Because of constant shaking, bubbles kept forming and swirling inside the soda bottle, with a gradually fading white line drawn across the middle.
As a half-skilled vortex master, Shen Ning could sense the wild, violent energy contained within like the many times she’d felt the air currents in her own hands, waiting to burst free under repression.
Repressed energy needed release, but the soda bottle was a sealed space. The cap mercilessly blocked all the restless souls inside.
“Look, normally, I should twist it open.” Red Sister placed her hand on the cap. “But what if I don’t open it? What if I just put my hand here and don’t move?”
Before Shen Ning could say anything, the vortex inside the bottle calmed down.
“Ahem, it’s just a bottle of soda. You don’t have to stare at it all the time; just understand the meaning. Imagine if this soda were a person it wouldn’t calm down so quickly. Instead, it would grow more restless the longer it’s left alone, and would even actively rub against my hand, begging me to open the cap.”
To give this metaphorical performance a perfect finale, Red Sister picked up the soda, shook it again for half a minute, then placed it some distance away from the girl and quickly twisted the cap open.
Pff—!
Spraying everywhere.
“I think I get it now.” The girl’s eyes sparkled.
Xu Chuyao received the news and finally saw Long Jun again at the office building.
The cigar box on his desk was empty he’d been smoking too much these past few days and forgot to replenish it. Instinctively, he reached over, found nothing, and had to wipe his hand with a towel.
“It went through,” he said as soon as he arrived, giving good news. “They approved your request to investigate some mid-level officials and root out the Supreme Society’s mole.”
“Some? Which some?”
“Just some.”
Xu Chuyao understood the “some” wasn’t a specific number, just a small-scale investigation so the higher-ups wouldn’t allow a big operation.
Otherwise, if Benjet had really thrown a fit, embarrassing many people, the Security Department wouldn’t have been called in to investigate. Even so, they’d been waiting for so many days…
“By the way, why was it approved today?” Xu Chuyao asked.
Long Jun looked at her helplessly. “The research institute’s new project just started.”
Xu Chuyao instantly knew who had been blocking them these past days. Naturally, the officials she could choose to investigate couldn’t include anyone already part of the project.
“All right, let me see who we can investigate. Let’s start with those nearby.”
She asked Long Jun for a list of officials from Center City and several surrounding county-level towns under its jurisdiction. The printed file was thick, containing names, detailed backgrounds, and promotion histories.
The background info didn’t matter much. Chuyao just wanted names and to pick out a few familiar ones.
“Find evidence first. You need enough reason before you can apply to arrest someone,” Long Jun said. “At least like the level we had with Professor Swina last time.”
Xu Chuyao gave an OK sign.
She took the list back and quickly found a familiar name—even the place name stood out.
“Twin Star Town, Town Guard, Wen Fang.”
The first clown gang captive they arrested had confessed during interrogation that he came from there. The title of Town Guard was the highest-ranking official in that small town’s security department.
As for Wen Fang, Chuyao didn’t know much—her file wasn’t detailed, only mentioning she was active with a few other moles and had been arrested together, suffering a round of punishment.
Barely mid-level Third Rank—not weak, but not particularly strong either. If Chuyao unleashed a golden strike, she could still win.
“You’re it.”
After confirming the target, Xu Chuyao took Wen Fang’s file to the Special Affairs Division’s meeting room.
“Time to work… Isn’t Xiao Si Nuo here?”
Xiao Hua, who was alone in the meeting room, stood up from the chair, dusted off her skirt, and picked up the phone. “Good afternoon, Officer Yao. Liu Si is in class. I’ll call him.”
In the quiet third-year, first-grade classroom, during culture class, students were focused on writing their weekly journals when a clear phone ringtone rang out.
Xiao Si Nuo awkwardly glanced around at the curious eyes of his classmates, then at the equally tense teacher Li Xueli on the podium. Hesitating for a moment, he chose to answer the call.
No choice—this ringtone only played for important calls from two people: Xiao Hua, his favorite, and Officer Xu Chuyao, the one he respected most.
