Chapter 138

The vessel shattered—did that guy run away?

No, it seems he was killed—by the same person.

The same person?

The one who shattered the vessel is also the one who killed him; normally, even if he failed, he should have been locked up by the police.

Not great, but good thing we blocked the divination earlier; now we just need to prepare to deal with the police—if there's no one from the ura Association, they shouldn't notice us.

Not bad—just make some money down below, stay out of the above Category: Term; tomorrow there's the Jidong derby, those horse ears should calm down a bit, right?

In the western district of Yi Yu, before the stairwell of South Ring Road on Jinghuo Street, a horse girl in a full black formal suit stood quietly, waiting for the few gang members chatting to pass by.

She stood in their blind spot; with her rich experience as a spirit entity, she was utterly familiar with this game of hide‑and‑seek.

The real difficulty lay in suppressing the resentment and irritability welling up in her chest, watching those people gradually walk away.

At this moment, she bore a composure and restraint that, to Aomo, would likely seem somewhat surprising—surprising that she could see in the other a maturity akin to her sister's, and then lament that these two were indeed sisters.

Or perhaps it was another kind—an influence distinct from blood ties.

But this spirit faded, for as she was about to catch up with those ahead, she heard an untimely screech of brakes from behind.

Zhouri Ningjing, I brought what you asked for.

Following the screech of brakes came an immediate greeting, causing her face to fall, replacing it with the familiar coldness and impatience of someone.

I should have said before—don't call me that outside. She turned her head to look at the guy who had butted in.

Brown long hair, a white dash like a water droplet on her forehead, rose‑red fierce and somewhat aggressive twin pupils, her heroic visage with the corners of her mouth curving into an unbridled arc.

Judging by first impression, anyone would think she was a rather handsome and dashing horse girl.

Wearing a similar formal suit, bearing the surname 'Symbol', to ordinary people she is lofty and unattainable, but in her eyes she's just a brat.

It's the trouble the old lady of the Symbol family forced upon her.

Sirius Symbol, pioneer of the interstellar 'Expedition', briefly returned from the Saichang of Heaven's Gate City, after which she kept doing things that required her to clean up, lacking the reassurance of her childhood friend who sits steadily in the student council.

Why put on that expression? Tailoring those lackeys won't yield much; better to head back here, then we, as members of the Inquiry Committee, can go online and find them directly, how about that?

She made the suggestion full of confidence, as she always is.

Since she firmly believes 'Sirius is the brightest star', she must possess this unyielding strength and confidence.

But in Zhouri Ningjing's eyes, it's merely a child's stubbornness and willfulness, unable to see the world clearly.

Just like this time, the other side and several other horse girls were defeated by that mansion's monster‑like beast, and then they failed to find a proper reason to involve the Hunong police, thus necessitating her coming specially to round them up—

Somewhat, some people are rather inept, but considering that as a member of the Symbol family they'd rather not use family influence, they instead pulled out their status as a committee member of the Inquiry Committee under the ura Association to ask for help—still somewhat understandable.

Just thinking of that, her expression eased a little.

And Sirius Symbol pressed the button on the car platform, causing the rear door to open automatically; the passenger displayed from the rear seat then made her slightly startled, then she gave a light laugh.

"Did that old lady agree?" she asked, staring at the passenger whose appearance, build, and clothing were exactly the same as hers.

The latter sat quietly with eyes closed, breathing evenly, as if immersed in a tranquil dream.

Of course, I wouldn't steal something like this.

Knowing she was asking about that old guy's attitude, Sirius Symbol pursed her lips.

If that's the case…

Suppressing the impulse arising from a deep‑soul urge to converge, Zhouri Ningjing turned her head, glanced toward where the two monsters had appeared, thought for a moment, and opened the terminal.

Zhouri Ningjing: 【In Yi Yu?】

？

Aomo, sitting upright at the entrance of the police information room, glanced somewhat surprised at this message, took a look at the scattered officers and other visitors nearby, then promptly tapped out a reply:

【Might as well speak frankly】

If your message sends without showing a failure, asking whether the other party is in Yi Yu is just pointless talk.

Being able to make this special horse girl spout pointless talk to him… Aomo felt the problem was rather serious.

Zhouri Ningjing: 【Is that monster yours?】

【…Or are you coming again to warn me about keeping a low profile?】

Zhouri Ningjing: 【No, what do you think of that monster?】

【It stems from a certain horse girl's negative emotions, artificially guided into form but lacking training.】

【It shouldn't yet be a finished product; the police also found a ritual site for enhancing and stabilizing negative energy near the monster, though it points to another small gang.】

【Honestly, I'm starting to doubt whether all the small gangs in Yi Yu have gotten into this line of business.】

Business?

Zhouri Ningjing: 【…Abducting and selling horse girls?】

【No… although that could also be the case, but those two negative‑energy entities—I mean those horse‑ear monsters—stem from the spirit of the same horse girl. That spirit is lonely, steeped in decadence, but its actual age may be young, and it carries a pride largely derived from strength.】

The obsession capable of condensing negative energy mostly comes from impulsive, emotional youths.

Middle‑aged and even elderly people aren't incapable, but such long‑standing negative emotions usually lose some purity due to the holder's self‑regulation.

Don't you know what an adult's stress resistance and adjustment ability are!

Even mature office workers will often tough it out with a single move, and if they can't, they go see a psychologist.

Those middle‑aged and elderly who truly lack any guidance or fluctuation, walking a dark path to the end, are often found on wanted lists and the like.

That, however, is simpler—after all, every decent criminal has officers collating their intel and data in hopes of a successful arrest.

