Chapter 60: The Strange Theft at Yushu Jie (Request Follows!)

"Long time no see."

Jie La De looked more weathered than before.

Roger remembered he had belonged to SPD's Criminal Investigation Division, and had handled the garage dismemberment case and the Gundam transaction case.

He never expected that after just a few days, he had become a patrol officer.

No wonder Vanessa suddenly couldn't reach him—he had been reassigned.

He didn't know what he had gone through those days.

Hearing their conversation, Officer Shimisi raised an eyebrow and leaned out the car window: "Jie La De, do you know him?"

Jie La De nodded: "I ran into him on a case before. He provided tips to the police."

Officer Shimisi nodded, his gaze toward Roger shifting slightly.

Then Jie La De looked at the takeout bag in Roger's car: "So your regular job is delivering takeout to the community?"

He still remembered the man was Vanessa's Informer.

"That's right," Roger answered with a smile.

"Can I take a look?" Jie La De pointed at the takeout.

"Of course, inspect away. Just don't spill anything, or the customer will give me a bad review and dock my pay." Seeing a familiar face, Roger felt a sigh of relief.

Jie La De walked to the passenger side, picked up the takeout bag, and examined it. After confirming no dangerous items, he set it down.

"Be more careful when delivering takeout from now on."

Roger frowned in confusion.

Officer Shimisi sneered: "Those damn junkies rely on you to stay alive every day."

"Huh?" Roger widened his eyes slightly.

Jie La De shrugged: "Lately, a lot of drug dealers have been using takeout to transport enhancers. They lure delivery riders with high-paying orders. When you arrive, they threaten you with guns to force you to abandon the order."

"We've already caught several unlucky bastards," Officer Shimisi crossed his arms. "They have no idea what they're carrying—only that each order pays well. Never thought they'd end up straight in prison, ha!"

His laugh dripped with mockery.

Roger thought this damned society was full of traps everywhere, with invisible Execution Lines lurking everywhere!

"Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful."

"Go on," Officer Shimisi handed Roger his license and tapped the window. "But don't linger too long inside—I don't want complaints from the community."

"Don't worry, officer," Roger tucked away his pocket watch and drove into the community.

Yet the moment the car entered the community, new intelligence suddenly appeared.

【Intelligence: The Strange Theft at Yushu Jie】

【Recently, Yushujie Shequ has seen frequent bizarre thefts. Witnesses claim to have glimpsed a short figure silently moving between courtyards. Its movements are uncanny, accompanied by a cloying, nauseating stench. To prevent escalation, investigators must uncover the truth within four days.】

【Reward after investigation: Skill "Balance," One Ancient God's Bronze Coin, $100】

"Another intelligence so soon—and the reward's pretty generous."

Roger glanced at his 8-point SAN Value and figured it wasn't a big problem.

But why call it a "bizarre theft"?

And what exactly was stolen?

Roger knew nothing about these things—he could only hope the customer for this takeout order was a big-mouth who might spill some info.

Five minutes later, he found Unit 3112.

The three-story detached villa stood quietly at the center of the courtyard, its dark brown exterior revealing wood grain under the sunlight.

The low, sturdy wooden fence surrounding the courtyard was packed with full hydrangeas, velvety roses, and many unnamed flowers, nearly spilling over.

"So luxurious."

Someone who had time to tend flowers—and tended them this well—must be rich and idle.

Roger parked, picked up the takeout bag, and hurried to the door.

"Ding dong!"

"Ding dong!"

He rang the bell several times, but no one answered.

"Dong dong dong!"

Roger couldn't help but knock on the door.

"Coming!" An elderly woman's voice called from inside.

Immediately, heavy footsteps approached.

After a dozen seconds, the door opened.

An elderly woman with gray-streaked temples and gold-rimmed reading glasses stepped out.

Her upper body was thin, her lower body bulky. She leaned on a cane, her hands adorned with several gold and emerald rings, radiating wealth.

"Who are you?"

The old woman looked startled at Roger: "You're not from this community. I don't know you."

"I'm here to deliver food," Roger held up the bag. "One bacon ragù pasta, one tomato pasta, one vegetable salad."

The old woman's face remained expressionless: "I didn't order any of these."

Saying this, she moved to shut the door.

Roger quickly blocked the door: "Yushujie Shequ, Unit 3112. I didn't misread the address. Could someone else in your household have ordered this?"

Unexpectedly, seeing Roger's hand blocking her doorway, the old woman reacted violently, swinging her cane down over his head: "Ah ha! You damned thief has finally shown up! Take your filthy hands away! Are you planning to break in? Don't think I'm old and easy to bully! When I catch you, I'll have the police haul your ass off!"

Shit, what a hyper-aggressive old lady!

Roger jumped back in shock, blocked the cane with his arm, and swiftly pulled out his pocket watch and opened it.

He didn't dare to snatch the cane, after all, once someone suspected him of assaulting the homeowner, he'd be in serious trouble.

"Listen to my explanation, I really just came to deliver food. Damn it, is anyone in there!"

Roger shouted toward the house.

The old lady, however, unrelentingly continued to swing her cane: "I'm going to beat you to death, you thief! It's all your fault—other people only think I'm some kind of lunatic!"

Before long, a clatter of hurried footsteps came.

"Mrs. Luoyide, stop! Stop!" A white woman in an apron hurried over from the kitchen. She held back the old lady, who was still talking nonstop, then looked at Roger with an apologetic face.

"I'm so sorry, are you hurt? I'll get you some medicine."

"Ouch." Roger rubbed his arm, putting on a pained look: "A little, actually, but I don't dare go inside. How about bringing it to the door?"

"Sure, sorry to keep you waiting."

As she spoke, she held Mrs. Luoyide and walked backward, saying: "He's not a thief, he didn't steal your dirt. I ordered takeout, Mrs. Luoyide. The stove in the kitchen is broken, so I can't cook today."

"What?" Mrs. Luoyide couldn't resist the maid's strength and could only stare wide-eyed: "You and the thief are in cahoots? You damned whore! I'm going to fire you."

"Oh, thank heavens, you'd better have Mr. Luoyide fire me right away, otherwise one day I really might not be able to stop myself from tying you to the bed." The maid let out a long sigh—clearly she suffered plenty from the old lady's torment on a regular basis.

She coaxed her for quite a while, finally managing to calm the old lady down and get her seated back in the rocking chair.

Seeing Mrs. Luoyide muttering on and on and picking up the phone as if about to call the police, Roger frowned at the maid coming over with the medicine and said: "Are you sure nothing bad will happen? What do we do if the police come?"

"Don't worry." The maid shrugged: "She calls the newspaper during the day, the TV station at noon, and the police at night. I think they've probably gotten used to it by now."

Roger twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself, good lord.

Isn't this just pure lunacy?

He took the topical pain-relief spray the maid handed him and asked: "I just heard Mrs. Luoyide say someone stole her stuff?"

"That's right." The maid explained: "She keeps saying someone stole dirt from her garden. God, who'd steal that stinking mud! And the stuff is everywhere—you don't need to steal it, right?"

"Oh, really?" Roger raised his eyebrows, recalling the bizarre theft case from the intel just now. Could it be referring to this dirt-theft case?