[Corner] messaged back: "Fine. I take back what I said. But how will I get to see my nephew?"
"Finish the deal, and I'll send him back unharmed."
"If you want to ask the [Scent Tracker] from the police station to help find him, I don't mind. But I hope you're ready to bear the consequences."
"Are you threatening me?"
"This is just a suggestion, not a threat. By the way, I've sent a timed email about your little secret. If I don't get my business done this weekend, or if I die on the way to meet you, a lot of your colleagues will learn everything about you."
"You know how easy it is to find your colleagues' email addresses."
All personnel information for the Sequence Ability Administration Bureau was publicly available online—partly to facilitate public supervision, partly for general inquiries.
"You! You're utterly despicable!"
"It's just self-preservation. Unless, of course, you were planning to kill me tomorrow all along."
"Hmph. Your mind is full of disgusting thoughts!"
"Anything else to say?"
"One last demand: you must guarantee my nephew is unharmed. If not, I'll never let you get away with it."
"Agreed. I have a question for you too."
"Speak."
"Why keep such a foolish nephew around? If it weren't for him, you'd never have been exposed."
[Corner] did not answer the question. Their username faded to gray—they'd logged off.
Qin Siyang shrugged. "What a cold-hearted chief."
Still, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. His plan to forge a Sequence ability was finally taking shape. All he had to do was meet Qian Wendao tomorrow and iron out the details, and his troubles would be all but over. A new chapter of his life was about to begin.
"For the first time in a while, my heart feels light."
He was about to leave when he suddenly heard Wang Defa's panicked shout from outside: "Officers! It's so late, my café's about to close! What are you doing here again?!"
A police raid?!
Wang Defa was yelling to warn him, and Qin Siyang understood at once.
He hastily cleared his browser history, then reached for the surveillance footage interface—only to freeze.
The screen was pitch black.
Wang Defa had turned off the surveillance cameras!
"Damn it! That cheapskate skimps on even a little electricity bill!"
"I don't even know where the switch is!"
If the police noticed the unlocked warehouse door and walked in now, seeing him staring at a black screen, they'd definitely get suspicious.
As Qin Siyang's anxiety spiked, the worst-case scenario happened.
The warehouse door creaked open—and it wasn't Wang Defa who stepped inside.
A silver-haired elder in plain clothes, a thick scarf wrapped around his neck and a cigar clamped between his teeth, pushed the door open and entered. His eyes locked onto Qin Siyang with a sharp, scrutinizing gaze.
Qin Siyang met his stare, his face contorted into a mask of panic. He wasn't actually that flustered, but he knew a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy should look terrified at a sudden intrusion—and so he put on the act perfectly.
A heavy silence fell over the warehouse, broken only by the sound of footsteps outside and the faint crackle of the elder's burning cigar.
Moments later, several more figures filed in, all in police uniforms.
"Inspector Orlov! What brings you here?" one of the officers asked.
"This warehouse is always locked. Today it's open. I thought I'd take a look—see if we get lucky," the elder replied.
Orlov?
Was this the very detective Roylena had warned him about?
If that cunning woman thought he was formidable, this Orlov was certainly no pushover.
A master's skill is apparent at a single glance.
In the split second their eyes had met, Qin Siyang had known the old man would be a tough nut to crack. He'd never imagined it would be Orlov himself.
Why was the inspector leading a raid on an internet café in the middle of the night? Was it about the three bodies in the alley? The stolen god's remains? Or both?
Qin Siyang's heart sank, and he tensed up, every nerve on edge, ready to face whatever came next.
At that moment, Wang Defa squeezed his way into the warehouse, forcing an ingratiating smile at Orlov. "Inspector! What are you investigating this time?"
"Don't move," Orlov ordered, ignoring Wang Defa and addressing Qin Siyang directly.
Qin Siyang obeyed, pulling his hands away from the mouse and keyboard, leaving only a blank desktop with no open programs on the screen.
Orlov stepped up to him, glanced at the desktop, then opened the browser—only to find the history cleared. His gaze turned razor-sharp as he looked back at Qin Siyang.
"What were you doing sitting here?"
"I… uh… I was just…"
Qin Siyang stammered, trailing off without finishing his sentence.
Orlov studied him, his eyes flicking down to notice his loose belt. "Were you watching porn?"
Qin Siyang pretended he couldn't bear to meet Orlov's eyes, dropping his head at once.
Loosening his belt was the only move he could make in an instant—and it was exactly the illusion he wanted to create: that he'd been browsing pornographic websites and deleted the history to hide it.
"Is this warehouse and computer yours?"
Orlov did not press the issue of the porn. Instead, he fired off another question, changing the subject entirely.
Qin Siyang's heart skipped a beat.
This old man was even more difficult to deal with than he'd thought. Not a single bit of his act had distracted him—he remained cold, calm, and utterly objective.
"I-it's not," Qin Siyang mumbled timidly. "This… this is Wang Defa's warehouse."
Wang Defa froze for a split second when Qin Siyang named him. He'd half-expected Qin Siyang to claim the warehouse as his own, to send the police away. But a moment's thought told him that lie would be full of holes, only drawing more suspicion.
Why lie when the truth was safer?
Wang Defa stepped forward quickly. "This warehouse is mine, Inspector."
"Yours? What do you use it for?"
Wang Defa let out a nervous chuckle. "I… I use it to monitor the surveillance cameras."
"Surveillance?" Orlov spotted the surveillance icon on the desktop and clicked it—only to be met with a black screen.
"Why is it black?"
"You know how it is, Inspector—small business, tight margins. If nothing's going on, we turn the cameras off to save electricity and cut costs. I know it's against the rules, and I promise to mend my ways! I'll never do it again!"
Still, Orlov did not take the bait. He seemed utterly uninterested in Wang Defa's rule-breaking.
And for good reason.
Wang Defa ran this café with a long list of illegal activities under his belt. Turning off the surveillance cameras was the least of his sins.
There was only one thing he cared about: whether the young man in front of him had any connection to the stolen god's remains case.
Orlov picked up a water glass from the table, tapped the ash off his cigar into it, and took two slow puffs.
The entire time, his eyes never left Qin Siyang. That gaze sent a shiver down Qin Siyang's spine, reminding him of the feeling of being watched by the gods outside his window at home—as if he was being sized up as prey, ready to be devoured whole.
Orlov said not a word, yet in the dim, dark warehouse, Qin Siyang felt a crushing sense of suffocation.
Fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, a mix of fear and guilt etched on his face.
This time, it was no act.