There were some water stains accumulated in the room of the 208th Administration Bureau.
The man sat on the sofa, his raincoat still dripping with water, his muddy boots staining the expensive cashmere carpet black.
Opposite the man, the bald chief sat calmly on a chair, his lead-gray eyes staring at him like an eagle.
"You should recognize this car, right?"
A slightly twisted license plate was thrown onto the table.
That was the license plate of the chief's antique car. He had just bought the license plate not long ago, so of course he recognized it. Although the distorted license plate was enough to reveal what had happened to the precious antique car, he wanted to cry.
It's a pity that now is not the time to show off.
"What do you mean?" the director asked with a smile.
"Don't try to be so rude. You and I both know what happened. Something went wrong tonight and I don't want to waste my time with you. If you don't tell me, I have ways to get the information out of you. I hope you won't let me use those methods."
Angelus wiped the water stains from his hair and warned coldly.
"Of course I will cooperate. As you said, this is indeed my car. But it was stolen not long ago, and I don't know where she went." The director paused, "May I ask which devil stole my car and made her like this?"
"Stolen?"
Angelus didn't believe it. Damn it, you just found out that the money was stolen and you said it was stolen. How could it be such a coincidence?
"If you don't believe it, please check it yourself. We will cooperate with the investigation, but we won't give you more help." The director took a sip of hot coffee. "After all, everyone's time is precious tonight. I hope the director of the Capital Judiciary Bureau will not embarrass me, a humble Border City civil servant."
Angelus smacked his lips. He had made a lot of mistakes today. Now the carriage was destroyed, the cargo was almost completely destroyed, and finally the little mouse was still escaping in the city. He had a lot of resources in his hands just to find the little mouse in this city.
The bald chief is right, he doesn't have much time to waste here.
After a few seconds, the room was filled with silence. Angelus stared at the director, while the director drank his coffee comfortably. Then, Angelus let out a long breath.
He compromised.
"Okay, I understand. I won't pursue this matter for now. But on the other hand, please cooperate with me. Dispatch all the management personnel and follow my command. What we lack now is people."
After saying this, Angelus left his seat and walked away. The door of the Administration closed.
Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.
"Erica, you can come out now." said the director.
Erica pushed open the hidden wall behind the locker and walked out.
"Director, did you predict this from the beginning?" she asked.
Erica had told the director about what happened at the old train station during a banquet not long ago. The director immediately told her not to make it public and to hide in a temporary warehouse.
"I'm not that powerful. It's just the sixth sense of an old man." The director put down the teacup in his hand. "Don't participate in tonight's mission. It's too dangerous to contact them rashly."
"I understand." Erica nodded in agreement. "What about Senior An Ming?"
An Ming was also involved in the previous accident, but now he is nowhere to be found.
"I can't do anything about the people who are not here now. I can only wish that brat good luck."
The director's eyes moved slightly downward.
Then he led all the staff of the Administration out of the house. All of them, wearing black raincoats, rushed into the rain, and the sound of their footsteps gradually faded away.
The room returned to silence.
Erica looked at the mess of party flowers on the ground and the various ribbons hanging on the roof, and couldn't help but have some hallucinations. It was as if this was a huge ruins, and the owner of the ruins was no longer there. Ten minutes ago, it was a happy place, but now it was deserted.
Erica felt like she was always being left behind. Her mother left her behind. Her predecessors left her behind. Now the director left her behind too.
At this time, the administration's communication machine rang.
Erica walked over and hesitated for a moment before picking up the phone and headset.
"Hello, is the Director there?"
Erica's heart skipped a beat when she heard a familiar voice on the other end of the headset.
"Is it the senior?"
"It's Erica. Is there anything wrong with you?" An Ming asked in a relaxed tone.
Stupid senior! I was the one who wanted to ask you if anything happened! Erica couldn't help but puff up her cheeks.
"Senior, why did you call me suddenly? Did you know that a big shot from the Judiciary Bureau came to the bureau not long ago to question the director? He was looking for us. Do you know how my heart was beating out of my chest? He must have been someone from that time. He knew about the car we abandoned..."
Erica spoke fluently, but her words were somewhat fragmented.
"Erica, I understand."
But Anming's answer was too calm.
"Senior, you don't know what 'I know' means. Do you know how dangerous this is?"
"Okay, Erica. Calm down. If you keep talking like this, the communication device will reach its limit." An Ming remained calm.
What? I'm the only one here panicking. Erica heard An Ming's calm tone and nonchalant tone, and she couldn't help but feel that she was worried that he was really meddling in other people's business.
"...Senior, what's the matter that you suddenly contacted the bureau about?" Erica asked with a pout.
"Well, nothing much. I just want to take a few days off. I hope you can give a message to the director for me."
Eh?
Erica's heart shuddered.
As far as Erica knew, An Ming had never been off work at the 208th Management Bureau. The director even complained that his work as a temporary worker was more fulfilling than that of a regular employee, and that he was simply a workaholic.
