Chapter 12: The Murder Case

“ I hope they are really willing to help and not just offer polite words,” Colton said.

They walked out of the elevator, their figures blending into the crowd on the street.

Meanwhile, in the living room of the Clovver Mercenary Group's headquarters, everyone was looking at Mo Ying.

“We need to decide whether Mo Ying stays or goes; this is part of our previous agreement,” Yvette said.

“Let's hear your opinion first, Mo Ying. Do you want to join us?” Yvette asked.

“Although we've only known each other for a few days, I feel like you’re all interesting and strong people. I believe you could be dependable partners, so I’m willing to join,” Mo Ying nodded.

“Now, let's hear everyone else’s thoughts,” Yvette said. “Kagumo, Mo Ying was brought here by you, so it's your decision.”

“I’d like to hear Ansel’s opinion,” Kagumo said.

“I’ll defer to Davis,” Ansel tossed the question to Davis.

“I’ll respect our leader’s decision,” Davis flipped the question back to Ivette.

“I think if no one has any objections, it’s fine,” Yvette said, offering a rather useless conclusion.

“Mo Ying, what do you think?” Yvette asked.

Mo Ying: ... Why am I the one who’s being tossed around like a hot potato?

“Sorry, I’ll just leave,” Mo Ying chose to turn and walk away.

But Kagumo grabbed her. “Don’t leave, it was just a joke. Everyone really welcomes you.”

Yvette took out an envelope containing a stack of cash. “This is your reward for this mission. Sorry for the joke earlier. I’ve added a little extra as a token of appreciation.”

Mo Ying stopped, turned back, and took the envelope. “It’s fine, I was just joking too. So, am I officially a member of the mercenary group now?”

Yvette smiled sincerely. “Of course. To celebrate the new member joining, let’s go out for a big meal tonight!”

They went to a nearby steakhouse and shared their affinities on the way there.

Kagumo was Life + Radiance, but focused on purification and healing. Ansel was Harmony. Davis was Chaos, and Yvette was War.

“I’m also War affinity,” Mo Ying said.

“Fancy that,” Yvette replied.

The War affinity was related to flames, weapons, etc., essentially a combat-type affinity, which fit the name perfectly.

At the steakhouse, Ansel unapologetically ordered the most expensive set.

“After all, Yvette’s paying,” Ansel said.

“You brat,” Yvette shook her head with a shrug.

“This place even has a double combo!” Kagumo exclaimed, looking at the menu. “I’ll have steak and chicken, eating more might make me taller.”

“You... haven’t given up on growing taller yet?” Mo Ying asked.

“Studies show that even as an adult, there’s still a chance to grow taller!” Kagumo nodded seriously.

“Oh...” Kagumo’s height seemed the same as three years ago, but Mo Ying didn’t crush her dreams.

“Kagumo has a strange obsession with height. I’ll go with two double combos,” Davis said.

“Originally Kagumo didn’t care, but she measured her height once and found it was 149. She was really upset and wanted to make up that extra centimeter to reach 150,” Ansel said, then secretly laughed.

“It’s 149.5!” Kagumo emphasized, the decimal point was very important!

So it was about pride, that extra centimeter. Mo Ying understood. For height, even the decimal point mattered.

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“I think something similar happened to me,” Mo Ying recalled her school days.

“Hmm? You were also one centimeter short of 150?” Kagumo asked.

“Ah, I measured twice back then, both times it was 169.9. Quite annoying,” Mo Ying said.

Kagumo: ... She shouldn’t have asked! Damn it, she was so mad!

Yvette watched the three of them argue about height and couldn’t help but smile. Well, if height could be distributed, this world would be a lot more peaceful, right?

But alright, let’s leave height aside. In this world, it’s impossible for there to be no conflict. As long as humans have desires, conflict will never cease. Right now, in the shadows, a new conflict is brewing.

A historian who had just returned from a business trip turned on the light, placed his suitcase aside, and took off his suit jacket.

“It’s midnight, wow, it’s already so late!” The historian looked at the time on his phone and exclaimed.

He decided to quickly shower and then sleep off the fatigue from his trip.

The historian entered the bathroom, then... never came out, leaving only bloodstains on the door.

A police officer opened the door, accompanied by two Special Operations members.

“The body is in the bathroom,” the officer said.

Colton and Amanda entered the bathroom. The body had been removed, and the forensic team was gathering evidence. The bathroom wasn’t big, so it was a bit crowded with three people.

