CH 40

"Green Day?" Director Fu asked.

"Impossible." Ai Qing shook her head. "Even if Green Day knows that Huai Shi killed the Red Gloves, he wouldn't bother with a small pawn like that. Those lunatics are always focused on the Astronomical Society, they haven't sunk to that level yet."

"The Savior Society?"

"That's even more unlikely."

Ai Qing shook her head. "He's just a victim. Even if it's revenge, it should be directed towards me. Huai Shi's file is still classified. Currently, only you and I know that he's a Sublimator."

"..."

For a moment, both of them found it difficult to continue their thoughts.

"That guy is really good at causing trouble."

Director Fu sighed unhappily. "Let's just lock him up for six months."

"He's currently a formal employee of the Astronomical Society." Ai Qing looked straight at him. "If you insist on doing that, then we might only see each other again at the border court."

Jinling, the upper-level organization of the Special Affairs Department, was located in the eastern branch of the Social Security Bureau of the Dongxia Republic.

Ai Qing's meaning was clear: if Director Fu insisted on his own opinion, then they might only meet again at the border court.

Director Fu frowned. "Are you really going to work so hard to protect him?"

"He's my subordinate," Ai Qing replied.

"No, he's a 17-year-old high school student. He'll be in his senior year tomorrow and taking the college entrance exam in two years."

Director Fu raised his voice slightly. "If you don't want him to end up at the border one day, then you shouldn't let him get involved in things outside of school."

"..."

Ai Qing looked at him strangely. "Are you actually concerned about the growth of young people?"

"I just hate it when kids pick up weapons." Director Fu touched the scar on his neck and his expression became even more unhappy. "The more troublesome they are, the more I hate them."

"He won't become the kind of person you imagine."

Director Fu didn't answer, just fell silent and once again recalled the pupils of the boy in the video.

It was as if he had finally been provoked. In the moment he clenched his fist, the disguise was blown away like mist in a storm.

The unpleasant shallow smile finally disappeared, replaced by a rock-solid coldness and gloominess.

Such arrogance that destroyed everything...

It was like treating death as insignificant dust.

That kind of look made Director Fu feel uneasy. No, it should be said that he felt disgusted.

Disgusted with people who had that kind of look.

Even more disgusted with children who had that kind of look.

"Miss Ai, you're trying to put a chain on a wild beast and teach him the rules of a domestic dog, but Huai Shi and that thing are not the same."

He furrowed his brow. "He's just mixed in with a pack of stray dogs. Even if he looks like a husky, his nature is like that of a primitive wolf. Once he tastes blood, no chain can hold him back."

Ai Qing calmly drank the cheap tea in the office and put down her teacup, unfazed.

"If you're so afraid, why not just kill him?"

"Do you think I haven't thought about it?" Director Fu retorted. "On the night the Red Gloves died, when I first saw him in the rain, I had that impulse. I can't accept having such a potential lunatic in my jurisdiction.""But what can I do? I am already 46 years old and a parent. Should I kill him because he might commit a crime in the future?"

"Miss Ai, he is only 17 years old and the law protects minors. He still has a chance to choose his own future... a future that won't harm most people."

"Isn't that like being a house dog?"

Ai Qing asked coldly, "Should we just cover our ears and pretend we didn't hear anything? Cover our eyes and endure the pain until it becomes a habit? Submit to being trampled on and wait for a reward like wagging our tails? Do you think a life like that is happy?"

Director Fu was angered, "He still has more choices!"

"He doesn't."

Ai Qing said, "His name is Huai, just like how I am not surnamed Ai. No matter how much he struggles, he cannot change what happened in the past, just like how you and I cannot decide someone's future."

"This is destiny."

Director Fu asked coldly, "How do you think he will see you once he knows the truth?"

"Who cares? I won't be surprised no matter what choice he makes."

Ai Qing looked at him calmly and said, "But before that happens, I won't allow anyone to harm him."

"What are you doing then?" Director Fu chuckled, "Redeeming yourself?"

Ai Qing's face was expressionless, "Just hoping someone will come to hold me accountable."

In the meantime, Huai Shi was enjoying his meal in the interrogation room.

After finishing someone's late-night snack, he wiped his mouth and called out, "Another bowl!"

The special agents sitting there didn't say anything and just watched him with pity in their eyes.

Until Huai Shi turned around and saw Ai Qing behind him.

"Uh..."

"Don't make others think I haven't paid you your salary, okay?"

"Uh, sorry."

"Sorry for what? Because I ate too much?" Ai Qing shook her head, "The Astronomy Association has specialized drugs for the development period of Sublimators. Do you need me to help you buy them?"

"Uh..." Huai Shi didn't know how to explain Crow's situation and could only scratch his head, "I already bought them."

"Is it from that guy Liu Dongli?"

Ai Qing raised her eyebrows, seeming unhappy, "Stay away from the detective. He's not an easy person to deal with."

