The Eldritch Files

”Hm?”

Along with the emergency notification on the screen, countless beeps sounded as many phones displayed a message at the same time:

[Emergency Task A4: Apprehend the dangerous individual Song Chushi, who has invaded Qinggang City.]

[...]

The word used was ”invaded.” You could even feel Miss Ai’s emotions.

The Doctor and the others all looked at Han Su. Among them, the Executioners, only Han Su had received this notification.

The others were also Executioners, but they seemed to have been excluded from this kind of dangerous mission.

The whole restaurant suddenly fell silent. The next moment, the few scattered people who were eating abruptly pushed their trays aside and strode toward their break rooms, rushing to grab their gear and carry out the mission.

Even the Investigator of Strange Birds was stunned for a moment, his expression flickering as he stared at his phone screen.

’Now, forget about bringing Han Su along. Even I have to go on this mission,’ he thought. ’Of course, I could slack off, but I can’t just ignore a mission like this.’

’There will be a special inquiry afterward for an A Level mission like this. If I’m too obvious about it, I could be severely punished.’

”Let’s go!”

He grit his teeth resentfully, turned, and headed back to the training room. The assistant by the table, as if granted a pardon, didn’t spare Han Su another glance and ran toward the training room.

Meanwhile, the armed security personnel around them left without a word. They were only responsible for security within the base; outside missions had nothing to do with them.

’Song Chushi didn’t leave? He came into the city instead?’

Amidst the countless panicked and anxious figures, Han Su was also caught off guard by this development.

Watching the man on the surveillance feed, he was holding a bowl of small wontons and eating earnestly. It was hard to tell if he knew the camera was on him, but he even looked up at the lens, his small spoon laden with a wonton hovering in mid-air as if he wanted to say something to the person beyond the camera.

’Song Chushi...’

’The person I wanted to see most, aside from learning that Invisibility Spell.’

’What is this guy doing?’

’Craving those wontons that much?’

’Or is it...’

Looking at Song Chushi’s eyes, Han Su’s heart stirred. A strange feeling began to grow, as if the man was speaking to him.

He examined the image on the screen carefully and confirmed that Song Chushi’s current location was the small wonton shop where the two of them had eaten when he came looking for him before.

He had even ordered the same food as last time: a bowl of small wontons and two side dishes. Looking down from the surveillance camera’s overhead view, it was clear he was alone, yet he had ordered two bowls of wontons and even set out two pairs of chopsticks.

A strange thought popped into his head: ’Is he... inviting me?’

Struck by this idea, Han Su’s heart suddenly skipped a beat!

’I may have accepted the mission to apprehend him, but my goal was just to keep that crazed Investigator of Strange Birds in check, not to actually participate. Zhang Chiguo even gave me a stern warning not to contact Song Chushi privately again.’

’But if I don’t contact Song Chushi, who can I ask to clear up these doubts in my mind?’

In the silence, looking at the now even emptier restaurant as everyone had run off, he suddenly stood up.

Miss Crow, who had been watching him the whole time, spoke up. ”I’m going too.”

Han Su was slightly taken aback. ”You?”

Black Tiger also raised his head from the side. ”You’re going? Need any help?”

Han Su’s gaze swept over Miss Crow and Black Tiger. After a moment’s pause, he simply grinned. ”Then how about we go have some fun together?”

The Doctor slowly pushed up his glasses with his index finger and smiled. ”Normally, we shouldn’t go. But since you, as an Investigator’s assistant, are extending the invitation, it’s a different matter.”

”Besides...”

He paused, looked at the wonton-eating man on the screen, and nodded lightly. ”This guy’s interesting. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to go along and broaden our horizons.”

”...”

”...”

While the entire Qinggang Disaster Management Bureau was on high alert, as if facing a great enemy, Song Chushi finished the bowl of small wontons in front of him, mouthful by mouthful.

”Now *this* is real food...”

He let out a sigh of contentment, got up to pay the bill, and, before the first wave of armed vehicles could reach the little wonton shop, he walked out with his briefcase and turned into a small, unmonitored alley.

”Alright, I’m full. Time to get down to business.”

”...”

On the surface, Qinggang City was as prosperous and dazzling as ever. But in the shadows, a black tide was rising, layer by layer.

Countless vehicles filled with fully armed personnel drove out from hidden bases all over the city. Like arrows on a map, they pointed straight toward the small shop where Song Chushi had eaten his wontons.

