Chapter 18 – A Wild Hypothesis
Facing a table laden with delicious delicacies, Xia Xun no longer complained about the misfortune of having to work overtime today.
Shuguang Technology truly lived up to its reputation as a deep-pocketed benefactor. They were incredibly generous!
“Captain Zhao, Miss Xia, please take the seats of honor,” He Mingyuan said very politely.
Zhao Xing waved his hand. “How can guests sit in the primary seats? Commissioner He, please, you take the seat of honor.”
Xia Xun was different from the hypocritical adults; she was quite practical. Her bright, beautiful eyes were fixed squarely on the large prawns on the table.
I must mind my table manners, Xia Xun warned herself. Heads may roll and blood may flow, but the image of a magical beauty girl must never be tarnished.
After taking their seats, He Mingyuan and Zhao Xing shared drinks and pleasantries.
Xia Xun, meanwhile, sipped her juice elegantly. To maintain her image, she couldn’t take huge bites. No problem-she would simply increase her eating speed.
Breaking down one giant gulp per second into one small bite every half-second: this was the Way of Dining Xia Xun had cultivated over a long period to preserve her image.
Adults are so hypocritical… Xia Xun thought to herself. Just a moment ago, the Captain was complaining about everything, trying to dump this bank robbery case on someone else.
But after two drinks with He Mingyuan, it turned into “leave it to me” this and “put your heart at ease” that.
Do adults really disregard their image like this, making promises so casually?
Xia Xun believed that when she grew up, she would definitely never become such a fool.
While Zhao Xing and He Mingyuan drank and shot the breeze, calling each other brothers, Xia Xun only cared about the abalone and lobster on the table.
By the time dinner ended, Xia Xun hadn’t paid any attention to what they had discussed.
She estimated that ninety-nine percent of their chatter was hot air, and the remaining one percent might have been related to the bank robbery case.
Leaving the restaurant, Zhao Xing waved goodbye to his “big brother” He Mingyuan, promising to drink until they both collapsed another day.
Once He Mingyuan had been driven away by a designated driver, Zhao Xing swept away his drunken, listless demeanor. His head didn’t spin, his feet didn’t wobble, and his speech was perfectly clear.
“Xun, that old fox He didn’t reveal a single word about the safe inside the vault. No matter how I tried to fish for info, it was useless. I wasted all that effort acting like his brother.”
Xia Xun was shocked. “Captain, you were actually doing something productive?!”
“Of course,” Zhao Xing said, pursing his lips. “Unlike a certain someone whose entire focus was on the abalone and lobster.”
“And who is this ‘certain someone’ you’re talking about?” Xia Xun asked with a thin, cold smile. The temperature in the air suddenly dropped several degrees.
“I’m talking about myself! I admit my fault, I’ll reflect on it!” Zhao Xing said, terrified of being frozen into an ice sculpture by this “Ice Sprite.”
“Sigh.” Zhao Xing let out a breath and steered the conversation back to the case. “Shuguang Technology doesn’t want us to know what was in the safe, yet they want us to intervene in the investigation.”
“They strongly suspect that among the three robbers, there are Dark Realm Creatures.”
Xia Xun was puzzled. “Why are they so confident?”
“He Mingyuan hinted to me that the three robbers might be from ZERO. That terrorist organization is an old ‘friend’ of our Countermeasures Bureau. Many of its members are Dark Realm Creatures; we all know that.”
Xia Xun nodded. If the three robbers were from ZERO, then the possibility that one or two of them were Dark Realm Creatures was quite high.
“If only he told us what was in the safe. Wouldn’t knowing the robbers’ objective help us solve the case?”
“Xun,” Zhao Xing said earnestly, “there isn’t absolute trust between Shuguang Technology and us. Absolute trust doesn’t exist in this world. Except… I absolutely trust you, Xun.”
“Gross. Rejected,” Xia Xun said succinctly.
“Waaaah… saying that really breaks my heart. You know, an adult’s broken heart isn’t so easily mended.”
“Captain, I could just freeze your broken heart into a solid block. Wouldn’t that fix it?”
“You’re ruthless. To think you manage to play the part of a gentle lady at school.”
“Let’s begin the heart reconstruction surgery right now!”
“I was wrong! My treat next time!”
Zhao Xing surrendered so quickly that Xia Xun didn’t get a chance to draw her “scalpel.”
“Captain, did you get any other useful information from He Mingyuan?” she asked.
“There’s one more thing,” Zhao Xing said. “He suspects that the three robbers are girls around your age.”
“Huh?!” Xia Xun was incredulous. “At their age, instead of studying hard, they’re going on ‘five-finger discount’ sprees at banks?”
Zhao Xing wasn’t surprised. Instead, he let his imagination run wild. “Xun, do you think those three could be students from your school?”
“Captain,” Xia Xun said seriously, “Z City No. 1 Middle School is a school, not a prison. The people who come out of there are students, not criminals.”
Xia Xun loved her school, her classmates, and her teachers. She wouldn’t allow the Captain to make jokes at the expense of Z City No. 1 Middle School.
Zhao Xing scratched his head awkwardly. “I was just talking off the cuff, letting my mind wander. Don’t take it to heart.”
Xia Xun asked, “What’s He Mingyuan’s basis for saying the three robbers are girls my age?”
“He said he’s watched that surveillance footage over a hundred times. Your movements and mannerisms reminded him of those three robbers.”
“So he… suspects I’m one of the robbers?!”
“No, he meant that you and those three robbers share a common trait: youthful vitality. It’s something us lifeless adults just don’t have.”
“That’s it? That’s his entire basis???”
Xia Xun dismissed it immediately, chalking it up to He Mingyuan’s drunken rambling.
“Forget it,” Zhao Xing said, rubbing his face with his hands as if washing it. Having had so many drinks was finally starting to affect him. “Shuguang Technology, the company He Mingyuan represents, isn’t willing to show their hand, and we can’t force them.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see how the play unfolds.”
Xia Xun thought about it for a moment before catching the meaning behind Zhao Xing’s words. “Captain, do you mean that what has happened before will happen again?”
“Exactly. The robbers might strike again, and their target will still be the safe that He Mingyuan and his people moved,” Zhao Xing emphasized. “If the robbers really are from ZERO, there will definitely be a next time.”
“When ZERO acts, they never stop until they achieve their goal.”
Xia Xun had crossed paths with ZERO before. Rather than calling them ‘evil,’ she felt ‘strange’ was a better description.
She didn’t exactly feel disgust toward them; it was more like curiosity.
However, the Captain had repeatedly warned her never to become curious about ZERO. He claimed those eccentric terrorists had plenty of ways to lead a normal person astray.
The more the Captain said that, the more curious Xia Xun became.
Unfortunately, the Countermeasures Bureau had never managed to capture a member of ZERO alive.
Even organizations more terrifying and depraved than ZERO had seen their members fall into the hands of the Countermeasures Bureau, yet not a single member of ZERO had ever been caught.
This only added to the shroud of mystery surrounding ZERO.
Xia Xun couldn’t help but follow the Captain’s wild train of thought. If those three robbers really were students from Z City No. 1 Middle School, wouldn’t that mean three ZERO terrorists had suddenly appeared in her own school?!
That… was certainly a wild theory.
Xia Xun shook her head. Stop overthinking. Don’t bring work matters into your after-hours relaxation!
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