Once his mind was made up, Andrew was a man of action. Following a tip from Belle, he bought a small shop on Sixth Street called 'The Phonograph' for a relatively cheap price, as the original owner was in a hurry to sell.
But even with the original interior and shelves still in place, it took Andrew over a month to select and purchase the necessary equipment and materials before everything was finally complete.
Time flew by in a flash. Daily forging, completing commissions for the two siblings, and most importantly, Hollow investigations, consumed all of Andrew's free time.
Time always seems to speed up when you're busy. In the blink of Ann eye, three months had passed since Andrew arrived in New Eridu.
It was another ordinary morning. As Andrew pushed open his shop door, he saw two young female police officers on patrol—one tall, one short.
The taller one had a voluptuous figure, clad in a combat uniform designed by Public Security for special posts that might encounter battle at any moment. Tight leather pants hugged her form from the stomach down.
Although her shoulders and arms weren't particularly muscular, the police uniform on her upper body was stretched taut over her full chest, which swayed with every step.
Her long legs complemented her perfectly rounded hips, so full they seemed ready to burst from the confines of her leather pants at any moment. Yet, connecting her ample top and bottom was Ann incredibly slender waist, making one wonder how it could possibly support such a figure.
Streaks of vermilion were mixed into her black hair, few in number, looking like highlights. To keep it out of her way, her long hair was tied back in a ponytail.
But she had Ann enviable amount of hair—enough to make other girls jealous and programmers weep—that made her ponytail look more like a fluffy fox's tail.
The shorter girl had equally exquisite features. While her figure couldn't compare to the taller woman's, she was still well-proportioned and curvy in her own right, her slender frame possessing a unique charm.
Unlike Zhu Yuan—the taller officer—who was completely covered up but whose exceptional figure somehow made the practical uniform exude a certain flair.
The shorter girl's light attire left her snow-white skin exposed. Her delicate skin, paired with perfectly toned abs, was eye-catching, and her hot pants outlined a perfect curve below.
Her cyan hair was tied into twintails, with a cyan orb fastened to the end of each. For some reason, despite her youthful appearance, she exuded Ann incredibly mature aura, as if she weren't a young girl but Ann elder.
However, her tank top, hot pants, and sneakers added a dash of youthful energy, diluting that mature atmosphere quite a bit.
"Yo, Zhu Yuan. Aren't you with the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team? What are you doing on patrol here? Is there a new case nearby?"
Andrew greeted the two of them casually, finding their presence unusual.
"Hello, Mr. Andrew. The regular patrol officer took some time off, so Senior Qingyi and I are filling in. By the way, how have you been settling in these past few months since moving to New Eridu from the Outer Ring?"
Zhu Yuan turned as she patrolled and returned the greeting when she saw Andrew opening his shop door.
"Not bad at all. The people on Sixth Street are great, and they've been good for business. Thanks to them, I'm doing pretty well."
Seeing the slight smile on Andrew's handsome face, a faint blush crept onto Zhu Yuan's cheeks. But she quickly returned to her professional demeanor. Recalling a recent report, she asked Andrew a question.
"By the way, while I was organizing some reports, I noticed multiple claims over the past few years about sightings of identical individuals—specifically, young girls with white hair and orange eyes. I suspect Ann organization might be illegally researching human cloning, and I'm currently investigating. Have you seen anything like that around Sixth Street? If you have any leads, please contact me immediately."
"Identical people?"
At Zhu Yuan's question, Andrew carefully racked his brain, trying to remember if he had encountered anything of the sort recently.
"Sorry, I don't have any information on that."
Zhu Yuan wasn't disappointed by the lack of Ann answer. Leads were scarce, after all. Public Security hadn't even officially opened a case file. She had only happened to glance at the complaint file and subconsciously memorized it, prompting her to try and gather intel on her own.
"Speaking of which, though... are you really okay, working overtime every day?"
"It's fine. It's much better now than it was three months ago when that Boss-class Ethereal suddenly died. Back then, New Eridu was flooded with a bunch of people falsely claiming they were the ones who defeated it. The better ones were just posturing for admiration; the worse ones were outright swindlers. Seriously, the phones at Public Security were ringing off the hook."
Even Zhu Yuan couldn't help but shudder, remembering the overtime hell from that period.
"But you should be careful too, Shopkeeper. Don't get fooled by those frauds. In the past few months, everyone who claimed to have killed it was later exposed as a liar. So don't fall for it. Fortunately, a fan club that formed recently has started to crack down on impersonators on their own. With their help, things have gotten a lot better lately."
Hearing this, Qingyi, who was standing by, chimed in.
