Chapter One Hundred: Back to Work!

Page (1/3)
Damn.

Chen Yu stared at the still-charming face before him, with those silk-smooth, inviting eyes, and the obscenity he had prepared to spit at the system and all its forefathers jammed itself in his throat.

“Dar... dear?”

How did that one word feel hotter on his ear than last night’s “I’m waiting for you”?

“What are you staring at?”

Liu Hong, seeing his vacant expression, couldn’t hold back a little snort of laughter.
She set the dish she was holding on the nightstand, then bent down, her warm breath brushing Chen Yu’s ear.

“Eat. I made the sandwiches and hot milk myself. Once you’ve had them, you’ll have the strength to get on with real work.”

She said the last words softly and slowly, with a coiling tenderness that seemed able to steal a man’s soul.
Chen Yu’s gaze, of its own accord, slipped down from the opening neckline of her silk robe.
In the sunlight, the expanse of white skin made him dizzy, and the deep hollow beneath it drew out every dangerous thought.

Damn.
What a life-stealing temptress.

He cursed her inwardly while his eyes, uselessly stubborn, refused to look away.
The frenzy and warmth of the night before still clung to every cell of his body; now this living, breathing scene stirred it all again.
He felt that nameless fire—the one the system had frozen over and over—suddenly find another channel.

All right. No matter how big the mess, he had to wait until he was fed.

“Sis… you’re not mad at me?”

Liu Hong’s face changed for a heartbeat, then she smiled and shook her head.
“Let it go. Maybe this is Liu Gang’s own fate. If I still took his side, how could I stand before those who died?”

“And besides… what you did was right.”
When Chen Yu heard her, he felt an unexpected respect for this bewitching woman.

“Feed me, sis.” He changed direction, ending the awkwardness at once.
He lay back and behaved like a spoiled brat.

The complexity in Liu Hong’s eyes became shy delight. She gave him a rebuking glance, then, obediently, picked up a sandwich and carefully held it to his mouth.
For that breakfast, Chen Yu ate as if he were royalty, opening his mouth for food and stretching out his hand for milk.

Liu Hong, a woman thoroughly drenched in love, watched him with eyes tangled in obsession, reverence, and longing.
Chen Yu, comfortably enjoying the attentions of a beauty, kept screaming inwardly.

Damn system.
You think because you shut down my Rewind, I’m finished?
What a joke.
Even without a golden fingertip, with just this face and this damn allure, I can still crack the case.

After they lingered in kisses and reluctant, clingy looks while he finished, Chen Yu finally dressed and left that soft haven.
At the villa gate he flagged a taxi and sank into the back seat.

“Driver, City Detective Task Force.”

“Yes, got it.”

The car eased into motion and blended into the city traffic.
Leaning against the backrest, watching the streets fly backward, Chen Yu felt an inexplicable irritation rise.

Damn, why did I, a cross-time trickster with godlike advantages, end up living like a wage slave?
When did I become someone who works nine-to-five?
And goes to the office every day?
What kind of life is this?

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……
Twenty minutes later, the taxi pulled up in front of the Building of the City Investigation Unit.
Chen Yu walked in as if he knew every step, greeted the receptionist, and headed upstairs without stopping.
But when he pushed open the Heavy Case Squad office door, he was taken aback.

The whole office was empty, not a single figure inside.
Only cups of coffee still steaming on the desks, and files strewn across the floor, testified that the room had only recently been packed with people.

“What kind of mess is this? Did everyone head out on duty?”
Chen Yu muttered, a sharp suspicion crawling up his spine.

He pulled out his phone, intending to call Su Qingzhu, that little girl, and ask how things stood.
His finger had just moved over the contacts list and had no chance to hit call when—

A sharp hiss of electrical noise exploded from the earpiece out of nowhere.
Immediately the screen went dark.

Chen Yu froze. Before he could make sense of it, the screen lit up again—but not to his normal home screen.
Instead, jittering pixels of static trembled across it, frightening and relentless.

