Chapter 94: Bao Hua and the Lion
Chapter 94: Bao Hua and the Lion
Are you even listening to yourself?
After hearing Lyon's response, the female police officer's expression was beyond complex.
A radical member of the Chaotic Party had just interrogated a high-ranking official, asking seemingly fatal questions that drove him to commit suicide by crashing into a wall.
After the interrogation, Lyon warned himself to be cautious of the Lane family's desperation, yet he remained calm and informed her that he was about to visit the Lane family to acknowledge his kin...
Wait... which side are you on?
Completely baffled by Lyon's reply, the female police officer had a million questions, but seeing his weary expression, she didn't have the heart to disturb him further. Instead, she carried the unconscious female prisoner to the other side.
...
With the entire carriage "booked" and no need to slow down for passenger boarding and alighting, coupled with the urgency to reach the station early to get rid of these troublesome passengers, the steam coach was driven at its maximum speed.
With these factors combined, the journey took less than half the usual time, and the coach arrived early at Redwood Avenue, where the "plague gods" were hastily escorted off the vehicle.
After a short nap on the carriage, Lyon regained some energy, and his complexion improved significantly. Upon disembarking, the cold wind blew away any visible anomalies.
Ignoring the female police officer's hesitant gaze, Lyon held onto the sheep's head and broom and identified the surroundings of Redwood Avenue. He then headed towards the end of the avenue, where two towering giant trees stood.
Indeed, true to its name, Redwood Avenue was planted with two enormous redwood trees.
These trees, with their reddish-brown bark, could grow over a hundred meters tall and had an average chest diameter exceeding eight meters. Typically, such trees should not exist in an industrial city like the capital, let alone on Redwood Avenue, where land was incredibly valuable.
However, for certain groups, these challenges and irrationalities only served to highlight their elevated status and distinctiveness.
The two redwood trees at the end of Redwood Avenue were transplanted from hundreds of miles away by the royalty, intending to showcase their superiority and uniqueness. They were then presented as gifts to the two most noble aristocratic families in the kingdom, and each tree was planted at the entrance of their private manors.
According to the royalty's initial explanation, these trees, capable of living for thousands of years, symbolized the royalty's most loyal families, whose loyalty would endure alongside the kingdom for generations.
Unfortunately, the royalty's grand gesture of gifting these giant trees was a bit too romantic.
The Rose Family, after receiving the redwood tree, didn't last long before they forcefully initiated a coup d'etat, attempting to overthrow the royalty. They were ultimately betrayed, and the entire family was executed, with the execution site set up beneath the very tree they had received.
The other family, the Lionheart Family, who had once been known for their loyalty and expansion of the kingdom, transformed into one of the kingdom's three major scourges—the Ryan Family. They became a massive abscess growing in the very heart of the kingdom...
To be honest, these trees' ill fortune might not be a coincidence.
After entering the private road, which was not open to the public, with the help of the Maiden Cleanup Bureau's credentials, Lyon did not admire the villas and gardens on both sides. Instead, he hurried past the magnificent buildings, heading straight towards his destination.
"Hey, you're going the wrong way!"
When Lyon reached the end of Redwood Avenue, instead of turning left towards the Leon Manor, he turned right, and the female police officer, holding the unconscious female prisoner, hurriedly reminded him:
"That's the Rose Family's manor! The Leon Manor is on the other side!"
"I know.
"Following the road to the right, one could barely make out the once-grand entrance of the Bao Hua Manor, now overgrown with weeds and surrounded by crumbling ruins.
Lyon first inspected the land that had once been an execution site, soaked in blood, and then cautiously approached the large tree that had witnessed the demise of the Bao Hua Family. He touched the cracked, dark brown bark of the seemingly withered tree.
There was no response.
Apparently, the tree that had provided wood for the execution site and witnessed the family's downfall had not developed any anomalies. It remained an ordinary cedar tree.
Lyon retracted his hand with a mixture of disappointment and relief, confirming that the tree was not anomalous. He then turned back and headed towards the other side of the Leon Manor.
You're really something else... Do you have to check out both options every time you encounter a pair of contrasting choices? After chasing a female prisoner who was heavier than himself for so long, he had barely caught his breath when he had to turn back, causing the exhausted female police officer to secretly glare at Lyon from behind, wondering if he was a little crazy, just like how he had once suspected her.
But this suspicion reached its peak when Lyon, accompanied by the female prisoner, knocked on the door of the Leon Manor and stated his intentions to the butler in charge of hospitality.
...
"No, you're really here to claim kinship?"
After calming down on the carriage ride, the female police officer thought Lyon was just too tired to answer her questions and had brushed her off with a casual remark.
But when Lyon was led into the Leon Manor by two servants and into the three-story building where the Leon Family kept their family registry, and saw him actually browsing through the accessible parts of the family tree, the female police officer, who had been holding in a bellyful of questions, couldn't help but move closer and whisper:
"Lyon, I've read your file. Your parents were commoners from Leon County, they have no relation to this Leon Family!"
"I know."
Lyon responded without looking up, feeling a headache as he stared at the two large cabinets filled with books. He then promptly put the free labor to use.
"Put her down and help me look through the Leon Family's registry."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean 'huh'? Have you forgotten that you're at my disposal now?"
"... "
Remembering her current "identity," the female police officer, who needed Lyon's help, had no choice but to comply.
After declining the offer of assistance from the two servants, who gave her strange looks, and securely tying up the female prisoner, the female police officer seemed to remember something. She hurried back, leaned in close to Lyon's ear, and whispered excitedly:
"I know! Are you planning to first check the Leon Family's genealogy, specifically looking for those with unusual life trajectories or sudden wealth, and then focus on digging up their committed crimes?"
"..."
Believe it or not, that's exactly what I had in mind...
But I'm not looking for crimes; I'm searching for traces of those who might have profited from anomalies. Those with suspicious 'wealth histories' are more likely to have had contact with the Devil's Heart.
Lyon glanced at the female police officer in surprise and nodded silently, half-truthfully saying:
"More or less."
"I knew it!"
After confirming her guess, the female police officer clenched her fist excitedly, then, feeling like a thief, she glanced at the servants in the distance and asked in a low voice:
"So, how can I help you?"
"For you..." Lyon paused, searching the bookshelf and pulling out a not-too-thick registry. "As a police officer, you should be good at this."
(End of Chapter)
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