Chapter 173
by Need_More_SleepChapter 173: No More Shenanigans
The police station in Fanzui City was enjoying a rare moment of peace.
Most of the little troublemakers from Tian Xing Dao had gone off for summer vacation. Kids will be kids.
“The governor is visiting Sunshine City? Ugh, always wasting time on the already prosperous places. When’s he gonna come take a look at our city?” Ninja chuckled as he scrolled through the news on his phone.
“Are you insane? If he sees the state of our city, the whole police force will get purged!” A junior officer didn’t get it.
Even though they’d been working their hardest, the crime stats spoke for themselves. Higher-ups wouldn’t care how hard they fought on the streets—they’d only see the numbers.
And then they’d all get transferred to some backwater village. Fun times.
“Our turn will come eventually. Say what you will about the governor, but he’s got a knack for economics. A few years back, Sunshine City wasn’t much better than Fanzui City.” Ninja reminisced. “Though their development path got kinda weird. When I visited last year, there were cameras everywhere, and every shop on the street was trying to be some ‘internet-famous’ hotspot.”
Take restaurants, for example. What used to be about good food and filling your stomach had turned into a performance. Even serving a dish had to come with a magic trick. Nowadays, everything is about flashy gimmicks.
“But the overall economy doesn’t really affect us, right? At most, we might get better benefits. Honestly, if a purge does happen, I think you’d be in trouble, Senior.” The junior officer eyed Ninja’s computer screen—currently displaying a “Waiting to Respawn” game overlay.
The man was literally playing a five-person team match by himself.
Once, the junior had even witnessed five different Ninja clones sitting in an internet café, each at their own computer, screaming at each other in-game.
“Nah, you’re the one in danger. A useful tool like me? As long as I don’t screw up big time, my job’s secure.” Ninja smugly propped his feet up on the desk. “But you? You gotta hit LV4 before they stop shuffling you around like a playing card.”
“Our city’s got plenty of LV4s, and it’s still a mess… Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Captain Humpback Whale in a while.” The junior glanced over at Inspector Chen.
The man was currently on a dedicated comms device, trying to reach Yiwen. Raven had just called him, reporting that both Yiwen and Mi Xiaoliu had gone missing in Sunshine City. The problem was, he was a Fanzui City cop.
As dusk settled with still no news, even he was starting to worry.
“Humpback Whale took leave and went to Sunshine City.”
Officer Chen answered the junior’s question briefly before forwarding all the intel he had on the Black-Clothed One—along with some theories—to Sunshine City’s authorities.
In exchange, he hoped they’d prioritize the missing persons case. Whether they’d listen was another story. At the very least, he’d made sure to mention exactly who Yiwen’s father was.
Politics aside, an LV5 was practically a god to ordinary people. The incident six years ago had the entire Arkham Prison sweating bullets, terrified the whole facility might vanish overnight.
“He’s escorting the governor too?” Ninja raised an eyebrow.
“No orders. He went on his own.” Officer Chen replied. “The Black—er, Multitool—was reportedly spotted in Fanzui City. If that’s true, you know he wouldn’t miss this chance.”
“Must be rough, having to face a former friend as an enemy now.” Ninja closed his game—not out of respect for Officer Chen, but because his 0/8/1 score made him want to quit.
“So, how’d our local Black-Clothed One end up over there?”
“Wei Shi went, so it makes sense she’d follow.” Officer Chen wheeled out a small blackboard covered in a web of connections.
Multitool had once disguised himself as the Black-Clothed One to attack cops for unclear reasons—right when Yiwen was investigating Mi Xiaoliu. Then, after Mi Xiaoliu moved to Sunshine City, the Black-Clothed One showed up there too, burning the governor’s helicopter as a taunt.
The flames still hanging in the sky seemed to mock Sunshine City’s powerless superpowered police force.
If the Black-Clothed One was a Night Hawk operative, and if she was Multitool’s subordinate… Everything suddenly made sense.
The clues also linked her to Mi Xiaoliu—their builds and presence at key moments matched.
