"You call yourself a man? Seriously, you can't even open a bottle top by yourself."
"A real man should be muscular, look at my biceps."
"I am disappointed in you; how can you faint after running sixty meters?!"
Ever since a young age, Chi Di had always been ridiculed because of his small frame. He was so pretty that girls even felt threatened by his looks.
In his high school days, there was a saying: "If you give Chi Di a dress, he would be prettier than some of the top beauties."
"I hear you..."
That was all the young man could say against people who talked about his small physique. He had tried working out, yet, his body would easily give in.
His highest record in performing push-ups is 7!
Chi Di knew that since he wasn't a Book Lord's child, his chances of becoming one at the Golden Rain Festival when he would be 18 were less than 1%.
Hence, the young man focused on training his mind. This aspect proved to be his strong suit, and Chi Di loved it from the bottom of his heart.
He enlisted in the Acoustic City police intelligence division and, thanks to having pleasant recommendations from the university, was able to secure a good spot for himself in team SOS, led by Kang Yimo.
Over the years, Chi Di has proved himself and solved 80% of the cases team SOS was assigned to. In Kang Yimo's eyes, he was an asset they couldn't afford to lose.
Today was the day Chi Di made the greatest mistake in his life. He had driven all members of team SOS into their graves.
Regret.
Hatred.
Despair.
Chi Di felt all this in his heart. If only he were smarter, he would have realized that this was a trap from the beginning, but mostly he felt hatred towards the kidnapper.
It is all his fault!
His hatred was bigger than Mt. Everest on Earth, and shone over all the emotions in his heart. This is what he used to convince the police director into handing over the mission back to team SOS.
He had made a great contribution in revealing the kidnapper's plan, yet, Lang Yi wasn't satisfied with just only that.
Her boss' son was at stake; she needed to play it safe, or she would really lose her job. Worse, her family might be stripped of all their assets.
"I don't disapprove of your theory, but there is something unclear in my mind. The kidnapper might have wanted us to think that way. For all we know, he might be some Book Lord out there to get funds."
Min Yize looked at the woman with an even deeper gaze. Not only did her appearance allure him, but her mind was also brilliant, perfect for being a conglomerate's personal assistant.
He cleared the red on his cheeks by taking a sip of water, before supporting,
"I also think so, considering how crafty this person is. He might as well have used a grimoire to assist him. For all we know, he might even be listening to our conversation, laughing at us in his bed."
Kang Yimo nodded; she also had similar thoughts.
"Chi Di, do you have a way to confirm if he is a Book Lord or not? If he is, then he must be a Demonic Book Lord considering his actions, and we can only leave it to the lord Cultivators to finish him."
The man with pink hair and big eyelashes didn't reply and took a paper from his shirt's breast pocket, making his boss gaze at him in curiosity.
"What is that paper for?"
"It contains the kidnapper's cell number."
"What?!" Lang Yi was about to jump off from her seat and shout why such information was held by the police.
They could have used it to trace the kidnapper's location.
Min Yize was quick to stop her.
"This number was left in the Prado that crashed earlier under one of the wipers. We tried tracking it, but we never got a hint on the guy's location. The people at HQ are still working on it."
"I see." Lang Yi calmed down a bit.
She was still furious about not having the number. Progressive Housings Group had ways to track cell numbers even better than those used by the police.
"How are you going to use that number to figure out if the kidnapper is a Book Lord or not?"
Her suspicious gaze landed on the pretty boy sitting on the white sofa close to hers.
"I have met a lot of Book Lords and I know the way they speak. Through chatting with him, I can confirm his identity."
Chi Di didn't hesitate to call the number, and it was immediately answered by a calm robotic voice that had gone under a lot of modifications:
— "It is about time you called."
Lang Yi wanted to speak first, but Min Yize stopped her, signaling her that this matter was best left for Chi Di to handle.
...it was great for battling the emotions in his heart.
Even Kang Yimo approved of this, despite having hatred towards the kidnapper for killing her teammates.
"Kidnapper—no, murderer, do you want the money?"
— "What kind of stupid question is that?"
"Answer my question."
— "You, answer my questions."
"I am just trying to figure out your true motive for doing all this."
— "I am in desperate need of money, does that answer your question?"
"Progressive House Group has a net worth of 300 million spirit coins. Why did you ask for only 90 spirit coins if you needed money that much?"
Mickey raised a brow, as he stared at the cell where Chi Di's voice came from.
'This guy is probably trying to probe if I am a Book Lord or not... Interesting.'
Mickey curled up his lips as he looked at the bloodied body of Mo Bing who had collapsed thanks to his torturing.
— "It is so that they can replenish the money quickly, and I would do the same thing again in the future if I spent all the money."
"Do you think we would let you do that?"
— "I am sure you wouldn't, but I doubt that you will provide protection for the sons and daughters of conglomerates out there."
The two had similar expressions on their faces and didn't want to lose the confidence flashing in their eyes.
Similar minds think alike.
"Your words make sense, but what gives you the confidence that we won't catch you before then?"
— "If you could, you would have already. However, you can't! That's the truth your dead friends in hell already know."
All the police investigators in the room had furious expressions as they heard Mickey's words. It was a bland humiliation... like he was pissing on their wounds.
"Why did you kill them? And that Uber driver as well?"
— "The Uber driver's death was necessary for my plan to work, and about the police agents, I am really sorry for your loss. Every day someone dies and it was just their time to die."
Chi Di's expression darkened into a deep frown. The person standing beyond the cell was clearly a ruthless killer.
His voice became heavy,
"They had families, didn't you ever think how they would react if they found their dead?! Their kids are anxiously waiting for them to come home, yet they are not going to come, because... you killed them!"
Mickey's smile deepened and he rested his back on his wooden chair.
'You lose! You shouldn't let your emotions cloud your judgment. Instead of trying to save Mo Bing, you are focused on capturing me, Tsk, tsk.'
— "Eh, you can only blame them for making their families worry. Why did they even become police agents if they cared about their families?"
Mickey's words carried the hidden meaning, "If you want to chase after me, you better not have someone you cherish, or be prepared to lose them."
Chi Di sighed; he could already guess this. He was angry to the point he wanted to actually kill Mickey, but he hated the thought of turning into such an emotionless monster.
"Sorry for bothering you."
He immediately hung up; he didn't want to hear any more words from such a person.
"How can a mortal be so heartless? He is definitely a Demonic Book Lord." Lang Yi had an ashen expression, her heart was in her hand, she didn't want anything to do with this curse.
"I agree..." The other two police agents agreed.
They were scared shirtless.
...such a person could even come to their doorsteps and kill them if they messed with him.
Chi Di begged to differ with the group's judgment,
"He is a mortal."
Everyone looked at him with wide-open eyes that screamed.
"Are you serious?!"
Chi Di took a glass of water, his body was boiling with anger;
"Book Lords typically refer to spirit coins as 'resources.' Although spirit coins don't provide as much Qi as spirit crystals, they still hold value for Book Lords. Notably, the murderer consistently used the term 'money,' which is a colloquialism used by mortals to refer to spirit coins. Furthermore, his statement about repeating the crime in the future suggests that he might be an ex-convict who has returned from jail and is seeking funds to start anew."
Everyone looked at Chi Di with awareness in their eyes. They had overlooked these facts and just wanted to leave the heavy job to the Book Lords.
In their minds, they had a similar thought:
We are dealing with a Sociopath!