"Okay."

Huai Shi complied without hesitation.

After the monitoring agents left, Ai Qing asked, "What happened today?"

"Sorry, I caused trouble again."

"Don't apologize for other people's mistakes-"

The young girl rubbed her forehead impatiently and sighed, "To be honest, I don't care what you turn those social garbage into. As an employee of the Astronomy Association, when faced with an attack, the standard procedure even includes the option of shooting to kill, you know?"

"Don't underestimate the privileges of the Astronomy Association. Even if you pull out a gun and kill them all, there won't be any problems in the procedure. At most, you'll just be reprimanded internally after going through the process."

"I'm just curious- what's your reason for doing this?"

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"Huh?" Huai Shi was confused."Normally, you'd run away, wouldn't you?"

She said, "Begging for mercy and running away when you can't fight back... that's not your style."

"..."

Huai Shi had no response. "Do you see me as a cowardly person in your eyes?"

"What do you think?"

"...Okay, I guess that's true." Huai Shi sighed and scratched his head, not knowing what to say. "I guess I got angry and went a bit too far, even turning myself into this."

"Is it related to Lao Yang's funeral?"

"..."

Huai Shi was stunned for a while and smiled awkwardly. "How could it be?"

Ai Qing didn't say anything, just looked at him as if waiting for him to continue. After a long time, Huai Shi finally gave in.

"Well... maybe a little."

He looked down at his wounds and bandages, sighing helplessly.

"I'm scared."

"Even if I say I'm not afraid, when a group of people surround me in an alley with knives and say they want to kill me, I can't help but be scared. I always thought I could be fearless even in the face of death, but when I saw my friend lying in the crematorium, I realized that not only was I afraid, but I was terrified."

Huai Shi sighed. "After years of being a happy-go-lucky person, I can't even be happy anymore. I can't even continue to be happy-go-lucky. But what can I do? I can't even live my own life properly. Even if I'm just walking down the street, someone will come and try to kill me... even if I'm annoying, isn't this going too far?"

"Yeah," Ai Qing nodded, seemingly agreeing, but it was unclear which point she was agreeing with.

Was it being annoying or going too far?

Huai Shi smiled wryly, propped himself up on the table, and the bandages on his body oozed blood again. He was really badly injured this time.

He had developed a bad habit of recklessness from reading records.

Being reckless in records was convenient, but being reckless in reality would result in a heavy price.

Fighting seven against one sounded impressive, but being beaten seven against one, it was unlikely that he wouldn't be injured.

"Should I give you a hand?" Ai Qing suddenly asked, seemingly hinting at something.

Huai Shi smiled and shook his head. "No need, I can manage on my own."

"You have to live your life on your own, right?"

He finally managed to prop himself up and leaned against the wall.

He put on the coat hanging in the corner of the wall. The suit was still as clean as ever, covering up the bloodstains, making him look gentle and harmless again.

"Shall I have the driver take you home?"

"I'll just call a car." Huai Shi shook his phone and raised his eyebrows happily. "I got a taxi voucher on the way here. It's going to expire soon if I don't use it."

Watching him prop himself up against the wall, slightly staggering, Ai Qing fell silent.

"If you don't have a desire beyond the ordinary, there's no reason to become a Sublimator..." She suddenly asked, "Huai Shi, do you regret it?"

"No." Huai Shi grinned and gestured with his hand that everything was okay. "I just haven't adapted to it yet."

He patted his chest and spoke. "This kind of small problem will be solved with time."The boy smiled, nodded goodbye, pushed open the door, and murmured to himself, "Give me a little more time..."

Ai Qing watched him walk downstairs.

She didn't try to comfort or persuade him again, although deciding to face everything alone was too foolish.

She could continue to dig deeper herself and save the day when necessary. Maybe she could even get him to work for the astronomical society for a few more years.

His self-esteem and Ai Qing's career ambition were both satisfied.

Double satisfaction, double happiness.

It was simply perfect.

But in silence, she looked at the page of "The Collection of Ten Thousand Sins," and her eyes became gloomy at the quietly increasing bounty.

Two hundred thousand dollars?

Wasn't that too cheap for a formal employee of the astronomical society?

Rarely, she decided to fulfill her responsibility as a superior.

She closed the page, slid her fingers, and clicked on the complex logo at the top consisting of only triangles and circles - the Metatron Cube.

It was a sales platform established by the three major neutral giants at the border: Tomorrow News, Stone Cauldron Society, and Workshop Alliance, corresponding to the necessary contents for sublimators: news intelligence, border technology, and weapons and tools.

Soon, the page jumped continuously and entered the page of the alchemy workshop - the Calvin Dexter Laboratory - characterized by the combination of high-precision technology and border technology.

Recalling the bounty that Huai Shi had not yet claimed in her account, her mood became unusually happy.

Three million dollars.

Wasn't that enough to buy something good?