Chapter 59 – The Search

“My name is Ge Wenjun. Just call me Captain Ge.”

The middle-aged man coughed and asked Lu Yuan, “What brings you here so early in the morning?”

“Yes.”

Lu Yuan nodded. “I want to ask Captain Ge about something.”

“Well, I have something to discuss with you too.”

Ge Wenjun nodded and said, “Come with me. We’ll talk in my office.”

Lu Yuan followed Ge Wenjun to the second floor and sat down in an office next to the staircase.

Ge Wenjun politely invited Lu Yuan to sit and poured him a glass of water.

“So, what do you want to ask about this early in the morning?”

Lu Yuan put down the disposable paper cup in his hand and said seriously, “I want to see the case files for last month’s kidnapping case.”

“Pfft—”

Ge Wenjun, who was holding a thermos, spit out a mouthful of water upon hearing this, both amused and exasperated.

“Have you been watching too many novels and TV dramas? Do you think anyone can just look at case files? But since you’re involved, I can tell you some unimportant details.”

“Oh.”

Lu Yuan scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

In reality, this was the effect he wanted.

If he had directly said he wanted some information, knowing Ge Wenjun’s character, he would probably have been vague and evasive.

But now, he was being straightforward.

“What do you want to know?”

“The gang behind the kidnapping, who are they?”

Ge Wenjun gently put down his thermos, thought for a moment, and said, “Just a bunch of hooligans. Their leader is that Old Hei you pinned to the car, breaking seven or eight of his ribs. He’s trained in martial arts and did underground boxing for a few years. This group originally hung around the west district, managing venues and collecting protection fees. Then, for some reason, they started doing kidnappings.”

“Will they have a chance to get out?”

Lu Yuan asked.

Ge Wenjun glanced at him and smiled, “Afraid of retaliation?

Don’t worry, they won’t get the chance in this lifetime.”

“Death penalty?!”

Lu Yuan blinked. “Or life imprisonment?”

Ge Wenjun didn’t reply, just shook his head.

It was clear that this detail couldn’t be disclosed to him.

Lu Yuan felt a spark of excitement. Ordinary kidnapping charges wouldn’t merit such a heavy sentence. This confirmed his suspicion that these people were definitely connected to the Ratman who attacked him.

“Besides the girl I rescued last time, did they kidnap anyone else?”

Lu Yuan asked again.

Ge Wenjun nodded, “Yes, they kidnapped quite a few people.”

“Were they all rescued?”

Ge Wenjun took a sip of tea without answering directly. Instead, he changed the subject.

“I was just about to mention this. The family of the girl you saved is very grateful. I gave them your information. Hope you don’t mind.”

Lu Yuan was taken aback, then shook his head, “It’s fine.”

“That family is pretty well-off. But with your sense of justice, I doubt you care about that. By the way, do you want the silk banner? I can have it made in the next couple of days. You can keep it as a memento.”

“Captain Ge.”

Lu Yuan realized Ge Wenjun was deliberately changing the topic and, with a hint of resignation, said, “Just one last question.”

“Go ahead.”

Ge Wenjun smiled at him.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and then asked seriously, “I want to know, which cult are Old Hei and his gang members a part of?”

10:28 AM.

Jiaoyan Library.

A young man walked in briskly.

He was wearing a black-and-white sports jacket, tall, with slightly long hair that gave his features a more defined and handsome look.

His physique suggested he was a physical education student, but his overly fair skin contradicted that impression.

Lu Yuan walked straight to the book search terminal in the hall.

He opened the book search page on the terminal’s screen but was at a loss on where to start.

After pondering for a while, he typed the character “Fan” .

“Related search results: 1,634,676 entries.”

Lu Yuan’s face remained expressionless as he typed “Fan sect.”

The screen flickered.

“Related search results: 162,117 entries.”

Lu Yuan then took out his mobile phone and repeated the same search.

There were over a billion related results.

“Damn it!”

This time, Lu Yuan couldn’t hold back his frustration and cursed under his breath, mentally cursing Ge Wenjun dozens of times over.

He had spent the entire morning calling him “Captain Ge,” yet Ge Wenjun was still the same, always speaking in riddles and never fully answering his questions.

It seemed like he had given him some information, but in the end, it was as if he had told him nothing at all.

“If you hang around Ge Wenjun long enough, will you unlock the [Riddler] profession?”

Lu Yuan thought bitterly.

He had asked Ge Wenjun which cult the gang connected to the Ratman belonged to.

Ge Wenjun had said, “It seems to be called Fan something.”

But what exactly was it called?

With such a vague clue, finding anything was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“No choice, even if it’s a needle in a haystack, I have to try.”

The origin of the Ratman was crucial for Lu Yuan to gain a deeper understanding of this world.

His curiosity wasn’t just superficial.

As the saying goes, “The gears of fate have started to turn.”

Extraordinary, the word held so many possibilities for someone like Lu Yuan, who possessed a professional panel.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Yuan thought for a moment and added keywords like “Ancient,” “Rat,” “Cult,” “Evil Deity,” “Ancient Deity,” and “Rat Deity” after “Fan sect.”

But this time, the search results were “0.”

Lu Yuan had no choice but to carefully remove the less relevant keywords and try again.

Time passed unnoticed as he continued his search.

“Hurry up, will you?”

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard someone softly urging him.

Lu Yuan looked away from the search screen and turned to see a slim girl with fair skin and glasses.

“I’m the librarian. You’ve been using the terminal for a long time, and there are people waiting. Could you please hurry up a bit?”

The girl said softly.

Lu Yuan turned around and indeed saw three or four people waiting behind him, all looking somewhat impatient.

Lu Yuan didn’t move, just glanced to the side and calmly said, “Why not use the other machines?”

“Those machines are all undergoing system upgrades today; they’ll be upgrading until the afternoon. The one you’re using is the only functional one on this floor right now.”

The girl explained.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment, “Give me another five minutes.”

His screen now displayed only five refined keywords, yielding over ten thousand results.

He had gone through most of them; five more minutes should be enough to scan through the remaining few thousand entries.

“Alright, I’ll ask them to wait a bit longer.”

The girl nodded and then softly went back to explain and soothe the others one by one.

Lu Yuan didn’t waste any time.

In just four and a half minutes, he finished scanning the remaining search results.

He then vacated the book search terminal and sat down on a nearby sofa.

Closing his eyes, Lu Yuan leveraged his memory to mentally review the book titles he had hastily noted.

Even with his nearly photographic memory, this process was still quite taxing.

He could clearly feel some parts of his memory fading quickly under such intense mental effort.

“Next time I get attribute points, I should prioritize adding to intelligence points.”

Lu Yuan thought to himself.

He was gradually realizing the benefits of higher intelligence.

Besides being useful in everyday situations, it also helped him in martial arts.

Higher combat morale, more intense focus, stronger learning abilities, and a higher chance of triggering the [A Moment of Inspiration] passive skill.

“If my intelligence points were 12 or 13, the crane cry punch I landed on the Ratman yesterday might have successfully unlocked a skill on my professional panel.”

Lu Yuan pondered.