"Young shopkeeper, you really should pay attention to this. It's strange, that Ethereal just vanished. After confirming its death, they could never find the person who killed it. All of the Void Hunter-class experts capable of such a feat have stated on different occasions that it wasn't them."
As she spoke, a blue light seemed to flash across Qingyi's eyes, like a computer loading.
"There's not even a whisper about it online, which is really curious. The weirdest part is that this person, who has zero information available about them, somehow has a fan club. And it's already grown to a considerable size. It's truly mind-boggling."
"Ah... Ahaha, yeah, it really makes you wonder, doesn't it? But Zhu Yuan's right, I'll definitely be careful not to get tricked by those kinds of scammers."
Listening to Zhu Yuan and Qingyi, Andrew couldn't help but feel like he was being put on the spot.
He had a feeling that if he admitted to it now, his peaceful life would be over by tomorrow.
To avoid being recognized by any potential witnesses, Andrew decided it was best to keep that suit of armor stored away unless absolutely necessary.
But regarding the overtime, even though Zhu Yuan said she was fine, Andrew was still concerned for his new friend and patiently advised her:
"You might say things have eased up, but you still need to take care of yourself. Rest when you need to. You can't keep serving as Ann officer if your body breaks down."
Zhu Yuan was a rookie officer who had just recently joined the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team. With outstanding scores, she had crushed all the other rookies of her generation in every subject.
Although she had only just started handling cases, every single one that passed through her hands had been solved. Her 100% clearance rate had made her the most dazzling rising star in Public Security.
Andrew had gotten to know her because of Ann incident a month prior. A fugitive Zhu Yuan was pursuing had taken a little girl hostage on the street.
While cornered, the criminal kept moving toward a Hollow, intending to use it to escape. Worried about harming the hostage, Zhu Yuan and Qingyi could only watch helplessly as he inched closer, maintaining a distance so as not to provoke him.
Just as he was about to enter the Hollow, Andrew—who had been lying in wait along the path in a stealth suit—suddenly sprang into action. He grabbed the blade of the criminal's dagger with one hand, snapping it with his immense strength, while simultaneously snatching the captive girl back with the other.
With the hostage freed, Andrew knocked the criminal unconscious with a single kick.
Zhu Yuan had been frantic about the little girl being dragged into the Hollow, so Andrew's sudden appearance and clean, decisive takedown left a deep impression on her. That's how the two of them met.
To thank Andrew for his help, Zhu Yuan later made a special trip to his place. She discovered he was the owner of a new blacksmith shop on Sixth Street. The quality of the ironware in his shop was extremely reliable, and after visiting several times, she became a regular customer. That was how they grew close.
Hearing Andrew's words of concern, Zhu Yuan's usually serious expression immediately softened into a blush. But before she could speak, Qingyi jumped in.
"That's right. Our Public Security's rising star has been pushing herself harder and harder lately. As her senior, it makes me feel a bit inadequate. I used to see her take a day or two off each month, but lately, she hasn't taken a single one. I bet it won't be long before I'm just a regular officer working under her."
Hearing Qingyi's teasing, Zhu Yuan became flustered. She said, embarrassed:
"I'm just trying my best to help people! You're exaggerating!"
"But even I've heard about your hard work, and I live on Sixth Street. Everyone sees your dedication. Don't underestimate yourself. In my eyes, you're pretty amazing."
Andrew said, giving her a thumbs-up in sincere praise. After all, it was impossible to dislike the brilliant light radiated by someone so dedicated to serving the people.
"A-Amazing..."
Hearing Andrew's direct praise, Zhu Yuan's face went from flushed to beet red, and her eyes even started to spin. Seeing that Zhu Yuan's brain had practically short-circuited, Qingyi laughed and began pushing her from behind toward their next patrol spot. Before leaving, she turned back and gave Andrew a thumbs-up.
At the same time, even though Qingyi was in the distance pushing Zhu Yuan along and hadn't touched her phone, Andrew's phone buzzed with a new text message from her:
"Nice work. Even though little Zhu Yuan has helped a lot of residents these past few months, she rarely gets praised for it. Most people take it for granted. What really got to her was a while back, a man she rescued from a Hollow actually cursed her out and demanded she pay for his pants, which got torn during the rescue. Absolutely despicable. After your straightforward validation and praise, I'm sure she'll feel a lot better. Thanks a lot, Shopkeeper."
Andrew hadn't expected his casual words to have such Ann effect, and his own mood lifted. He even adopted Qingyi's mature tone in his reply.
"Don't mention it. I was just telling the truth."
Now in the distance, Qingyi pulled Zhu Yuan along, turning back to wave goodbye. After watching them go, Andrew returned to his workshop.
-
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