Chapter 156: The best use of chaos.
In the morning, the sun was oddly calm, gliding past the windows of the car that brought the detectives to the embassy with serenity. Inside, however, there was no serenity. The team of six, and one mayor, were bracing for a storm. The Chief had received a call from the office of the President and given them a time limit of six hours.
The pressure they were under was like that of the students at Qinghe Academy. And the school had been shut down temporarily after the investigation into their practices!
How were they supposed to identify the suspect in 6 hours, without questioning anyone and alerting the rest? The answer laid with Liwu. Even the team know this because they kept shooting hopeful looks her way.
As they stepped out of the car, she adjusted her trench coat, her system interface glowing faintly in her eyes. "Good thing I brought painkillers," she muttered.
Weijun slipped his hand into hers. "Do you have to?" His voice was low and taut, because he knew what she was going to do.
She squeezed his fingers. "We’ll never sift through sixty in time." With a mischievous grin, she told him, "I am the goddess of chaos. Worry about the spy, not me."
The team was led into the hall, were all sixty employees of the embassy were waiting. They had been told to assemble because Tai Liwu had something to say on behalf of her mother, the Bureau president, Tai Liwu. The Ambassador had come dressed in a sharp black suit with a thick azure scarf that had pictures of Tai Alix in dragon form.
It was over the top, and it made Liwu roll her eyes.
Still, she complimented the man as he led her to the front, where she would address the employees from. "Nice scarf," she smiled politely.
The Ambassador grinned, looking proud.
Even before Liwu activated her bad luck, the chandelier above the hall groaned ominously.
Liwu looked at her points that were coming to 200,000 after a long time of not being used. She was saving 100,000 for leveling up, after triggering a major misfortune. "System, trigger a controlled major misfortune. Channel most of the bad luck from me to the culprit. Use some chaos points."
To date, she couldn’t understand how the system identified culprits!
[Major Misfortune triggered: -100, 000 points.]
The team, which knew what was working, ducked just before the chandelier crashed down, missing a group of employees by inches. But it shattered into a thousand glittering shards.
Right outside the embassy, the driver of a water tank suddenly pushed the release button and the back door burst open. At a high pressure, water shot towards the embassy gates.
That seemed to let off the sound of an alarm, diverting the attention of all the guards to the water calamity, not realizing that something else was happening inside. Employees were screaming, papers were flying and coffee pots were exploding.
Liwu’s team scrambled, like they were trying to restore order. In reality, they were scanning faces. Somewhere in the chaos, the guilty one would betray themselves or evidence would fall to the ground.
Her bad luck spread like wild fire. The lock on the door broke, trapping those who wished to escape within the room. A printer in the corner caught fire, belching smoke. A clerk tripped over a briefcase and accidentally launched himself into a buffet table with breakfast snacks. He sent croissants, bread and waffles flying like shrapnel.
Liwu’s system redirected every mishap, turning the croissants and other snacks in the direction of one man. It was in the same direction as the printer fire and 60% of the shrapnel. That same man had been about to exit through the door just before it locked itself.
He seemed to be the target of all the bad luck. A ceiling pipe burst directly above him, drenching him in icy water. He raced to a window, planning to jump out of it. But a gust of wind forced the window shut, slamming the man on the nose.
As he fell back, he displayed his athleticism, landing on his feet like a cat. But, he underestimated Liwu;s bad luck, because he slipped on a croissant, and fell down. His coat made a loud ripping sound.
From the inside, notes fell out, along with a file of confidential information.
"Him." Liwu screamed. "He is the spy."
The team closed in as fast as they could, but the man fought back, desperate. He hurled snacks from the ground, overturned chairs and even pulled a gun. But he a tray that was carried by the wind slapped his arm, sending the gun flying. A rogue fire extinguisher discharged in his face.
The foam seemed to be directed at him and Liwu, alone. Coughing through the storm, Liwu pulled her handcuffs. "I advise you to stop resisting."
Out of the blue, Weijun ran over, making a battle cry that was odd, loud and unnecessary. He had a handful of printer ink, and all of it was thrown in the man’s face.
Linlin kicked the spy from the behind, while Xuanji jabbed him in the ribs.
With a flourish, Liwu snapped the cuffs onto his wrists. "End of the line buddy," she declared, brushing foam from her hair. "I guess....you are out of luck."
Suddenly, the storm quelled. The wind retreated and everything that had been flying landed back on the ground.
Liwu heard the system chime in her mind.
[Congratulations host for triggering a successful Major Misfortune.
Reward: 100 bad luck coupons and 100 Bad luck transference coupons. One simply gives bad luck and the other transfers bad luck from one person to another.
The system is Leveling up. Services unavailable for twenty four hours.]
Linlin stepped up and injected a nerve blocker into the spy’s neck. This would separate his brain from his system. Sounds of groaning filled the air. Nobody had been harmed to a large extent, but most had small injuries.
"What is going on?" The confused Ambassador asked. "Why are you arresting my people?"
Before he could get a response from Liwu’s team, four men and two women in black suits entered the room. They showed the Ambassador a piece of paper, and then took away the spy.
A woman in a red suit entered the hall, followed by agents of the Bureau that were not part of Liwu’s team. She said to the chief, "Your people can leave now. We need to brief the rest. Your job is done. I trust that you will keep this confidential."
Everyone nodded. None the less, they were made to sign NDA’s before being allowed to leave.