After waving off the onlookers who were far too eager to enjoy the spectacle, Fang Wen finally had a chance to be alone with Qingyi.
Qingyi could tell that Fang Wen had something he wanted to ask, so she took the initiative and suggested:
"Would Officer Fang Wen be so kind as to escort this humble young lady home after work?"
Fang Wen could not help laughing. Senior Qingyi had probably lived longer than both his lifetimes combined.
Still, he did not spoil the mood.
"Of course. Protecting a cute girl is my duty."
Qingyi lightly chopped him on the head with the edge of her hand.
"Silver tongue. Looking for a beating, are you?"
"Ow."
Bickering as they went, the two of them walked out of the station.
"Come to think of it, I didn't know Officer Qingyi also goes home after work."
"And isn't your charging dock in my office with Zhu Yuan?"
Qingyi glanced at him, said nothing, and simply crossed the street on her own. Fang Wen hurried after her, and the two eventually arrived at a small park by the river.
It was getting late. The park had hardly any lights, and the children who had been playing in the sandbox had already been called home by their parents for dinner.
"This will do. There shouldn't be any surveillance cameras here."
"So, what is it you want to ask?"
As if performing a magic trick, Qingyi produced a tea set and began preparing tea with smooth, practiced movements.
While she was brewing it, Fang Wen dumped out all of the doubts crowding his mind.
In the entire Public Security Bureau, Qingyi and Zhu Yuan were the two people he trusted most. But certain guesses and suspicions clearly couldn't be shared with the pure-hearted, one-track-minded Zhu Yuan.
For Zhu Yuan, anything that might harm unity was something that shouldn't be said.
But Qingyi, who was practically an old veteran, was different.
With her, Fang Wen could speak freely.
And sure enough, Qingyi had even picked out the place for him.
"So you think there was a human hand behind the fall of the Old Capital. Hmm. That is an interesting line of thought."
Qingyi took a sip of tea and spoke slowly.
"I cannot give you a definite answer on that. Although I've already cut the network connection just now, afterward I will also erase the memory of this conversation from my system."
Fang Wen's expression stiffened. It was more cautious this way.
"Do you still remember Perlman?"
"You mean that lunatic who wanted to blow up the entire subway station?"
"Mm. According to my records, Pioneer Memorial Square was also within the originally planned demolition zone. Do you think that could really be a coincidence?"
"And during the interrogation, he kept insisting he was only a puppet, that the real mastermind was someone else."
"Oh, right. I forgot—you were still unconscious at the time."
So I really missed that much key information?
Fang Wen pinched his chin and stared blankly out at the river.
"In the Vision case, one key figure is still missing."
"Who?"
Qingyi drained the tea in her cup.
"Perlman's secretary. Sarah."
Fang Wen rapidly pieced the information together.
Then he reached a conclusion—
Perhaps the same person behind the Vision case was also the one responsible for Khors's death.
And their goal had always been the Ethereal buried beneath that memorial.
"The corpse of the special Ethereal…"
"That is being temporarily stored with us. At a later date, it will be sent to HAND's laboratory for detailed testing and analysis."
HAND—the Hollow Affairs Neutralization and Defense Bureau, better known as Anti-Hollow Division. They had never gotten along especially well with the Public Security Bureau, but this was no time for turf wars. Qingyi and the others were right: when it came to researching Ethereals, HAND absolutely carried more authority.
Still… at a later date, huh?
If Fang Wen's guess was correct, then something would happen to that corpse during transport—or perhaps even sooner.
But that might also be a chance to cross paths with the people behind all this.
Qingyi clearly knew that as well.
And yet she had still told Fang Wen.
Was that her way of telling him… to go ahead and act?
"I understand—"
"Damn…"
"What is it, Qingyi?"
Qingyi suddenly started speaking in broken fragments, looking as though she were about to break down completely.
Could it be that the people behind this had already intercepted their conversation?
Fang Wen immediately imagined the worst-case scenario and clenched his fists tightly.
This fast? Just who was it, to have influence on this scale?!
"N-no… no charge left."
…Huh?!
Fang Wen stared blankly as Qingyi's body twitched once, then her head drooped.
She even remembered to close her eyes.
Looking at Qingyi, now peacefully "asleep," Fang Wen's eye twitched violently.
Could you be reliable for once?!
Grumbling under his breath, Fang Wen bent down and lifted Qingyi into his arms.
After a great deal of effort, he finally managed to carry her back to the station without attracting attention from passersby.
Damn it, if someone saw this, they'd probably think I was some kind of pervert!
For fuck's sake, of all times to drop the ball! Couldn't you at least walk back on your own when it's this close?
Still, holding Qingyi like this, Fang Wen finally got to experience what it meant for someone's figure and weight not to match at all.
