Zombie Apocalypse: Creation

"Yueyue, you aren't doing this to get back at Renqin, are you?"

Xiaoyun questioned, as the head of the department in the case happened to be the head of telecommunication in charge of wiretapping.

"Of course not. Read the report. We caught an irregular financial transaction between him and a salvage group."

Reading further down, he quickly found the part that Yueyue was talking about. A twenty-thousand NRC transfer just a week ago.

On top of the money transfer, there were pictures of expensive luxury gifts. From Rolex watches to luxury cars to even piles upon piles of cash in a basement.

"Why would he do this kind of stuff?" Xiaoyun wondered, his mind thinking back to the last time he met the head of telecommunication.

It was back in the old office, where a young man with a receding hairline talked to him about technical stuff, something about creating a bank app.

He could even remember meeting his wife, whose specialization in cell-tower infrastructure helped re-establish the phone signals.

"Money talks. They aren't satisfied with their salary and decided to abuse their power for quick bucks."

As Xiaoyun read to the last few pages, he could see the mountain of spending that was all suspiciously paid in cash, rather than with their ID card.

It was undeniable that something was suspicious, considering these two people were 'the person' who helped put chips into the ID card to function as a debit card.

"Both of them are about to face trial next month. You want to meet them or something?" Yueyue offered.

"I'm good... Ashame their talent just goes to waste like this."

Flipping to the last page, a question suddenly popped up in Xiaoyun's mind. One that he couldn't refuse to ask about.

"Wait, why did a salvage group want to wiretap someone?"

"The salvage group was trying to get an advantage over their rival group... It seems to be a very cut-throat business out there."

"Huh... Maybe I should learn more about them before the meeting." Xiaoyun murmured to himself, realizing how naive he might have been.

"You're meeting them? Which one?" Yueyue curiously asked.

"Um... I don't know. But Houqin probably gives me a list of them by the end of today or tomorrow."

As soon as Xiaoyun mentioned Houqin's name, he could instantly notice the change on Yueyue's face.

It was almost as if she were staring at an enemy. With caution in her eyes and a hint of anger from her frown.

"I see. When you get that list, you can come over. I have a lot of info in each one of them... You know, just in case."

"Noted. Will do... Ahem, Yueyue, what's up with that face? Why are you looking at me as if I did something wrong?"

"Nothing. You're just oversensitive."

With Yueyue's face snapping back to normal, Xiaoyun didn't dig too deep into it as he finally arrived at the last case of the report.

This time, he was a little confused by the title. Or rather, the lack of a title or any words at all.

It was just pictures of him. From Luoping's entrance to the various shops he had gone into in the past.

There was even an extremely blurry picture of him buying a hot dog at a food stand just an hour ago near the administrative building.

"What the fuck is this? You had been tracking me?" Xiaoyun questioned.

"I'm not trying to track you. It's just that you keep spending cash with the same number tag."

As Yueyue took out a few dollars from the drawers, Xiaoyun instantly recognized it as the money he had paid to the hot dog stand.

"You know, it really gives me a headache when these small businesses try to store your money in the bank.

And then the banks report to me about duplicate money laundering. All the traces at the end turn out to be leading up to you.

The same ending 0012 tag at the back of the bill with the same location as the CCTV pictures in that report."

"Okay fine. My bad. I just don't have cash lying around all the time. I promise I won't do it again." Xiaoyun apologized.

His mind hadn't really thought of the consequences of the money he made up on the spot until now.

"Yeah, you better... Ahem, anyway, why don't you just use your IDs? I'm pretty sure Yuqi set your account to have almost unlimited money."

"I just don't want people seeing my name. You know, the governor's name. I don't want to cause a scene."

"Then just get a normal credit card. It's not like only the ID card can function as a bank card."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really. Why do you think only the ID card is allowed to be a bank card? What makes you think that at all?"

Seeing Yuqi's fully serious face staring into his eyes, Xiaoyun quickly realized she wasn't joking around.

"Bruh, you serious? I could have gotten a normal credit card the whole time... But why don't people get a normal credit card then?"

"Because it costs a lot of money to get one. The ID card comes free, while getting a credit card would cost at least one thousand NRC."

"I see... I need to go to the bank later then."

As Xiaoyun handed the report back to Yueyue, he suddenly had a weird feeling—something transparent standing behind her.

"Wait, Yueuye, don't move."

"Hm?"

Walking around the desk, Xiaoyun's hand rushed forward, trying to grab what he perceived as something invisible.

But much to his disappointment, he returned empty-handed. Nothing was behind Yueyue as she looked confused by his action.

"Xiaoyun, are you good? Why did you just grab onto the air like this?"

"Nothing. I'm just seeing things. Sorry about that... Ahem, do you have anything else you want to report to me?"

"Nah, that's all the things I've done... Oh snap, I need to go to a meeting with one of the agents soon, see you later."

"Later."

With Yueyue walking out of the room, Xiaoyun's eyes kept staring at the space behind her seat.

He swore he had seen something behind her. The same weird feeling he felt in Yuqi's office just a week ago.

Not wanting to admit defeat, he quickly created a thermal camera and tried to scan the entire room.

But much to his disappointment, it was all blank. Nowhere in the room was there any indication of something suspicious going on.

"I can't be tripping. This is too much of a coincidence to be an anomaly——"

"Hey Xiaoyun. I completely forgot about something. Can you help me..."

As Yueyue barged back into the room, she looked a little surprised to see Xiaoyun holding up a thermal camera to his face.

"What do you need me to help you with?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"You remember the invisible cloak that you gave to me? It ran out of battery, and I couldn't replace it."

"That's fine. Here. Just attach this to the little container in the black cape. You should be able to remove the old one."

After handing over a small black box, Yueyue only got more confused as she seemed unable to wrap her head around it.

"This is the battery?" Yueyue questioned.

"Yeah. Here, hand me your invisible cloak. I'll show you how to replace the battery."

Seeing Yueyue standing there in silence, Xiaoyun suddenly started having a bad feeling brewing in his guts.

"Don't tell me you lost it."

"I didn't lose it, okay? I um..."

After staring at her in silence for almost a minute, Yueyue couldn't handle the pressure any longer and started confessing.

"I gave it to Mom, okay? I-I didn't want to give it away, but she kept bugging me about it after seeing it in my closet."

"Leyan? Why would she need it?" Xiaoyun questioned, his voice filled with a hint of anger.

"I-I don't know. You'll need to ask her yourself."

Xiaoyun stared at her in silence, trying to pressure her into answering again. But Yueyue stood firm with an innocent-looking face.

"Fine, I'll get an answer myself later... Here, don't lose it."

As he threw a brand new invisible cloak over to Yueyue, her face was filled with a genuine surprise at his change of attitude.

"You aren't going to ask me again?"

"If you don't want to say it. I'm not going to force you to say it..."

Getting up from the seat, Xiaoyun walked closer and closer until he reached the doorway. Before leaving, he turned around one last time.

"Yueyue, why did you ask me for a battery if you don't have your invisible cloak at all?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"I um... Mom told me she needs a new battery."

Seeing Yueyue appearing to be a victim in all of this, his tone softened once again as he handed the battery into her hand.

"Keep this battery as a spare in case you need it. I'll go back home and talk to Leyan right now."

"Thank you..."