Chapter 361: 361 I

Looking for an excuse to slack off a bit?

Upon hearing Lyon's suggestion, the female police officer couldn't help but feel a slight stir in her heart—she instinctively wanted to say yes, for even an extra hour of sleep now was a luxury, let alone several hours.

But just then, a loud thud came from beside her—the male officer who had been nodding off like a chicken pecking grain suddenly slammed his face into his food tray; had his companion not grabbed him, he would have toppled straight to the floor.

"Never mind…"

After glancing at the unfortunate colleague, the female officer let out a long, weary sigh and muttered with a disgruntled expression:

"Everyone's working hard. If I alone slacked off, I'd feel terrible. Besides, I've been promoted fast enough these past two years—there are already plenty who think I got here through connections. I don't want to give them more gossip to chew on."

"Alright then."

After giving the female officer a glance of quiet admiration, Lyon, helpless, went back to shoveling food. But after scooping up a spoonful of mashed potatoes, she suddenly remembered something and asked with concern:

"By the way, you asked me for a permit last time—said you needed to take a few people on a dangerous mission and wanted to borrow gear from the spare storage. Have you returned those items yet?"

Those items… although Senior Pioni returned to the bureau yesterday, those documents and uniforms should still be in the hands of the rebels…

"Not yet…"

Lyon, aware of what he'd done with those items, spoke with a slightly evasive gaze:

"What? Does your bureau even check the spare storage?"

"Usually not."

The female officer shook her head:

"The storage management is sloppy—sometimes it's not checked for years. Yesterday, while helping with the inventory, I even found that the three custodians were stealing from their own post—they've been secretly selling off non-sensitive items since three years ago."

Lyon, seasoned by countless trials, kept his voice perfectly calm; the female officer, absorbed in eating, didn't notice anything amiss. She chatted with him casually, venting:

"You know, a lot of people in our bureau just don't care. If no one attacks the boarding tower, those two rats could fool everyone easily. Those obsessed with catching suspects would never spot a problem in the spare storage."

"But now everyone's working overtime nonstop, supplies are being used up too fast, so we've had to pull everything from storage. When we noticed the discrepancies, we did a quick inventory these past two days—I was even pulled in to help."

"I turned in my report this morning, and within hours, those two custodians were caught. So if you've finished using those items, you'd better return them, write down the reason for borrowing, and fill out the registration."

"Even though those two stole a ton of stuff and forged records over three years, and your missing items are negligible, it's still best to confirm the numbers—otherwise, it'll look like I'm helping you steal bureau property."

"Oh…"

Impossible to return them—not ever, not in this lifetime. The serial numbers on those access documents were recorded when we passed the checkpoints. What if I returned them now?

Lyon wolfed down the last of his meal, grabbed the woman's soup bowl, gulped it down, and barely swallowed the piled food before hastily saying goodbye:

"Uh… I've got a mission today—I'm off!"

"That's my soup! And you… ah, forget it, go ahead, go!"

Even eating in such a rush—Lyon's work over at Clearance must be no easy task…

Watching Lyon bolt out in a panic, then glancing at the colleagues snoring in their chairs nearby, the female officer sighed with deep understanding, quickly finished her pudding, gathered her and Lyon's trays, carried them to the cleaning station, and hurried back toward the Secret Investigation Bureau.

…

"Isa! Come with me quick!"

As she entered the first-floor lobby of the Secret Investigation Bureau, a familiar middle-aged female officer ran up to her, beaming:

"Go to the third-floor small conference room! The bureau just made a major breakthrough!"

A major breakthrough?!

Did that mean they might catch the culprit, recover the lost items from the Kingdom of Croc, and finally stop this hellish overtime?

Hearing her colleague's words, the female officer's expression brightened instantly. Like a panther, she dashed into the stairwell, leaping up three steps at a time, racing straight toward the small conference room marked "Temporary Command Post."

"Everyone! I have three thrilling pieces of good news!"

The middle-aged man on stage, seeing the female officer return with radiant joy, gave her a warm nod, then continued energetically:

"Over the past few days, my team completed interviews with all 2, 00 guards across the seven checkpoints of the boarding tower, compiling a full list of everyone who passed through that day."

