The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 17 - 16 District 13 Police Station
Chapter 17: Chapter 16 District 13 Police StationThe Main Brain, like the heavenly dao of Lonely City, was omnipresent, unfeeling, and insensible.

Because of the first magic show ”Past Life and Present Life,” Jiang Shu had also looked into Li Yuntang. The City Lord’s line didn’t have much real power, being simply the guardians of the Main Brain due to some historical reasons. The symbolic status of the City Lord was quite stable.

”Keep talking about the Fox’s business,” Jiang Shu realized the conversation had strayed off-topic.

”Oh, oh.” Wolf caught on as well, ”This morning at eight o’clock, the transport vehicle arrived in Thirteen District. While passing through E area of Thirteen District, it was ambushed. Someone used a grenade launcher to fire smoke bombs at the convoy, and the scene became chaotic.”

”And then?”

”Someone discovered a bomb on-site, and the police retreated quickly. Three minutes later, a violent explosion occurred at the scene, and Fox... was reduced to ashes.”

”That’s strange,” Jiang Shu furrowed his brows, ”Where were the police officers on the transport vehicle at that time?”

”The Fox was the best Hypnotist so we didn’t use human officers; rather, we used robots set with programmed routes for the transport. The explosion was from a Hot-Melt Bomb. Where the transport vehicle was located, there was nothing left but a big pit; even the robots were completely melted, leaving no video evidence behind.”

Wolf explained, starting to reveal the peculiarities of the case, ”But the Hot-Melt Bomb consists of two parts, one being high-pressure gas, the other being the detonator. Even the high-end compressed Hot-Melt Bombs are enormous in size.”

”You mean to say...” Jiang Shu understood.

”It’s not easy to transport,” Wolf pointed out, ”There’s only one possibility for this bomb—that it was placed on the transport vehicle beforehand. But if it was on the vehicle, our officers would have surely noticed.”

”Now, the general consensus within the police department is that there’s something wrong with the officers guarding the transport vehicle. Thirteen Police Station is also blaming us at the Seventh Police Station for a serious lapse in our work,” he said helplessly, ”When something goes wrong, someone has to take responsibility, and the person who should be responsible is the regular driver of this transport vehicle. But I know him—he would never betray the police, and he’s diligent and committed to his work; it’s unlikely he’d make such a serious mistake.”

”Did anyone ask him?” inquired Jiang Shu.

Wolf nodded, ”He insists that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. He even said that he checked it three or four times, and right before departure, he checked again in front of everyone.”

”And still, nothing was found?”

”When he was checking, not many were paying attention to his actions, but according to what others have said, the driver didn’t seem to be under hypnosis,” Wolf said, frustrated, concluding, ”The Hot-Melt Bomb is really huge; I can’t imagine such a thing being on the vehicle and not being noticed.”

”So you suspect there is a problem somewhere else,” Jiang Shu finally grasped the full picture through Wolf’s not so concise summary.

A vehicle that shouldn’t have had a bomb blew up in Thirteen District, the entire vehicle dissolving.

Even more puzzling was why someone would want to kill the Fox at this time point? One couldn’t fathom any motive.

The only potential motives were twofold.

Either the Huang Kong Group was dissatisfied with the verdict and insisted on killing the Fox, but anyone with a brain would know that was unnecessary; or the Fox knew something, and the Deception Group wanted to silence him, but that should’ve happened before the interrogation, what’s there to kill if he was to be sent to prison? Any secrets would have already been leaked.

Motive, motive was the most peculiar part.

”Mm, I too find the whole affair very odd; I can’t understand why anyone would want to kill the Fox,” Wolf also harbored doubts about the motive.

”Wait a minute, where are you taking me?” Jiang Shu finally realized this road did not lead to the police station.

”The police station,” Wolf answered earnestly, then suddenly snickered, ”Don’t worry, we’ll be there in half a day.”

”Oh,” Jiang Shu didn’t have much of an idea about the layout of Lonely City, and he wasn’t sure exactly where Thirteen District was in relation to his Seventh District.