And now the workaholic An Ming actually asked for leave. If there was no major change, then the other party was a fake person.
"Senior, what are you going to do with your leave?"
"Something, maybe something like - traveling?"
"Where are you traveling? Is it safe on the road? Did you bring enough clothes? Is it cold or hot there?" Erica asked questions in rapid succession.
"…Are you my mother? Don't ask, don't worry. This is a trip I planned a long time ago, and I finally had the chance to make it happen."
It turns out they were just going out to play. Ugh, I'm here worrying about him, but he's actually thinking about how to go out to play. Erica couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied.
The transceiver beeped, warning that the call time limit was almost reached.
"Ah, the time is almost up. Erica, remember to tell the director for me," An Ming seemed to be in a hurry to hang up the phone. He paused for a while, "Also, if I don't come back, you can ask the director to help you hide. I think you can trust him."
"Eh?"
What does "if I don't come back" mean?
Erica was frightened by this unexpected remark and did not react for a few seconds.
Just as she was about to ask, the other party hung up the call.
After a long time, Erica detected a strange taste in An Ming's words.
"Senior, you are such a big liar."
She hung up the phone and said with her head down.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
An Ming hung up the call and the fake smile on his face faded.
He thought Erica would be in the bureau, but he didn't expect her to answer the phone. It seemed that the headquarters had already sent out the order, and all the staff of the 208th Bureau might have been dispatched. Leaving Erica alone in the bureau might also be a little care from the director.
"What's wrong? You look so serious." asked the silver-haired girl next to him.
"Nothing much, just dealing with some life matters." An Ming replied.
Not long ago, An Ming brought the suspicious silver-haired girl to a well-preserved safe house.
This was a temporary base set up by the Administration in this city, but it is now abandoned.
After An Ming finished the call, he threw the burnt steam core into the trash can, then took out two compressed cookies from the cupboard and threw one of them to the silver-haired girl.
Xia Linaer caught the compressed biscuit and played with it in her hand for a few seconds, not knowing what to do.
Looking at her eyes which looked like a child discovering something new, An Ming raised an eyebrow.
"This is food. Aren't you hungry?"
After An Ming finished speaking, he took a bite of the biscuit.
But Xia Lina didn't move for a long time, and An Ming couldn't help wondering.
"You're not used to the food here?"
"No, I can eat the food here, but it may not relieve my hunger..." Xia Linaer hesitated to speak.
An Ming realized that the other party seemed to be hiding something, so he quickly swallowed the biscuit and walked up to her.
"If there are any difficulties, just tell us. We will continue to travel together. If we delay because of this matter at the critical moment, it will not be worth it. Is there any disease or eating habit problem?"
Charlene shook her head.
"Because the food is a little different," she breathed a sigh of relief, "Our main food is fresh blood."
Fresh blood?
An Ming was startled. He suddenly remembered the ghosts called "vampires" in urban novels. They came and went without a trace, fed on blood, and were afraid of sunlight, garlic, and the cross of the Church of St. Rosetta.
An Ming wondered if this young lady had read too many weird novels, but then he remembered that Xia Linaer had appeared in that field just to catch the buffalo.
Who would catch a cow for food? But if you think about it the other way around, if you don't catch a cow, you won't be able to collect enough food? She doesn't want to eat beef, but to drink cow blood.
"Are you a vampire?" An Ming asked.
Suddenly, Xia Linnaer's eyes became sharp.
"Warning, do not call the 'bloods' by that name. It is a derogatory term to them."
I didn't expect to step on a landmine in just a few steps.
"Okay, then Miss Bloodline, you look very similar to the image of a vampire in a book I read. Do you know why?"
"It's probably what the descendants of 'Godless' said. They slandered us by calling us 'bats' or 'blood-sucking worms'. In fact, we are 'Children of Dragons', and we don't like sunlight because of the 'Curse of the Night'. The reason we suck blood is because blood contains the richest 'concept of life' and has a high nutritional supplement efficiency."
There were too many technical terms in it, so An Ming didn't quite understand them. But he roughly understood that this was a certain force slandering the "bloodline" race.
But how did this slanderous statement spread within the jurisdiction of the Rosetta Church? Forget it, this matter is not important. An Ming immediately decided to put this matter behind him.
"So what you need now is fresh blood?"
Xia Linnaer nodded.
Although he knew what she ate, An Ming was in a dilemma.
My dear aunt, where can I find fresh blood for you now? There are a bunch of people outside, looking for you eagerly, and all the shops are closed. And even if they are not closed, they will not sell fresh blood.
Do I have to rob a hospital first?
Soon, An Ming thought of a way. However, even if he was willing to accept this method, he didn't know whether the other party was willing or not.
An Ming took a step closer and asked.
"I can give you blood, would you like to try it?"
After hearing this, Xia Linaer's little face froze for a moment.