30. Investigation

The Regulatory Investigation Bureau of Planet D618 is located in the central district, quite a distance from Starry Luo Bay in District D, where Ning Xuan resides. Chen Nan and Ning Xuan took an autonomous flying vehicle to the central area. The Bureau, tasked with regional security, holds full law enforcement authority.

Ning Xuan's residence is equipped with a security system. Although it is not of a high grade, it is under the protection of the Bureau. Theoretically, if the system were breached, an alarm would trigger automatically, and the Bureau would receive the alert. Yet last night, despite an assassin breaking in, the security system showed no reaction. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that a D-grade security system is simply too low-level.

After parking the vehicle, Chen Nan dragged the assassin into the lobby of the Bureau. Having not slept all night, and uncertain whether the assassin’s origin had any connection to his father, his expression was grim. As an S+ ranked combatant who had survived the horrors of the beast battlefields, his dark demeanor exerted immense pressure on the uniformed investigators who hurried out to meet them.

"Who is in charge here? This scoundrel broke into my home yesterday to commit murder; my bond-holder was nearly killed by him. I demand you identify him as quickly as possible! Does he have accomplices? Who ordered this?" Chen Nan scanned the investigators.

"General, please calm down; we will investigate immediately!" A middle-aged officer in a black uniform and police cap, holding a black baton, recognized Chen Nan and spoke with great deference. "Officer Xie, take the culprit inside immediately and collect his genetic data," he ordered his subordinate.

"Officer Zhao, also collect samples from his ability manifestation—this black snake," Chen Nan said, tossing the creature's corpse forward. Zhao Shilin had already noticed the meter-long, arm-thick black snake. He had assumed it was a beast killed by Chen Nan, not realizing it was the assassin's manifested ability. Once an ability manifests, it possesses great vitality; even if severely wounded and near death, it can usually return to the spirit controller to recover. It was rare for a manifested ability to die outright.

Zhao Shilin took the snake, noting the fine patterns on its skin and the dense scales on its underbelly and wings. There was a clean wound on the abdomen, stained with dried blood. He handed it to Xie Yi with instructions to examine it thoroughly.

"Officer Zhao, I was attacked in my home late last night. Could you please check if my security system’s alarm protocols are functioning correctly?" Ning Xuan, feeling slightly dizzy after exiting the vehicle, had arrived a moment later. Seeing her, Chen Nan immediately softened his posture and stood respectfully behind her, revealing her identity as the bond-holder Chen Nan had mentioned.

"You are too kind. It is our dereliction of duty that we failed to detect the anomaly, leaving you in danger. I will have my team investigate immediately. If you wish to see the details, please accompany me to the surveillance room," Zhao Shilin replied respectfully. Ning Xuan, surprised by his courtesy, agreed. She knew a D-grade system couldn't stop a C-grade controller, but it should have at least sounded an alarm or shown signs of being bypassed.

"Miss Ning, your security system was not attacked, and there is no sign of authorization tampering," an investigator noted.

"Wait, look here!"

"He used a Star-Concealment Stone! No wonder he bypassed the sensors; that is a natural-born jammer!" The investigators analyzed the footage frame by frame until they found the image of the assassin entering the home.

"Miss Ning, who have you offended? A Star-Concealment Stone is a precious resource; its value alone is worth a home on an A-grade planet," one investigator remarked sympathetically. Ning Xuan looked at the glowing stone in the assassin's hand on the screen. She already had it in her possession; she had thought it merely pretty, never imagining it was so valuable.

The security system was intact, proving the Bureau had not failed; the assassin had simply spent an exorbitant amount to bypass it. Meanwhile, after collecting the genetic data, Chen Nan discovered the assassin was not in the database and carried no personal computing device, making identification impossible.

When informed, Ning Xuan turned to Zhao Shilin: "Officer Zhao, do you have advanced interrogation methods, like hypnosis, to extract information?"

"We can try, Miss Ning. But since his ability manifestation is dead, he may not survive intense interrogation or hypnosis. If he dies, the trail goes cold," Zhao warned, glancing at Chen Nan. In truth, the assassin was already fading.

Ning Xuan, skilled in alchemy and medicine, had ordered a set of gold needles online after the attack, which had arrived that morning. "Officer Zhao, I can stabilize him first," she said. Drawing from her training in Earth-based acupuncture, she knew a technique to stimulate the body's latent vitality, allowing for a temporary burst of energy and alertness lasting up to three days. She had mastered this emergency technique long ago and decided to practice on the assassin.

"Very well, please proceed," Zhao agreed, leading her to the holding cell. The assassin had regained consciousness, clutching his dead snake in despair. Seeing Ning and Chen, his bloodshot eyes burned with malice. "Witch, don't be smug. Once I die today, you won't live much longer either!"