Chapter 1398: A Military Situation
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
There was a specialized training center down on the subterranean seventh floor of the Special Bureau. With Xia Fan included, the bureau had a total of six special ability users, but there were only five people using the training center.
For some unknown reason, Chief Jerry, nicknamed Candy Dad, had never once done any training. He was a big fan of high calorie sweets, and his body reflected that. He was not even 1.7 meters tall, yet he weighed well over 300 kilograms. He was like a mountain of meat and fat when he walked, completely not looking the part of an elite special ability user.
After completing his training regimen in the center, the curious Xia Fan posed a question to Cheyenne. After hearing his question, the woman could not help but laugh, “Aren’t you pretty smart? To think you’d be stumped over such an issue. If Dad wasn’t capable, how could he become the chief? The Special Bureau isn’t a place that would keep anyone who contributes nothing.”
Everyone in the bureau affectionately referred to Chief Jerry as Dad. The rotund elderly man had a very kind personality. Every day, he would be holding onto a bag of snacks, walking about the bureau. Other people would shake someone’s hand the moment they met, but Jerry would first hand over some sweets without a word, almost like he was afraid that the people of his branch would end up hungry.
Xia Fan shrugged, using a towel to wipe his sweat as he said, “I studied some medicine, and the state of Dad’s body is clearly problematic. His organs are surely clogged up with fat. Just looking at him panting from just going up the stairs, I worry that excess fat has already begun to press against his heart, and might lead to him having problems keeping his brain properly oxygenated.”
!!
Cheyenne waved her hand dismissively. “You don’t understand.Dad hasn’t even reached his peak state yet. He’s someone who is more powerful the fatter he gets. I remember when I first arrived in the bureau, and Dad weighed close to 500 kilograms. Right now he still needs to work hard in order to get back to that weight.”
Xia Fan stuck his tongue out. He simply could not imagine that someone who was not even 1.7 meters tall could actually reach a weight of 500 kilograms? Was that not far too ridiculous?
Meanwhile, Dad never exercised or trained himself. His entire body was just fat, which was extremely unhealthy.
Cheyenne took two bottles of electrolyte water from the fridge, handing one over to Xia Fan. The Secret Bureau had very good benefits for its members, and the drinks and energy bars that replenished energy were all free for their employees.
“You’re such a freak, that mind of yours not once taking a break from morning till night, always mulling over some problem. Aren’t you tired?
“Dad likes you a lot right now. It’s only been three months since you joined the bureau, yet you’ve already cracked sixteen cold cases that had accumulated over the years, maintaining a 100% case resolution rate. Adding on your unique identity, forget the Brenia branch, you’ve even made quite a name for yourself with the headquarters,” Cheyenne said as she gulped down her bottle of water.
Xia Fan’s work had really been doing well lately. By relying on his amazing Scent special ability, as well as the myriad of strange skills and techniques that the scoundrels had imparted to him, Xia Fan managed to repeatedly crack plenty of cases that had been gathering dust, earning himself some prestige and a large amount of reward money.
The one happiest with this was Rodun. The butler that Rotenkai had left for Xia Fan was in charge of making sure Xia Fan’s daily living was as exquisite as possible. Though he was quite expensive, Xia Fan was experiencing a visibly improved quality of living, courtesy of the butler.
Cheyenne would enjoy a sumptuous meal every day at Xia Fan’s, claiming that if there ever came a day when she could not eat Rodun’s food, she would have no idea how she would carry on living.
Rodun really liked Cheyenne, as well. Whenever she came over, he would always conjure up unimaginable delicacies, causing Cheyenne to recently gain some weight. Now she was working even harder training every day, all so she could eat even more of the food Rodun had prepared, revealing her nature of being a foodie.
Xia Fan laughed, “They are just some local cases, nothing worth celebrating over. The duty of the Special Bureau is to apprehend special ability criminals. I’m merely helping the local police a little bit right now, when what I really wish to do is some real work.”
Cheyenne suddenly became stern as she said to Xia Fan, “I would advise you to refrain from thinking like that. It is best if the Special Bureau has no work, because whenever the Special Bureau is mobilized for anything, it will always be a major case!”
