Chapter 147
by Need_More_SleepChapter 147: Oh, A Fake
The initial speed was fast, but the little machine seemed to be slowing down imperceptibly, allowing Hayato Shigenobu—pedaling a shared bike with a 38 kg weight in the front basket—to barely keep up.
That’s the Clown Girl’s ability, right?
Hayato had studied Group 25’s files. He knew her power.
LV3 Guaranteed Hit.
As the name suggested, anything she threw would hit its mark—within range.
Within 20 kilometers, even if she just had a photo of someone, firing blindly in any direction would strike that person.
But the projectile’s speed would gradually decay, eventually just tapping the target. So it wasn’t too terrifying.
Pray this world never sees an LV5—or even LV4—of this ability.
Still, where was that woman aiming? Letting it fly openly like this, expecting everyone along the way to be blind?
Hayato parked the bike, leaving Mi Xiaoliu in the basket.
From his waist, he drew a grapple launcher—standard-issue gear from the organization.
They provided all sorts of handy tools, even 3D maneuver gear-like devices. But since Mi Xiaoliu didn’t need them, she’d only gotten a phone.
Like Spider-Man, Hayato swung onto a tree, clamping his legs around the trunk as he reached out to intercept the 2-billion-dollar prize.
Failed.
The robot treated his hand as an obstacle and veered around.
Hermit Sister’s intel specified that the Clown Girl’s projectiles would detour around barriers. If trapped in an enclosed space, they’d target the weakest point to break through.
His hands were just obstacles.
The solution was simple: Damage it by 50%.
But that wasn’t an option here.
Finally, Mi Xiaoliu hopped out of the basket, leaping 10 meters to snatch the robot midair and stash it in her system space.
Hayato nodded.
Sealing it in another dimension works too.
With the prize secured, Mi Xiaoliu returned to the bike, plopping back into the basket and staring at Hayato expectantly.
Hayato: “…”
You can’t run yourself?
Those lightning-fast legs just for petting?
Approaching the hideout, Hayato dumped the bike into a river—another stain on Fanzui City’s already dismal civic awareness. Can’t park it outside—GPS tracking.
Blame the bike-share program for expanding here. A dive into any river would reveal half a dozen bikes tossed by brats.
After delivering Mi Xiaoliu, Hayato turned to leave without entering—he’d collect his reward another day.
Walking in with her there? That’s asking for a beating.
But this time, Wei Shi wasn’t even around.
———-
“Take it out already.” The shut-in Hermit Sister, who was guarding the hideout alone, patted the bed and gestured for Mi Xiaoliu to sit beside her.
Mi Xiaoliu obediently took out the small robot for the Hermit to see.
But the moment it was taken out, it flew into the air, smashed through the glass, and slowly began to fly off into the distance.
Mi Xiaoliu retrieved it and put it back into the system space, then turned to look at the Hermit Sister.
The Hermit Sister rubbed her temples.
If it keeps moving, it’s going to be hard to study. She couldn’t possibly carry the equipment and chase after it, or worse, sit on top of it with the gear and study it while flying around, could she?
But just letting it fly off and tailing it would be way too dumb—not to mention how much attention that would draw.
If she destroyed 50% of it, she couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t end up damaging the core components too.
And if it’s constantly moving, it would be difficult for her to gently dismantle it while identifying the function of each part.
Many abilities continue to function even after the caster’s death. Who knows how this one works, but killing a colleague without the boss’s permission would count as betrayal.
Two options: find where the robot will land, or drive twenty kilometers away from the clown girl.
The second option seemed a bit safer.
The Hermit Sister leaned back in her chair and messaged Wei Shi:
“Boss, your little girl’s in some trouble here.”
No reply.
—
Lasvedo Family Estate.
The clown girl was tightly bound with ropes. The remnants of makeup on her face had been wiped off, revealing a face that was actually rather pretty—judging by her features, she probably wasn’t even an adult yet.
She hadn’t expected the bodyguards to be this alert. Even when launching a full attack on the man in black, they still didn’t let their guard down here. That guy had barely stepped into the courtyard before being ambushed, hadn’t he? Truly professional.
The Lasvedo family’s bodyguards were truly exceptional.
