Chapter 31 No way? I've never heard of someone going to jail for picking up trash! ...
Even after sitting on the cold, uncomfortable metal chair in the interrogation room for a full half hour, Pei Qing still couldn't figure out how she had gotten in.
At that moment, dozens of dark laser cannons were pointed at her in unison, causing her to momentarily lose her composure: Had she really done something shocking, earth-shattering, and outrageous without her knowledge?
Pei Qing tried hard to recall what she was supposed to do after leaving the hotel. Oh, right, before she even had time to think about what to do, her old, secondhand terminal was stolen, and then…
Then she realized what was happening and quickly gave chase, all the way to that alley, where she found her broken terminal among a pile of body parts.
In this place, crime and bloodshed are commonplace. Every day, at least a hundred cases of varying sizes occur in each area, making it impossible to manage them all.
These cases shouldn't warrant such a fuss from these incompetent law enforcement officers. Yes, that's right, the most ridiculous thing is that there are even law enforcement officers here.
The only strange or bizarre thing was the unheard-of manner of their deaths, and there was no one around at the time except... Pei Qing, who 'coincidentally' ended up here because his terminal was stolen, and unfortunately became the only suspect.
Pei Qing curled her fingers, trying to find a more comfortable position. The law enforcement officers didn't even ask her a question before handcuffing her and throwing her into the interrogation room. She seriously suspected that these people were just desperate because they hadn't caught the real murderer, so they randomly arrested her as a scapegoat.
She recalled the outfits of the biker gang members. Those modified bikes looked expensive. Anyone who could afford to be a gambler here must be rich and powerful. Could it be some kind of revenge killing, and she just happened to stumble upon it?
It doesn't make logical sense at all. The most illogical thing is why they would steal her broken terminal! What did she do to deserve this?! I just don't understand, I really don't understand. What did she do to deserve getting involved in this mess? She could be resting at home right now!
Hmm? The sound of light footsteps was getting closer and closer. Pei Qing quickly sat up straight and listened carefully.
With a creak, the door was pushed open, followed by a few scattered, faint words, accompanied by a crackling sound. If Pei Qing's hearing hadn't become several times better than before, she might not have heard them at all.
"...Did you find the item?...%&..."
"#%...not on...him...missing..."
"...They're urging us...%& Hurry up..."
No matter how hard Pei Qing listened, she couldn't hear anything else because the person had shut up.
It seemed to be a sudden phone call. The other party must have a high position of authority, as there was a kind of condescending intimacy. The person answering outside the door spoke very cautiously, as if afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Pei Qian was inside the interrogation room, separated from the door by a wall. As the person approached, she leaned down onto the table, feigning exhaustion and impatience.
So something very important has gone missing, and it's related to those biker gang members. But those biker gang members are dead, the trail has gone cold, and I, who had interacted with them before their deaths, have become the only clue.
That makes sense now. No wonder they took her straight to the interrogation room. Were they going to torture her into confessing? She really didn't know anything! How could anyone be so unlucky? No, no, no, maybe things aren't so bad after all... While Pei Qing was still deep in thought, she suddenly felt the table in front of her head being hit twice. The strong vibrations instantly snapped her back to reality.
Due to his personality, Teres offended his superior last year and was demoted in name only. He was transferred from the prosecutor of the Judicial Yuan in the central region of a B-class planet to his current position as the administrative governor of this dilapidated planet that is not even a D-class planet.
Ha, what kind of governor does a broken planet that doesn't even have any subordinate agencies of the Judicial Council need? It's obviously just to disgust her!
Although the place was dilapidated, it was quite lucrative, with abundant resources. Even the ISET, which was highly sought after on higher-level planets, was very cheap. It could be resold on any planet of grade B or higher for dozens of times the profit, making Teres reluctant to leave. No, he should have wanted to make as much money as possible before leaving.
Once this case is closed, she should also receive the remaining payment from her last resource transaction (reselling). Over the past two years, she's bribed and greased many hands, especially in the energy sector. It's time for her to go back, and maybe she can even use this opportunity to make a good impression on that person.
Thinking of this, Tres smiled, his steps becoming more cheerful. His thick tail swept across, nearly knocking over the chair beside him. What? Don't be too greedy. Oh well, please, greed is an innate trait etched into the demon race, okay?