Just as Cheyenne finished saying that, the wrist communicators for both Xia Fan and her suddenly rang at the same time. She glanced down at the display before wrinkling her forehead and said reproachfully, “You and your big mouth; speak of the devil! We’ve got a red mobilization. I’m afraid we’ve encountered some major trouble.”
…
The hovercar landed on a villa by the beach in a whirlwind of air.
The local police had already set up a police cordon. Xia Fan counted between seventy and eighty police cars squeezed into the area, and there were even police boats patrolling the coast, which showed just how important they viewed this case.
Getting out of the car, Xia Fan looked around and noticed that the villa was only about thirty meters away from a beautiful and white sandy beach with a picturesque view. There was a lone door to the backyard where someone would be able to walk directly to the beach. The villa was three floors, covering an area of 1500 square meters. Marble was used everywhere in its construction, which must have cost an astronomical amount. Indubitably, the person who could live in a place like this was not only rich, but also led a very leisurely life.
…
“Union Special Bureau. Send the one in charge over.” Cheyenne flashed her badge, promptly. The local police tensed up, flashing smiles toward Cheyenne and Xia Fan as they acted humbly in front of the pair.
The police quickly found the local sheriff, who was a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion. He hurried on over the moment he got word of the investigators’ arrival.
“What’s the situation?” Cheyenne asked immediately. Her attitude was slightly condescending, but given that the Special Bureau was the organization that wielded the greatest authority in the Union, it was completely expected for her to act like that.
“According to the registry, this place belongs to a retired special ability user named Wu Jie. He and his wife, as well as two two granddaughters and one grandson, lived here. They were all found dead in the living room,” the police sheriff reported as he wiped sweat from his head. The expression on his face was anxious, which Xia Fan deduced was not because he had run all the way here, but more the scene of the crime had been particularly gruesome, resulting in him being so unsettled.
“Why are there children here?” Cheyenne asked, her brow furrowed. It seemed she was more concerned over the children’s deaths.
“Wu Jie’s children work in the military, and are usually very busy, which was why they sent their children over to the elderly couple to take care of them. They would come here every half a year during the long holidays. Wu Jie was also someone who had worked for the military before his retirement. This is information we learned from the maid that the family hired, who was also the one who discovered their bodies,” the sheriff answered.
“Military?” The furrows on Cheyenne’s brow deepened further as she said to Xia Fan, “In the Union, any problem involving the military will get very troublesome…”
Xia Fan nodded with understanding. After all, military affairs were completely different from civilian matters. It was very likely that the moment the military learned that an ex-employee of theirs had been killed, they would intervene as soon as possible, bringing a lot of pressure to the work that the Special Bureau would attempt to undertake.
Cheyenne said loudly, “Continue to keep the scene of crime on lockdown. Send your men to conduct door-to-door interviews with those living around, try and find if there’s any eye-witness clues. From here on out, the Special Bureau will be taking the lead on this case.”
The sallow-faced sheriff nodded repeatedly, “We’ve already begun knocking on doors, interviewing the residents around, and the visitors of the beach. Everything is underway.
“However, before the two of you arrived, some people from the military had already taken over the scene, and sent our men away from inside.”
“So soon?!” Cheyenne was stunned. “Which department are they from? Are they the Military Intelligence Bureau, or the Military Administration Bureau?”
The sheriff shrank his neck back and said helplessly, “That I do not know. They just flashed their identification and everyone had no choice but to obediently evacuate from the place.”
Cheyenne sighed, “Forget it. Continue with your business.”
The sheriff nodded and turned to leave, instructing his men to begin a large-scale inspection. Cheyenne and Xia Fan made their way straight to the door to the villa and knocked. Inside, a gruff voice responded, “Who is it? Didn’t I ask you lot to withdraw as far away from this place as possible?”
Cheyenne chuckled coldly and flashed her identification card. “Union Special Bureau!”