Again.
His pupils narrowed.

The static vanished the next instant, and the familiar figure in black with a white smiling mask filled the whole screen.
He seemed to stand on a great height, with a gray sky behind him and wind snapping at his coat.

“Good morning, citizens of Jiang City.”
From beneath the mask came that altered voice, impossible to tell male from female.
“I apologize for disturbing you again during working hours.”
“I’ll simply announce one small matter.”

The masked man paused, clearly enjoying the sense of control, then slowly opened his arms as if to embrace the city.
“Just moments ago, on the City Detective Star Rankings, the eighth-ranked Mr. Zeng Chen has disappeared from this world forever.”

“The game continues.”

His gaze seemed to pierce the screen and lock onto Chen Yu.
“How is it, Reborn Brother? Are you still happy with my speed?”
“The time left for you is not much.”
“In three days, I’ll take the seventh exactly on time. I can’t wait to see whether you find me first, or whether I… kill them all first.”

“Ha…hahaha!”

In a laugh that curdled the blood, the live image cut off, and the phone returned to normal.

Chen Yu’s face had gone so dark it felt like it could drip.
Before he could recover from the shock, his phone went berserk, vibrating like a trapped animal.
On the screen, multiple incoming-call cards flashed at once:

Yan Zheng.
Su Qingzhu.
Lin Bing.
And another: Bubble Girl.

Chen Yu forced down the rage swelling in him and swiped to answer Yan.

“Hello, Chen Yu!”

“What on earth—” the suppressed voice came through as soon as he answered.

Page (3/3)
“Did you see the livestream?”

“I did just now,” Chen Yu said, coldly. “What happened? Wasn’t Zeng Chen under your team’s twenty-four-hour protection?”

“Damn it!”
Yan exploded, rarer curse from him than usual. “He was gone! Last night he drove like he was possessed, racing all over the city, and finally slammed, car and all, into the City Moat River. We only pulled up the empty car. No one alive, no body dead!”
“And now that bastard is straight-up declaring he’s dead!”

“All the detectives in Jiang City are deployed, searching the downstream reaches of the river for a body. Yet to this moment—not a single lead!”

There was a deep helplessness in Yan’s voice.
Chen Yu stayed silent for a moment.
Without Rewind, he felt like any ordinary person facing this clueless case—truly stuck.
But he knew this was exactly when he had to stay cold.

“Captain Yan, I think if we truly have no lead, we should return to the Origin.”

At the other end Yan paused, then his tone carried praise and relief.
“Good kid! You’re thinking along the same lines as me.”
“Fine—Qingzhu and I are at the Origin now. Join us.”

“Click.”
The call ended.

Without a second’s hesitation, Chen Yu immediately called the second number.

It was Bubble Girl.

The line rang for a long time before it was picked up. On the other side came a pressurized, frantic gasp.
“Hello…”

Bubble Girl’s voice had a frightened edge, her usual tone gone.

“Chen Yu… the next one… the next one is me, right? That lunatic is coming to kill me!”

“Keep calm!” Chen Yu frowned.
“How can I be calm? I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”

Bubble Girl broke into a shrill, uncontrollable scream.
Then, as quickly as it came, the scream curdled into weird, deranged laughter.

“Hehe…heeheehee…but this is fine, too…”

“Rather than be taken out by that sneaking rat of a cur, I’d rather… rather have a grand curtain call.”
“Yes! Let everyone in Jiang City be watching me! I want to die with more thunder than anyone!”

Damn.
Has this girl gone completely wild?
Chen Yu had one case burning his back, and he also had to play reluctant therapist to a possible self-destructive psychotic.

“Stay where you are and do nothing! Just wait for my call!”
He snapped, not bothering whether she heard him, and hung up.

He had no time for nonsense.
Chen Yu burst out of the Investigation Unit building and flagged another taxi.

“Driver, Silver Bay Villa District.”
That was where Zeng Chen lived.
And what they called it in their circle—

the Origin.