The only inconsistency was gender. Officer Chen had personally asked Mi Xiaoliu’s adoptive mother, Raven, and Lu Mingxue—all confirmed Mi Xiaoliu was male.
But Yiwen insisted the Black-Clothed One was a girl…
“What if it’s like this?” The junior cop grabbed a piece of chalk and drew a line between Mi Xiaoliu and Wei Shi, labeling it, “Father and Son.”
“Multitool can alter his appearance. If Mi Xiaoliu is his biological son, maybe he can also—”
“Impossible.” Officer Chen and Ninja shot him down in unison.
“Huh? If he can change height and build, why not… down there…?” The junior cop shrank under their combined disapproval.
“Theoretically, sure. Hell, I have to check student IDs before helping lost college students these days.” Ninja coughed. Imagine getting scammed by a fake crossdresser.
Officer Chen silently slapped cuffs on him.
“Before joining Night Hawk, Multitool was an LV4 physical enhancement user—specializing in body modification. Muscle expansion, bone and skin hardening, even extending finger bones into blades. But changing sex characteristics? No. He couldn’t even alter his face back then, let alone shrink his frame. At most, he could bulk up.”
His point was clear. Multitool’s current fame for shapeshifting wasn’t his original ability—it came from drugs.
LW1204—drink it, and you’d gain a permanent ability. But “permanent” only lasted as long as the Black Element in your system—a few short years.
Even at its strongest, it couldn’t surpass LV3. No recorded cases of post-ingestion upgrades. And definitely no passing it to offspring.
“He was already LV4. Why would he take superpower drugs?” The junior cop was baffled.
That’s just asking for death.
“Who knows? I never met the guy.”
Officer Chen was more concerned about Yiwen and Mi Xiaoliu’s whereabouts. These days, ability-users who could track people without restrictions were way too rare.
He pulled up Heli’s number and dialed.
—
A jeep rumbled along a riverside road, its tires crackling against the uneven pavement.
“Just have the extraction vehicle ready. If we mess this up, it’s our last mission.” Wei Shi glanced at the rearview mirror, where Hermit sat in the backseat.
“Then let’s make it a clean job.” Hermit smiled faintly. “If the boss is gone, Team 42 might as well disband. Who knows what kind of new leader we’d get? Some tyrant who beats our mascot every day—or worse, a pervert who forces us into some twisted sisterly bonding—”
“Disbanding would be for the best. This place is a glorified daycare.” Wei Shi remained unmoved.
Hermit picked at her freshly done nails. “No way. Things are perfect as they are. Play games at home when there’s no work, get enough cash to splurge just by hitting our monthly quota… And sometimes, a cute girl even drops by for head pats…”
An illegal organization, yet it somehow felt like home.
Just then, both of their black phones buzzed simultaneously.
Without a second thought for the fact that he was driving, Wei Shi pulled out his phone with one hand. It was a photo from Hayato Shigenobu in the group chat.
“Hourglass has linked up with the mercs. Just as predicted—the governor’s route has changed.”
Despite the life-or-death stakes of the operation, Hayato sounded thrilled. The photo showed him slinging an arm around a camo-clad Black mercenary, completely unfazed by the rocket launcher strapped to the man’s back.
For an assassination attempt on a governor, a rocket launcher to the face was practically amateur hour—unless every single bodyguard decided to play blind.
Wei Shi lit a cigarette and stuck it upside-down into an ashtray filled with dirt. In front of the ashtray sat a figurine of Guan Yu—an offering.
The car wasn’t his, but the sentiment was there.
“No more screw-ups.”
The moment the words left his mouth, his black phone buzzed again—this time, his alone.
He checked it.
Heli (From the river, because of course): Little Mi’s missing! No word for a whole day! And she vanished with that little white-haired brat!!!
Heli, who usually spoke in a flat monotone, had deliberately used three exclamation marks—proof of how serious this was.
Wei Shi slammed on the brakes, his face twisting.
Hermit, ever perceptive, immediately activated her clairvoyance. “She’s in the forest. Deep, near the meteor crater.”
Without a word, Wei Shi yanked the steering wheel, making a sharp U-turn.
[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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