Amanda realized this and stepped back. “Colton, I’ll leave this to you.”

Colton stood still, closed his eyes, then opened them again.

“The head was severed by a wind blade,” Colton said.

Colton Brown, a Special Operations member, an Omniscience affinity user, had the ability “Crime Scene,” which allowed him to know the circumstances of a crime when it occurred. This ability helped solve numerous cases, even setting the record for the fastest case solved—he cracked the case in just three seconds.

As for the type of “case” that triggers his ability, it’s limited to two: murder and assault, meaning there must be at least two people, and one must harm the other to activate his power.

Also, this ability doesn’t always reveal the killer, as the killer may not be at the scene. For this murder case, Colton could only see the wind blade that flew in.

“Where did the wind blade come from? We’re on the fifth floor,” Amanda asked.

“Hm...” Colton used his ability again and said, “From the window. The bathroom window is usually open for ventilation.”

“The window? But the window is small. If someone can manipulate air, maybe they condensed a mass of air into the window, and then it transformed into a shape capable of killing,” Amanda speculated while looking at the window.

“That’s likely. I saw air flowing into the window, and then the wind blade appeared,” Colton nodded.

“Affiniter user committed the crime, the third one this month,” Amanda said.

“From the manner of death, I can tell it’s a different affinity, so it’s probably a different person. It’s very rare for one person to have three affinities, and I suspect they’re working together,” Colton sighed.

“Why?”

“Didn’t we analyze it before? The common point of the previous victims was that they had just returned from another location, and they all visited Zeferia within a month,” Colton said. “And this one just came back from a business trip too. We’ll investigate if he went to Zephyria in the past month, and we’ll confirm if this was a targeted murder.”

“Zephyria, I’ve been there. It’s a beautiful place, and many artists and scholars were born there. Oh! Dr. Theodore Kennedy also comes from there,” Amanda remembered the scholar.

Theodore Kennedy, a well-known scholar with outstanding achievements in many fields, was also an Omniscience affinity user. More importantly, he was a demigod. Unfortunately, he was currently missing, and some speculated that he might be dead.

“Yeah, I wonder what connection this place has with the murders,” Colton sighed.

“I just thought of something, something we’ve mentioned before,” Amanda snapped her fingers.

“You mean, at the time of the crime, the killer wasn’t present at the scene,” Colton realized. These three cases all involved killers using abilities to kill from a distance.

“They know about your ability, so they didn’t show up,” Amanda said. Colton’s ability was a nemesis to criminals, but for certain affinity users, it was almost useless.

Colton’s ability was kept secret because it was too powerful, and since Colton didn’t have combat abilities, revealing it would endanger him and make criminals wary.

These criminals with abilities seemed to know this. The person behind it is not simple.

At this point, Amanda’s phone pinged with a message. After reading it, she frowned. “Good news, this historian did indeed visit Zephyria three weeks ago. Bad news, I have to work overtime today.”

The two exchanged glances and sighed. They didn’t want to work overtime.

Suddenly, Colton had an idea. “I’ve come up with a good way to ease the burden on our department.”

Meanwhile, Yvette, who had just completed an easy commission, happily picked up her phone and saw the message Colton sent her. Her expression shifted slightly, and she sighed lightly before putting the phone down without replying.

“Kagumo, when does the movie start?” Ansel asked.

“At 8 PM,” Kagumo replied.

To thank them for saving Jason, Chairman Clovver gave them a reward and also handed them five movie tickets.

Later, Mo Ying discovered by accident that these five tickets were from a theater run by one of Clovver Group’s subsidiaries and were unsold, thinking the chairman was quite dismissive.

“If you’re going to give a gift, give tickets for the most popular movies right now,” Ansel complained after learning this.

“I’ve never heard of this movie. Is it good?” Davis asked, puzzled as he looked at the movie title.

“It’s free anyway. If we don’t like it, we can leave. No loss,” Yvette said, smiling.

At the same time, the black cat, Shadow, in her cat nest meowed twice, startling Kagumo.

“Wow! So you were here. Black cats really know how to play hide and seek,” Kagumo crouched down and looked at the cat nest, then stood up to get the cat food. “Got it, I won’t forget your dinner.”

Then the five of them went to the cinema.

Little Theater:

Mo Ying: Maybe I should just leave.

Ivette: Uses cash ability.

Mo Ying: Okay, I’ll stay. I can’t help it, she gave too much.