"The first good news: after three days of relentless, sleepless effort by our investigation team, we've eliminated thirty-seven groups with normal travel patterns—our suspects are now narrowed down to just five!"

Only five groups left? That was huge news!

Hearing the new head of the Secret Investigation Bureau's announcement, the female officer's face lit up instantly—her dark circles seemed to fade.

With the bureau's current efficiency, even fifty groups could be fully investigated within a week. This rebel attack on the boarding tower case was now practically solved!

Seeing the officers below smiling with delight, the middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction, then couldn't help but let a faint smile creep onto his lips:

"As for the second good news… after today's morning inventory of the spare storage, four of those five groups can now be essentially ruled out!"

"What?!!!"

"So we've already locked onto the target?!"

"Oh my god! No more overtime!"

"Director, you're amazing!"

Watching his subordinates erupt in shock, then turn to him with reverent gazes, the middle-aged man clenched his lips tightly, trying to maintain the dignity of his position.

But thinking of the immense credit this breakthrough would bring—and the inevitable promotion—he finally couldn't hold back and beamed as he declared:

"Yes! We've preliminarily locked onto the target. Now, if we find that one group, we have a high chance of closing the case outright!"

"Wonderful!!!"

"No wonder you're the director!"

"Catch them! Catch them!"

"Quiet!"

The middle-aged man raised his hand, calming the overexcited crowd. Then, seeing Isa's equally thrilled face, he remembered her connection to the Minister of Defense, and gently beckoned her over.

"Lastly, besides my own and the investigation team's efforts, we owe this breakthrough to one person…"

As the female officer stepped onto the stage, confused, the middle-aged man smiled and said:

"While everyone was swamped and ignored everything else, only Isa remained diligent, checking the inventory and recovering most of the missing items from the spare storage!"

"To be honest, when she handed me her report this morning, I thought she was overreacting—why waste time on an inventory of neglected supplies during such a critical moment?"

"But out of professional responsibility, I glanced at her report—and was utterly stunned to discover that the serial numbers of the missing police ID cards matched exactly one of those five suspect groups!"

Emphasizing his own diligence and meticulous attention to suspicious serial numbers, the middle-aged man beamed:

"We'd checked these numbers before, but after confirming they were retired IDs, we dismissed them as forgeries and focused on investigating suspects who'd handled the seals—never dug deeper."

"Thanks to Isa's careful attention, we now have a vital new lead! Everyone, applaud!"

"Woo!!"

"Isa! Isa!"

"If I have to work overtime one more day, I'll die… Isa, you've saved my life!"

"This… I just got lucky. No need to overdo it…"

Flushed with embarrassment under her colleagues' grateful stares, the female officer waved her hands, smiling brightly, then quickly changed the subject:

"Director, you mentioned three good news—what's the third?"

"The third piece of good news: we've partially identified the physical appearance of the key suspect!"

The middle-aged man smiled:

"According to the two custodians' testimony, though they didn't log anything, they vaguely recalled that before the boarding tower attack, someone presented a note from a Secret Investigation Bureau member and took away those IDs and some clothing."

"The storage was dim, and the man's face seemed veiled in fog—they didn't clearly remember his features, and the note vanished shortly after—but he was a slender young man wearing a worn black overcoat!"

"Now, if we find this man and extract the whereabouts of those items, we have a high chance of capturing the entire group. We're truly one step away from closing the case!"

"Wonderful!"

"Case closed! Finally, the case is closing!"

"Isa! Isa! My goddess who saved my life!"

Amid the excited cheers of the secret police below, the middle-aged man clapped the female officer on the shoulder, praising her with clear admiration:

"All of this is thanks to you!"

"If you hadn't been so careful and thorough, our investigation would've gone off track—we might've spent another month just to reach this point, and the culprit might've already escaped!"

"Ahahaha, no wonder you're the daughter of… uh… incredible! When I next see your father, I'll definitely tell him properly… hmm? What's wrong? Aren't you happy?"

"Happy… extremely happy!"

Hearing the director's words, the female officer, recognizing many familiar descriptions, clenched her small white teeth hard, then forced a grin brimming with murderous intent:

"I'm so happy I could burst!!!"