The fugitives" reign of fear was over.
However, while three of the four apostles were captured that day, tensions had never been higher at the authorities.
For starters, their efforts to cover up what truly happened were not as effective as they hoped. The official story was that a gas leak and a faulty hydrant caused the explosions, but rumors ran amok online anyway.
Although multiple parasitic hosts had been arrested, the true ident.i.ty of G.o.d of Death remained a mystery. It was frustrating and frightening. Doubt and suspicion began to seep into the department, poisoning the trust colleagues had for each other.
The one consolation was that Sun Meng was now off the streets and safely locked away. Inspector Ho managed to convince her to reveal the whereabouts of her three ragdoll cats. It turned out that they had always been close by and within reach if Sun Meng needed help.
With the help of the cats, the damage made to the comatose victims were reversed and they finally regained consciousness.
The incident may have come to a close, but its repercussions were far-reaching. Certain factions of the government used it as a reason to adopt stricter and more aggressive regulations for supercats and apostles.
This was why Zhao Yao was now in Inspector Ho"s office, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"If I knew things would escalate to this, I would never have gotten involved," he thought regretfully.
There were too many pairs of eyes on him now. Too many people knew how powerful he actually was. This did not bode well because the element of surprise was crucial for defeating another apostle.
Zhao Yao knew that he did not have much to worry about even if the world knew his abilities. Elizabeth"s perfect illusion alone could tackle at least 99% of the people he meets. Coupled with Matcha"s timefreeze, Dust Ball"s extradimensional belly, and Ares" force fields, he was basically untouchable.
However, he still did not like the thought of laying all his cards on the table.
When enemies understood his powers, they would know how to bring him to his knees.
"At least no one knows about timefreeze and the s.p.a.ce-time distortion it brings."
Inspector Ho was seated on the other side of the table. He studied Zhao Yao, watching as his face took on a myriad of different expressions. He could tell he was worried.
"Don"t worry," he started, "It is true that a lot of people know you defeated the four of them. However, no one knows how you did that. Even Ah Wei couldn"t make out what was happening and he was there. Or rather, he couldn"t make sense of what it was you did. Wanna tell me what happened?"
Zhao Yao pursed his lips at the sneaky smile the inspector offered him.
"You"ll be interrogating Sun Meng soon, won"t you? I"m sure she"ll give you a fantastic play-by-play on what happened," he said.
He felt a surge of relief from the inspector"s words. Nessie had made sure that their entire battle was shrouded with showers of water. Witnesses would not be able to see what happened clearly.
"Maybe they"ll a.s.sume that I"m some kind of invincible, teleporting Hercules," he hoped.
Inspector Ho rolled his eyes.
"You rascal, they can"t explain what happened as well as you can," he commented.
Zhao Yao scratched the back of his ear absentmindedly. He ignored the request.
"Let"s not get sidetracked. Why am I here? Business is booming and this little visit is costing me money. You"ve got to compensate for that."
"Rascal," the inspector repeated, shooting him a death glare, "Do you know how much s**t your little adventure has caused? There"s been a lot of fighting at headquarters. Everyone wants to know who you are. Among them, many want to lock you up, then take your cats and your cafe. You"re looking at the only reason that"s not happened yet."
Of course, the inspector had only presented a partial truth. What really went down was a lot more complicated.
Zhao Yao"s seeming invincibility had sparked a heated debate among senior state officials. Some of them a.s.serted that what he managed to do single-handedly proved that he was a threat to the nation. As such, his supercats must be handed to the state.
That was but the first step. They had bigger plans. Eventually, they would implement stricter regulations to keep rogue apostles under their thumb. In fact, they would take cats forcibly from their apostles.
Naturally, this did not sit well with people like Inspector Ho.
There were too many supercats and apostles in the country for the authorities to take on by themselves.
The moment they take things too far, the apostles will fight back. That would be the beginning of the end.
This was why the American government did not declare war against the rogue apostles, no matter the trouble they stirred. Even if they defeated every apostle, which was highly unlikely, it would come at a cost. There was no saying how much damage there would be to the country.
When the fight between the officers got too intense, it was Old Man Zhuang who spoke up and made the final decision.