Figures in black, standard-issue windbreakers, carrying briefcases, either dashed across the rooftops of various buildings or moved with strange gaits through dark, deserted alleys, silently closing in on the area.

The city, it seemed, had come alive.

It was concentrating all its available forces just to surround this wonton-eating man.

But about sixty seconds before this encirclement could form, Song Chushi had already walked out of the wonton shop and slipped into a taxi parked by the roadside.

As he got in the car, he was muttering to himself, ”So, his current superior’s codename is Strange Bird or something?”

”What’s this person’s current mission?”

”...”

The driver in the front seat gave him a strange look in the rearview mirror, assuming the man was on the phone, though he couldn’t see a Bluetooth headset.

He only heard the man fall silent for a moment, then nod. ”A B Level Task?”

”...What a coincidence. This is interesting.”

”Give me the file.”

The briefcase in his hand made a mechanical WHIRRING sound. A moment later, a piece of paper emerged from a seam in the case. Song Chushi plucked it out, glanced at it briefly, and frowned. ”Is the skill level of Qinggang’s Investigators this low nowadays?”

”The Mysterious Organization’s Penetration has reached this extent, and they still haven’t found it?”

”...”

As he spoke, he focused on the file in his hand for a few more moments. By the time he put the paper down, he had already figured things out. He said to the driver, who had been listening with pricked ears, ”Baisui Street, thanks.”

”Baisui Street?”

The driver’s interest was piqued. He said enthusiastically, ”Young man, you going there for a foot massage or some karaoke?”

”I’m one of the Old Qinggang People, let me tell you. If you’re looking to relax, how about I take you somewhere else? Baisui Street is no good right now. There’s a crackdown; it’s dead.”

”...”

Song Chushi frowned slightly, took out a bill, and handed it over. ”Excuse me, sir. Can this bill persuade you to talk less and just guarantee you’ll get me there within ten minutes?”

The driver took the money. While making a show of adjusting his seat and fastening his seatbelt, he said, ”It’s not about the money, young man. I’m telling you, Baisui Street is really dead right now. How about I take you to a place first, you can just take a look...”

Song Chushi pulled a gun from his pocket, flipped off the safety, pointed it at the back of the driver’s head, and said, ”Go.”

The driver froze, then with a WHOOSH, the taxi shot forward.

Less than two seconds after the taxi, which had taken off like its ass was on fire, cleared the intersection, an armored vehicle cut in and stopped right in the middle of the road. A squad of fully armed personnel stood guard with their guns drawn.

Immediately after, several other armored vehicles appeared at other points in the area. All sorts of personnel emerged from the vehicles or from the shadows.

Among them, a woman in a red windbreaker and high-heeled riding boots over ten centimeters tall quickly led a team to the entrance of the wonton shop.

She, who had been pursuing Song Chushi outside Qinggang City, was clearly annoyed to suddenly hear he was now inside the city.

She strode into the wonton shop. Seeing the empty seats and the dishes and chopsticks that hadn’t been cleared away yet, she immediately frowned.

Grabbing a walkie-talkie, she said as she walked back out, ”He’s already left.”

”Departure confirmed within the last five minutes.”

”Now, immediately patch Miss Ai into all citywide surveillance cameras, take control of all traffic signals, and order all idle Investigators to report to observation points and be on standby.”

”The moment we lock down this guy’s whereabouts, I want these people at my side immediately.”

”Also...”

She paused for a moment, then added, ”Request permission from the higher-ups. See if we can open a lock for Miss Ai. Just one will do. Song Chushi is very dangerous. Miss Ai should be given more authority to deal with him.”

”...”

The voice from the walkie-talkie suddenly became distorted. The woman in the Red Windbreaker frowned slightly.

She turned to leave, not making any further arrangements, but her assistant reminded her, ”Miss Li, shouldn’t we lock down the city? What if he tries to leave...”

”Lock down the city?”

The woman in the Red Windbreaker glanced at her assistant, sneered, and said with her eyes full of contempt, ”First, Qinggang is this big. If one person wants to leave, do you really think you can seal it off?”

”Second, you know he’s in the city, and you still want to lock it down...”

”Are you trying to lock a tiger in a cage with yourself and all the city’s citizens?”

”...”

As she spoke, she waved her hand dismissively and tossed the walkie-talkie aside. Under the cover of Qinggang’s night, countless surveillance feeds activated, and a flood of information washed over innumerable people.