Chapter 99: My Dear

Damn it!

Chen Yu stared at the five huge words on his phone screen: “I don’t understand hacking,” and felt his brain turn once again into a lump of paste.

Hell!

Was he really asking for so much, just wanting to look up one person? Why was it so hard?

It seemed that if he wanted to find that mysterious “Wind,” he would have to wait until tomorrow, until the sun came up and that “Joker Girl” persona clocked in for work.

Chen Yu irritably raked a hand through his hair and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

He turned and glanced at the hardbound notebook lying quietly on the desk.

Wind...

This case was nowhere near over.

Chen Yu let out a heavy breath and temporarily forced the tangled mess of thoughts down.

You eat a meal one bite at a time, and you solve a case one by one.

No point rushing.

He tiptoed out of the study, closed the door, and returned to the master bedroom on the first floor.

Only one dim bedside lamp was on in the room, casting a soft yellow glow.

The air was still thick with the unique, intimate fragrance of a mature woman.

Liu Hong was lying on her side on the bed, breathing evenly.

Chen Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

To hell with the case, to hell with Li Qing, to hell with Bubble Girl.

Even if the sky were to collapse, it could wait until he woke up.

He took off his clothes, lifted a corner of the blanket, and slipped under it like a slick eel.

Warm fragrance and soft flesh filled his arms in an instant.

Liu Hong, perhaps sensing the approach of body heat in her sleep, let out a faint, involuntary murmur. Then her soft body pressed closer on its own, and one smooth, long leg naturally hooked over Chen Yu’s waist.

Tch.

What a seductress.

Chen Yu cursed inwardly, but his arm honestly tightened, pulling that supple body even closer against him.

Intoxicating fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose, and his body sank into exquisite softness.

That night, he slept exceptionally soundly.

...

At the same time, the building of the Jiang City Detective Task Force was brightly lit.

The atmosphere was stifling, like the sea before a storm.

In the command room, smoke hung thick in the air, so dense it stung the eyes.

Yan Zheng’s face was dark to the extreme.

The ashtray in front of him was already full of cigarette butts.

This iron man had gone another night without sleep.

A young investigator stood before his desk, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly as he reported the latest news.

“Captain Yan... the eighth person on the death list, Zeng Chen, is missing.”

The hand holding Yan Zheng’s cigarette suddenly stiffened.

Ash fell in pale gray flakes onto his trousers.

He seemed either not to have heard clearly, or not to believe it. Slowly lifting his head, he asked hoarsely, “What did you say?”

“He’s missing...” The young investigator swallowed with difficulty. “Our people lost him.”

Ever since the tenth name on the rankings, Fat Cat, had been poisoned to death during a livestream three days earlier, the entire Jiang City police force had gone on the highest level of alert.

Yan Zheng had personally ordered round-the-clock covert protection for the remaining people on the death list.

The ninth name, Zhang Luoluo, had obviously already been removed from the list.

And the next person to be killed by the mysterious man was supposed to be Zeng Chen, the secretary to Dong Zhan, CEO of Xiangdong Group, who ranked eighth.

“What happened?!” Yan Zheng slammed a hand onto the desk and shot to his feet, the veins at his temple throbbing wildly. “Didn’t I assign two teams, one visible and one covert, to protect him at all times? Where were they?”

“Zeng Chen... he had too many social engagements...” The young investigator’s voice grew quieter and quieter.

“He was either at a hotel entertaining clients or negotiating business at a private club. He was always in high-end places, and it was hard for our people to get too close.”

“Last night, while Chen Yu was livestreaming the interrogation of Liu Gang at the television station, Zeng Chen said he was going to meet an important group of guests at a secluded private club, and he shook off our visible surveillance.”

“The covert team immediately followed, but... but...”

“But what? Speak!” Yan Zheng roared.

“After Zeng Chen came out of the club, his car... went crazy and tore through the city at high speed! Our vehicle simply couldn’t keep up!”

“The covert team could only call for backup. We also sent the investigators originally stationed at his home to join the pursuit and intercept him.”

“But his driving was too good, like a professional racer. He knew every side street in Jiang City inside and out.”

“He almost led our people on a full circuit around the entire city, and in the end...”

The young investigator paused, a puzzled look spreading across his face.

“In the end, he drove straight into the river that rings the city!”

“What?!” Yan Zheng’s pupils contracted sharply.

“We... our people immediately went in to search and rescue, but... the water was too deep and the current too strong. All we recovered was an empty car.”

“The person... vanished without a trace.”

“Alive, he’s not seen; dead, there’s no body.”

The command room fell into a deathly silence.

Only Yan Zheng’s heavy breathing remained.

Slowly, he sank back into his chair and pressed both hands hard against his brow.

At first, he had not paid much attention to Zeng Chen’s protection.

After all, he had been tied up with the cases involving Liu Gang and Luo Xiangdong, and had long since lacked the energy to worry about anything else.

And now this had happened again.

That masked man in black was like an inescapable nightmare, hanging over all of Jiang City.

He was like a god high above, laughing at every deployment and every action the police took.

Could it be... he had succeeded again?

A flash of helplessness crossed Yan Zheng’s eyes.

...

Nine o’clock in the morning.

Brilliant sunlight streamed through the window and spilled across the soft white blanket.

Chen Yu was forcibly dragged awake from a deep sleep by a cold, piercing mechanical voice.

The sound carried not the faintest trace of emotion, exploding directly in the depths of his mind.

Ding! New mission branch detected!

Mission name: The Vanished Secretary!

Mission content: Unravel the mystery of the disappearance of Zeng Chen, the eighth-ranked star investigator on the Detective Rankings!

Mission reward: 500 skill points!

Special notice: Because the host has relied too heavily on the system throughout the case, and to promote the all-around development of the host’s personal abilities, the core skill “Rewind” will be temporarily frozen during this mission!

Damn it!

Rewind... frozen?!

You damned dog system!

So this is how you toss the donkey aside after the millstone is finished!

I busted my ass working for you, and the second I crack a sensational case, you go and seal away my strongest skill?

And you even call it “promoting all-around personal development”?

Promoting your grandmother’s leg!

Chen Yu shot upright from the soft bed, and a nameless fire surged straight to the top of his head.

His eyes bloodshot, he cursed at the empty air.

“Are the people in the detective task force all a bunch of trash!”

They can’t even keep an eye on one living person!

Now look at this: the person’s gone, and the mess gets dumped on my head again!

And you even froze my skill!

How the hell is this supposed to be played?!

“Awake? Time for breakfast, darling!”

Just as Chen Yu was seething and ready to send the system’s ancestors to the eighteenth generation of hell, a voice, soft enough to squeeze water out of it, drifted gently into his ear.

Hm?

Chen Yu’s curses cut off abruptly.

He turned stiffly.

There stood Liu Hong beside the bed, wearing a sexy silk robe, smiling as she held a tray.

The robe’s collar was cut wide open, revealing a vast stretch of snowy skin and a deep, alluring cleft.

Sunlight slipped through the ends of her hair, casting a soft golden rim around her whole body.

Her face held the flushed satisfaction of a woman after passion, and when she looked at Chen Yu, her gaze was full of undisguised infatuation.

“Dar...ling?”

Chen Yu stared at the beautiful woman before him, listened to that syrupy address, and went completely dumb.

So this was already “darling”?

Sister, are you really getting serious?