How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

A knock sounded at the door. Xu Huo, who was brushing his teeth, quickly tilted his head back, gargled, and spat out the mouthwash.

”Who is it?”

”It’s me.”

A crisp voice called out from outside.

Xu Huo opened the door a crack, revealing a well-dressed young woman.

It was Chu Xi. Her hair fell over her shoulders, and she was wearing a cinched long dress with a pair of white sneakers, standing right at the entrance.

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. Just as a smile began to form on his face, he saw a large hand reach out from the side and plant itself on the door.

”And me.”

A gruff voice boomed as the door was pushed wide open, revealing Chu Linhai’s stern, square face.

Xu Huo’s smile vanished.

”What’s that supposed to mean, kid?”

The corner of Chu Linhai’s eye twitched. He was rendered speechless by the complete one-eighty in Xu Huo’s expression.

”Oh, it’s nothing. I was just wondering what brings the ever-busy Director Chu to my humble little abode,” Xu Huo said.

”Did you already forget everything I tried to drill into your head yesterday?!”

Chu Linhai’s square face darkened.

’A matter of life and death... and he’s this careless about it?!’

Xu Huo paused. Then, fragmented memories surfaced in his mind, and it all clicked.

”Oh, right! Hanhai Province!”

Once the people they were investigating got desperate, there was almost nothing a lone individual could do to stand against them.

They still had some reservations and wouldn’t dare make a move on Chu Linhai, but against Xu Huo... they’d be much bolder.

Business is a battlefield, and there are plenty of ways to get rid of a person!

And on their battlefield, they didn’t care one bit if ordinary people were caught in the crossfire...

Is that too abstract?

Perhaps.

Here are a couple of examples.

There was one major incident, a blatant murder, ”allegedly” orchestrated by a company that sold electronics prone to swelling.

The victim had, in life, swindled the company out of tens of billions of dollars, directly causing its stock to plummet and nearly bankrupting it in the literal sense of the word.

Later, after the company spent nearly a hundred million dollars on a lawsuit, the verdict came back: not guilty.

And then, the man died.

His entire family was wiped out, leaving just one survivor—conveniently, the person needed to sign documents.

Besides that, there’s also an unconfirmed story.

Take a certain shipwreck—one whose name makes you think of a love story.

While the official cause of the sinking was well-documented, the identities of those who died were far too coincidental. Their deaths were the one thing needed for a globe-spanning, finance-manipulating organization to come into existence.

And it did. Within a single year, a behemoth had risen.

Add to that the strange behavior of several top-tier tycoons before departure—like its owner disembarking just minutes before it set sail—and you have a sinking shrouded in suspicion.

Beyond that, some alliances and organizations operate right out in the open.

”You’ve heard Sun Jian’s statement, right?”

Chu Linhai said while helping to pack things.

”He considers himself innocent. Compared to the crimes of certain other people, he thinks he’s a saint.”

”You can read between the lines, right?”

Xu Huo nodded. Of course he understood the implications.

”It means he’s seen those who are truly guilty in his eyes.”

’An individual is weak, but a group is powerful. Just how powerful must a group be to make someone like Sun Jian consider himself innocent by comparison?’

Of course, it doesn’t always manifest as overt crime.

Take the West’s ”Sun S Monopoly” from the last century, or organizations that still exist today, like the Freemasons, Skull and Bones, and the Illuminati.

These organizations, legendary in fiction, are an open secret in reality.

They don’t bother to hide. Their members stand at the very apex of Blue Star, outwardly appearing to maintain order.

As for those who disrupt order...

Two are particularly famous: E and H. The former is connected to the infamous ”Loli Island,” but compared to the latter, the former’s notoriety is less than a drop in the ocean.

And yet, that alone was enough to horrify the entire world.

And Sun Jian?

Let’s put it this way.

Compared to H, E’s crimes aren’t even a single strand of hair. And Sun Jian compared to E...

...isn’t even a hair of a hair of a hair of a hair!

”Still, I didn’t think I’d have to leave this fast,” Xu Huo said, a note of exasperated resignation in his voice.

”Hmph!”

Chu Linhai shot him a sidelong glance, his square face full of undisguised disdain.

”You still want to stay in Jiangsan City!?”

”Don’t you know you completely exposed your identity in that radio station case?”

”Jiangsan City’s case-clearance rate has never been this high. All they need to do is look at the intersection and the radio station to figure out who solved the processing plant case!”

”They won’t even need to investigate; suspicion will fall right on your head!”