"Hello?" Pei Qing looked at the short, muscular, and strangely smiling woman A, who hadn't said a word after banging on the table, and couldn't help but wonder if there were any normal people left in this world.
After hesitating for a moment, she tentatively greeted her. Otherwise, Pei Qing was afraid she would keep laughing, which would be disastrous.
"Cough, cough," Tres said, his smile fading as he coughed lightly, his fist pressed against his lips. He had lost his composure.
She glanced disapprovingly at the table, which was almost as tall as her, and muttered something Pei Qing couldn't understand but that sounded like an insult, "Damn it..."
Then, she flicked the whip in her hand, which struck the ground with a dull thud. In an instant, Woman A shot onto the table like a cannonball.
Pei Qing then realized that her left forearm and the upper part of her right leg had been completely replaced with mechanical prosthetics, the sharp metal fingertips gleaming with a chilling light.
No wonder the sound of banging on the table was so heavy, Pei Qing belatedly realized.
"Let me introduce myself, Ms. Pei. My name is Teres, and I am the law enforcement officer in charge of this case, as well as the interrogator."
As she spoke, she flicked her long whip, the end of which struck an unidentified button on the wall. A screen of light slowly rose, displaying the entire scene inside the interrogation room.
Teres nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, everything you say from now on could become testimony in court, so please answer truthfully, carefully, and clearly."
Pei Qing nodded slightly in response.
"My first question is, why were you the only living person at the crime scene on the day of the incident?"
Okay, so this is how you handle the first question? Pei Qing took a deep breath. "You shouldn't even be asking me this question. I was just an innocent passerby who went to retrieve the terminal. By the time I got there, the person was practically dead. Why don't you check the surveillance footage?"
Tres casually crossed his legs, his metal fingertips tapping his mechanical thigh, his tail swishing back and forth. He didn't react much to the question, only nodding indifferently. "Hmm, that answer is acceptable. Okay, you pass."
"No, what do you mean by 'I'm done'? I'm telling the truth. Besides, why don't you check the surveillance footage? You'll understand as soon as you see it!" Pei Qing felt that this person's attitude was strange. She didn't seem to care about the interrogation results. Why was that?
Such perfunctory and childish behavior created an eerily relaxed atmosphere. The dimly lit interrogation room, coupled with the distorted light from the screen, made it seem like you were in a movie theater.
Teres stopped tapping, his smile vanished, and his tone became indifferent. "You think we didn't check? Coincidentally, the surveillance cameras in that area broke down a few days ago. Every single camera that could capture any footage, even just a tiny bit, is broken."
Isn't that a coincidence?
Pei Qing fell silent. How could it be such a coincidence? This wasn't just a coincidence; it was practically a murder. But who would do such a thing? She knew almost no one here…
"Second question, what did you find inside the body?"
Pei Qing slumped on the table and answered weakly, "The terminal? It's a broken terminal from the 18th generation, the kind that nobody would want even if you threw it on the ground. Didn't you forcibly take it away before you came in?"
"This?" Tres pulled out a semi-transparent box about ten centimeters long as if by magic, inside which was her terminal, and even the clothes wrapped around it hadn't been removed.
"Ha, yes, that's it." Pei Qing glanced at it irritably, wondering if the thing she went through so much trouble to pick up was even usable. It was like throwing away the watermelon to pick up a sesame seed. She was furious.
But when is it wrong not to waste things? Who went to all this trouble, and what was their purpose? She's penniless, what is there for her to covet?
"Hey, when are you going to give it back to me?"
Teres glanced at the man who was barely alive, and curled his lip. "Don't worry, I'll give it back to you when I'm done. Don't worry, I wouldn't take this piece of junk even if it were given to me for free."
Even her prosthetic limbs are made with the best materials and by the best custom-made company on the capital planet, okay? How could she possibly be interested in this piece of junk? It really lowers her standards.
Teres tossed the suitcase to her with disdain, but Pei Qing hugged it tightly, saying, "I'll tell you the password when we're done."
I've already checked; the item isn't in that terminal. It's fine to return it to her.
Pei Qing ignored her and simply licked her slightly chapped lips.
"The third question: besides the terminal, have you seen anything else?"
"No, nothing at all, except for pig brains." Pei Qing said lazily, lying on the box with her eyes closed, seemingly resting.
