Chapter 135: A Compromise Proposal

When Katerina came to visit Chang Yu, he was having breakfast at home with Yang Yang.

Their breakfast was simple—boiled noodles accompanied by two salted duck eggs.

Frugal yet filled with the warmth of home.

“Want to eat some together?” Chang Yu invited her as he looked at Katerina.

“We only have ten minutes to eat,” Katerina said without hesitation, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and a bowl from the kitchen and scooping some noodles from the pot.

“What happened?” Chang Yu asked.

“Two investigators sent by the bureau to investigate the disaster went missing. The incident occurred right at that school you mentioned last time,” Katerina replied concisely.

“The bureau has assigned our team to handle this. We must bring those two investigators back—alive if possible, but if they’re dead, we need their bodies.”

“So the school really has a problem, huh?” Chang Yu understood immediately.

“Do we know the disaster level they encountered?” he inquired further.

Katerina paused for a moment. “Both investigators sent to the school were Level D.”

“Whoever took them down is very likely Level C,” Chang Yu concluded.

“Have you contacted Shi Chengjin and Feng Sanpao?” Chang Yu slurped his noodles and continued.

“Yes, they’ll gather at the school’s main gate and wait for us there.”

“Going with you to fight the disaster isn’t a problem; it’s my job,” Chang Yu said, taking another bite of noodles.

“But I have to take Yang Yang to kindergarten first—it’s his first day.”

“For a child just starting kindergarten, today is an important day. I don’t want to miss this memorable moment.”

“All right,” Katerina considered and said, “It won’t take more than a few minutes to drop him off anyway.”

“Great!” Chang Yu hastened his slurping, making the bowls clatter loudly.

“Yang Yang, finish your breakfast quickly. It’s your first day of school—you really can’t be late,” Chang Yu reminded him.

“Actually, it wouldn’t matter if I started a day later,” Yang Yang said, his big eyes pleading as he looked at Chang Yu. “I could go fight monsters with you guys, just like Ultraman on TV.”

Seeing the excitement in Yang Yang’s eyes, Chang Yu thought to himself, could this kid be treating fighting disasters like a child’s game?

“That won’t do. Saving the world is an adult’s responsibility. Your job as a child is to study well,” Katerina spoke up before Chang Yu could reply.

They drove with Katerina and Yang Yang, passing by a kindergarten named Prince and Princess Kindergarten.

Chang Yu helped Yang Yang out of the car and handed him a prepared backpack.

Inside were his pencil case, notebooks for writing and drawing, scissors for crafts, a fruit box, and a water bottle.

Chang Yu found the kindergarten principal and personally watched as the principal took Yang Yang to the middle class and handed him over to the teacher—only then did he feel at ease.

Yang Yang was the perfect age for the middle class.

“Be good, don’t be naughty, and don’t cause trouble for the teachers. I’ll come pick you up tonight,” Chang Yu said.

“Also...” Chang Yu leaned close to Yang Yang’s ear and whispered, “Don’t use your superpowers in front of the teachers and classmates.”

“And don’t tell them your real identity. From now on, you’re just an ordinary five-year-old child, not some ancient cultivator named Fu Ling, understand?”

...

When Chang Yu and Katerina arrived at the high school gate, Shi Chengjin and Feng Sanpao were already waiting.

Shi Chengjin looked the same as ever, dressed in old-fashioned street vendor clothes and wearing slippers, giving off a shabby vibe.

Feng Sanpao, however, was not wearing his favorite blue-and-white striped patient uniform but instead donned the armor he had obtained from the swindler Hu last time.

Perhaps because they were going on a mission, Feng Sanpao wore the helmet-less armor, worried about getting hurt.

Though this armor was made of ordinary steel without special powers, having it was better than nothing, so Feng Sanpao was particularly fond of it.

“Sasiga, Sakura, you’re here,” Feng Sanpao greeted warmly upon seeing them.

About ten meters from Shi Chengjin, Chang Yu began to smell the nauseating, distinctive scent of Shi Chengjin’s drunkenness.

“Sanpao, did you take your medicine today?” Chang Yu asked anxiously, holding his slightly dizzy forehead.

The last incident had left a deep impression on him.

Now, whenever he saw Feng Sanpao, he recalled the scene of Feng wielding a kitchen knife and chasing everyone around the house.

He feared Feng might be unstable again today and hadn’t taken his medication.

“Don’t worry, I took my medicine today, so I won’t lose control easily,” Feng scratched his head awkwardly, messing up his already messy hair.

“That’s a relief,” Chang Yu said. “I don’t want my teammate to suddenly cause trouble while I’m fighting the disaster.”

Shi Chengjin, unusually serious, began, “According to the latest information from the bureau, the last known location of those two Level D investigators before they disappeared was outside the school’s men’s restroom.”

“I have the last second of audio they transmitted before their disappearance. It proves they were indeed attacked by the disaster.”

He pulled out his phone and played the recording in front of everyone.

“Disaster... it’s a disaster!” The voice of Investigator A echoed hoarsely, filled with panic and urgency.

The sound was chilling, making one feel suffocated and tense.

Then, chaotic noise followed with no more human voices—presumably the moment they encountered disaster.

“How did we get this recording?” Chang Yu asked curiously.

They were busy fighting the disaster; who had time to record and send back audio?

Did they tell the disaster, “Excuse me, please wait, I need to finish this first before continuing the fight”?

“Don’t you know? The bureau-issued phones have monitoring systems,” Shi Chengjin explained matter-of-factly.

“This recording wasn’t deliberately sent by Investigator A before his death but was the last thing the bureau intercepted.”

“Based on this, the bureau assumed Investigator A and Investigator B were killed.”

“Phones can be used like that?” Chang Yu marveled, feeling his worldview shift.

It seemed the bureau’s strict procedures had their benefits—when investigators faced danger, the bureau could learn what was happening around them as quickly as possible.

“Since everyone’s here, let’s go inside,” Katerina nodded.

“No use. We’ve tried already. The gatekeeper won’t let us in,” Feng Sanpao said indignantly.

Clearly, he and Shi Chengjin had just experienced the same fate as Investigators A and B.

“It’s fine,” Katerina said calmly after hearing Feng’s remark.

“Before coming here, I notified the school leaders in the name of the police department.”

“We just need to tell the gatekeeper we're police sent to investigate a criminal case.”

With that, Katerina approached the wary gatekeeper.

“Hello, we are from the Public Security Bureau, here to investigate a criminal case. Please cooperate with us.”

(The chapter ends here.)