As expected of the Lasvedo family’s bodyguards.
“This the woman who came asking you for a ‘Star’ a few days ago?” The Chairwoman turned and looked at Gloria.
Gloria sat on a chair, ignoring her, one leg crossed over the other as she sneered at her father. “Old man, if you really can’t manage, just go back to school or something. Why are you so lame?”
Getting chased and beaten up by that little brat… if it’s really that bad, you should just go help the cook flip flatbread or something.
“I was holding back. I didn’t want to bully a child.” Okulet replied expressionlessly while letting the servant treat his wounds, still trying to save face.
Mainly because he didn’t want to lose face in front of his daughter.
Luckily, he was in good physical shape. Aside from some internal injury to his abdomen, he only suffered minor external wounds.
But as one of the strongest around, being kicked flying by a little kid was a major blow to his dignity.
“You said Misha is with your people?” The Chairwoman bent down and stared into the clown girl’s face, holding half a charred black phone in her hand.
It was Night Hawk’s exclusive phone, which had exploded after the clown girl was captured. That’s also why the police weren’t able to use any arrested Night Hawk members’ phones to penetrate their network.
As she questioned her, a short-haired red maid stepped forward on her own, spiral patterns appearing in her eyes.
At the same time, the same spiral patterns appeared in the clown girl’s eyes.
“Yes. We have a way to summon her soul.” The clown girl’s usual affected tone was gone.
The spiral-like swirls in her eyes weren’t too obvious—but they were definitely there.
“In fact, souls do exist in this world—it’s just that with modern science, they’re very difficult to detect. They exist inside everyone’s brain.”
Admittedly, hearing those words stirred something in the Chairwoman’s heart. She didn’t show it, though. Keeping a straight face, she handed over a small dress:
“Then summon one for me to see.”
It was an article of clothing that belonged to Misha in life.
“I’m not the one who can summon her,” the clown girl shook her head. “It’s other members of our group. They change hideouts every day, so I don’t know where they are.”
“Then how do you summon the soul of the dead—some kind of shamanic ritual?” The Chairwoman carefully folded the small dress.
“It’s an ability,” the clown girl replied. “I don’t understand the details. I’m not a researcher. All I know is—they can summon them.”
“What’s your relationship with the Red Prince?” Gloria suddenly cut in.
“He’s our boss,” the clown girl answered truthfully.
“Tch.” Gloria grabbed the clown girl by the hair and slammed her face into the table.
“Where is he?!”
“You are not to ask her that,” the Chairwoman frowned and turned her gaze toward the two maids, ignoring her daughter’s glare.
“Take her down for interrogation. Get everything you can out of her and record it in a notebook. Give it to me.”
There were many things the Chairwoman wanted to ask personally, but if Gloria found out where the Red Prince was, she’d probably rush off like some brainless hot-blooded protagonist and get herself killed.
Afterward, the Chairwoman turned and left, heading into a classically decorated study.
She sat down in her desk chair and squeezed a plush “cat-caterpillar” doll on the desk that looked completely out of place in the room, then called Heli.
“Someone here says they have an ability user who can summon souls.”
“What kind of ability user?” Heli sounded equally invested.
“No idea. But she’s from Night Hawk. One of my people hypnotized her.”
“Any successful examples?” Heli pressed.
The Chairwoman squeezed the cat-caterpillar again.
“My daughter said she saw them successfully summon Misha’s soul once. But the soul needed a body to be conscious. Those people tried to trade with her for the ‘Star.’ Mmm… She works for the Red Prince.”
“Oh, a fake.” Heli said decisively.
“What makes you so sure?”
“My expertise. I could spend fifty mira in call fees right now explaining soul science to you based on Easter Theory. Souls can only become sentient life if they’re hosted by a brain. My little sister even tried to prove at age seventeen that insects and plants aren’t truly alive because of this…”
“My people hypnotized her,” the Chairwoman repeated. She had no interest in Heli’s long-winded lecture.
“What if she believes she’s telling the truth—because someone else lied to her?” Heli insisted on pushing back. “There are lots of ways to protect against interrogation—like hypnosis countering hypnosis. If she truly believes a lie, she’ll treat it as the truth when answering you.”
“………”
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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