Chapter 120: 119 Badge Activated

Li Ang, unaware that his sister’s family photo was in the Director’s hands and having been “unjustifiably absent” for several days, left the Director’s office and headed toward the position of the First Floor Boss, scanning the nameplates on the doors along the way.

Harry… Spike… Tang Mu… Jerry… This must be the one.

After confirming the nameplate reading “Jerry Baker (Level Two Crisis Handler)” was correct, Li Ang was just about to knock when he suddenly felt a strange unease—as if standing on a stage, watched intently by countless eyes.

“Squeak!”

Startled by Li Ang’s sudden turn toward them, the rats in the shadows shrieked and bolted; a small group of ants that had quietly crawled to his feet scrambled away on their six legs as if spotting an anteater, and a pair of flies resting on the ceiling corridor took flight for the far corner before he even looked up…

So… these are his “friends”?

Watching the rapid retreat of snakes, insects, rats, and mice, and feeling the countless “gazes” fixed upon him, Li Ang blinked thoughtfully, forming a tentative hypothesis about Senior Jerry’s ability.

At that moment, a golden head suddenly appeared behind the office window glass, peering curiously at Li Ang before quickly withdrawing; the door before him then swung open, and a short man rushed out.

“You’re finally back.”

Before Li Ang could speak, the short man grabbed him and pulled him into the office, beaming as he pressed closer:

“Hehe, when you were on assignment, I happened to be free and wanted to lend a hand—but the Director said it was just an investigation, nothing dangerous, so I didn’t go. Turns out it dragged on for so many days.”

“By the way, did the Director tell you about my matter? Then I’m counting on you now—and no matter the outcome, I’ll make sure your compensation is satisfactory!”

“…” ???

Seeing Li Ang’s confused expression, the short man’s face stiffened slightly.

“The Director didn’t tell you?”

“No…”

Li Ang said, puzzled:

“The Director assigned me several tasks—one was to rescue someone from Rose Manor, and she said you’d need to guide me. As for anything else, she didn’t mention it.”

“Uh… no problem. If she didn’t tell you, I’ll tell you myself.”

Silently cursing his own Director’s unreliability, the short man led Li Ang to sit on the office sofa, then slapped the glass panel atop his desk and quickly tapped his tongue against the roof of his mouth, producing a “tsk-tsk” sound.

“Woof!”

With a dog’s bark, the golden retriever that had peeked through the window now appeared beneath the glass panel… or inside it?

After sizing up the surprised Li Ang, the thirty-kilogram dog nudged the short man’s hand through the glass and even licked it.

“I’m not here to play—I need something!”

Wiping his damp palm, the short man glanced at Li Ang, then rubbed his face and throat, and began barking like a dog—occasionally mixing in howls and growls.

Under Li Ang’s astonished gaze, the golden retriever inside the glass nodded, as if understanding the man’s “dog speech,” then walked to one side of the panel and vanished from view.

A few seconds later, it reappeared, dragging a sturdy net bag with effort, and with a sudden jerk of its head, hurled it outward!

“Clatter! Crash!”

Amid the sound of hard objects striking glass, the entire net bag’s contents were flung out from the mirror

and clattered onto the desk.

Bloodstained dance shoes, fish jerky reeking of fishiness, a notebook with an eye on its cover, several spinning peculiar coins, a palm-sized model bed bound in chains, a Christmas hat riddled with holes… altogether, perhaps thirty to fifty items.

Staring in disbelief at the pile of oddities, Li Ang’s heart gave a slight jolt, then he said, incredulous:

“These… are all anomalies?”

“Pretty much.”

The short man rubbed his hands together eagerly and grinned:

“You’ll find out eventually anyway, so I’ll be honest—I’ve got a bit of a… uh… stealing habit, so my first anomaly was tied to theft. This pile here is my lifetime collection.”

“Don’t worry—I’m a thief with principles. I only steal from outsiders, never from insiders. Since you’ve joined Bureau Six, you’re family—I wouldn’t dream of stealing from you.”

“…”

“Won’t ‘really’ steal from me? So you might ‘fake’ steal when you can’t help it?

Noting this senior’s “quirk” and adding extra caution, Li Ang probed:

“So you called me because you know I can forcibly extract information from anomalies—you want me to examine these?”

“Exactly!”

Seeing Li Ang showed no resistance, the short man beamed with delight and promised enthusiastically:

“I’ve collected plenty of good items over the years, but anomalies aren’t ordinary things—without knowing their effects and costs, I dare not use them, so I just pile them up. I’ve got more anomalies than Emma, yet I’m still stuck at Level Two.”

“When I learned of your ability from the Director a few days ago, I nearly went mad with joy! If you can identify these for me and let me use a few, you’d be doing me a huge favor—anything I don’t need afterward, just pick one you like and take it!”

Identify these for you, then pick one at random?

After hearing this “NPC senior” assign his task, Li Ang raised an eyebrow slightly, then opened his badge panel—and sure enough, the [Relationship] badge was flashing.

(【Bronze-tier Hidden Badge “Relationship” Activated. You’ve received internal organizational resource support. Upon fulfilling the resource provider’s conditions, you may claim the resource.】)

So this was the effect triggered by the hidden badge [Relationship] before going to Ryan’s house. No wonder it was hidden—just touching a few items could net him an anomaly. This deal was truly excellent.

Closing the badge panel, Li Ang didn’t hesitate—he pulled out his notebook and pen and nodded with a smile.

“Then thank you for your generosity, Senior.”