He firmly opposed the autocratic style of regulating the apostles and inevitably became Zhao Yao"s champion.
"Do you know how many high ranking leaders have demanded your cats? Putting a stop to that was not easy. You have no clue how many fires I had to put out," Inspector Ho said.
That was, of course, a shameless exaggeration. The inspector made it in hopes that it would scare some sense into Zhao Yao.
"I had to call every important person I know and ask for a lifetime worth of favors for you."
It worked.
Zhao Yao looked at him with concern.
"Thank you," he said with genuine grat.i.tude, "Are you going to be okay? Will that screw up your position and promotions and stuff?"
Inspector Ho grinned gleefully. It was rare to see Zhao Yao exhibit appreciation towards him. He was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
"Did my ears deceive me? Did you just say thank you?" he smiled far too brightly, "However, you know I can"t protect you forever. You"ll have to join the bureau from now. No one will hurt you when you"re one of us. Your powers, ident.i.ty, and track record will be highly cla.s.sified information. Only the guys right at the top have the clearance to access it."
Zhao Yao narrowed his eyes.
"Ah Wei and Xiao s.h.i.+ Yu know, don"t they? Are they one of the "guys right at the top" you mentioned?" he asked, forming air quotes with his fingers.
Inspector Ho coughed a couple times.
"I"ve already spoken to them. Don"t worry, their lips are sealed. Trust the bureau," he replied calmly.
"Okay," Zhao Yao said tentatively, playing along, "What do I have to do if I join you?"
"Well, whatever you want, really. Keep running that cafe of yours, it"s up to you. However, when trouble comes knocking, we need you to deal with it."
"Sounds fair," Zhao Yao nodded, "How about payment? I"ve helped you deal with the fearsome foursome, haven"t I? I think that calls for a reward. A million dollar token of appreciation sounds good."
His cheeky agreement to join the bureau was punctuated by an update to the mission panel.
It simply read, "Bureau Missions Activated!
Zhao Yao raised an eyebrow in question. He had no clue what that meant. However, he soon developed an inkling of what this was when he turned back to the inspector.
"What the h.e.l.l?" he murmured under his breath.
A grey exclamation mark had appeared above Inspector Ho"s head.
The inspector paid no notice of how the peculiar expression on his face. He was too focused on responding to his ridiculous request.
"A million?! That"s more than what my department spends in a year," he protested loudly.
Then, he took a deep breath and forced himself to be pleasant. He put on his best supportive smile, "While we can"t give you that money, we will make it up to you in other ways. You are a hero and it is my job to take care of the person protecting our city."
Inspector Ho did not want to indulge Zhao Yao at all. However, the boy was not a valuable a.s.set to the bureau. He needed to keep him happy.
The inspector coughed again to get his attention.
"You love that cafe of yours, no?" he began, "There"s a clothing store on the second floor above you. We"ll arrange for its owners.h.i.+p to be transferred to you. You can rent it out or expand your cafe to fill both floors."
This was super effective in capturing Zhao Yao"s utmost attention. He blinked a couple times at the inspector, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with surprise.
"Really? Awesome! That"s very generous, inspector."
Zhao Yao knew exactly how valuable that second-floor unit was. Like the cafe, it was situated in the prime shopping district between the university town and the train station. It was hot property that you might not be able to get just with money.
Inspector Ho smiled when he saw how happy Zhao Yao looked.
"See? I told you to trust the bureau and me. We"ll take care if you," he added.
"Yeah, this is pretty decent," Zhao Yao beamed, excitement br.i.m.m.i.n.g in his heart, "My profits are bound to go up when I expand the cafe. I"ve been worried about how I can cater to the growing number of clients. This comes at the perfect time."
His grin grew wider as he continued dreamily, "The Best part is I never have to pay rent for this. Even if I stop running the cafe and rent both units out, I"ll have enough money to do nothing for the rest of my life."
Zhao Yao paused to relish the moment, but was swiftly sidetracked by the grey exclamation mark that still floated above the inspector"s head.
"Hey, Inspector, do you need my help with anything?" he probed curiously.
"Do you need a pack of cigarettes? Water? Lunch?"
"Or perhaps you need the cats" help with a rat infestation?"