Chapter 1981

While Su Xiao was investigating, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was tracking the Moon Goddess to ensure she didn't take the opportunity to check if the Will Rune Stone had been stolen.

By noon, the investigation was still ongoing. It must be said that Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was truly skilled at theft; Su Xiao hadn't been just going through the motions all morning, but was genuinely searching for clues.

Of course, he didn't want to expose Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, but rather to cover his tracks—if any clues were found, he would immediately clear them.

Yet, after an entire morning, Su Xiao had truly found nothing, making Sonia, who had been following him the whole time, increasingly anxious.

After confirming that Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang hadn't left any traces, Su Xiao began to "solve the case." Just a moment ago, he had already had Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang temporarily create some clues.

With the scorching sun overhead, Su Xiao sat on a pew in the cathedral, enjoying his lunch, accompanied by a beauty nearby.

Both Sonia and the Moon Goddess were watching Su Xiao, as were the dozen or so Moon Apostles behind them.

"Mr.... Kukuline, do you intend to spend the entire afternoon like this?"

The Moon Goddess spoke up. She was the most anxious about the theft of the goddess statue. The cathedral, which had been open for decades, had been closed that morning under the guise of a deep cleaning and pest control.

"If you can do better, you go."

Su Xiao continued to enjoy his lunch, delivering a remark that was both stiflingly blunt and perfectly polite.

"..."

The Moon Goddess composed herself and said:

"I certainly cannot. If you are dissatisfied with the previous events, Mr. Kukuline, you may target me personally. Regarding the disbandment of the Ninth Unit, I have always believed it was the correct decision."

"Oh?"

Su Xiao looked at the Moon Goddess and lit a post-meal cigarette.

"Will you compensate me for the lives of my 5,169 subordinates?"

"Of course... not."

The Moon Goddess was very clever. There were still many remnants of the Ninth Unit left; if they all came to cause her trouble, she would never have a moment of peace. Those lunatics had even dared to assassinate the Holy King and had attempted to blow up the Lulunfei Palace three times—what wouldn't they dare to do?

"If you can't compensate, then just wait."

"Sigh~"

The Moon Goddess shook her head with a light laugh, sat down beside Su Xiao, and began to wait.

In less than an hour, the little adjutant ran into the cathedral and handed a cloth bag to Su Xiao.

With everything prepared, Su Xiao began to "solve the case." He first took an iron canister from the cloth bag and walked to the base of the goddess statue.

Hiss—

A pale red mist sprayed from the canister, and a very pungent, acidic odor spread out.

"Ugh—"

Sonia retched, and the Moon Goddess lightly covered her nose and mouth.

"What is this strange smell?"

Sonia retched until tears streamed down her face. Seeing this, the little adjutant grinned.

"You wouldn't want to know. This thing is incredibly effective when solving cases involving supernaturals. It's a specialty of the Ninth Unit; every bottle used is one less in existence."

"Fewoodwo mixed solution."

The Moon Goddess whispered, and the little adjutant looked at her with some surprise.

"As expected of a big shot, you even know this. Remember to keep it confidential; the production process for this stuff is not pleasant, and the only person who could formulate it is already dead."

Just as the little adjutant finished speaking, three footprints appeared on the ground. They had no origin and stopped right in front of the goddess statue's base.

"Indeed a supernatural, perhaps space-based? I hope the thief's transmission distance isn't far. The theft occurred at 5:00 AM; at most, it's been under 12 hours, so the image shouldn't be too blurry."

The little adjutant ran out of the cathedral again. Before long, a dozen Moon Apostles carried in a colossal steam machine, and dust could still be seen in the gaps on its surface.

With a boom, the massive steam machine was placed on the high platform.

"If you don't want to die, all unrelated personnel, move back 40 meters."

As the little adjutant spoke, she took off her military jacket and pushed both hands onto the starter lever, the contours of her muscles bulging against her tight-fitting undershirt.

"Old antique, please don't explode. I had people repair you all morning."

The little adjutant exerted force.

Hum—

A strong pulse expanded, and high-temperature steam hissed out, creating a spectacular scene.

"Increase the scale."

Su Xiao was also adjusting the giant steam machine.

"It's going to overload, sir."

"Don't talk nonsense."

"Alright."

The little adjutant pushed the starter lever to the end. The steam pressure gauge exploded with a bang, and the Moon Goddess, Sonia, and the others, dozens of meters away, retreated several steps.

A piercing sound of arcing electricity spread. The little adjutant took paper and pen and dove into the giant machine, and Su Xiao grabbed her calf.

A few seconds later.

"Pull me out, it's burning me!"

Su Xiao dragged the little adjutant out of the giant steam machine. She was drenched as if washed in water, exhaling white steam, her entire body flushed.

"Found it, but I don't know where this is."

The little adjutant handed a wet piece of paper to Su Xiao, which contained the image she had traced.

After examining it for a few seconds, Su Xiao perfected the image.

"The statue was sent to Eagle Castle a few hours ago."

Hearing this, the Moon Goddess walked forward slowly.

"Eagle Castle? Can you be more specific?"

"No."

The Moon Goddess didn't press further but immediately sent people to investigate Eagle Castle.

In less than half an hour, the Moon Goddess received news: in a room on the third floor of Eagle Castle, there were indentations on the floor that matched the dimensions of the goddess statue.

Upon learning this, the Moon Goddess again brought people to find Su Xiao in the cathedral.

"Can that thing be operated a second time?"

The Moon Goddess glanced at the giant steam machine, which now had cracks on its surface, then turned to look at Su Xiao.

"Theoretically impossible. The creator is dead."

"..."

The Moon Goddess didn't continue to ask, because the creator of that thing had likely died in the previous purge.

Just then, a man in black clothes, his face covered in scars, appeared beside Su Xiao.

"My lord, we found it. We also captured four thieves. The goddess statue is on its way back and is expected to enter the city in half an hour."

"Pry their mouths open."

"We have already obtained all the intelligence. The mastermind is on the run, and the other thieves..."

The man in black's voice grew lower. After reporting all the intelligence, he vanished from the cathedral in a few flashes.

"Adjutant, the follow-up work is left to you. If there's a problem..."

"If there's a problem, sir, you can eat me for breakfast tomorrow."

"..."

Su Xiao walked in and out of the cathedral, leaving behind the smiling Moon Goddess and the dozen Moon Apostles.

"This is what professionalism is."

Sonia sighed. Her people had searched all morning and hadn't found a shred of useful intelligence, yet the Ninth Unit had sent the goddess statue straight back.

Sonia understood a truth: even if the Ninth Unit was forcibly disbanded, when it came to handling sudden events, no department in the empire could compare to them.

In layman's terms: your elders are always your elders.

Su Xiao walked out of the cathedral and looked up at the somewhat blinding sunlight. After the Immortal Crystal Goddess Statue was stolen, the Moon Goddess hadn't been able to keep her cool and had checked three secret storage rooms during that time. If nothing went wrong, the Will Rune Stone was in one of those secret storage rooms.

Furthermore, Su Xiao discovered one thing: the Immortal Crystal Goddess Statue was extremely precious. He couldn't view the specific data, but its quality was Epic. If he sold it to the Reincarnation Paradise, he could obtain 37% of the World's Source.