Chapter 235: Burglary and Renewal
Chapter 235: Burglary and Renewal
It was just a missing item... What a scare!
As Lyon surveyed the disheveled office of the Director, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, only to give Jerry a speechless look for his 'false alarm'.
After receiving Jerry's note, Lyon, fearing a real crisis, had immediately halted his carriage mid-journey, not even bothering to collect the remaining fare, before rushing through the alleyways and onto the Witch's Broom, flying back to the Bureau under the cover of night.
However, upon his hurried return, he found it was all a false alarm, except for the Director's office, which seemed to have been burglarized, with no other unusual occurrences.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
When Lyon and Jerry had left, there was no one else in the Bureau. Princess and Anna, who were temporarily staying at the Bureau, had already returned to the Happiness Apartment, so aside from the missing items, it was unlikely that anything else had occurred.
"Lyon, this is not just a simple case of lost items."
Noticing Lyon's apparent relief, Jerry shook his head slightly and pointed to the pile of empty wine bottles in the office, his expression turning solemn.
"Look over there, Sophie. The thief who broke into the Bureau while it was empty is definitely no ordinary criminal!"
Hearing Jerry's words, Lyon was taken aback for a moment. Following Jerry's guidance, he discovered the 'target', and his expression immediately turned grave.
There, lying amidst the pile of empty bottles, were several strands of vibrant red hair, struggling to float upwards, but they seemed to lack the strength to rise, as if they had no bones, and could only twitch slightly, unable to 'stand' up from the ground.
These were the Director's hairs! As the powerful aberration with the serial number 013, these strands of Bloodslaying Red Hair, though weaker than the enhanced ones on Lyon's body, were still part of a numbered aberration. Their strength aside, their position surpassed the threshold of True Gods, and at the very least, a second or third-level Purifier would be unable to handle them.
The person capable of dealing with these hairs was likely on par with Emma's level, probably a Tier 1 Purifier. If they had the intention, they could easily dispatch both Lyon and Jerry!
This meant that if Lyon and Jerry had not gone to find the Freckled Prince, and subsequently been transported to the General Bureau by the Star Palace, they would have encountered this formidable thief! If the enhanced hairs on Lyon's body couldn't withstand the thief's abilities...
They would have been in grave danger!
"To be honest, I owe you one this time."
Gazing at the floating red hair, Jerry took a deep breath and said to Lyon with lingering fear, "If it weren't for your suggestion to find the Prince, and your insistence that I accompany you, I would have stayed at the Bureau alone. If this thief was more vicious, I might not have made it out alive."
It's not just you who almost didn't make it...
Entering the Director's office, Lyon carefully inspected the area and found half a blood handprint on the windowsill, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
If he hadn't been cautious enough to send Princess and Anna back to the Happiness Apartment before leaving the Purification Bureau, who knows what dangers they might have faced.
Due to his over-cautiousness, not only was there no loss of life, but there was also another piece of good news.
Following the direction of the blood handprint, Lyon found splatters of blood on the outer wall of the office building and in the grass outside. His tense expression softened slightly as he surveyed the scene.
This thief, though powerful enough to subdue the director's hair, was not completely unscathed. He had been viciously slashed by the 【Bloodslaying Red Hair】 several times, judging by the terrifying amount of blood around, he had likely lost more than half his life. For the time being, there was no need to worry about his return.
As for the thief's origin and purpose...
Standing two meters away, Lyon carefully searched the director's drawer using the power of the 【Holy Spirit Pendant】. His face revealed a look of understanding.
As expected, the fake photos the director had replicated had been taken by someone else.
It seemed that the Water Bottle Director, who was accustomed to multiple layers of insurance, had not only arranged for the middle-aged Joshua as backup after dealing with Emma, but also set up another group to retrieve the photos."
Likely, the Water Bottle Director's original plan was to have this thief deal with any possible backup the director might have left, then have the middle-aged Joshua take the photos, and the two would quickly escape through the Otherworldly Gateway, completing the theft without a scratch.
However, the middle-aged Joshua was caught by Lyon ahead of time, causing the thief to wait in vain. Growing impatient, he dared to enter the director's office, found the photos in the drawer, and nearly paid the price of being killed by those few strands of hair. He had over-fulfilled the Water Bottle Director's task.
Unfortunately, he only took the fake photos the director had prepared, making his trip futile.
Controlling the 【Holy Spirit Pendant】 to form a hand, Lyon picked up the blood-stained hair from the grass outside the window and placed it with the strands on the wine bottle pile. He turned to Jerry beside him and tentatively asked, "Senior Jerry, can your friends..."
"They can't find him."
Knowing what Lyon wanted to say, Senior Jerry shook his head helplessly, "This person probably has an Anomaly that can manipulate his aura. Once anything leaves his body, it loses its scent, even these blood traces. The ants followed the blood trail for two streets, but couldn't find his whereabouts."
Indeed... When I first came in, I didn't smell anything, which is why I didn't notice the hair on the floor.
Lyon leaned towards the window and sniffed, and even with the terrifying amount of blood outside, there was no trace of blood left. He sighed, giving up on the idea of capturing the thief while he was severely injured.
Since the thief was so well-prepared, Lyon could only wait for the director's return. He hoped for a peaceful couple of days, praying nothing else would go wrong... Oh, right, tomorrow he had to go to the post office to renew her newspaper subscription.
Shaking his head helplessly, Lyon opened the side drawer of the director's desk and searched through the files, taking out the newspapers and magazines.
The Sun Herald, Daily News, Royal Gazette, Glamour Focus, Arms Industry, Wine Traveller, A Boy's Thoughts...
The newspapers and magazines the director asked me to renew should be these... Hmm... Wait!
Flipping through the thick stack of newspapers, Lyon noticed that only a few copies of the Sun Herald had been cut. A puzzled expression appeared on his face.
If I remember correctly, the photos cut from these newspapers were the ones I published twice, weren't they?
(End of Chapter)
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