"Old Ch'en, how's the deposition going over there?"
After Jessica and the others finished theirs, the L.G.D. was at its busiest. Hoshiguma pushed open the office door and walked right in.
"Well, well, if it isn't the young Miss Swire...."
On the office sofa, the little blonde tiger, who had been sipping cheap tea like a lady, instantly broke character. She immediately turned her head and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"How many times have I told you, my surname isn't Shi!! You can call me Superintendent Swire, or you can call me Superintendent Beatrix Swire. I'm not from Yan! The first character of my codename isn't my surname!!"
"Alright, young miss with the exceptionally loud voice."
Although Swire had reminded Hoshiguma and Sir Ch'en about her surname countless times, it didn't seem to have much effect. They preferred to call her what they felt comfortable with, not by her actual name.
"...."
"How's the situation over there..."
Sitting in the main chair, Sir Ch'en was in a heavy mood and had no time for pleasantries with Hoshiguma, asking straightforwardly.
"That guy woke up."
Hoshiguma tossed the interrogation transcript onto the desk.
"Tsk tsk tsk... it's pretty bad. Luckily the medics got there in time, otherwise, he would have bled to death. Did you see the surveillance? The methods of those two Blacksteel Worldwide mercenaries are truly ruthless, and their strength is extraordinary. Honestly, either one of them in our Lungmen would be no weaker than you, Old Ch'en. Information on this person is also in the transcript."
"Name: Zhang Fu, thirty years old, a former ordinary citizen from District 8. Average family background, not married. He was an ordinary employee with a monthly salary of 5,000. Later, he seemed to have become obsessed with supporting that little MSR idol, squandering all his savings plus his parents' retirement funds. Tsk tsk... Honestly, I don't get it. What's the use of spending hundreds of thousands on an idol? Do they really think they can marry them?"
Swire raised an eyebrow: "Aren't these little idols just used by small-time capital firms to drain the wallets of ordinary people? Though, that little idol is quite cute. To be honest, I've anonymously spent a hundred thousand or so to support her before. It's quite fun."
As a senior Lungmen superintendent, coupled with her family's immense influence throughout Terra, in her eyes, these idols that ordinary people saw as 'stars' were no different from ordinary people.
"And then?"
Sir Ch'en wasn't interested in hearing about this.
"He's from an ordinary family, after all. When the money ran out, this Zhang Fu started hanging around the slums, engaging in some overseas 'illegal smuggling' to earn high commissions. Later, he contracted Oripathy and was thrown into the slums. Afterward, his mind seemed to twist, and he started blaming the little idol for his fall into the abyss, so he wanted revenge."
"As for the bomb, according to his confession, it was given to him by a group of people from overseas. They told him to detonate it in any crowded place in Lungmen. And this time, we might have to award a banner to those people from Blacksteel Worldwide. According to the bomb squad, this was a mother-daughter bomb. One mother bomb is linked to various daughter bombs in other locations. As soon as the mother bomb detonates, all the others will go off. So... if he had succeeded, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Sir Ch'en said nothing.
Her expression was as heavy as water, her fingers tapping the solid wood desk over and over again, making a *thump, thump, thump* sound.
"Send out a notice. Have our people put all their effort into investigating overseas personnel recently. Trainee officers who perform exceptionally can be promoted ahead of schedule, no need to wait for the one-and-a-half-year probationary period. The bomb squad will conduct random checks twice a week in crowded areas of the Upper District. The residents of the Central District will undergo one 'attack drill' per month."
"This bunch of overseas bastards, they're really causing trouble, *Lungmen Profanity*"
------------------
*Gurgle~*
After returning to the hotel, the first thing Jessica did was draw a bath. Perhaps only in the bath could she truly relax.
"Do your legs still hurt?"
Lucas's voice sounded.
"A little...."
Jessica was a little happy that Lucas was concerned about her.
The divine speed of Thunder Breathing itself places a huge burden on the user's body. Moreover, due to the stage's limitations, she had to stop abruptly the moment she used it, putting even more pressure on her legs. Fortunately, Jessica's own physical constitution was good. After using it once, her legs were only in severe pain and her calf muscles were slightly torn, without any fractures. If it were an ordinary person from Earth, their legs would probably have broken after using it.
However, with Jessica's body, she could probably only use it three times in a row.
"Am... am I too weak...."
Jessica felt a bit dejected. When her legs were in so much pain she could barely stand, her first reaction was to blame her own body for being too frail, limiting the display of Lucas's power.
"No... you did your best, Jessica. Anyone else's legs would probably be ruined."
Lucas offered simple comfort.
He was in a good mood today.
Because after severing the criminal's hands, another stream of Prayer Power had flowed into his soul. It seemed that obtaining Prayer Power didn't rigidly require a formal agreement of wishes between both parties; even a verbal wish would do.
No, wait...
If it were just verbal wishes, then yesterday morning when he was training with Jessica, there were no wishes made, but he still received it.
Could it be that...
all it takes is for Jessica to feel genuine gratitude or thanks towards him?
Of course, this was just a guess.
"Jessica, do you have any wishes right now?"
Lucas wanted to test it.
However, Jessica, who was leisurely soaking in the bath, was a bit confused.
"Um... not at the moment... Mr. Reeve.."
"A small one is fine, something that can be easily fulfilled."
"Er... I'm a little thirsty and want a drink, but I don't want to get out of the tub..."
"Alright... I'll help."
With that, Lucas directly occupied Jessica's body, stepped out of the bathtub, went to the small fridge outside to grab a bottle of milk, and then returned to the tub, giving control of the body back to Jessica.
Only after regaining control of her body did Jessica snap out of her daze.
"???"
One second, two seconds...
Lucas waited for a moment. No Prayer Power flowed in. As expected... such a small thing couldn't be obtained. A bit of a shame, otherwise, he could have used it to infinitely farm the glitch.
"Um... Mr. Reeve, next time, if you need my body while I'm bathing, could you please... put a bath towel on me first... There's a mirror by the door... Just now, Mr. Reeve..."
Jessica's body sank lower and lower, so embarrassed she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
"Sorry... I was so focused on testing a theory just now, I didn't notice.."
*Knock, knock, knock~*
The sound of knocking came from the door.
Jessica immediately snapped out of her embarrassment, quickly wrapped a bathrobe around herself, and went to open the door.
"Hey~ Jessica, you little cutie, is it a good time for us to come in and chat?"
It was Franka and Liskarm at the door.
But for some reason, Jessica had a bad feeling in her gut, and so did Lucas...