Chapter 8 : The Arsonist

In short, no one liked to work with people they disliked.
But when faced with a stranger, how could you know what kind of person they were?
This was why Rachel didn’t want to work with strangers, and why she disliked accepting new things.
She was unwilling to bear the risk of regret.

But regrettably, no matter what, whether you were willing or not, in this life, you always had to, either actively or passively, accept new things, drink beverages you’ve never had before, eat food you’ve never eaten before, wear clothes you’ve never worn before, and get to know strangers.

Thinking of this, Rachel secretly glanced at Yuhui, hoping that this gentle-faced, handsome man was as he appeared.
‘Don’t get on my nerves, don’t get on my nerves, don’t get on my nerves…’

“Do you have any objections?” Luo Hao asked.

“No, none at all,” Rachel replied, her expression unchanged.

“What’s the specific mission?” Setting aside her inner monologue, Rachel asked Luo Hao, “You specially called me over and even introduced such a remarkable person. It must not be a small matter, right?”

“It all started when someone sent Director Luo Hao a death threat,” Yuhui said.

“Well, after all, Old Luo is the director of the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs. He must have a lot of enemies. He should be used to receiving threats every day. And most of these things are just empty threats from a bunch of loudmouths. Very few people have the guts to actually carry out an assassination. Just hand it over to the subordinates to deal with and it’s over.” Rachel’s expression was disdainful, not taking it very seriously.

“This time is different,” Luo Hao said, taking a letter from his drawer and handing it to Rachel.
“Take a look at this.”

Rachel took it, pulled out the letter, and glanced at it.

“Wha… what!” Rachel was shocked by the letter.
The contents of the letter were so astounding that she was silent for a long time before speaking.

“What is this stuff? The handwriting looks like chicken scratch. I can’t read it,” Rachel said, holding up the letter with an exaggerated expression, seemingly forgetting that her own handwriting was also atrocious.

“Is this thing meant for human eyes? Ah, my eyes hurt,” Rachel feigned exaggeration, covering her eyes dramatically.

“Is cursive really that hard to read?” Luo Hao looked at her with contempt.
“To put it simply, it’s a threatening letter. He told me to stay out of his business, or he’ll kill me. But he knows I’m the director of the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs and can’t possibly ignore his affairs. This is a clear provocation.”

Luo Hao then looked at Yuhui.
“Yuhui, please pick out the main points and explain them to Rachel.”

“Alright,” Yuhui said, taking a photo from his pocket and sticking it to the whiteboard on the right wall of the office with a magnet.
The photo was of a man standing at a busy commercial street intersection, surrounded by a crowd.
The photo seemed to have been taken surreptitiously.
Originally, the perspective could only capture his back, but the man seemed to have realized he was being watched and subconsciously turned his head towards the camera, thus capturing his face.
He looked middle-aged, with blond hair and blue eyes, prominent cheekbones, a gaunt face, and a fierce gaze.
His back was slightly hunched.
Rachel thought the man’s eyes were very vicious; he didn’t look like a good person.

“This man is named Blake Morton, the ‘Arsonist’ I mentioned earlier,” Yuhui said, tapping the photo and organizing his thoughts.
“A local, he’s the illegitimate son of a nobleman. His father was Baron Owens, but he never acknowledged his father before killing him. At least, according to all the materials I have, he never did.”

“It’s the Baron Owens from the ‘Owens Family Massacre Case’,” Luo Hao added.

“That’s right, and Blake was the one who killed the Owens family. This case made him ‘famous overnight’. Of course, he didn’t just kill the Baron’s family; he’s also committed many other murders. It’s just that wiping out an entire noble family, including his own biological father, is more representative. And this photo was taken by me some time ago while I was tailing him. It’s also the only photo of him in recent years that shows a clear front view of his face. The only other ones are photos of him from 10 years ago, when he was younger. He’s very cautious; it’s not easy to get a photo of him.”

“So, you’re saying this guy is for real, not some small-time loudmouth?” Rachel asked.

“That’s right,” Yuhui said.
“He’s currently a wanted criminal of the Empire, B-class. And from my exchange with him yesterday, I can tell that the destructive power and danger of his magic could easily raise his wanted level by another grade.”

“This is a real hot potato,” Rachel frowned.
“Old Luo, what kind of person have you provoked?”

According to her memory, there hadn’t been a single wanted criminal, not even a D-class, in Sinhe City’s case files for the past ten years.
As a remote, third-rate city, it had never encountered such a high-risk criminal.

The problem was, even if there were high-level wanted criminals, they wouldn’t be interested in this backwater place.
What was there to gain here?

“He graduated from the Astral Academy and was once a top student there, a master of magic. He’s very skilled in fire magic. And yesterday, when I confronted him, he set his dogs on me. His dogs are probably not household pets.”

“Any other questions?” Yuhui asked.

“Yes,” Rachel raised her hand.

“Please,” Yuhui made a “go ahead” gesture.

“Although it’s a bit of a hindsight question,” Rachel said, “how can you be sure that this ‘death threat’ came from Blake?”

“The handwriting. Blake was a student at the Astral Academy, so we have his handwriting. We just need to check it. Of course, the most important reason is that just last night, I saw Blake Morton in person, right here in this city. So we can basically confirm that he sent the death threat.”

“Any other questions?”

“What’s his motive?” Rachel picked up the letter she had thrown on the table earlier.
“Why target Old Luo?”

“Well… we’re not sure about the specific reason yet. But Blake does have some history with Director Luo Hao,” Yuhui said, choosing his words carefully.
“Director Luo Hao was part of the large force that was hunting down Blake back then.”

“Old Luo, I have to say, I have a newfound respect for you,” Rachel said to Luo Hao.
“You actually did some decent work when you were younger.”

Yuhui looked at Luo Hao with some surprise.
Luo Hao waved his hand and said nothing.

“I’m starting to understand everything,” Rachel said.
“So you called me back to be your bodyguard? Well, after all, I’m your strongest fighter.”

“No,” Luo Hao shook his head.
“On the contrary, I want you to cooperate with Yuhui and do everything in your power to hunt down Blake Morton, to eliminate this future threat! I no longer care if he can stand trial alive. As long as he dares to resist, you two will take him down hard!”

As he spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

“Alright, you’re the boss, you call the shots,” Rachel said with a shrug.

Yuhui asked Rachel, “How’s your marksmanship?”

“Um… how should I put it?” Rachel scratched her face in embarrassment.
“Actually, I can count the number of times I’ve touched a gun on one hand.”

“Why?” Yuhui wasn’t asking Rachel, but Luo Hao.

“Don’t worry,” Luo Hao shrugged.
“The person I found for you was chosen after careful consideration.”

“I told you, didn’t I? Rachel Ronald is the best candidate I have right now. She’s not very good with guns, but she doesn’t need to be. You can rest assured with her.”