For a moment, the room was utterly silent.
Bai Xiao was certain of one thing: before logging out of the game, he had locked the doors and windows, then lain flat on the bed. But now he was sitting in a chair, his hands bound behind the backrest so tightly that he could not break free.
He tugged at his arms, only to hear the clink of metal.
Handcuffs!
At the same time, Ch'en sat across from him, studying him closely. When she saw that he was awake, she showed no surprise. She simply picked up the note on the table and read it aloud.
"Jaye, I'm just exhausted and fell asleep. Don't worry about me, nothing's wrong..."
Ch'en read softly, then set the note back down on the table. Her expression was stern, like an officer interrogating a criminal.
"What's your name?"
"...Why should I answer you?"
Bai Xiao was completely uncooperative, but Ch'en did not get angry. She merely said calmly, "Because I'm an Inspector with the Guard Department. If I want to, I can make up any excuse I like and require you to cooperate with an investigation. At the very least, I can keep you in the Guard Department for forty-eight hours."
Bai Xiao was dumbfounded. He knew perfectly well that she did, in fact, have that kind of authority.
"Bai Xiao," he muttered darkly.
"Race?"
"Aegir."
That was a lie, but he had no choice. Bai Xiao did not have animal ears, after all.
"Aegir, hm..." Ch'en jotted something down in her notebook as she spoke. "What did you come to Lungmen for?"
"To make a living. I couldn't survive in Iberia anymore."
These were all lies Bai Xiao had prepared in advance. He had known he would be questioned sooner or later; he just had not expected it to happen this quickly.
Why had Ch'en singled him out? They had only met once!
While Bai Xiao was still thinking, Ch'en gave a cold laugh.
"You came all the way to Lungmen to make a living? Iberia isn't just far—it's very far. Do you really think I'd believe that?"
"Believe it or not. Up to you."
That was all Bai Xiao could say. If not Aegir, what else could he claim to be? Was he supposed to say he was the husband of Victoria's empress?
Ch'en narrowed her eyes. When she had left the fish stall, she had already ordered the Guard Department to investigate Bai Xiao. The result was that this man seemed to have appeared in Lungmen out of thin air. There was no entry record for him at any checkpoint, nor had he ever appeared anywhere in Lungmen before.
Still, that was not unusual. Every day, countless people slipped into Lungmen illegally from the slums. The Guard Department had long since grown used to that sort of thing.
There were many people like him.
But for someone like that to be mixed up with Dong's was far from normal.
Ch'en stayed silent for a while, while Bai Xiao impatiently asked, "What exactly are you trying to ask? Can you get to the point?"
The Inspector in front of him was the mission's final target. Bai Xiao understood very clearly that he absolutely could not make her suspicious of him—especially not during their first real contact. Right now, he had to make choices that fit the persona he had built.
At the moment, he was one of Uncle Dong's men, someone with at least a loose connection to Lungmen's underworld. Of course he could not act friendly toward Ch'en. And just as he had expected, Ch'en temporarily let go of her doubts and stopped pressing him about his identity.
"Fine. Then I'll ask about something else."
Ch'en stood up directly, looking down at Bai Xiao from above, radiating immense pressure.
That kind of presence could not be faked. It could only come from absolute confidence in oneself.
"In the fish stall just now, you said the goods had been delivered... what exactly were they?"
Bai Xiao froze. He had never expected that to be the question.
"No, seriously, Inspector, you do realize we're a fish stall, right?" Bai Xiao said, caught between laughter and disbelief. "What else would I be delivering but fish? Three jin of shell shrimp and two jin of scale fish, delivered to the Lee Detective Agency. If you don't believe me, go ask them yourself!"
Ch'en did not answer. She only stared fixedly into Bai Xiao's eyes, the pressure intensifying sharply. An ordinary street punk would probably have wet himself by now.
But Bai Xiao felt nothing at all.
So what if she was a Guard Department Inspector? Was that supposed to be terrifying? He had faced the dukes of Victoria head-on before. Besides, this was just a game. No matter what she did, Bai Xiao felt no pressure whatsoever.
Though if he looked closely...
This Officer Ch'en really was beautiful.
No wonder she was the heroine of the first chapter.
Bai Xiao paid no attention to what Ch'en might be thinking. He had already begun shamelessly appreciating her looks. Ch'en, on the other hand, had not expected her usual methods to fail so completely. In her eyes, someone like Bai Xiao was just a lackey doing errands for bigger figures. Normally, all she had to do was scare this type a little, and they would fall in line.
But now it seemed she had underestimated him.
When Ch'en remained silent, Bai Xiao continued to put on an impatient front.
"I'm saying, Officer Ch'en, can you let me go first? The Guard Department doesn't have rules that say you can just slap cuffs on people, does it? What you're doing is violating my civil rights. I really will file a complaint against you."
No, this was bad. With both hands cuffed, he felt utterly unsafe. He looked calm on the surface, but in truth he was scared to death.
Ch'en let out a cold laugh.
"You snuck into Lungmen illegally. You're not a lawful citizen here. The law won't protect you."
Bai Xiao was left speechless. What she said... actually sounded completely correct.
Even so, Ch'en still unlocked the handcuffs.
Bai Xiao rubbed his wrists. In truth, he did not feel much. Although two or three hours had passed in reality, only a few minutes had gone by in the game.
"So, anything else? If there is, say it. If not, then please leave, Officer Ch'en. It's getting late, and it's not a good idea for a man and a woman to be alone in a room together. What if someone sees?"
Bai Xiao wore the complete expression of a little hooligan as he grinned.
"I'd be fine with it, but I doubt Officer Ch'en wants people gossiping about her, right?"
Ch'en remained expressionless and did not answer, as if she had already seen straight through his act.
"I want to make a deal with you."
Seeing that his disguise was useless, Bai Xiao dropped the smile from his face.
"A deal?"
"That's right. A deal... If I'm not mistaken, you only just joined Dong's, didn't you?"
Without waiting for Bai Xiao to answer, Ch'en continued on her own.
"I reviewed Lungmen's prior surveillance records and found absolutely no trace of you. Then, three days ago, the data showed that Dong... Uncle Dong... went to Tidebank Park. There was a fight there, and one tree ended up broken. After that, you appeared at the fish stall. You started following him from that point on, didn't you?"
Bai Xiao said nothing. Honestly, whether he answered or not did not matter. The fact that Ch'en was saying all this meant she was already certain.
And she was right.
"No need to worry," she continued. "I wasn't deliberately investigating you. You're not important enough for that. Back to the main point—I want to talk business."
"The terms are simple. I want you to monitor Dong's movements for me. I want to know everything he does... except selling fish. You can name whatever conditions you want. I'll apply for sufficient operational funds for you, grant you待遇 equal to a member of the Guard Department, and you'll be my informant. Nothing will be traced back to you."
After finishing, Ch'en said nothing more. She sat back down in the chair and waited for Bai Xiao's response.
Bai Xiao's thoughts raced like lightning.
He knew very well how dangerous this assignment was, but Ch'en was the heroine of the first stage. This was an excellent chance to establish a direct connection with her.
This might well be a crucial turning point—one capable of affecting the ending itself.
He had no reason to refuse.
"You can guarantee I'll be safe?"
"Of course. If I say you'll be safe, then you'll be safe. At the very least, you'll qualify as a cooperating witness."
Bai Xiao stood up and extended his hand toward Ch'en.
"Then, Officer Ch'en—here's to a pleasant"
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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