Chapter Fifty-Five: Is This a Showdown?

"Fighting," Hao Yingjun exclaimed, his voice full of spirit.

Outside, Wang Zixuan was reading the newspaper, the distant sounds of chaos echoing from within—collapsing heavens and earth, the Purple Gold Hammer, the smoke of war rising in the distance. No, that was a stretch. Hao Yingjun emerged, bottles he had collected in hand. Wang Zixuan hastily covered his nose with the newspaper; the stench was far more pungent than the infamous fermented tofu of Nansha.

Wang Zixuan grabbed his weapon and quickly led the way. He couldn’t bear it anymore. “Let’s just go!”

Hao Yingjun was so nauseated by the smell that even he felt sick. It took him a long moment to recover. The last person, and the most successful of them all, was Wang Beibei. She had only been in M City two or three years and had already become a well-known actress. Her fans crowded around her house, scrambling for anything she discarded in their frenzy. When they arrived, the madness outside left Hao Yingjun in stunned silence.

A fan shouted, “Haha, amazing! I got the bath towel!”

It took quite a while before the butler ushered them into the villa, where they waited again for a long time without seeing their host.

Wang Zixuan checked his watch impatiently. “It’s already been over forty minutes. When will Miss Wang Beibei come down? We’re in a real hurry.”

The butler explained, “Our Lucy is bathing. She’s just finished, and her skin is particularly delicate. She needs full-body care.”

As the butler spoke, Wang Beibei descended the stairs slowly.

“My apologies for making you both wait,” she said with poise, dressed in her nightgown and sitting gracefully not far from them.

Hao Yingjun was taken aback by her beauty, but snapped back to reality when Wang Beibei covered her nose. Glancing at the bottles on the coffee table, he remembered and hurried to collect them.

Wang Zixuan, visibly annoyed, asked, “Where do you think you’re taking those?”

Hao Yingjun, awkwardly clutching the bottles, didn’t know what to do.

“Put them down,” Wang Zixuan instructed, pointing at the coffee table.

Hao Yingjun hesitated for a moment, then finally complied, forcing a wry smile.

“Protect the evidence,” Wang Zixuan added.

The atmosphere was tense. At last, Wang Beibei spoke: “My residence permit doesn’t expire for several months yet. May I ask what brings you officers here today?”

Wang Zixuan replied, “Sorry to trouble you, but please cooperate with our investigation. Release a fart.”

He nodded to the bottles on the table. Wang Beibei, however, didn’t spare them a glance.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I have a condition that makes me unable to pass gas,” she said apologetically.

Hao Yingjun, excited, whipped the cloth off a tray to reveal a variety of nuts, sweet potatoes, and milk.

Wang Beibei looked over, momentarily surprised, then smiled warmly at Hao Yingjun. “Thank you, but I’m not hungry. I’m dieting.”

Wang Zixuan snapped, “Enough with the pretenses. The suspect is on the run—we have no time to waste.”

Wang Beibei replied coolly, “That’s your business, not mine.”

“I must insist you cooperate with our investigation,” Wang Zixuan said.

Wang Beibei dismissed them with a wave, “Please see yourselves out, officers.”

Wang Zixuan, annoyed, stood up. “Every non-human is obligated to cooperate with the Investigation Center and Supermarket 444 in their investigations. Understood?”

“But I didn’t enter illegally,” Wang Beibei retorted. “Why should I have to cooperate with you?”

Without a word, Wang Zixuan drew his Remington and pressed it to Wang Beibei’s head.

“Do you know who you’re talking to?” he said coldly.