As he spoke, Chu Linhai glared at Xu Huo with intense dissatisfaction.

He started nagging again.

”Look at you. It would have been so much better if you had just joined the force back then.”

”If you’d joined up a year ago, you’d be a squad leader by now, at the very least. Xiao Li would have enough seniority to move up, and you’d be on track to become the next captain. Would you still need to be hiding like this?”

Xu Huo yawned as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He rubbed his stomach, feeling a bit hungry.

Seeing this, Chu Xi thought for a moment before taking out a few cream puffs from the pastry tin she was carrying.

”Here.” She popped a freshly made cream puff into Xu Huo’s mouth. A look of satisfaction filled her eyes as she watched him eat it.

Chu Linhai: ...

Chu Linhai laughed with exasperation. Deciding it wasn’t worth the energy to comment, he just shook his head and went back to packing.

He wasn’t packing much luggage for him.

He hastily stuffed a couple of outfits into the suitcase, zipped it up, and then gave Xu Huo a light kick out the door.

”And this crappy detective agency of yours—shut it down, and fast!”

Chu Linhai grumbled, his stern face filled with disgust.

”Giving up a spot as a police detective to be a private investigator... What on earth were you thinking, kid?!”

”Chasing after cheating spouses all day... I’m embarrassed for you!”

Xu Huo rubbed his backside, about to fire back a retort, but the moment he opened his mouth, Chu Xi stuffed it with another cream puff, rendering him speechless.

Chu Linhai grew more and more furious the more he spoke.

Finally, he shoved them into the car, slammed on the gas, and sped toward the airport.

Jiangsan City wasn’t exactly poor. Having its own airport already put it ahead of many other places.

”You just fly as far away as you can get, kid!”

Chu Linhai hustled Xu Huo into the airport, then paused. His gaze fell on Chu Xi, and his tone instantly softened.

”Xiao Xi, once you’re in Hanhai Province, don’t go wandering off. If you run into any trouble, find this kid here. If he can’t handle it, call me...”

Chu Xi had to leave, too. She had shown her face at the crime scene, and heaven knows if she’d be targeted.

’A good-looking female officer targeted by that crew... things wouldn’t end well for her...’

Of course, they might hesitate to act because of Chu Linhai’s position. But ultimately, Chu Xi wasn’t his blood relative, and Chu Linhai couldn’t risk betting they wouldn’t realize that, thinking he wouldn’t go all-out to hunt them down if they killed her.

Besides them, there were also Wang Chao and the others. Chu Linhai had planned to make arrangements for them, too, but they had already taken off on their own, making him think that kid was one crafty devil.

After giving his instructions, Chu Linhai watched with a smile as the two kids headed into the airport.

The moment they disappeared from sight, the smile on Chu Linhai’s face instantly vanished.

He wasn’t overreacting by making them leave.

These days, any ’power’ that the Municipal Bureau took seriously...

...was armed!

To the people of this era, the minor powers from the year ’23 of Xu Huo’s past life were like something out of Baby Bus—complete child’s play.

With that thought, Chu Linhai got into his car, whipped the steering wheel around, and sped back toward the Municipal Bureau.

「Some time later.」

A plane took off, heading south toward Hanhai Province.

「Inside the plane’s cabin.」

Xu Huo looked at the scene outside the window. He wasn’t afraid of going to a strange environment, nor was he afraid of being hunted.

’In fact, if I were really being hunted and didn’t have to worry about the people around me...’

’I wouldn’t be the one playing the part of the prey.’

’To have unlocked the ”Lawless Madman” and ”Blood-and-Flesh Butcher” achievements in modern society... and that was while the higher-ups had sent three agents after me... If I truly let loose and played the villain, I could turn Jiangsan City’s vibrant future into a barren wasteland.’

Right now, Xu Huo was only afraid of one person. A face slowly materialized in his mind.

Thinking of this face, Xu Huo fell silent.

’This person... it’s like...’

’...we’re destined to clash!’

’I had a dream more than a decade ago that I’d completely forgotten myself, but this guy somehow managed to pop out of it...’

But he paused, shook his head, sighed, and said with a laugh:

”Not a big deal. It’s not like I’ll run into him anyway.”

”After all...”

”I’m going south, not north.”

’Xu Huo refused to believe...’

’...that with the entire Eastern Country between them...’

’...that guy could still bring him bad luck!’

’Besides... even if we do meet and something happens...’

’How bad could it be?’

’Give me a break. I just wrapped up the Sun Jian case. Could anything possibly be bigger than that?!’

’No sweat. It’s totally under control.’