Lonely City was vast, so vast that it shouldn’t be referred to as a city, but rather a nation. Otherwise, a mere city wouldn’t have the need for airplanes.

About thirteen districts, and each district has its own subdistricts distinguished by letters, within which, there are even smaller areas named with a combination of letters and numbers, similar to the province-city-county system.

So Jiang Shu’s home should be in the A1 area of District A in the Seventh District of Lonely City, but he had also secretly mocked this before—what’s with all the areas, aren’t there other suffixes available?

”But, those four in the back, are they your electronic pets?” Wolf glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car. He had been noticing these four things with screens and limbs in the backseat for a while but hadn’t had the chance to ask.

Electronic pets referred to things like the Xiao Ba Xiao Wu types. They were not unique to Sister Ruo, just a little niche.

”Yes.” Jiang Shu nodded, then leaned over to the back to put a stop to the four Tablet Spirits’ prying curiosity.

”Your taste...” Wolf couldn’t think of a good adjective and could only say, ”is quite magical.”

——

Jiang Shu wanted to ask a question: When normal people say ’half a day,’ does it mean six hours, which is half of the daylight hours?

Why did Wolf say ’half a day,’ and then they ended up driving for a whole twelve hours before reaching the destination!? If it hadn’t been for service areas along the road, Jiang Shu felt he could have starved!

At eight in the evening, the two finally arrived at the Thirteen Police Station of Lonely City. The moment they stepped into the station, Jiang Shu felt that something was off in the atmosphere.

It was as if the people around them harbored hostility towards him and Wolf? Amidst the hostility, there was also a mix of mockery and schadenfreude.

”What’s this?” Jiang Shu tugged at Wolf’s sleeve.

”Thirteen District is adjacent to the Seventh District, but the public order here has always been poor, often requiring support from the Seventh District. This back and forth has led to some minor conflicts,” Wolf explained softly, not elaborating, but his meaning was clear.

Great, so I’m just the neighbor’s kid.

”Wolf, Police Chief? You’re here too?” A man around thirty years old came from inside to greet them with a beaming smile, ”What an honor.”

”Just here to see if there might be any way I can help,” Wolf responded with a smile as well.

Jiang Shu watched from the side, mentally taking a step back; he hadn’t expected Wolf to actively throw shade.

”That’s not necessary,” said the man with a chuckle. ”Recently, we have only one big case: The Fox died because of your Seventh Police Station’s negligence. According to Lonely City Police Station regulations, whatever happens, it’s under the jurisdiction of the station where it occurred. By coming here, aren’t you overstepping your bounds?”

”No choice, you lack experience,” Wolf shook his head, his face full of regret. ”We suspect this case is related to the Deception Group, and you don’t have the experience to handle them.”

”On the contrary, it was us who caught the Fox, but he disappeared as soon as he got to your place,” he said sharply. ”And since it concerns the integrity of our station’s officers, I decided to come in person.”

”Heh, suit yourself,” the man didn’t oppose, but upon seeing Jiang Shu beside Wolf, he extended his hand, ”I am Tang Hexun. You look rather unfamiliar, young man. Are you a new officer from the Seventh Police Station?”

”Jiang Shu,” Jiang Shu introduced himself. ”Not exactly an official officer, just a consultant assisting with cases.”

”Consultant?” Tang Hexun was taken aback, having a vague impression that such a role only existed within police station regulations to invite outsiders to assist with cases, but there were hardly any precedents, so he asked again, ”Then what do you do?”

”Magician,” Jiang Shu responded, noting Tang Hexun’s confused expression and added, ”Entertainment Series.”

”Entertainment Series? Pfft—” Sneering laughter came from a blond-haired man beside Tang Hexun, who was filled with disdain, ”Since when could Entertainment Series get involved in police work? What, does the Seventh Police Station also have a cultural department?”

”Gary, shut up,” Tang Hexun scolded the blond-haired man, then smiled at Jiang Shu, ”Sorry, he doesn’t think before he speaks.”

”No problem,” Jiang Shu replied with a similar smile. ”Prejudice against one’s occupation is a flaw in one’s educational level. It’s not his fault.”