Transform into a human

Wen Qing was escorted to his office door by two subordinates, and he was still rambling on:

"You don't believe me, you don't believe me at all!"

"With my keen eye, how could I be wrong? That's clearly Yue Lai!"

One of the subordinates cautiously remarked, "You should probably use paper airplanes less often; even if the side effects are minor, they're still relics..."

Using paper airplanes twice in a short period of time did indeed cause some damage to the spirit of warmth and affection.

"But I didn't even use paper airplanes the first time I got beaten up!" Wen Qing tried to prove he was sober, pointing to his face. "If it weren't for Yue Lai, who would have beaten me up like this!"

"Warden Hong suspects another prisoner has escaped, possibly from Hanzimen Pass or a death row inmate from Manzi. He's preparing to investigate," the subordinate said, pointing to the office. "Deputy Warden, you should go in yourself. If all else fails, just apologize to the warden. Since no actual damage was caused, at most you'll just have to give a written explanation..."

Wen Qing retorted angrily, "I didn't do anything wrong, what's there to reflect on!"

The two subordinates exchanged a silent glance. The deputy warden was indeed "sick" and confused. If he were sober, he would definitely say, "So what if I did the right thing? I must reflect on my actions when necessary." How could this paper airplane make him grow a backbone?

Without a word, one of them opened the door, the other pushed it in, and then slammed the office door shut, standing guard on either side like door gods.

Inside the room, Wen Qing stood frozen in place as Yue Lai removed the disguise Cavendish had placed on him and stepped out from behind the curtains.

Wen Qing suddenly turned around and started pounding on the office door, but was held back by two subordinates. She screamed and yelled, "Let me out! Let me out!"

"Yue Lai is inside!!"

"The deputy warden is indeed quite ill."

"I'm not lying! You just need to open it and take one look, just one look!"

The subordinate sighed and, through the Chain Crystal Network, "kindly" informed Hong Ji of Wen Qing's condition. This instantly relieved the warden, who had initially felt some guilt, and he shared the recording with everyone in the control room.

"Look at this, look at this! If what he said is true, there would be four Yue Lais in prison number fourteen. This is utter nonsense!"

"I only intended to detain him for a short while, but now it seems I have no choice but to report to my superiors. I'm afraid Deputy Warden Wen's mental state is no longer up to the task."

The surrounding prison guards were secretly excited; finally, they could transfer this guy away! Heaven knows why the benefits at Prison Number Fourteen were so much worse than those at other prisons!

Inside the office, Yue Lai gently placed his hand on Wen Qing's shoulder. The spy from the Four Gates didn't even struggle, collapsing to the ground like mud—the bizarre "facts," the distrust of his colleagues, and the impact of the relic's side effects had completely destroyed his spirit.

Even Yue Lai had to marvel at the terrifying nature of the black-and-white killing scheme, as the saying goes, "Heaven's assistance, however small, will surely bring great results; Heaven's opposition, however successful, will surely lead to failure."

His opponent didn't even realize that Downton was one of the four white pieces. He had the initiative in this game and successfully turned the white pieces into black pieces, thus winning the first game. All the coincidences would contribute to his success, and all the unintentional actions would trigger one coincidence after another.

Yue Lai grabbed Wen Qing by the collar and pulled him away from the door. Then, he slowly prepared a cup of honey water and poured it into the deputy warden's stomach.

Now the other party was completely at his mercy, with his life and death in their hands.

"I'm your good friend, and good friends shouldn't keep secrets from each other."

"You are my good friend..." Wen Qing's mouth began to drool.

"Who arranged for the 'skin-painting artist' to enter the prison, allowing you such easy access?"

"It's a big shot at headquarters who wants to get rid of Kerr..."

Kerr?

Yue Lai frowned. Was even the dignified deputy warden just a pawn? If "Yue Lai," who was standing at the forefront of the storm, really died suddenly in prison, Wen Qing would definitely be the one to bear the attack of public opinion, and his past dirty deeds would be dug up one by one by the people behind the scenes.

How did he gain your trust?

"He has all the complaint letters about me..."

Yue Lai's eyes lit up. Now the area is much smaller!

