Chu Bamboo wasn’t surprised. Even without mentioning Li Kang, Lu Muxue’s father alone had enough weight to make the final call in a meeting like that. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"So, was the killer caught?" Chu Bamboo asked.

"No." Li Kang’s expression darkened at the topic. "I even sealed off those streets and conducted a door-to-door search. In the end, we didn’t find any unaccounted-for individuals."

"Right now, there are two possibilities. One is that the killer is a registered resident of those very streets. Once they removed their mask, they simply blended in. The other possibility is that we’ve been looking in the wrong direction from the start."

Chu Bamboo thought for a moment before asking again, "Is there some kind of test that can identify if someone is a Transcendent? I thought the police department had that kind of screening mechanism. The moment I went in..."

"The police station has one, but it’s not portable." Li Kang shook his head. "Of course, even so, it’s not completely impossible to screen people. We could just have every suspicious individual come to the station one by one to be tested, but..."

"There’s not much point in doing that," Ning Linglong interjected. "Those two streets have over three thousand registered residents, and that’s not even counting the transient population. It would be a huge hassle to test them one by one."

"? A hassle?" Chu Bamboo was a bit confused. ’Wouldn’t it just take a few extra days?’

"The subtext of ’a hassle’ is ’impossible’!" Li Kang saw that Chu Bamboo wasn’t familiar with the Captain’s Office’s jargon, so he decided to spell it out. "You need to understand something. We at the Captain’s Office can’t just exercise powers beyond those of regular police, unless it involves an Extraordinary matter—"

"We can go investigate, no problem. But forcing everyone to come in for testing to see if they’re a Transcendent? That’s clearly crossing the line!"

"? But doesn’t this involve an Extraordinary..."

"Where’s the proof?" Li Kang shot back. "It’s not an Extraordinary case just because you say it is. Otherwise, we could use that excuse to interfere in everything, do whatever we want, and arrest anyone we please. All it would take is one sentence: ’I suspect this case is related to an Extraordinary crime’!"

"The simplest way for us to intervene is to wait for the killer to slip up and have their identity as a Transcendent discovered by someone. That, in turn, would make an ordinary person aware of the existence of Extraordinary Power. That would get flagged by the Underground Base, and then we could make our move. Even something as drastic as testing all three thousand people would be justifiable from an official standpoint."

"But what about now? Where’s the proof? Or are you suggesting we use that footage you... manifested... as evidence? Would you dare show that to anyone?"

Chu Bamboo was speechless. "Fine!"

"Besides," Ning Linglong shrugged, "even if the killer is in that crowd, once we start screening, they’ll know something is up. They’ve probably already fled by now!"

"...Some competence you have!" Chu Bamboo couldn’t hold back his frustration. ’If you all knew this, then what was the point of you even going? Just to go through the motions?’

Then, it dawned on Chu Bamboo. This world and the Real World were entirely different beasts. The competence of the administrative and police personnel, as well as their other capabilities, were simply not on the same level.

’He should have realized it sooner. After all, seeing the chaos in the shantytown, which was completely outside official jurisdiction, should have been a clue not to expect too much from them.’

"Alright, let’s drop it!" Chu Bamboo patted his cheeks. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Li Kang abruptly asked, "So, can you give me some explanations?"

Chu Bamboo raised an eyebrow, not at all displeased at being interrupted, and nodded.

"About you and the ’god’..." Li Kang opened his mouth, but he didn’t know where to begin or how to phrase it. Finally, he just said bitterly, "Can this be kept under wraps? If word gets out, the consequences...! And you... what exactly is going on with you?"

The moment he spoke, even the emotionally unstable Guan Fei discreetly perked up his ears. Clearly, his curiosity about the relationship between Chu Bamboo and Nuwa No. 17 had been pushed to its limit.

Ning Linglong was the only one in the group who looked completely lost, her gaze darting between everyone’s faces. ’Wait, what is this feeling? Why am I the only one out of the loop? What have you all been doing behind my back?!’

"Don’t worry, it’s fine. Trust me," Chu Bamboo said calmly. "When have I ever made such an absurd mistake?"

"You haven’t before..." Li Kang muttered, but he couldn’t help but think that with this union incident, Chu Bamboo had pulled a massive stunt—one that was completely beyond his comprehension.

"Actually, if the killer’s goal was really just to incite chaos in the shantytown, then it looks like he’s already succeeded, right?" Chu Bamboo said abruptly, his eyes narrowing. "Tonight, I’m planning on sleeping at my old place. How about you guys come over and see if the killer decides to attack me?"

The reason Chu Bamboo hadn’t interfered with the union was that he wanted to see whether the mastermind was targeting the union itself or him personally—’those are two completely different things!’

’If the target was the union, then the riot has happened and been suppressed. There would be no reason for them to ambush me tonight!’

’But if an attack still happens tonight... well, that would be very interesting indeed!’

"Hold on! Let me think this through." Li Kang’s expression flickered. He thought for a long moment, gradually grasping Chu Bamboo’s intention. After his expression changed several times, he nodded and cautiously uttered a single word: "Okay!"

"Then it’s settled." Chu Bamboo quickly finished the rest of his noodles and pulled a small Silver Coin from his pocket. This was the current Daqian Currency.

The coin in Chu Bamboo’s hand had a face value of ten and was known as a Small Qian Coin. The coin with a face value of one hundred, primarily silver but inlaid with gold threads, was called a Big Qian Coin.

The value of the Qian Coin was actually very stable. Generally, two hundred was enough to feed a family of six in the shantytown for a month. As for why one bowl of noodles cost ten, that was because this noodle shop was located near the wealthy district.

"Wait, um..." Ning Linglong hesitated for a long moment. Only when Chu Bamboo was actually about to leave did she grit her teeth and rush forward. "My dad is treating you to dinner tonight. You haven’t forgotten, have you?"

Their figures gradually receded into the distance...

Li Kang and the others remained.

"This is too strange..." Li Kang said slowly, scanning his surroundings warily. He knew that Guan Fei and Bi Xuan had both seen the huge stunt Chu Bamboo pulled at the Underground Temple Base, so he didn’t mince words. "Today, Ah Zhu... he felt like he was..."

"Like he was possessed?" Guan Fei finished the thought, his expression listless. "But when you talk to him, he doesn’t seem that different!"

"Could it be possible that the ’god’ did something to Uncle Zhu..." Bi Xuan began, but before he could finish, Li Kang reflexively clamped a hand over his mouth. "Quiet!"