For the law enforcers of District Seventeen, it was destined to be a sleepless night.
The Special Operations Department was divided into seven small teams, guarding every passage leading to the ward. Not only that, but the director of the law enforcers of District Seventeen had personally joined in, stationed in the ward of the comatose victims.
Lu Xiang ensured that every detail was foolproof, and had beforehand devised several methods for any sudden situations.
Yet, despite all the precaution, an inexplicable anxiety still enveloped her heart.
This was utterly incomprehensible.
In the past, regardless of whether the person being protected was a federal official or a socialite, she had never experienced such a feeling. The main cause of her anxiety was the two calls she had made to Song Lan, both of which had been unable to connect.
Her nerves were stretched taut for an extended period, making her subconsciously imagine the worst-case scenario.
Even though she had not publicly disclosed her romantic relationship with Song Lan and had made a concerted effort to avoid leaving work together, if anyone were to follow Song Lan, it wouldn't be hard for them to realize that they had been living together recently.
Song Lan was a kind person who never quarreled with anyone. He should not have had any enemies in District Seventeen, but because of her, those ruthless criminals could vent their anger on Song Lan.
Just one last try.
Lu Xiang made a decision.
If she couldn't connect this time, she would temporarily abandon her duties and go find Song Lan.
"Beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep!"
This time, the call miraculously connected.
"Hello?"
"Where are you?"
Lu Xiang blurted out almost immediately.
Besides Song Lan's voice on the phone, she also heard the sound of wind and his faint panting.
It sounded like Song Lan was doing some kind of exercise on the other end of the phone.
"I'm outside."
"Be more specific."
"Ring Lake Park."
Lu Xiang immediately visualized the route from her home to Ring Lake Park in her mind. If one chose to walk or bike there, one would have to pass through an underground street. The complex terrain there served as the primary venue for the law-breakers to conduct their dealings. Therefore, signal interference devices were installed there all year round.
This seemed to explain why her previous two calls to Song Lan had failed.
It seemed to have been a false alarm.
It was only then that Lu Xiang let out a sigh of relief, "Why did you go to Ring Lake Park?"
"Exercise, of course."
Song Lan's reply was as smooth as flowing water on the other end of the phone, "Only by exercising regularly can we shake off criminals in a crunch!"
"Don't exercise at night, it's not safe."
"Isn't it because I had a nap in the afternoon that I can't sleep now?"
"Splash!"
Lu Xiang was about to say something, but then she heard the sound of water on the other end of the line.
It sounded like something heavy had fallen into the water.
Frowning, she quickly asked, "What was that?"
"Nothing, just someone swimming."
Swimming?
Lu Xiang remembered that the Ring Lake Park had a no-swimming sign. But she rethought – the residents of District Seventeen considered murder and arson as common occurrences, jaywalking was pretty much a minor crime compared to those.
"Come home."
"Alright, I'll finish this round and then go home. You also should rest early, don't tire yourself out."
"Mm."
The call ended.
Song Lan, on the other end, put down his phone and stared at the now still lake surface for a long time.
Two minutes had gone by, and the thing that had sunk hadn't bobbed back up.
That night, he unexpectedly discovered another advantage of prosthetic implantation — as interpreted by the high school physics he knew, implantation of prosthetics significantly increases body density, thus saving a lot of trouble for body dumping.
When it came to dumping a body, Song Lan was a complete novice.
As a nine-to-fiver from the 21st century, who just wanted to lead a peaceful life, there weren't many opportunities for him to learn body dumping.
He searched a lot of information and finally chose a desolate suburban area dozens of kilometers away from his home as the dumping spot. There was a filthy, smelly lake at the bottom of steep mountains there.
He didn't know how deep the lake was, but at least Mr. Killer didn't come up after sinking into it.
Before he took Mr. Killer's body wrapped up to the dumping site, Song Lan had completely cleaned up the living room. He made sure all traces of blood were wiped clean.
The only surprise was that Lu Xiang had called him out of the blue while he was halfway through disposing of the body.
So he had to come up with a white lie.
Of course, he couldn't just carry a dead body into the crowded Ring Lake Park really. If he was caught dumping a body in the lake, it would force Lu Xiang into an impossible situation, wouldn't it?
But even so...
Even though he had learned to dump a body quickly, and he had cleaned up all the blood in the living room beforehand, the peaceful life he longed for still faced a huge challenge.
Because Song Lan didn't know whether Mr. Killer had informed anyone else before coming to him.
As well as the force behind Mr. Killer.
A mysterious organization that could manipulate public opinion and was brewing a plan to frame Lu Xiang. It was clear that these people wouldn't give up. Perhaps in the near future, they would send an even stronger existence than Mr. Killer.
Just thinking about it gave Song Lan a horrible headache.
What on earth is going on?
He hadn't provoked anyone, but these criminals and professional killers who had sprung up from nowhere were all coming to him like they were on steroids.
All these sudden changes had put more pressure on him than what people his age should bear.
Song Lan had always preferred peaceful solutions, but Mr. Killer gave him just as little choice as Chai Ke did.
The options provided by the other party were quite straightforward: you die straight away, or you die after you frame Lu Xiang.
So, faced with Mr. Killer's pressure, Song Lan had to make a choice:
Bro, you go on ahead, I'll stay behind and figure something out.
The midnight wind carried the stench of the lake stream. The internet said that there used to be a waste disposal factory at the foot of the mountain, then a gang of vandals robbed the factory overnight and killed all the workers in the factory before they left. Since then, this place has become the least populated area in District Seventeen.
Once you cross this mountain, you'll leave District Seventeen. The other side is the "outer world" not controlled by the United Government's laws.
It would be hard to find a better place to dump a body in District Seventeen than here.
But this is still just a temporary solution. The organization behind Mr. Killer will definitely try everything to find the body.
Maybe a few days, at most, probably not more than a month.
This means that he doesn't have much time.
Aside from making him nauseous, the stench also made Song Lan's mind a lot clearer.
He looked up at the bright moon in the night sky. On this moonlit, starry night, a new phase of his peaceful life had a goal.
Before the forces behind Mr. Killer found the body, he needed to find a buddy to frame.