Otherworldly Affairs Office

Gu Shenghui, sitting in the office, never expected Pei Yan to use such a little trick on him. Even he wouldn't notice it so quickly. He did it just to ease the tension between them, but instead, it made his cunning fox image even more ingrained in Pei Yan's mind.

Now, he has more than just Pei Yan's issue to deal with. There's the preliminary work for Pei Yan's absorption of Song Mingyuan's abilities, the mysterious Magic Realm transgressor, and this Li Songtao!

Gu Shenghui thought of him and had a headache. This guy is like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. His mouth seemed welded shut, refusing to reveal a word beyond his name despite interrogation, mental infiltration, or various Daoist Realm techniques.

The Daoist Realm's stipulated date was approaching. It seemed he really had to be returned. Gu Shenghui felt both indignant and helpless at the thought. He had been notified to select suitable personnel from the bureau and conduct a talisman consolidation of physical condition and age for attendance in Daoist Realm hearing sessions.

Lightly rubbing his temples, despite the frustration, the work still needed to be done. Gu Shenghui glanced at the calendar on the wall, sighed, stood up, and took personnel files from the drawer for meticulous selection.

On the other side, Pei Yan left Gu Shenghui's office and went to the video room to continue the suspect screening work, eating lunch as usual, as if nothing had happened. When Wang Wenze curiously asked him, he casually found an excuse to pass over it.

Another day and a half passed like this. Pei Yan appeared in Yu Zhongmin's office holding a pile of photos.

Yu Zhongmin looked at the two photos, an old and a young person, on the table, compared them back and forth, and then asked Pei Yan, "These are the key suspects you selected. What's your basis?"

"These two boarded a southbound coach bus in Baicheng, the Magic Realm invasion site, three days after the major plane invasion incident!" Pei Yan said, pointing to a snapshot from surveillance footage, showing two people wearing baseball caps holding small flags leisurely like tourists.

Yu Zhongmin, together with Gu and Mei, who were also notified to observe, leaned over the table for a closer look. The image was very blurry, albeit from a selected better viewing angle, one could only make out the middle-aged person's general appearance, while the young man's cap was pulled down so low that his face was almost invisible.

"Continue!" Mei Simiao asked without lifting her head.

"Three days later, they appeared on the street of small commodities Song Mingyuan described, but from the surveillance video, I didn't discover any contact with that vendor. They didn't even delve into this street. To me, their behavior seemed more like…"

Yu Zhongmin asked, "Like what?"

"Tourism! Initially, they weren't in my review scope, as they didn't take a direct bus to the city where Song Mingyuan was. Until later, I repeatedly spotted them around the incident site, prompting me to retrace their tracks and notice they were essentially stopping in each city to explore local sights before moving to the next location," Pei Yan recalled the scenes while reviewing records.

Yu Zhongmin nodded lightly and gestured, "Hmm, very good, continue, where else did they appear?"

"Here, near Song Mingyuan's school at a hotpot restaurant, and at Ronghua Inn, which is only a street away from the Agricultural University where they stayed," Pei Yan explained, pointing to images below.

The other three in the office scrutinized. These pictures were much clearer than the previous ones from the bus station surveillance, some capturing the two head-on, although the young man always wore large sunglasses obscuring his eyes.

Gu Shenghui, hands behind his back, asked, "Where else have they appeared?"

"They also appeared among the onlookers of the Lei Family!"

"What did you say, are you sure!" Mei Simiao raised her head sharply to inquire. At this point, these two were enough to be put under investigation, but Pei Yan's words almost sealed it firmly.

"I'm sure. At first, I didn't pay attention until reviewing the Mechanical Eye's record, spotting this middle-aged figure among the crowd scan. Then, I checked the surveillance around Jiayuan District to reconfirm this information." Pei Yan subconsciously touched his Mechanical Eye while speaking; it might be a blessing in disguise. Human memory may emphasize and be biased; however, once recorded by this Mechanical Eye, even if unnoticed initially, footage could still be retrieved for review later.

Yu Zhongmin gleamed with excitement while viewing photos of the two leaving Jiayuan District; after countless days of aimless searching, finally a lead. He looked up at Pei Yan, genuinely praising, "Xiaopei did well! Very well. Once solved, I'll report merits for you to the office!"

He then picked up and examined the two clearest photos on the table, sneering, "These interdimensional so-called powerhouses still underestimate our real world's level of technology. They don't know that our grasp of various social aspects far surpasses their world's backwardness."

"Their underestimation is precisely our advantage. Pei Yan, do you have continued tracking on these two's whereabouts?" Gu Shenghui nodded deeply in agreement and asked Pei Yan.

Pei Yan regrettably shook his head, "No, based on the supplied video materials, I could only deduce their location three days ago. I'm not sure if they're still there."

"You've done very well already. Rest for now. Await further notice on the remaining matters."

"Yes! Leaders, I'll take my leave!"

"Hmm, go ahead! Rest well!"

The three watched Pei Yan leave the office. Mei Simiao turned back to ask, "Yu Chu, since key suspects are filtered out, should we issue a joint investigation notice?"

Yu Zhongmin nodded lightly, placing the two photos in hand on the table and gritting, "I'll report to the office and have local comrades focus on these two's whereabouts, with immediate notification to the office upon discovery, mobilizing the rapid response team to eliminate these cancers in the cradle!"

"Our two departments will fully cooperate!" Gu Shenghui knew it was no time for internal strife and declared immediate support.

While the three were devising further on the capture plan, a sudden knock on the door disrupted, Yu Zhongmin casually said, "Come in!"

The door creaked open; a nervously sweating Yuan Shaoqing peeked halfway in, glanced around, and upon seeing Mei Simiao, ignored the other two and urgently called, "Director Mei!"

Seeing him like this, Mei Simiao knew something was up, stood, and left the office without a word, soon followed by her low roar at the office doorway, "What are you people doing!"