"This is the footage extracted from Nuokang's memory chip; the incident occurred five days ago. At that time, Nuokang and his group were not far from Dawn City. Even on foot, Mu Xiu should have reached Dawn City by now."
Smith switched the projection back to the photograph page of Mu Xiu.
"Are there any pictures of Mu Xiu captured at the city's entrance?"
Selena immediately asked.
"You know, those cameras are managed by the City Defense Army. I have already sent an alert to the city hall. They will retrieve footage from the surveillance cameras at the city's entrance, but don't hold out too much hope. Previously, Mu Xiu had disguised as other people to infiltrate the city. He is a follower of the God of Chaos; we cannot take this lightly." Smith nodded,
"I've notified the consortium. They will open part of their surveillance for the tech department to analyze and see if they can find Mu Xiu's trail."
After mentioning the consortium, Selena's expression visibly soured, but she didn't dwell on the issue and instead asked, "So, what do we need to do?"
"There are always some places in the city that are 'unmonitored'," Smith tapped the table, and a series of photographs started accumulating on the projection,
"Casinos, the Red Light District, and some underground fight clubs. According to previous cases, Mu Xiu has gone on killing sprees in these places. The Criminal Investigation Department has already placed people in most of these locations, but, there's one most critical place where we are understaffed."
The projection on the wall instantaneously changed to a glittering golden gate with a dazzling, luminous sign that read 'Crown Casino',
"The Crown Casino is the largest in Dawn City. The tech department has analyzed Mu Xiu's past trajectories and believes that this place is where he is most likely to go next. The Criminal Investigation Department's personnel are too weak for Mu Xiu, so I hope to entrust this task to you. How about it?"
Smith looked at Selena.
"Okay," Selena stood up, "So our mission is to guard the entrance of the Crown Casino? For how long?"
"Usually, he commits his crimes within seven days of entering the city. After he makes a sacrifice to the God of Chaos, he receives the Grace of the God of Chaos and instantly escapes to the wilderness. So, we must catch him or kill him before he acts."
Smith answered.
"All right, I've got it," Selena waved at a confused-looking He Ao, "Ande, let's go."
"Mu Xiu has Talent Sequence 51: Thug, a D-class power level. Do you think Selena can stop him? Her mechanized body strength is barely close to D-class, right?"
After Selena and He Ao had left, the projection on the wall changed to Verna holding a cigarette, leaning against a tightly shut door, with a revolver in his hand, apparently on a mission.
Just as Smith was about to answer, Verna suddenly charged at the door behind him.
"Open up, Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Following a crash, the door was directly burst open.
The people inside seemed to realize something was wrong and were about to draw their guns to shoot when Verna immediately fired six shots from his revolver, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the floor.
"Boss?" A voice emerged off-camera, "Is that all of them killed?"
"Damn it," Verna frowned, "What do you mean 'all of them killed'? Didn't you see their fierce resistance? Didn't you see them draw their guns? If they draw guns, I could very well get shot to death.
"Those despicable thugs from an inter-city gang don't blink an eye at murder. If you don't kill them, would you rather wait for them to enjoy a few years in prison with good food and then come out to harm others again?"
"Come on, I'll teach you how to write a report," he said as he walked out of the frame, "During the execution of this mission, the gang members fiercely fought back. Despite our officers' patient persuasion, they refused to surrender, and we were compelled to retalinuealiatet. Six were shot dead on the spot, no survivors."
As he spoke, he also cursed, "Those damned councilors are making outrageous laws, there's not even a death penalty... "
As Verna's scornful voice faded away, Smith turned off the communication and leaned back in his chair, staring at the clean white walls, lost in thought.
Why did Mu Xiu suddenly come to Dawn City...
----
In the elevator, Selena didn't press the button to return to the ground floor but clicked on the fifth basement level instead.
"Selena, what is the Witch of Desire?"
He Ao stood behind Selena, asking with some curiosity. He had only half understood what Selena and Smith had been discussing, and he didn't dare to interrupt.
"A kind of Evil God, just like the God of Chaos and the God of Knowledge; they are all Evil Gods."
Selena answered casually, "Most of them are fallen and insane, tempting ordinary people to become their monsters."
"Evil Gods, then are there Righteous Gods?"
He Ao pressed on, a question he had wanted to ask for a long time.
Surprised by his question, Selena glanced at He Ao. Evil is a term that's relative to righteousness, a subjective term. If there are Evil Gods, then there should correspondingly be Righteous Gods, but few people catch on to that.
What He Ao really meant was, since there are Evil Gods that can communicate with people, are there Righteous Gods who can also communicate with people?
Just as they were talking, the elevator reached their floor. Selena walked out of the elevator; the fifth underground level was a huge garage, "None, or perhaps our realm has yet to make contact with them."
She raised her hand slightly, and with a soft click in the night, followed by the roaring of an engine, a fiery red convertible, as if riding flames, parked in front of them.
"Shall we go?" Selena opened the door and sat in the driver's seat, "Want to go for a drive with me?"
——
Thus, within Dawn City, this scene unfolded: a blonde, stunning older sister with a younger man in a combat suit, driving a roaring sports car wildly through the city streets.
He Ao only felt a whirlwind before the car came to a stop.
"Here we are."
Selena got out of the car, comfortably stretching herself.
"You drive like that, sure it doesn't count as speeding?"
He Ao felt as though the ground beneath him was still shaking.
"No worries, I stuck to the highways, keeping to the top speed limit, didn't exceed it."
After one lap, Selena looked refreshed and content, comfortably stretching.
With her full body prosthesis, even if the car flipped, she could carry it unharmed, and therefore speeding didn't faze her in the least.
He Ao staggered out of the car, feeling as if the solid ground was like stepping on cotton.
Selena looked at He Ao's state with a sly smile. Doesn't everyone have a bit of a wicked sense of humor?
She pointed to a hot dog stand by the street, "Let's go, you haven't eaten since you were discharged, I'll buy you a hot dog."
He Ao was still unsteady on his feet and was immediately taken by the hand, unsteadily queuing up.
It took a while for He Ao to recover.
The body of Ande is still not up to par; still getting carsick.
He shook his head, trying to calm down, took a few deep breaths, and settled his thoughts.
It was during his fifth deep breath that he felt a hint of something unusual within his body.
In his chest, a subtle energy emerged once again.