As expected, the energy fluctuations at the scene were very weak. They had already checked carefully with their instruments and found no trace of it. Of course, the possibility that someone had gotten there first could not be ruled out.
Tres scoffed inwardly. Those hypocritical old bastards, they're still restless even on their deathbeds.
She didn't even need to think about it; someone was definitely dissatisfied with the resource allocation and wanted to transport the goods privately to make a quick buck, but something went wrong along the way. They lost the goods and were afraid of causing an accident.
So they started putting pressure on them at every level. Unfortunately, it was no use; the money couldn't be found anyway, and if something went wrong, no one could escape. In her opinion, if someone really wanted to be greedy, they should be more open about it. The real fear is that their appetite is too big, and what they really want isn't money.
If Teresa remembered correctly, this planet was one of Haite Energy's main bases, and she had dealt with these troublesome guys quite a bit. They were now somewhat cooperating, and this incident was definitely related to Haite.
Is the second son of the Gu family the manager of Hait? They are both old-established families from the capital planet, and they know each other to some extent. In recent years, everyone has chosen to play it safe, but the Gu family has been seeking wealth and fortune in danger.
Now that everyone knew what they wanted to know, and it was pretty much as expected, Teres jumped off the table, turned off the light screen, stretched, and his tail brushed against Pei Qing's leg, causing her to hiss in pain.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Pei, but perhaps you can leave now." Teres blinked in a good mood and was about to walk towards the door when the communicator on her shoulder suddenly rang.
The other party was making a special encrypted call, and Pei Qing could only hear a few scattered words, which she couldn't understand.
As she listened, Teres's expression grew impatient, agitated, and upon closer inspection, even regretful. Before Pei Qing could fully process what she was hearing, she heard Teres's unvarnished words.
"Well, although the test results confirmed that she is a pure-blooded human, since... if we want to, we can't rule out the possibility of such fusion, even if I think the results are correct."
Teres hung up the phone, looked at her, sighed, and shrugged. "I'm sorry, Ms. Pei, you know I can't help it." With that, she walked towards Pei Qing.
Huh?! What do you know?! !! Alarm bells rang in Pei Qing's mind; this sudden communication was definitely not good news!
"Wait!" Just a second before Tres's metal claws were about to touch Pei Qing, she suddenly shouted, "What are you looking for? I might know!"
"Hmm?" Tres tilted his head, his dark purple eyes narrowing dangerously. "Tell me about it."
"Uh, uh, it's just..." Pei Qing racked her brains, but couldn't manage to utter a single fart.
"Hmm, lying." Therese raised her eyes, a dangerous aura spreading with her light words, her tail swaying impatiently, a sign that she was about to hunt.
Strangely, she wasn't a good-tempered demon, so why didn't she feel disgusted by the black-haired woman A in front of her, even though she had clearly lied to her?
Pei Qing quietly moved to a safe position, glancing fearfully at Teres's tail, which was thrashing around and making heavy noises. If it had really hit her, her ribs would have collapsed half a meter!
"I didn't lie, I didn't lie. Anyway, you need to let me think about it, right..."
Teres didn't believe that Pei Qing could know anything about the missing thing, not even the slightest trace, because even she didn't know in what form the thing would appear, or rather, manifest itself; it was alive.
However, thinking about the content of the communication just now, Teres looked at Pei Qing suspiciously, and reached out to pinch her calf. Yes, it was at the level of a normal human muscle.
She didn't think the test results were wrong, and besides, why would that thing be so docile? It must have escaped or been captured.
"Fine, I'll tell you the truth. It's no use saying anything now, because you've been transferred to another agency and are no longer under my jurisdiction."
Teresa was also a little disappointed, after all, Pei Qing was quite fun, but when she thought about where the person she had just communicated with came from, she immediately decided to send the person away as soon as possible.
She finally understood that from now on, she would not be allowed to get involved in this matter; those people were truly insane.
"take away!"
Two burly policemen dragged Pei Qing away.
Pei Qing no longer needed to walk; she watched helplessly as she was led to a transport vehicle.
"Little Pei Qing,"
Upon hearing her name, Pei Qing subconsciously looked up. Therese was smiling at her from the doorway, his lips slightly moving. Before she could even make out who he was, someone covered her head.
The familiar, unpleasant smell hit her face, and in the last second before she lost consciousness, she finally deciphered the unspoken words.
It seems to be: Keep going... and stay alive?
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