silver’s eyes grew unfocused. Then, tearing up and snot-nosed, he began to spill things he hadn’t revealed in the first interrogation.

“Man, my life’s just shit… I have been working for them since I was ten—twenty years, dammit…”

The hypnotist offered some token words of comfort and asked, “Do you know where the Night Demon is?”

“No clue. I’m low-level. No way someone like me would know what the top brass is doing…” With each word, his voice weakened slightly.

No—his whole presence weakened.

Sensing something wrong, the interrogator quickly asked the key question: “Can you tell us anything about Night Demon’s whereabouts?”

“Easter…” he mumbled, before his head slumped to the side.

“He’s dead,” Officer Chen confirmed without even needing to check.

“Why?” Yiwen was stunned.

“It’s happened before,” Officer Chen said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Someone tampered with the subject’s brain waves. He was a death row inmate anyway—don’t dwell on it.”

“But we didn’t learn anything!” Yiwen protested.

“Not entirely true,” Officer Chen shook his head. “I heard the name Easter a month ago.”

That was during the incident beneath the Fallen City.

They knew only that Easter was an illegal organization performing human experiments. It had likely existed for quite some time. Beyond that, no details—since the Fallen City refused to share intel with the Federation.

“Captain Chen, we’ve got a real mess on our hands,” came a voice through his earpiece.

“Last night, tons of people saw those so-called ‘impostors’—things marching around with those freakish, mutant strides, slapping people across the face like it was a sport. And the worst part? One of them beat up the chief! Kicked him right into a latrine in front of everyone! And another impostor stole a bystander’s phone, filmed the whole thing, and uploaded it online. Now the chief’s losing his mind and demanding we prioritize this case.”

“…”

Still not done with the last crisis, and already another one begins.

Officer Chen felt like he was going to die of overwork.

—

“Eat, eat! Whatever you want—don’t be shy.” Lu Mingxue cheerfully presented a large table covered in fried takeout for Mi Xiaoliu.

Mingxue was a good person.

Mi Xiaoliu was very happy.

To her, Lu Mingxue was the exact opposite of Gloria.

But as she munched on a chicken drumstick in delight, Mingxue sneakily squeezed her arm and calf, curious whether she’d gained any weight—only to feel deeply frustrated.

Her skin was so soft. The more she touched, the harder it was to stop. So thin, so soft, so huggable. Too unfair, this little goblin.

Taking advantage of Mi Xiaoliu being distracted by food, Mingxue quietly lifted her—chair and all—to test her weight. Shockingly, it was light enough for Mingxue to lift with ease.

“Come here, stand here,” Mingxue said, tugging her gently toward the digital scale.

38 kilograms.

A bit undernourished, perhaps, but her skin wasn’t sallow at all. She didn’t look particularly fleshy, but to the touch? Soft as dough.

Lu Mingxue put one foot on the side of the scale, pressing it just enough to bump the number up from 38 to 60. Only then did she feel slightly comforted. She snapped a photo of the number along with Mi Xiaoliu’s ankles in canvas shoes and uploaded it to her social media with a caption:

“My bestie weighs more than I do.”

After posting it, she suddenly felt… pitiful.

Mi Xiaoliu had spent more time with Yiwen than with her, sure—but Yiwen had never shared her address. Every time Mi Xiaoliu came to Mingxue’s, there was always delicious food.

So even if Mingxue never invited her directly, Mi Xiaoliu still kept coming.

“Don’t go looking for Beibei for now. The nurses taking care of her are all cops now… You weren’t hurt last time, were you?” Lu Mingxue asked as she launched her game.

“Mmm,” Mi Xiaoliu nodded.

Yiwen had been going around telling people she was dead.