Sky-cracking Rider

"King Oyster Mushrooms?"

The investigative team member paused, pointing at the locked box and asked curiously, "Can we open it and take a look?"

King oyster mushrooms are an ingredient, but is there really a need to keep them so securely locked up?

"Sure!"

Chen Fei nodded, turned the combination lock, 666, and unlocked it.

Sure enough, a forearm-thick, white jade-colored fungal fruiting body lay quietly inside the box with contour-fitting padding.

It indeed looked exactly like a king oyster mushroom, thick and long, pale and delicate, with a majestic cap on top emitting a somewhat sinister aura.

Upon seeing Chen Fei's appearance—black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin—the investigator immediately had an epiphany.

Understood!

Racial talent, the walking foragers, no one could stop this nationality from collecting all edible things, especially those that replenish form with form, they would certainly not let them go easily.

Boss Hana thought the same, letting Chen Fei formally request a combination lock box from the manor butler to store this "spoils of war" found in the mutant artificial breeding ground.

Those who didn't know would think like this investigator, assuming there was some treasure hidden.
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"Cheep!"

The little bird trapped inside the "mirror black box" chirped, clearly sensing the faint fishy smell emanating from the fungal body.

In fact, this overlooked "flesh mushroom" was also discovered by it, and the olfactory sense of birds is not much inferior to that of cats and dogs.

The investigator moved his gaze away from the safe and continued, "Mr. Chen Fei, we have been commissioned by the Global United Defense Committee to ask you to stay here for a while and continue assisting with our investigation."

As the main party involved, the earlier questioning of Chen Fei was just the beginning.

"What about my boss?"

Chen Fei looked towards Boss Hana.

"I'll head back now, stay at the Aircrew Base, and also take Little Jiu!"

Hanna Gagel extended her hand and lightly touched the "mirror black box" temporarily harboring Little Bird. Having Little Jiu here wasn't useful; returning to Aircrew Base, he could be a great help.

Although the box could block light, it was quite fragile; indeed, it was merely a formality. After all, the attack power of the Pure Light Sparrow itself was almost zero. It couldn't even peck painfully; if it hadn't mastered the laser, it wouldn't enjoy the treatment of this "mirror black box."

The little one surrounded by mirrors was curiously hopping around inside, making various movements. It could see itself from every angle, completely devoid of awareness that it was in confinement; instead, it was having a blast.

Jiu Defense Company having such a mascot was something all the military contractors envied jealously; they were secretly considering whether to keep one or a few Pure Light Sparrows themselves, preferably those that had mastered light-based spells, maybe they could help tremendously in crucial moments.

The investigator finally said, "That's all for today's investigation. Please rest assured, Mr. Chen Fei, we will provide you with fair and just treatment."

"Thank you!"

What else could Chen Fei say? He could only honestly accept the arrangements of the police team.

After all, he was a law-abiding citizen.

The military contractors left one by one, returning to clean up their respective messes.

Pure Light Sparrow Xiao Jiu was released again, landed on Boss Hana's shoulder, and bid farewell to Chen Fei. It also took the safe containing the "flesh mushrooms" as the vehicle bearing its chirps drove away, and Chen Fei returned to the underground mutant artificial breeding ground.

Aside from not being able to go too far, his personal freedom was not really restricted; he could sleep in the tent camp on the ground, play or fish by a nearby stream, or wander through the mutant artificial breeding ground, as basically no one stopped him.

The local authorities sent more people who completely repaired the elevator shaft, allowing freedom to travel between the surface and underground like an elevator.

The manor butler, who diligently attended to his master's deceased, stayed while most of the servants and security were dismissed.

With the master gone, there was no need to keep so many people; only a necessary number of security staff to maintain property safety was retained.

Mr. Xia Ji's body was turned to ash by a fire mage and placed in an urn, then stored in the main house's safe.

The caretaker of the safe's combination and key, Butler Thompson, was not in a good state of mind, looking very tired; even during questioning, he was only mustering his spirit. It seemed Mr. Xia Ji's misfortune had greatly impacted him.

Being all by himself, Xia Ji's parents had died young, and he had no more relatives in the generation above; only some distant cousins with little contact had some inheritance rights without an official will.

Therefore, these people brought lawyers and had just hurried over from the Great Island of Britannia, arguing fiercely outside the underground manor, their ferocity stemming solely from a desire to grab a larger share.

But this had nothing to do with the unrelated Chen Fei; not being one of Xia Ji's relatives, he couldn't inherit a thing, so he didn't need to worry about this.

Chen Fei was all ears, eavesdropping on the local authorities' Earth Order mages and A-grade ability users chatting nearby. Such top-level ability users exchanging was rare to witness. Occasionally, they would reveal extremely valuable experiences and techniques, which was a boon for the lower-level ability users; listening in was like striking gold. Their conversation touched upon the truth about the entire manor main house being moved to beneath the Alps Mountains.

