"Who is she?"
"The beauty of Dragon Team 1, Mao Xiaotong," Hak Foo said calmly.
"Mao Xiaotong." Arata muttered her name, his eyes carefully sizing up the girl. She had a delicate short haircut and a sweet, youthful appearance, looking about eighteen or nineteen. Her facial contours were smooth, her jawline delicate and perfect. Her face was full and plump, packed with so much collagen it gave people the urge to just walk up and pinch her cheeks.
"What are you looking at, pervert!" Mao Xiaotong had also noticed Arata's gaze, her expression looking anything but friendly.
"Hak Foo, she's calling you." Arata smiled and patted Hak Foo's arm, not expecting Hak Foo to be known as a pervert on a daily basis.
"Calling me?" Hak Foo looked completely bewildered, pointing a finger at his own face. He couldn't remember ever doing anything to offend Mao Xiaotong.
"Xiaotong, were you calling me just now?"
"Not you, I'm talking about him," Mao Xiaotong shouted, pointing right at Arata.
"I'm a pervert?" Arata looked baffled. A second ago he was laughing at someone else, and now it turned out he was the punchline.
"That's right, you're the pervert," Mao Xiaotong continued to accuse him, not leaving Arata a single shred of dignity.
"Are you sure you didn't mistake me for someone else?" Arata retorted, then looked at Hak Foo and asked, "Does she not know who I am?" At the moment, this was the only explanation Arata could think of. Otherwise, given his overwhelming strength, there was no way someone would just walk up and curse him out as a pervert right off the bat.
"I know exactly who you are, you're Arata." Mao Xiaotong planted her hands on her hips.
"I thought you didn't know who I was. I suggest you take back that compliment from just now—wait, no, take back that insult."
"See? You really are a pervert."
"Xiaotong, what's going on? He's a guest, watch what you say," Hak Foo stepped in to defend Arata.
"Hak Foo... I can't believe you're taking his side. I bet you're just scared of him."
"Don't speak nonsense, Xiaotong. But why are you calling Arata a pervert? If you can't give a good reason, we're not just going to let this slide." Hak Foo asked with a cold face, determined to get an explanation for Arata.
"Fine, since you want to know, I'll spell it out." Mao Xiaotong laid her cards on the table. "I contracted the Data Devil, so I know most people's secrets. Even if you turn on incognito mode in your browser, you can't escape the data logs."
"The Data Devil!!" Arata suddenly stood up completely straight. "That's utterly terrifying. For some people on their deathbeds, the very last thing they want to do before dying is clear their browsing history. If they knew a walking recycle bin like you existed, they probably wouldn't even be able to rest in peace."
"Don't joke around with me. At first, when Jackie told me you were coming, I was actually pretty excited. I wanted to see what kind of man you were. But after the higher-ups had me look into your data, I was absolutely horrified. You've been to a hotel with Asuka Saito 10 times, Satomi Ishihara 6 times, Eimi Fukada 15 times, and I won't even go into detail about the others."
Mao Xiaotong publicly executed Arata by exposing his hotel records. Standing off to the side, Hak Foo's eyes were practically popping out of their sockets.
"That's it? I thought you actually had video recordings or something," Arata said, completely unbothered.
"Video recordings? Who... who would watch that kind of stuff!" Mao Xiaotong's face flushed bright red as she turned her body away from the two men.
"It seems the Data Devil doesn't even need a VPN. You can just look at whatever you want directly. Such a convenient ability, and it ended up with a sweet-looking female cop."
"Tell the truth, did you purposely contract the Data Devil?" Arata's counter-question instantly knocked Mao Xiaotong off her high horse. Her face was beet red, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word for the longest time.
"No rebuttal means I guessed right. So it turns out you're the actual pervert here."
"Stop talking!!" Mao Xiaotong cried out with a burning red face, then spun around and ran away. Arata's words seemed to have conjured up some rather unsavory images in her mind.
Watching Mao Xiaotong flee, Arata asked, "How old is she?"
"What, interested?" Hak Foo asked curiously.
"I'm not the type to just fall for every girl I see."
"Arata, I never imagined your battle record in Japan would be even more glorious than your devil-killing record."
"You're overthinking it. We just discussed movie scripts, absolutely nothing happened," Arata said helplessly.
"Sure, sure, I believe you. Anyway, Xiaotong is 23 this year, pretty close to your age." Arata just nodded and didn't say anything else, not taking the scene that just played out to heart in the slightest.
Right then, Jackie appeared. There was no need to ask; just looking at his expression was enough to know the result.
"How did it go, Jackie?" Hak Foo stood up and asked.
"If they agreed, I wouldn't be walking out here alone."
"Looks like they aren't giving you any face, Jackie. I'll go in and have a chat with them." Arata straightened his clothes and quickly stood up.
"Calm down, Arata." Hak Foo hurriedly stood up to block him.
"Don't do anything rash, Arata. I'll go find someone else to help. My words might not carry much weight in the Devil Hunter sphere, but I know plenty of big-name directors in the film industry."
"No need to go through all that trouble, Jackie. Just tell me, the higher-up who rejected you just now, man or woman? How old?"
"Woman, 36 years old."
"Okay. Tonight I'll arrange a visit for her from a Mr. Kato, a man with incredibly fast hand speed."
"Also, get me a list of the city officials. I have some work to do tonight."
"Arata, what are you planning?"
"I just want to make sure they see exactly what's about to happen in their dreams," Arata smiled. He already had a plan fully formulated in his mind.
"If that's the case, you better mess with our boss real good in her dreams."
"Don't worry, Hak Foo. You'll be the male lead in your boss's dream."
"Huh?" Hak Foo was genuinely confused.
"I guess this is the only way." Jackie sighed, deciding to leave it in Arata's hands. In the eyes of the upper echelon, Public Safety Devil Hunters were just disposable tools meant to throw their lives away on command. As long as the salary was high enough, there would naturally be an endless stream of desperate people forced by life to come in for an interview.
Afterward, the three of them returned to Jackie's house. Jade and Uncle were sitting on the couch watching a cartoon show.
"Jade, you still watch cartoons?"
"Big brother Arata!" Jade tossed the remote aside and threw herself directly at him.
"Jade, I've never seen you act this affectionate toward Jackie," Hak Foo chimed in.
"Big brother Arata," Jade held up both her hands, looking like she had something to say.
"Are you going to drag me off to look at your toys again?"
"Yes, yes, exactly! Come with me, big brother Arata."
Seizing the opportunity, Jade pulled Arata back into her room. She locked the door, dove under her bed, and pulled the box back out.
"You aren't trying to scare your big brother Arata again, are you?"
"No, no, look at this feather, big brother Arata." Jade opened the box.
The feather inside had completely lost its luster. It had gone from flawlessly white to a lifeless, dull gray, looking as if it had been completely abandoned by its master. Even as Jade stared straight at it, and Arata held it in his hand, that overwhelming, crushing presence from before was completely gone.
"I had a dream about this while I was sleeping, so I gathered up my courage and opened the box. And it turned out the feather actually looked like this now."
"Looks like all the divine power was drained from this feather."
"Maybe. Does this mean that devil might already be dead?"
"Hard to say for sure." Arata smiled and ruffled Jade's hair.
"Arata, dinner will be ready in a bit!" Jackie hollered from the living room.
"Got it, Jackie," Arata replied before heading back to his own room.
He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. At that exact same moment, Dragon Team's superiors and all the relevant city officials fell fast asleep.
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