Becoming The White Moonlight’s Human Weapon After My Death - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Although It’s Very Presumptuous, Apple Has Been Promoted to Protagonist ☆

“But.” Shao Dongmi’s expression was serious as he spoke, “Does Yinjang produce apples locally? Would anyone farm in this kind of area where every inch of land is so expensive? If we take a step back and think about climactic factors in Yinjiang such as sunshine, the temperature difference between day and night, and the quantity of rainfall, fruits produced locally in Yinjiang won’t be too sweet. Of course, you just said ‘Yinjiang’s apples’, not necessarily ‘Yinjiang-produced apples’, perhaps ‘Yinjiang-bought apples’. We can’t deny that the fruit in your hand was cultivated in a high-quality, nutrient-rich place with a suitable climate. In summary, the specific sweetness of this apple can be measured with a professional hand-held sugar content meter to obtain a clear and accurate result.”

“?” Yan Chenli, who was shocked by such a contrarian argument, raised his eyebrows as he looked at him, “You’re mocking Gong Xiaolu for making a fuss about telling you to carefully think things through, right?”

“Captain, you still get me!!” Shao Dongmi was moved, his eyes brimming with tears as he spoke.

“Well, I know you guys have many complaints. Xiaowu practically cried and complained from the beginning to the end of his interview just now, I’ll talk to Gong Xiaolu after we’re done.” Yan Chenli laughed and turned his head back to glance out the window again, then closed the file in his hands and put it aside, “I was just looking at your past investigation files. I never would have expected that, while Officer Shao Dongmi’s level of professionalism remained the same, his mastery of literary nonsense reached new heights.”

“How could you call that literary nonsense? My concise statements contained a great deal of applied sciences such as geography, physics, agriculture, philosophy, and modern technology, they comprehensively consider a wide range of situations and conclude by arriving at a feasible plan of action. In short, they’re ‘perfect’.”

Yan Chenli smiled and pulled out a chair for him, “Okay, stop there. Feel free to sit down first, there are a lot of people and there is limited time to interview each one, so we’ll get this done as fast as possible.”

He himself didn’t sit down, but rather leaned back against the side of the window and kept looking out.

Shao Dongmi responded by sitting down, and it was only when he turned his head to adjust the angle of the chair that he suddenly realised there was another person inside the room.

It was a tall, middle-aged man. He seemed to be about 1.9m, with short brown hair, an indifferent expression, a strong and muscular physique, and wearing well-tailored brown suit. He stood ramrod straight amongst the shadows of the wall on the other side of the room and, unlike a normal person who would occasionally flex their wrists or neck, or even pace unconsciously, he didn’t make any unnecessary movements from beginning to end, looking like solemn statue, to the point that one couldn’t feel any sense of “human” from him.

After noticing Shao Dongmi’s gaze, he briefly returned the glance, then wordlessly shifted his eyes away and went back to looking at Yan Chenli.

Shao Dongmi was looking at the brown-haired man with a sense of novelty, and Yan Chenli had already begun the interview questions, “It’s not clearly explained in the documents due to confidentiality, but the side that launched this operation is actually an unofficial non-governmental organisation. The operation is to manage public security to help restore order in a city where social order has collapsed.”

Shao Dongmi withdrew his gaze and sat up straight, nodding to show he was listening.

Yan Chenli opened up the notebook by the side of the window, “Officer Shao Dongmi, why do you believe the Criminal Investigation Bureau agreed to work with this unofficial NGO?”

Compared with the answer, Shao Dongmi was actually confused about the question itself, “Captain, that’s not right is it? Law an order should be maintained by the federal government, right? So why would an NGO get involved?”

“There’s always some kind of reason.” Yan Chenli smiled.

Shao Dongmi thought again for a while, then frankly acknowledged, “I don’t know, and I don’t care. But since it is a ‘city’ where social order has collapsed and not a ‘war-zone’, then all the people we’re facing are civilians, so we can’t just send the army in for a violent unilateral suppression. Someone has to take responsibility for putting things back in order, and we as the criminal police are the most suitable candidates.”

“…Yes, establishing order and upholding peace is indeed our next plan of action. However, in the event that this was not the real motive behind this operation, could you accept it?”

Yan Chenli spoke with an uncommon, not-quite-smiling expression.

“Could it be that the plan of action doesn’t depend on the reason? Will that reason prevent us from doing the things we should do?” Shao Dongmi was a little puzzled when he heard that.