"Vice-Captain Fang, what's wrong with Senior Qingyi?"
"Vice-Captain Fang! If you and Senior Qingyi are like this, then what about Captain Zhu Yuan?!"
???
First of all, nothing is going on with me and Qingyi. Second, Zhu Yuan and I aren't even together!
"Vice-Captain Fang, we'll be sure to tell Captain Zhu Yuan everything truthfully." The others, delighted by the drama, even dabbed at the corners of their eyes in fake sympathy.
"Stop gawking and help me out! Qingyi ran out of power!" Fang Wen snapped irritably.
Was there not a single reliable person left in this whole station?
Apparently he had forgotten that he himself wasn't exactly much better…
After a lot of trouble, they finally got Qingyi into Zhu Yuan's office, and Fang Wen found himself stumped by one problem:
How exactly were you supposed to charge Qingyi?
The charging dock was right there, obviously.
And the charging cable was visible too. To be honest, it was pretty thick.
Probably pretty high-powered too?
But the problem was…
Fang Wen looked at the sleeping Qingyi and fell into deep thought.
With a cable this thick… where exactly was he supposed to plug it in?
His gaze instinctively dropped toward Qingyi's lower abdomen, and he gritted his teeth.
…
Five minutes later, after finally locating the charging port, Fang Wen wanted nothing more than to slap himself.
Damn it. If he had just looked up instead of down, he never would have had to go through all that mental preparation—or try to remove Qingyi's sexy little underwear—
Though, in the end, he hadn't managed to take them off anyway.
Because they were screwed on with actual bolts?!
Seriously? It's just underwear! Was that really necessary?
Did they honestly think some degenerate would be into this twin-tailed, flat-chested, expressionless legal loli who was old enough to be his great-grandmother and then some?!
Fang Wen glanced at the screwdriver he had somehow managed to dig up and silently tossed it aside.
The socket was in the navel area, just above the lower abdomen.
There were even two tiny little markings subtly pointing toward the middle of her belly button.
Fang Wen gently pressed the round navel. A small compartment popped open, and only then did he connect the thick cable.
He rubbed the finger he had used to press it.
He was actually a little surprised. Qingyi's skin felt almost exactly like a real person's.
Just a little smoother, and cool to the touch.
When he had carried Qingyi earlier, Fang Wen had also clearly felt the slight deformation of her chest.
Like, seriously—did constructs really need to be made this realistic?
After finally setting everything up, Fang Wen collapsed into Zhu Yuan's chair.
Right now, all he wanted was food and one solid night of sleep.
Work really was exhausting. If only he could have seven days off every week.
Thinking that, he drifted off to sleep.
Then, in a haze, he felt someone poke him. He groggily opened his eyes.
He checked his phone.
Only twenty minutes had passed.
Qingyi was still standing on the charging dock, peacefully asleep.
Hmm?
Normally, shouldn't she have auto-started by now?
"Qingyi?"
Fang Wen grabbed Qingyi by her pale shoulders and shook her lightly. She showed absolutely no reaction.
"Qingyi?!"
Don't tell me she's actually broken?!
Shit, shit, shit—how the hell was he supposed to fix this?!
He didn't have a repair manual, and the only one who knew the "Qingyi User Guide" was Zhu Yuan.
Did this mean he had to run back to the hospital again?
[How about unplugging and plugging the power back in?]
That's your terrible idea?!
Fang Wen cursed under his breath, but his hand was already honestly reaching for the thick cable.
Well… just trying it shouldn't hurt…
Swallowing hard, Fang Wen suddenly yanked the charging cable out, then jammed it back in at lightning speed.
Hmm?
Did she just move a little?
Not sure. Fang Wen unplugged and plugged it back in again.
It looked like… yeah, she really had twitched. That couldn't have been from his own force, right?
So, determined to prove it wasn't his imagination, Fang Wen proceeded to unplug and plug it back in dozens of times over the next half minute.
"Mmh…"
"Ah, Qingyi, you're awake?!"
"If I kept pretending, something terrible was really going to happen. A little more and you would've plugged me straight into formatting…" Qingyi groaned, gripping the charging cable and rubbing at her navel, which had become slightly red from the repeated friction.
"If you were awake, then you could have just said something…"
"You had me worried sick." Fang Wen rolled his eyes and, somewhat reluctantly, let go of the charging cable.
Honestly, he had only just started getting the hang of it. Too bad he didn't get to put that experience into practice any further.
"Rest assured, I am unharmed. I was merely being playful for a moment."
"Sometimes, one wants to pretend to be ill just to see whether others truly care, hmm~"
"So? Did you get your answer?"
[Qingyi Affection +4. Current Affection: 39.]
Then say it with words! Why are you increasing affection?!
This friendship's about to go bad too!
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