“Is something wrong? Okay, I’m coming back right away.”
He put away his phone and left his seat immediately.
Teacher Li Xueli froze on the podium, looking at the now empty seat, then at the puzzled faces of the other students. She forced a chuckle. “Liu Si Yu must have something important, haha.”
Actually, she was right. Also, Xiao Si Nuo leaving class like that wasn’t a problem—he was officially on the roster now.
Back in the Special Affairs Division meeting room, Xu Chuyao’s documents were waiting as soon as he arrived.
“Find the problem with this person,” the beautiful and brilliant Officer Yao ordered. “Like we did with Swina last time.”
Xiao Si Nuo took the file bag and flipped through it.
“Twin Star Town, administrative subordinate town of Center City, Town Guard Wen Fang… she’s one of those?”
“That’s right. She’s in the same group as Swina—troublemakers.” Xu Chuyao took the tea cup handed by Xiao Hua, sipping lightly. “Once we find clues, we can go arrest her and officially be on a mission. That way, we’ll have chances to conduct experiments outside.”
Sensing Xiao Hua’s slightly hurried breathing, Xiao Si Nuo immediately perked up. “No problem. I’ll start right away.”
“Don’t rush. Listen to me first. This time…”
Throat clearing.
Suddenly, Xu Chuyao’s phone received a message from her girlfriend. She picked it up and looked—
Half an hour ago, Shen Ning quietly returned to school carrying an overstuffed backpack, and entered the dorm alone. After closing the door, she put down the bag and pulled out a large tote.
It wasn’t for watering plants.
Just moments ago, at the Special Affairs Division, after Red Sister taught her a secret move, she suddenly realized that the girl’s beloved girlfriend… the older girlfriend had also been here.
“Don’t say I taught you this.”
Then she thought for a moment and added that last time the girlfriend was here, she showed interest in some of their equipment. Maybe she should buy it all to prepare for her, laying groundwork for their relationship.
After all, since the plan was to manipulate her, this was like an early apology.
Shen Ning didn’t think much and bought everything on the spot—not for any other reason than to pay tuition.
The tote was obviously full of pink items.
“All right, let’s discuss the preconditions.” The Sexually Repressed Shadow called the others together for a self-meeting. “About how to build up Chuyao’s reputation.”
Yes, compared to feelings, reputation was what they should protect most.
Others might not know, but they did—given Chuyao’s princess-level status in bed, if she really held back, she might just end up sleeping with anyone immediately.
So, it was best for Chuyao to suppress herself first.
As a traditional repression expert, the Sexually Repressed Shadow suggested, “Since you bought so many fun gadgets, just send them directly to her dorm. Chuyao loves trying new toys. Once she sees them, she won’t be able to resist. After playing a few days, she’ll really be desperate.”
A very reasonable and deeply manipulative tactic. Even the Broken Shadow nodded in approval.
Looks like that’s the plan, Shen Ning thought, reaching into the tote and glancing at the pink colors and various strange shapes—like a richly colorful world of pleasure.
The girl suddenly hesitated.
“Give these things to Yao Qi. Will that replace me?”
The moment she said this, all three shadows froze.
Sexually Repressed Shadow: “You don’t mean…”
Shen Ning said nothing, silently put the tote down, and hostilely pushed it into a corner.
“You’re even jealous of toys?”
Jealous or not, the stuff wouldn’t be sent to the girlfriend’s dorm anyway.
“All right, then think of something else.”
Luckily, the Sexually Repressed Shadow enjoyed this kind of thing. After some pondering, she recalled her first suggestion for the girl.
“You can’t be jealous of comic books, can you?”
Half an hour later, back in the Special Affairs Division meeting room, Xu Chuyao took out her phone, saw Shen Ning had sent a compressed file, clicked to receive and unzip it.
Inside was a strangely styled comic book titled:
Joy Band Revenge Story: The Unwanted Guitarist Goes Dark and Grazes Everyone!