After some time, the door was reluctantly opened. Xia Fan saw a tall and powerfully-built man dressed in black, with a top heavy build and straight back. Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a military man. There was a visible protrusion on his waist, most likely the sidearm he carried.
Before he could even speak, Cheyenne immediately barged into the villa before the man guarding the door could stop her.
Entering the living room, Xia Fan could immediately tell that something was off. There were ceiling-to-floor glass doors at both sides of the living room, but at present, the curtains were all drawn and only a dim light was visible.
Even if the military needed to investigate the scene, they would need more light in the place in order to be more thorough with their examination, so why did they have all the curtains drawn? Or was that done by the culprit? Was the military just maintaining the scene of the crime, which was why the curtains were untouched?
Xia Fan sniffed, and his expression changed slightly.
Xia Fan could smell the faint odor of disinfectant, not like the household disinfectant that Rodun used for cleaning purposes. This was a far more specialized disinfectant that was far stronger, strong enough that Xia Fan’s Scent special ability could no longer catch a whiff of anything.
In addition to the corpses in the room, there were four other military men similarly dressed in black. Xia Fan could see a huge black leather briefcase was set aside in the corner of the room, the insignia of the Military Intelligence Bureau imprinted on it. The scent of the disinfectant also happened to come from that direction.
It turned out that the military were not trying to protect the scene of crime, but to ruin it!
At the same time, Xia Fan could smell a different odor permeating every corner of the room. The difference was that the scent had been masked by the disinfectant, so it took some time for Xia Fan to discover the second smell.
It was benzene. This was something that was harmless to humans, but absolutely lethal to mice and insects. Xia Fan dared to wager that there would not be a single mouse or insect alive within these four walls right now.
As such, the Beast Control Technique and olfactory senses that Xia Fan was so proud of would be of no use here!
‘Could they have done this on purpose?’ The thought appeared very quickly in Xia Fan’s mind.
A military man with triangular eyes suddenly nodded, and his men pulled the curtains open. Bright light flooded the room, so Cheyenne and Xia Fan could clearly see the corpses lying on the carpet in the center of the living room.
There were five bodies, each of them with their backs facing up and their faces on the carpet. The carpet was dyed red from the amount of fresh blood it had absorbed; from where the blood had flowed, Xia Fan could tell that the wound had originated from their necks.
It was around this time that Cheyenne spotted that case in the corner, and frowned as she asked that man with triangular eyes, “Are you all from the Military Intelligence Bureau?”
“That’s right,” he replied.
The full name of the Military Intelligence Bureau was the Union Military Intelligence Management Bureau; it was an intelligence organization within the military, with very high clearance and authority.
Cheyenne lifted her eyebrow, “So you mean to say that you’re the ones taking over this case?”
That man with triangular eyes chuckled, “Every case that involves special ability criminals belongs to the Special Bureau. Besides, while Wu Jie was once part of the military, he has already retired.
“That is why of course the Special Bureau will be taking the case. It is just that because this involved ex-military personnel, and we had the right to know, which was why we’ve come over to aid with the investigation.”
Cheyenne rolled her eyes, “It’s good that you know.”
Cheyenne turned to Xia Fan, “Don’t just stand around. Go and investigate the crime scene immediately, and tell me what you’ve discovered.”
Cheyenne had absolute confidence with XIa Fan and his 100% case closure rate. She believed that as long as Xia Fan was here, there was no such thing as a case that could not be solved. That was why her tone was filled with confidence, though it was too bad that she had no idea that Xia Fan’s two greatest tools had already been sabotaged.
Xia Fan frowned and was about to inspect the corpses when the gaze of that man with triangular eyes dimmed, “I think it’s best if you wait a bit.”
“Wait for?”
“Though this scene is under the jurisdiction of the Special Bureau, you’re not the only ones from there. Xiao Wang, go get that man down here.” There was a hint of mockery in his words, and Cheyenne immediately glared at him.
Receiving his orders, one of the military personnel went up the second floor, and in no time at all, the footsteps of two people were heard making their way down the stairs.
Soon, the military man returned with a stranger. Pinned on the chest of this stranger was also the badge of the Special Bureau!