He pulled a paper airplane from his warm pocket. This keepsake, combined with the scout's quick action, worked really well. Good things should be shared with good friends!

"My friend, there's one more thing I need your help with."

……

……

Meanwhile, in Starport, thousands of miles away.

Falken's squad filed out of the cabin, and as they looked at the familiar scenery before them, a layer of sorrow clouded Li's eyes.

Old Donald, ever the meticulous one, asked: "Should we go see Consultant Ji first?"

Li shook her head: "I'll wait until the murderer is caught before I go to pay my respects to Grandpa Ji."

Falken nodded in approval: "Very good, let's begin now."

In the past, Wande would have already started complaining bitterly. Who goes back to work immediately after returning from a business trip, without even going home!

But today he chose to remain silent.

Upon arriving at Starport, Falken had already gained access to the case files for the "Ji Yungui Murder Case." He accessed the current case progress on the internal network, forwarded it, and gave a brief overview to his team members:

"Before this, the person in charge of the investigation was Superintendent Lannister. The place where Old Master Ji lived was remote and he easily found the killer's 'thread,' but when he followed the clues to the Star Harbor red-light district, the thread broke."

Donald sighed. "They're very professional assassins."

A spy's ability to unravel complexities is not omnipotent. If too many threads are intertwined, any major disturbance can completely snap some of the already fragile threads.

The red-light district is such a place.

The causes and effects of so many people here are intertwined in a hidden way. From the perspective of an informant, it is an extremely complex tangled ball of yarn. You never know how many threads are entangled around a practitioner.

Li asked, "So there's absolutely no evidence to support the accusation that Yue Lai killed Grandpa Ji?"

The group exchanged knowing glances. If Yue Lai had been framed, the person behind it wouldn't have put much effort into the case. This would explain why the investigation stalled completely once it reached the red-light district.

Wan De: "I have connections in literary inquisitions, and the secrecy is guaranteed. I'll investigate this matter."

Falken shook his head:

"Your rank is too low; you don't have enough access to view the data. Let's do it together."

"The case of Consultant Ji has been handed over to Warren and Donald to investigate."

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone knew what Wan De was talking about—there must be a reason for the police's negligence, and this was the flaw revealed by the mastermind behind it all!

Night falls, and the neon lights begin to breathe. Multicolored lights stream through the gaps between buildings, and the earlier rain drips intermittently from above, wetting half the faces of passersby. The scent of cheap perfume mixed with oily odors clings to the damp air.

Beneath the gleaming signs, many people squatted and smoked, their faces obscured and distorted by the smoke. The sound of high heels clicking on the ground was loud not far away, but the next sound was suddenly swallowed up by the darkness. Together, they formed the city's unhealed wounds.

The light here is never complete—half of it is blindingly bright, while the other half, hidden around corners, behind stairs, or reflected in the drains, sinks into an unilluminated depth.

Those unfamiliar with the Federation might exclaim, "This is actually a police hub!" But those who know the Federation will tell you, "It's a good thing this is a police hub," since the light from the capital planet is much brighter than this planet.

The brighter the light, the deeper the shadow.

Li wrapped her coat tighter around herself, feeling rather uncomfortable. She and Donald had changed their clothes and rushed here without stopping, all to make it in time for "opening hours".

The veteran police officer moved about here as if he were a fish in water, even his gait was no different from everyone else's:

"Based on my experience, the killer is likely quite familiar with this area, or to put it more bluntly, he is a regular here."

Although Li grew up in Singapore, this was her first time visiting this old district right next to the central business district: "This is the police hub, why isn't anyone doing anything about it?"

"The police can't provide them with jobs."

Li Moran, perhaps the police headquarters was much cleaner when it was first established than it is now, but as the population expands, society will inevitably become "plump," and even the underground intelligence trading in Xiadu is part of that.

The policewoman rallied her spirits: "So, you must have something on your mind, coming in such a rush, right?"

Donald nodded: "Since that conman is most likely a regular here, we can do some investigation and ask the girls if any of their customers have been particularly charming lately."

"Huh?" Li hadn't expected this line of thinking, but she quickly realized that when Donald said "sweet-talking," he meant it in a physical sense.

"Honeyed words masking a treacherous heart?"

