Chapter 209

“Hmm?”

Seeing Fang Li gazing intently at his cell phone without speaking, Aria couldn’t help but voice her confusion, “What happened?”

Fang Li didn’t answer but instead turned his cell phone toward Aria, allowing her to see the opened SMS message.

“Beautiful fireworks will bloom over the night ocean.”

“Will this spectacle be enough to invite the famous detective’s partner to a Banquet?”

“—Butei Assassin.”

“What…?!” Aria was taken aback.

In this situation, Fang Li retrieved his cell phone and calmly said, “It seems this is the next criminal announcement.”

“Aria, we have a job to do now.”

Hearing this, Aria’s charming expression gradually turned serious, and her crimson eyes welled up with determination.

…

There was no doubt that Fang Li and Aria would not be able to attend their specialized classes.

However, that wasn’t of great importance. After all, they could earn the necessary credits for their specialized classes by completing Commissioned Missions. With their ranks, completing a few high-difficulty missions would easily earn them enough credits.

So, not attending the specialized classes only meant a bit less time for training for Fang Li and Aria.

Thus, Fang Li and Aria headed back home.

As they walked along the street toward their dormitory, Aria asked while keeping pace with Fang Li, “Are we just heading back to the dormitory-like this?”

“Then what else should we do?” Fang Li replied directly. “Since that Butei Assassin dared to send an SMS openly, it means they are confident it won’t expose them. Going to Connect to have someone trace the sender probably won’t yield much.”

“Yesterday, we completed the Equipment Department’s purchases, and Informa probably won’t be of much help, given the limited clues,” Fang Li explained. “In that case, we might as well do some reasoning ourselves.”

“Reasoning…” Aria seemed to be struck at her weak point, lowering her head in frustration. “But I’m really bad at reasoning.”

“That’s why you have me as your partner, right?” Fang Li couldn’t help but extend his hand, patting Aria’s head and smiling. “Or do you think it would be better to ask a higher-ranking Butei from Inquesta? If you prefer that, we can change our plan, you know?”

“No need. I believe in your abilities.” Aria raised her head, looking at Fang Li with a charming and innocent smile. “Because you’re my partner.”

“Is that so?” Fang Li couldn’t help but laugh.

Shortly afterward, Aria realized that Fang Li was still patting her head, causing her to blush, and quickly performed the “one-hand, rapid red-face technique,” deftly avoiding Fang Li’s touch, which made him chuckle once again.

Soon, the two returned to the room in the third male dormitory.

“Kacha…”

With a soft opening of the door, they entered the room, taking off their shoes at the entrance hall.

After changing into slippers, Fang Li immediately headed to the living room, tossed his backpack onto the sofa, and then sat down at the glass table, opening his laptop computer.

Aria asked straightforwardly, “What should we do now?”

“It’s simple.” Fang Li opened his computer while taking out his cell phone and showing her the SMS from Buteiassassin, saying, “First, we need to find out where Butei Assassin will commit the crime.”

“Crime site?” Aria picked up her cell phone and stared at the SMS and muttered, “The SMS only mentions the ocean, so the crime site is on the sea, in other words?”

“But this is an artificial island, surrounded by the sea. We need to narrow down the area.” Fang Li began typing on his laptop computer’s keyboard and said to Aria, “Actually, the SMS is quite clear.”

“The SMS mentions both the ocean and a banquet. So, naturally, we would think of some kind of event taking place on the sea.”

“And since the Butei Assassin targets transportation vehicles, this event must be something that can take place on a certain type of transport.”

“The only transportation that can host events on the sea is undoubtedly a large oil tanker.”

“Moreover, the SMS mentions ‘Night.’ We just need to search online to see if there are any large oil tankers hosting events at night recently. That should help us pinpoint Butei Assassin’s crime site, and if all goes well, we might even determine the time of the crime.”

“Is that so?” Aria said with some relief. “So that’s why you chose to come back to the dormitory directly?”

“After all, with this kind of information, we only need to do a quick search online. No need to spend money to get help from Informa or Inquesta.” Fang Li continued typing skillfully on the keyboard as he spoke. “And besides, that Butei Assassin mentioned inviting a famous detective’s partner in the SMS. If they are this bold in provoking us, we can’t just run to others for help, right?”

“You really have a somewhat childish side.” Aria transferred her gaze to Fang Li’s face and smiled happily. “But I don’t hate it.”

“Oh?” Fang Li glanced at Aria, showing a faint smile. “So, can I take that to mean you really like me?”

“Li… Like?!” Aria’s face turned red in an instant, and she flailed her arms and legs, shouting, “I-I don’t! It’s not like that! It has nothing to do with liking!”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Fang Li was also accustomed to Aria’s reactions. He quickly caught on to her rhythm with just a few words.

Before long, Fang Li found the information he needed and stopped typing on the keyboard.

Aria glared at Fang Li furiously but still raised her eyes to look at the computer interface.

On the screen, there was a webpage with the following piece of news.

“Large oil tanker Martya Maritime has been fully completed and is now officially in operation. The organizers will hold an opening dance party on the tanker on April 18, inviting major companies on Academy Island to participate.”

Seeing this news, Fang Li and Aria looked at each other.

“Besides this opening dance party, there won’t be any similar events in the near future,” Fang Li said. “Moreover, the location is on Academy Island, and the invitation is for us. What do you think, Aria?”

“Do you even need to ask?” Aria said without hesitation.

“That’s more like it!”