Chapter 97: The

The name of the young man that had entered the bookstore was Sander Lyon, a third-class police officer of the Supreme Police Unit.

Even though there wasn't any real distinction between the Upper and Central District police units, the Supreme Police Unit directly governed by the Central District was naturally of a higher grade than the periphery police units.

The Supreme Police Unit represented the will of the Central District's big shots. Those that could get posted there were either very capable or had some connections.

Thus, this led to police officers of the Supreme Police Unit having an air of natural haughtiness when they were dispatched out.

Even though it wasn't to the extent of arrogance, at the very least, they never felt like they were servicing the people of the Upper District.

The ones they served were the authority wielders and nobles of the Central District.

And only their orders would be obeyed.

Therefore, it was natural that these police officers didn't have much patience when dealing with the poor or ordinary citizens of the Upper District.

This was especially so for Lyon, who was from a noble family clan that wasn't on the decline and had their own property and business.

Moreover, those with his sort of family background would have access to some inside information— This incident wasn't something that the police unit could pursue or resolve.

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Their mission was just to represent the Central District's 'strong and efficient' attitude and placate these residents of the Upper District.

In other words, just a mere formality.

Twelve hours ago, Lyon and his colleagues were still idly chatting about their plans to visit a club tonight.But in the blink of an eye, they ended up being dispatched to get tied up in this wet and dirty Upper District.

This sort of task was strenuous, unrewarding, and a huge waste of time.

Lyon just wanted to complete this pointless task and rush home for a hot shower to wash away all the dirt and mud on his body...

Lyon was even starting to feel like it was getting hard to breathe. Being wrapped by this clammy and dusty air was just like that popular food item in the Northern Highlands... Right, just like a sticky rice dumpling!

Heh, this goddamn assignment. I won't ever need to come back to this street and waste my time running around like a sheepdog once I get promoted to a first-class officer.

"Speaking of which, isn't this the street where the gas explosion occurred?"

Lyon's attention was captured by the 'devastation' at the side of this street when he arrived. One side of the street was just like any other disorderly street, while the other side was in complete ruins. The yellow cordon plastered around it was swaying in the wind.

One of the subordinate police officers answered, "Yes, it's the incident reported in the Norzin Daily about half a month back."

"Half a month ago?" Lyon raised his chin and said with an air of superiority, "And it's still in this state. That's just how efficient the Upper District is."

The two police officers from the Upper District exchanged glances but didn't reveal that the devastation had drawn a lot of media coverage to satisfy the Central District's recent lack of entertainment news in the past month, leading to the reconstruction works being delayed.

It was only till Rolle Corporation got the contract recently did these works begin.

Therefore, the reason for the inefficiency at reconstructing this area was actually because of those people from the Central District.

Of course, these two didn't say anything about the matter so as to not offend this superior. Otherwise, they would suffer in the future or even lose their badge.

"Let's go on. So that means we only have to question the remaining half of the shops on this street," Lyon said in satisfaction. "This means our work gets much easier."

Truth be told, this sort of work was already undeniably relaxed.

When dispatched to the Upper District, Lyon only received looks of reverence. Those citizens would all pander to him obediently in fear of being investigated.

Just a simple question would get them to spill the beans on everything that went on in their household and Lyon was praised so much that he found it annoying.

The most ridiculous thing was the boss of an audio-visual store.

He actually claimed that the boss of the neighboring bookstore could have possibly been replaced with some sort of evil entity.

"The boss of that store is an evil spirit!

"He can pass through walls and do terrifying feats with just a thought," The middle-aged man called Colin rambled. His expression was dead serious as his voice trembled ever so slightly. "A few days ago, in the wee hours of the morning, I heard him using an electric saw... maybe it was to cut human bones or flesh. It was extremely frightening and he was even laughing maniacally. I think that he might try to kill me at any time..."

One of the police officers commented jokingly, "Perhaps you should seek out the church to settle your problem."

"I've already done so!" Colin felt exasperated towards the three officers staring at him as though he was a retard. "Father is already on the way. He will come to help me out!"

"Alright, alright. Then just wait for the Father to come. This concludes our questioning.”

Clearly, the police officers treated this as a joke.

At first, Lyon still retained some vigilance, but when he asked Colin for evidence, this fellow had babbled nonsense about how the next-door boss absolutely had to be avoided, otherwise great misfortune would befall him.

This made Lyon suspect that this person's brain was wonky.

"That's just how people in the Upper District are…" muttered Lyon, shaking his head as he led his subordinates out.

He then glanced towards the bookstore next door.

He didn't know whether it was due to the babbling nonsense of Colin, but at this moment, Lyon sensed an indescribable allure coming from this rundown shopfront.

Whether it was the bronze bell hanging on the door or the dust-coated windows at the side.

Lyon told himself that this was just routine business and headed inside.

The bookstore owner seated behind the counter was even younger than he imagined. But unexpectedly, there was a store assistant at his side.

The store assistant appeared to be quite a young girl. There were some bandages wrapped around her face and body, seemingly recent injuries.

"I remember that the shop's information only showed one owner," Lyon said as he glimpsed through a file with basic information of all these shops.

The bookstore owner nodded and replied naturally, "She's an assistant I just hired. Business has gotten busy recently and I can't manage all by myself."

"Is that so? May I request for her identification documents or proof of residence? We have to make a record."

"That might be a little problematic," said the bookstore owner. "She's the daughter of a friend's relative and recently relocated from the Central District to here. I think you all should know how complicated the procedures of voluntarily converting from a noble family to an ordinary resident can be. It's currently still in processing so all the documents have been handed over at present."

"Oh... I've heard about situations like this before. But, what's up with the injuries on her body?"

"For that, I will have to talk about the extent of their family clan's decline..."

The bookstore owner cleared his throat, seemingly appearing like he was going to narrate a very long story.

The two police officers standing in front of the counter braced themselves, but their eyes were mesmerized by the brilliant red rose.

Lyon went deeper inside to survey the surroundings while casually remarking, "By the way, your next-door neighbor seems to have some prejudice against you. He thinks you are some sort of evil spirit."

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The bookstore owner was taken aback. "Evil spirit? I never knew that he actually viewed me this way. I previously helped him with some stuff but I never expected him to have such a great misunderstanding. How strange, he would know if he just thinks for a bit. How can I be an evil spirit?"

Lyon halted in his tracks as he suddenly spotted the faint, mottled bloodstains on the recliner chair.

A bone-chilling sensation suddenly came over him. He turned back abruptly only to see his two fellow officers had rooted on the spot as the flesh-and-blood-like petals of the countertop's rose bloomed, revealing a spiral of fine teeth and its sinister eyeball.

The bookstore owner behind the counter revealed a wide smile.

"I am... a real living person!"