"That's right."

For some reason, Mr. Li felt a lingering sweetness on the corner of his mouth...

"There are only two of us; we can't possibly ask them one by one, can we?"

Donald smiled meaningfully: "Don't you think about why they can survive in the police headquarters? The Niang gang, which protects this area, are our police's informants."

As they talked, the two came to a dark alley. Although they couldn't see anyone, Donald called out into it in a voice that wasn't too loud:

"Send Morgan to see me."

There was no response for a long time.

He smiled awkwardly at Li: "Maybe the junior officer on duty dozed off..."

He turned up the volume: "Morgan!"

"What the hell are you yelling about!" A woman's angry shout came from the second floor of the alley. "Go find Morgan at Jail Number Nine, don't disturb my business with your yelling!"

Donald: ?

What does this mean? Morgan got arrested by the police? Why would they arrest their own informant if they had nothing better to do?

He probed, "I heard Morgan has some connections at the Singapore branch. How come he got arrested too?"

A figure leaned out of a second-floor window; even in the dim light, her thick foundation was visible.

"When did you get that news? Someone exposed his past in the newspapers. When things are out in the open, connections don't matter."

Donald said helplessly, "Then who do we go to for things in the old town now?"

The woman laughed dismissively: "Go find whoever you want, just don't bark like a dog under my window!"

After saying that, he slammed the window shut with a loud "bang".

Donald took a deep breath: "I'll pay!"

A muffled voice came from behind the window: "Come upstairs!"

Li soon saw the woman's true face on the second floor. Her figure was not bloated, but it was by no means slender either. Even though the succubus tattoo covered her below her collarbone, faint scale patterns could still be seen.

They are sub-humans.

"Speak, what do you want to know?"

"Find a customer whose mouth tastes sweet."

"I can ask for you," the woman said, rubbing her fingers together. "One Chain Crystal Coin." Those in the industry naturally have their own channels of communication.

That's equivalent to five thousand New Federal Dollars, which is a fairly reasonable price.

This was somewhat unexpected for Li; she had thought the woman would take the opportunity to make exorbitant demands.

Seemingly noticing Li's surprise, the woman said sarcastically:

"Don't worry, people in our line of work are much more honest than most, especially those of us who are 'sole proprietors'. You never know what kind of person you'll be serving, so honesty is the best protection."

This is an extremely high-risk industry, with practitioners disappearing into thin air every year. Because they lack normal social interaction, they often remain missing for a long time before attracting the attention of the police.

Perhaps it was Li's female identity that made her lower her guard a little. The woman took the coin that Donald tossed to her, and then closed her eyes and entered the Chain Crystal Network.

Time passed by, and the noise from the street gradually thinned out. Li was getting a little impatient.

Donald said softly, "Be patient. Their internet speed is terrible, and some of them might be 'working' right now."

"Internet speed?" Li paused for a moment, "What do you mean?"

The old police officer pointed to the back of his neck: "Democrats don't get free chain crystal runes implanted by the Federation when they're twelve years old. If they want to access the internet, they have to save up their own money and buy substandard products."

He sighed: "From her perspective, the whole world is blurry."

"Don't pity me, it's just a virtual world anyway, what difference does it make if it's a little more real or a little more fake?" The woman opened her eyes.

"Although I asked many of my sisters, I didn't ask them more, and there are many people I don't get along with, so I couldn't get their information."

"Besides, most customers don't like kissing people like us, and we don't even know if they're sweet-talking or not."

Donald: "We'll take as many as we can get."

"There were three people: a candy store owner whose shop was in the old town, a sugarcane vendor by the roadside, and a woman who always came to ask us questions; many people knew her."

"Woman?" Li stared in disbelief.

"Although they're few, we do have female customers," the woman said with an air of superiority, then passed on more detailed information to Donald before shooing him away, "Alright, alright, go wherever you want, don't delay my business!"

The two were forced downstairs, and in that short time, Donald had already matched the three people in the police database.

"Bravo Serge, male, owner of 'Sweetest' candy store, single and unmarried."

"Lu Huai, male, sugarcane farmer near Xinggang, married."

"Wei Cheng, female, reporter for your newspaper, unmarried."