"There are traces of a magic array here; look at the node positions, there are traces of demon crystals, which released a massive amount of spatial elemental energy instantaneously. Such large demon crystals cannot possibly be owned by civilians. Investigating the large-scale trade of demon crystals between Cangqiong Star and Blue Star might lead to some clues."

"You're right. Those breeding these mutants must have unimaginably powerful backers, possibly even sovereign powers."

"Shh! Don't talk recklessly; if this gets out, it could lead to war."

"It's not just a magic array; there might have also been interference from spatial abilities."

"Magic and special abilities combined? To this date, that remains a concept, and it's not easy to achieve. Has someone really done it? Impossible! I can't do it."

"Spatial power isn't easy to control; even if someone could use this method, their rank wouldn't be low, at least A-grade and Earth Order, maybe even S-rank and Heavenly Order."

"Now back to the most troublesome part, besides sovereignty, what other forces could possess unregistered A-class and higher status ability users?"

"Cangqiong Star... ugh, I can't say anymore!"

"But to make such a big fuss, is it just for this? It would be easier to send a large number of mutants into the economic zones and implement decapitation tactics against human leaders to create chaos."

"Hiss, it shouldn't be that simple."

Wow, that's a lot of information!

Just as Chen Fei was getting interested, he heard someone shouting at him.

"It's him, he's the one who killed Xia Ji, and he dares to come here!"

A burly fellow, waving his fuzzy fists, pounced over.

Chen Fei stepped to the side and nonchalantly stuck out a foot.

Thump! On the spot, a perfect face plant as described in textbooks was completed, eliminate the highest score, eliminate the lowest score, average score 10.0, you are the Olympic face-plant champion!

He then slowly said, "It wasn't me, I didn't do it, stop talking nonsense."

"Bastard!"

The guy who fell and saw stars struggled to get up. Nearby, Mr. Xia Ji's relatives also reacted, one by one howling and charging over, vigorously showing their hatred for Chen Fei, the "murderer," trying to claim the moral high ground.

At the end of the day, they just wanted a bigger share of the inheritance; as for their dignity, well, they could do without it.

"Hey, you guys, don't make a mess."

The top-level ability users in the conversation looked over with displeasure.

The few leading the charge were like hitting an invisible wall, screaming as they tumbled all over the ground like gourds.

Chen Fei, having intended to teach these folks a lesson, saw no fight was forthcoming, so he took the opportunity to trip that unlucky fellow again using the same small trick, in the same spot; a person being able to fall twice in exactly the same way impressed even him.

Finally, he stepped on the guy's back, pinning him down, unable to move and cursing incessantly.

Chen Fei, however, wasn't angered in the least, taking it as nothing more than the loser's rant.

Among the top ability users present, an A-class -- Space Series Ability User said to Chen Fei, "Young man, don't hurt people at random!"

It was no secret here that Chen Fei was a B-class -- Metal Elemental Psychic Power user, but ability users were not supposed to injure ordinary people at will; this was explicitly mentioned in the laws of various countries to prevent those who thought too highly of their own powers from becoming cocky, forgetting the moral baseline and magical constraints, and thus posing a threat to public safety.

Of course, if it's in self-defense and the unlimited counterattack clause is invoked, that's another matter. Defending oneself with a kitchen knife, firearms, stones, special abilities, magic, and martial arts isn't fundamentally different in legal terms.

"It wasn't my fault!"

Chen Fei crossed his arms, shrugging his shoulders.

Really, trouble falling from the sky, some people just mistakenly see themselves as judges.

In fact, the local law enforcement team also believed that the likelihood of Chen Fei being the murderer was almost nonexistent. Before this, the two had hardly ever met, there was no conflict of interest or reason to kill, and the idea that passionate killing borne out of love turned to hatred, as depicted in the fabricated surveillance footage, was ridiculously absurd. The blood-soaked reasoning of killing out of hatred couldn't even deceive a three-year-old.

"Murderer!"

"Please, everyone, take our side!"

"The murderer is here, arrest him!"

"Kill him!"

The relatives who had been bickering non-stop switched their target unanimously to Chen Fei.

However... the people around merely turned their heads to look and then collectively pretended as if nothing happened.

It seemed they were all in the know.

Chen Fei reached out his hand, clutched the evolved white steel crowbar, and fiercely said to these overconfident folks, "Another word, and I'll kill you!"

Despite his harmless young appearance, a chilling aura of slaughter instantly emanated from him.

Trying to pick on the weak, they ironically chose a tough rock.

"Spare me! Don't kill me!"

The guy under Chen Fei's feet was the first to break down, screaming and holding his head.

After all, holding a crowbar like he was ready to swing at a golf ball, if he really swung down hard, his head would likely not make it, probably bursting open like a watermelon.

"Murder!"

A female relative even screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

The shrill, irritating noise caused all the top ability users present to frown deeply.

One of the mages, annoyed, yelled, "Get out! Move further away!"

With a point of his magic wand, Chen Fei felt weightless, and heard a strange scream from afar as the guy under his foot was transferred by a Space Series spell to a hundred meters away on a house-sized rock, likely unable to come down for a while.

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