On the road to the city, a lone police car sped along.
Zhu Yuan, in the driver's seat, was silent, her face a mask of simmering anger.
Mo Wang, in the back, however, was acting less like a criminal and more like a tourist, chatting and laughing with Qingyi in the passenger seat as if Zhu Yuan wasn't even there.
"Well, well, as expected of the Boss," Qingyi said, handing him a soda. "I've never seen technology like that on a vehicle before. Can you tell me how you managed to fit so many components into that van?"
"Oh, it's simple. Just a little bit of spatial compression technology, and a touch of nanomechanical engineering. Nothing major," he said with a humble shrug.
"Tsk! Nanomechanical and spatial compression technology? You actually installed black-ops tech like that on your personal vehicle. When are you going to hook us up?"
"Oh? Qingyi, you're into street racing too?" he asked, surprised.
"It's not about street racing. I'm just interested in the technology. And as you can see, our car, even with the latest upgrades, is still far behind yours."
"Sure, I'll hook you up when I have the time. And if you don't mind, I can also help you with some... body modifications~ A two- or three-fold increase in power should be no problem."
"Ehh~ that sounds wonderful. But to have the Boss work on my body... I'm a little shy," she said, feigning demureness. "To think of the things you'll do to my body... I think someone is getting jealous."
"Heh~! Don't be shy with me. I'll make sure not to miss a single detail. How about I install a super-premium onahole while I'm at it?"
"Ahem!"
A violent cough came from the driver's seat. Zhu Yuan's face was beet red with a mixture of shame and anger, but she remained silent.
"See? Someone's getting jealous," Qingyi said with a smirk.
"Oh, my dear Officer Zhu Yuan, I'm so glad to see you're still with us," Mo Wang cooed, but she still ignored him. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Qingyi.
"What do you think? She's mad at you, of course. You've had us running around in circles for months."
"Well, this is a problem. When she's mad, she won't talk to anyone for ages. Boss, you have to take responsibility."
"Easy. Watch and learn," he said, and then leaned forward, whispering in Zhu Yuan's ear, his warm breath tickling her earlobe. "Zhu Yuan, my dear little Zhu Yuan, my dearest, dearest Officer Zhu Yuan, don't be mad, okay~"
"You—!"
Zhu Yuan's entire body tensed, and the police car swerved violently, screeching towards the guardrail. She wrestled with the steering wheel, her arms straining, and managed to correct their course just inches from a fiery crash.
"Mo! Wang!" she slammed on the brakes and turned to glare at him, her face flushed with fury. "Are you tired of living?! If you want to die, don't take us with you!" She unhooked the handcuffs from her belt. "Don't think I won't cuff you to the car door and make you run back to the station!"
Mo Wang and Qingyi high-fived. "She broke!" they said in unison.
"You two—" Zhu Yuan's chest heaved with rage. "Senior Qingyi, whose side are you on?!"
"I just thought someone's grumpy driving was a little dangerous and needed to relax," she said with an innocent shrug.
"Not like that!"
Mo Wang's playful expression suddenly vanished. "I'm sorry, I went too far. I just... didn't want to see you so upset."
His voice was low and sincere, a stark contrast to his earlier antics. Zhu Yuan was taken aback, her anger subsiding slightly.
"Do you know why I'm angry?" she asked, restarting the car.
"It can't be because of my illegally modified vehicle, can it?"
"Of course not. It's because you've been hiding this from me for so long."
"Haha, you're right, that was my bad. It won't happen again."
"Who knows what else you're hiding from me, you... you bad man," she muttered.
"By the way, what were you doing with Miyabi Hoshimi?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as if interrogating a cheating boyfriend.
"Uh~ well, I'm affiliated with the HIA, right? It's normal for me to be with her, isn't it?"
"Tell me the truth!"
"Alright, alright. We were preparing to bring Pullman back to the city."
"Pullman?! The Vision wanted man? You have him?!"
"Watch the road! Watch the road!" he yelled, as a large truck came hurtling towards them.
She swerved just in time. "What's going on?"
"Long story short, we got some information from him about the people behind him, so I asked Miyabi for help."
"Then why didn't you inform us? You know we've been looking for him too."
"I didn't want to, but... what would you think if I told you that the person he named was Bringer?"
SCREECH!
Zhu Yuan slammed on the brakes again, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Don't joke about something like that!"
"Do you think I would have gone to all this trouble if it were a joke?"
"Yare yare, so it's Chief Bringer? The candidate for the next Chief Peacekeeper. I never would have thought," Qingyi said, surprisingly calm.
"Senior! How can you be so calm?!"
"It's simple. I've always suspected that Vision had someone high up covering for them. I just never thought it would be him. I suppose they're using this to build up his reputation and push him into the Chief Peacekeeper position."
"How can this be?" Zhu Yuan's mind was in turmoil. Her superior, her colleagues... could they all be criminals?
"And that's not all," Mo Wang added. "The people who were chasing us were a mix of Outskirts mobsters and mercenaries in military gear."
Zhu Yuan's lips tightened.
"I see. So you got in our car to evade Bringer's people, didn't you, Boss?" Qingyi said, putting the pieces together.
"You mean... you intentionally got caught so you could use us to get past the roadblocks?" Zhu Yuan asked.
"Half right," he said with a relaxed smile. "My real goal isn't just to get into the city. I'm going straight to the Peacekeeper station to meet Bringer."
"What?!"
"Boss, are you insane? If what you're saying is true, the entire station is probably crawling with his people!" Qingyi said, looking at him as if he were a madman.
"Mmm-hmm~" he nodded.
"It's too risky! Even if you want to confront him, this is not the way!" Zhu Yuan argued.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. I'm not one to gamble with my life."
"No! Absolutely not!"
"She's right," Qingyi agreed. "Even with the two of us, we can't guarantee your safety."
"Oh? Are my little Zhu Yuan and my little Qingyi worried about me? I'm so touched," he said, and began to ruffle their hair.
"Even if you say that, I won't agree! Does Belle know about this?" Zhu Yuan said, playing her trump card.
"Don't worry, Zhu Yuan. There won't be any problems. If anything, you should be more worried about me tearing down the Peacekeeper station."
He offered no further explanation.
Ten minutes later, the police car started up again and headed towards the city of New Eridu.