Zhouri Ningjing: 【The scope has narrowed considerably, but what evidence is this conclusion based on?】

【Observation, experience, speculation—though it sounds unconvincing, I do trust this answer sheet.】

Zhouri Ningjing: 【Central Teleisen gathers all Difangteleisen and other horse‑girl academies' G1 potential horse girls; in the past five years there have been no missing‑person cases.】

【A ten‑year‑old book‑friend recommended the reading app Wild Fruit Reading—it's really damn useful; I rely on its audiobooks while driving or before bed to kill time, you can download it here. yeguoyuedu】

【Perhaps even earlier than five years? But frankly, with today's technology, as long as you have a spiritual substrate, there's no need to actually kidnap the person to cultivate that monster.】

————Zhouri Ningjing shared a coordinate with you————

Zhouri Ningjing: 【When you have time, come here, give your call sign, ring the bell, someone will discuss the next steps with you, and you might even get the new commission you've been expecting】

Zhouri Ningjing: 【Alright, I won't disturb your celebration banquet with those girls, see you later】

What celebration banquet…… Aomo lifted his head again toward the still-closed information room

The Penguin Logistics crew, aside from the croissant, didn't pay much attention to the reward or case info; after finishing work they waited for Aomo to settle the bill, then each went their own way

The Angel of Power seemed eager to stay, but Texas still dragged her away

Mostima had vanished at some point, and the farewells were all said unilaterally by the Angel of Power

By that logic, there should also be a bread person sitting beside him—referring to the 'croissant' as the name for the horn-shaped bread

But the bread person is busy, and I don't know how many part‑time jobs they've taken or how much business they're doing

Together with him, after waiting less than five minutes they took three calls; the unilateral call content bluntly involved 'source of goods', 'tariffs', etc., and they were soon called away by another call

Still, Aomo reminded her before she left that if the case progressed he'd pass it on; the latter mentioned that the work number made it inconvenient to talk about these things, so the two ended up having some further contact

They quickly exchanged contact information

Unlike the previous QR‑code work number, this time it was directly a Line number and phone number, but Aomo wasn't particularly pleased to have so quickly obtained the private contact of one of the Penguin Logistics members

He was still thinking about the earlier matter when a call from Zhouri Ningjing came through, pulling his thoughts toward the horse girls

Now that this case involves quite a lot and is clearly related to the horse girls, yet the three goddesses show no movement—whether they're uninterested in worldly affairs or simply unaware, I can go back to the rear mountain to try my luck again

But tomorrow is the Jidong derby; I suppose even the gods will go watch the match

"Is Aomo Lindun here?"

A greeting interrupted his drifting train of thought—that was the finally opened information room door; an officer was holding a few pages of documents, looking around, then saw him with his right hand raised high

"Yes, may I ask—?" "Come along, first go settle your bounty."

"Okay."

Although the officer with the furrowed brow wasn't particularly friendly and acted hastily, hearing about income made all that seem trivial

Moreover, one can understand the police's dissatisfaction with those who 'see justice and act bravely' but then get sidelined after taking down a meritorious figure; besides, their performance here has been outstanding, to the point that the whole police force feels rather sidelined

Aomo wouldn't therefore look down on the police forces; after all, he knows that when facing such cases the police always seek stability—first considering structural damage and loss, then possible civilian casualties, with a great deal of preparation beforehand, and actual implementation issues further subtly reduce efficiency

—With this time, any passerby who sticks their nose in would already have been taken care of

If a passerby can handle it, the police will shift from their fully prepared stance to—trying not to let the passerby cause unnecessary destruction or casualties, choosing instead to play a supporting role

If a passerby can't handle it, there's nothing more to say; it remains the police's domain

Aomo and his crew belong to the former; the police's role stays behind the scenes, just like the compensation and guarantee funds mentioned when settling the bounty now, and the later information follow‑up Aomo will need to inquire about

It's rather like a normal RPG quest chain: you must understand various side‑story details, piece together the final intel, then locate the final boss, and use an item tied to the boss to defeat it—when suddenly a van drops from the sky, a few hanged men rush out and take down the boss in two or three moves, then you turn to ask those brave warriors who fought the boss for a 'side‑story replay'

Side‑story? You want that? You just killed someone!?

"Killing was just to be safe; in this era, the concept of death must be calculated from the soul to be reasonable, right?"

"Want me to show you the tally sheet for the soul‑gathering business?"

"Revealing this to citizens probably isn't a good idea."

"Just saying—before we release the public info, we'll need to confirm one thing with you."

"Confirm what?"

"Confirm that the girls you hired clearly had the criminals under control, yet you deliberately came over during the standoff and killed him—was it really just out of caution?"

"…Is it necessary? Nowadays, silencing someone by killing them can't guarantee information security anymore."

"Your race is demon, Mr. Lindun; to suppress certain accusations against you, please sit for a polygraph first."

Accusations, doubts?

It turns out that the reason I've been tossing and turning in the information room for so long even involves me myself

"Of course."

Aomo sighed helplessly, unable to blame this group for their caution and prudence

Compared with the surface‑level police station of the Jiemen district, this group's vigilance is indeed commendable; the officers I've seen all along have been frowning, as if the case is always at their side, forever waiting for criminals to act

In this atmosphere, even a newcomer would inevitably be somewhat assimilated

Moreover, given the incident rate in foreign lands, this attitude cannot be called overly cautious

"Then let's hurry; I still want to return to the surface before five p. m."

"Of course, just a few words."

The officer nodded, and from an inspection perspective he really cared about the other party's proposed time

But that really was just the supermarket's special‑sale time near his address