Chapter 20: Eagle Lord’s Heart Aches, but He Can’t Say It
While Su Xiao was investigating, Bubu Wang was tailing Moon Goddess to prevent her from checking whether the Will Rune Stone had been stolen.
The investigation dragged on until noon. It had to be said, Bubu Wang truly had a knack for theft. Su Xiao hadn’t spent the entire morning putting on a show of searching—he was genuinely looking for clues.
Of course, he wasn’t trying to expose Bubu Wang. Instead, he was covering for him, eliminating any trace of evidence he found.
But after a whole morning, Su Xiao hadn’t found anything at all. Sonia, who had been following him the entire time, grew increasingly anxious.
After confirming that Bubu Wang had left no traces, Su Xiao began “solving the case.” Just moments ago, he had Bubu Wang temporarily fabricate some clues.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky. Su Xiao sat on a bench inside the Grand Cathedral, enjoying his lunch, accompanied by a beautiful woman nearby.
Sonia and Moon Goddess were both watching him, as were the dozen or so Moon Apostles behind them.
“Mr. Kukulin… are you planning to spend the entire afternoon like this?”
Moon Goddess spoke. The theft of the goddess statue had her the most anxious. The Grand Cathedral, which had been open continuously for decades, was closed this morning under the pretense of a thorough cleaning and pest removal.
“If you think you can do better, be my guest.”
Su Xiao continued eating his lunch, uttering words that could choke someone to death while remaining perfectly polite.
“…”
Moon Goddess steadied her nerves and said:
“I really can’t. If you’re upset about what happened before, Mr. Kukulin can target me personally. As for disbanding the Ninth Unit, I’ve always believed it was the right decision.”
“Oh?”
Su Xiao looked at Moon Goddess and lit a post-meal cigarette.
“The lives of my 5,169 subordinates—will you repay them?”
“Of course… not.”
Moon Goddess was clever. There were still many remnants of the Ninth Unit. If all of them came after her, she would never know peace. Those madmen had dared to assassinate the Holy King and attempted to blow up the Lurenfei Palace three times. What wouldn’t they do?
“If you can’t repay, then wait.”
“Sigh~”
Moon Goddess smiled lightly and shook her head, sitting down beside Su Xiao to wait.
Less than an hour later, the young adjutant ran into the Grand Cathedral and handed a cloth bundle to Su Xiao.
With everything prepared, Su Xiao began “solving the case.” He first took an iron canister from the bundle and approached the base of the goddess statue.
*Ssss~*
A pale red mist sprayed from the canister, releasing a pungent, acidic odor.
“Ugh~”
Sonia gagged, and Moon Goddess lightly covered her nose and mouth.
“What’s that awful smell?”
Sonia gagged until tears streamed down her face. Seeing this, the young adjutant grinned.
“You don’t want to know. This stuff works wonders on supernatural cases. A specialty of the Ninth Unit. Every bottle used now is one less.”
“Firwood Mixed Solution.”
Moon Goddess murmured. The young adjutant looked at her in surprise.
“As expected of a big shot, you know about this. Remember to keep it secret. The production process is far from pleasant, and the only person who could brew it is dead.”
No sooner had the young adjutant spoken than three footprints appeared on the floor. The footprints had no origin and stopped in front of the goddess statue’s base.
“So it’s a supernatural case. Space-type, huh? Hope the thief’s teleportation distance isn’t too far. The theft happened at 5 AM, so within 12 hours at most. The image shouldn’t be too blurry.”
The young adjutant ran out of the Grand Cathedral again. Soon, over a dozen Moon Apostles carried in a massive steam-powered machine, dust visible in its crevices.
*Boom!*
The colossal steam machine was set down on a platform.
“If you don’t want to die, unrelated personnel, retreat 40 meters.”
The young adjutant took off her military coat as she spoke, pushing both hands onto the starting lever. The contours of her back muscles were visible through her damp undershirt.
“You old relic, don’t you dare explode. I had people repairing you all morning.”
The young adjutant exerted force.
*Buzz~*
A powerful pulse spread, and high-temperature steam burst out with a *puff*, creating a spectacular scene.
“Increase the scale.”
Su Xiao was also adjusting the massive steam machine.
“It’s going to overload, sir.”
“Shut up and do it.”
“Got it.”
The young adjutant pushed the lever to the max. The steam pressure gauge burst with a *bang*, and Moon Goddess, Sonia, and the others, standing dozens of meters away, all took several steps back.
A harsh crackling sound of electric arcs spread. The young adjutant grabbed paper and a pen and crawled into the massive machine, while Su Xiao grabbed her calf.
A few seconds later.
“Pull me out, I’m burning up!”
Su Xiao yanked the young adjutant out of the machine. She was drenched in sweat, white steam puffing from her mouth, her entire body flushed red.
“Found it, but I don’t know where this is.”
The young adjutant handed Su Xiao a soaking wet piece of paper, on which she had sketched an image.
Su Xiao examined it for a few seconds before refining the image.
“The statue was sent to Eagle Fort a few hours ago.”
Hearing this, Moon Goddess slowly stepped forward.
“Eagle Fort? Can you be more specific?”
“No.”
Moon Goddess didn’t press further but immediately sent people to investigate Eagle Fort.
Less than half an hour later, Moon Goddess received word that in a room on the third floor of Eagle Fort, there were indentations on the floor matching the dimensions of the goddess statue.
Upon learning this, Moon Goddess led her people back to Su Xiao in the Grand Cathedral.
“Can that thing be used a second time?”
Moon Goddess glanced at the massive steam machine, now cracked on the surface, then turned back to Su Xiao.
“Theoretically impossible. The creator is dead.”
“…”
Moon Goddess didn’t ask further, because the creator of that machine had likely died in the previous purge.
Just then, a man in black, his face covered in scars, appeared beside Su Xiao.
“Sir, we found it. Four thieves have been captured. The goddess statue is on its way back and is expected to enter the city in half an hour.”
“Get them to talk.”
“All intelligence has been extracted. The mastermind is still at large. The other thieves…”
The black-clad man’s voice grew softer. After reporting all the intelligence, he vanished from the Grand Cathedral in a few flashes.
“Adjutant, handle the follow-up. If anything goes wrong…”
“If anything goes wrong, sir, you can have me for breakfast tomorrow.”
“…”
Su Xiao walked out of the Grand Cathedral, leaving behind a smiling Moon Goddess and over a dozen Moon Apostles.
“Now that’s professionalism.”
Sonia sighed in admiration. Her people had searched all morning without finding a single useful clue, yet the Ninth Unit had already sent the goddess statue back.
Sonia understood one thing: even if the Ninth Unit had been forcibly disbanded, when it came to handling emergencies, no department in the Empire could compare.
In layman’s terms: The old master will always be the old master.
Su Xiao stepped out of the Grand Cathedral, looking up at the blinding sunlight. After the Immortal Crystal Goddess Statue was stolen, Moon Goddess had lost her composure and checked three secret storage rooms. If nothing went wrong, the Will Rune Stone was in one of them.
Su Xiao also noticed something else: the Immortal Crystal Goddess Statue was extremely valuable. He couldn’t access too detailed information, but its quality was Epic++, and selling it to Reincarnation Paradise would yield 37% World Source.