Chapter 63

Wednesday, 2:00 p. m.

Roger gasped as he rose from the ground, his skin glistening with fine sweat over taut muscles, radiating intense sexual tension.

"Whew, that's better!"

【Physical Function: 10.9→11】

He glanced at his panel, clenched his fist tightly, and felt a solid, grounding sense of strength.

As his Physical Function continued to rise, he had to constantly increase both the quality and duration of his exercise just to maintain the daily 0.1 increase.

And because his SAN Value had recovered quickly these past few days, his state had just shifted back from the Rift's edge to Unstable Cognition, losing the 10% Physical Function bonus.

But the current distraction was sufficient.

"Once this intelligence is complete, I'll go buy some secondhand gym equipment."

Roger wiped his body with a damp towel, then put on a plaid shirt and rimmed glasses before leaving the garage.

Yesterday, he and Vanessa had visited Mrs. Luoyide's house again.

The main purpose was to inquire about the neighbors, since this theft couldn't have been committed by outsiders—it had to be someone living in the same community.

And the thief clearly knew Mrs. Luoyide's routine, which explained why he always got away with something and was never caught.

After questioning, Roger and Vanessa narrowed their focus to two households nearby.

First, the Connolly family: the husband was a manager at a pharmaceutical company with a high income; the wife stayed home full-time raising two ten-year-old twin boys. The nanny said their family relations were poor—they often argued, and the children were extremely mischievous.

Second, the Allen family: the husband was a well-paid dentist; his wife was a professional lawyer, rumored to work at a prestigious law firm in Seattle. They had one seven-year-old son; their family life was harmonious, but both worked long hours and had little time to care for the child.

They targeted them because Roger believed that since the thief couldn't enter through the front gate, he must have been using the cat flap.

But Roger had measured the distance from the cat flap to the flowerpot—even an adult couldn't reach the soil by sticking one arm through the hole.

So it was highly likely a child had slipped through the cat flap into the fence and taken the soil.

Yet even with this hypothesis, he still didn't understand why anyone would do this—or what their goal was.

After all, what use could a few ounces of soil possibly have?

And this didn't sound remotely strange—it was nothing like the earlier intelligence.

With these doubts, Roger drove to the vicinity of Yushujie Shequ and met Vanessa.

The female journalist had changed into casual clothes and sneakers today, her hair tied into a ponytail, making her look noticeably younger and more vibrant than before.

But the sensual aura of a mature woman still clung to her.

The two got into Vanessa's car and drove into the community, stopping in front of Mrs. Luoyide's garage.

"I've already arranged it with Mrs. Luoyide—we won't be chased away as long as we stay in this spot," said the journalist, who, though new to the newspaper, already had some investigative experience.

She guided Roger into the back seat, since the tint on these two windows was darker and could conceal their figures.

Otherwise, if the thief spotted someone inside the car, he might stop his actions.

Roger and Vanessa also kept their bodies low, avoiding any conspicuous movement.

While waiting, Vanessa vented to Roger.

"That damn bitch Jenny—her hair's thinner than her armpit hair! She's been targeting me lately, and every new lead I find gets scooped by her!"

The journalist fumed: "She even poached one of my Informers."

"Did she pay more?" Roger raised an eyebrow.

Vanessa glanced at him, as if seeing through his thoughts: "Don't worry—no matter how much she pays, it's nothing compared to what I pay you. You're my most expensive Informer."

"That means my value is higher than others."

"But I think you've misjudged this case," Vanessa still believed the soil theft was insignificant.

"Regardless, we'll know the truth soon."

Roger picked up the binoculars and peered through the glass at the garden.

Time quickly reached 4:00 p. m.

A black-and-white striped school bus with red and green flashing lights pulled into Yushu Jie and stopped two hundred meters from Mrs. Luoyide's house.

Roger shifted the binoculars toward it.

Several white children with backpacks got off, greeted their mothers, chattered excitedly, hugged, held hands, and walked off together.

Only one blond boy stood alone beside the Black nanny, gripping his backpack straps tightly, head bowed, feet scuffing the ground like oars.

More strikingly, a fresh scar marked his forehead—clearly newly acquired.

Roger watched them head home and noted their approximate locations.

In Meilijian, schools usually dismissed early on Wednesdays; to the man, this fit the thief's logic perfectly.

For the next half-hour, nothing happened—everything remained calm.

Then, at 4:30, the sound of a skateboard came.

"Shhh."

Roger raised the binoculars toward the street and saw the boy who had been picked up by the nanny.

Judging by appearance, he was about seven years old, slight and thin, with freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose—a typical white child.

He was now riding his skateboard, circling the street in minutes.

"You've been staring at him—did you notice something?" Vanessa took the binoculars, incredulous: "You don't seriously think this kid stole the soil?"

"Why not?"

"What would he do with soil? Does he have pica?"

Roger half-closed his eyes: "Do you know what Mrs. Luoyide's sterile soil can be used for besides growing vegetables?"

"What else could it be used for?" Vanessa had never considered this.

"It can be used to grow illegal things—like marijuana."

"What?" Vanessa gasped in shock: "Are you sure?"

Roger explained, "I checked yesterday—drug dealers often use sterile, lightweight potting soil rich in perlite or vermiculite to grow marijuana, and this matches the soil the old woman used."

"And I reviewed the notes—only those few pots of sterile soil were stolen; the regular soil suffered no loss."

"It's hardly likely someone would deliberately steal two ounces of soil just to grow vegetables."

"But a little boy under ten…" Vanessa suddenly fell silent, for since marijuana legalization in Meilijian, private cultivation had become alarmingly common.

The newspaper used to report such cases, but now everyone assumed they wouldn't attract readers' attention.

What shocked her most was that a white child from a middle-class family could also be corrupted by marijuana, growing it in secret?

"Flying leaves don't care about age." Roger shrugged. Deaths from overdose among infants weren't unheard of in Meilijian.

Saying this, he continued observing the white boy's movements.

The boy stopped his skateboard, sat on the ground, as if planning to rest awhile.

But the fence he leaned against clearly belonged to Mrs. Luoyide's yard.

"It's him." Roger muttered, watching the boy nervously glance around, then skillfully push open the hinged panel at the bottom of the fence and slip inside.

In no time, he crawled out again, both hands bulging with soil, his knees dusted gray.

"Click."

Vanessa, now shifted to the front seat, snapped a photo of the scene with her camera.

"We should go find his parents—if he's really growing those illegal crops!" Vanessa's expression turned serious.

"You're right." Roger moved to the driver's seat and followed the boy in the car.

Two minutes later, the two watched the boy carry his skateboard into a small villa with a light red roof.

"I didn't expect it to be Allen's house." Vanessa whispered.

"It seems the surface harmony is just an illusion—there may be more hidden beneath."

But soon, something unexpected happened.

As the two cars pulled into Allen's garage one after another, several other vehicles soon arrived nearby; the people inside laughed and chatted merrily, as if Allen's household were hosting a party tonight.

"Should we go now?" Roger asked Vanessa's opinion.

But the next second, someone suddenly leaned close and tapped on the car window.