Yan Chenli smiled and shook his head, “I just want those putting their life on the line for this operation to be clear about the real motive, and to know why they are fighting.”

Shao Dongmi nodded resolutely, “I don’t care. At the end of the day, as long as order and peace can really be established, it’s our duty.”

“In that case, last question.” Yan Chenli closed the notebook and lightly pressed down on it, then shifted his gaze towards Shao Dongmi’s face and retracted his smile, revealing an oppressive air that made people somewhat flustered.

He seriously asked, “Dongmi, what do you think the outcome of this operation will be?”

Shao Dongmi thought about it, “Since there’s been utter chaos, there must be extremely complicated causes, maybe there’s even been countless plans to attempt to settle the situation that were ultimately declared a failure. I believe that establishing order is not something that’s easily done, and I firmly believe that, regardless of the outcome of this operation, it will leave behind valuable experience, which will become a major foundation in ultimately bringing peace about in that place. Just like you always say, the majority of the workload in criminal investigation work is ultimately useless and unrewarded, but we can understand the true value in these seemingly futile things.”

Yan Chenli’s eyes curved as he smiled, and he drew a symbol on Shao Dongmi’s document before putting it back with the rest of the files, “Ok, that’s all for today. You can go back.”

“Ah? It’s over? I still haven’t fully enjoyed the open mic.” Shao Dongmi got up with surprise, but instead of leaving like he was told to, he squeezed in next to Yan Chenli.

Yan Chenli: “?”

“Captain, what do you keep looking at? I also want to look.” Shao Dongmi squeezed through without waiting for an explanation and searched outside the window.

“Guess.” Yan Chenli said.

This meeting room was on the seventh floor, there was a road outside and he could clearly see the streetscape from the window. There was a sidewalk across the road, then there was a small neighbourhood fenced off with metal railings, there were no shops around, and the only thing that could be seen inside the fence were lush plants, so the street looked relatively peaceful. A few cars and bicycles were parked on the side of the road on the delineated areas, a vehicle would pass by the road every once in a while, and people would also sometimes cross the sidewalk. Shao Dongmi meticulously examined everything, and it seemed very normal.

“Captain, give me a hint.” Shao Dongmi suddenly blinked, trying to clear away the bright galaxy in his eyes from the reflection of the light.

“I’m looking at that taxi.” Yan Chenli said.

Shao Dongmi looked at the taxi parked on the side of the road, its empty sign was unlit and after looking carefully he saw the driver sitting on the driver’s seat, “It’s waiting for someone? Or taking a break? There’s nothing strange about it.”

“Yeah, it looks very normal from just one glance.” Yan Chenli crossed his arms and lightly tapped his fingers, “But it’s been parked there ever since I got to this meeting room, and it’s been at least five hours.”

“Ah? That’s not right then.” Shao Dongmi leaned against the window and looked left and right again, “Could it be stalking someone? No way, is there really someone crazy enough to follow someone to the doors of a police station?”

“Or perhaps,” Yan Chenli turned his head and took out his cellphone, “There’s a reason why they had no choice but do this?”

Shao Dongmi didn’t understand: “Huh?”

“Wait for me to verify something.” Yan Chenli had already made a call. He usually turned on the hands-free mode to save time repeating everything while handling a case, and this time was no different, “Gong Xiaolu? Who came to the station to report a crime today? Was it victims, witnesses, or something else? …A dozen or so? What about the specific circumstances? Just explain them simply…”

On the other side of the line, Gong Xiaolu flipped through the materials while asking the person next to him, and gave a detailed report of the circumstances.

As Yan Chenli was verifying things, the taxi suddenly lit up its vacancy sign and slowly moved forward. At that moment, a young woman stepped out of the police station and stuck out her thumb by the side of the road, the taxi stopped in front of her and the woman got on the car and closed the door. It was all over in less than ten seconds.

Yan Chenli immediately interrupted Gong Xiaolu’s statements, “Wait, who left just now?”

Gong Xiaolu answered on the other side of the call, “Someone making a report, she claimed she thought she was being followed and stalked, but she didn’t have any solid proof before. She recently moved house and hadn’t been followed anymore, but yesterday night she began to receive a large number of threatening messages that seemed to be personal threats, so she came to make a report today. We just finished filing the case for her, so we told her to go back for the time being…”

“…The criminal lost their target, so they specifically provoked the victim into making a report and went to the police station in person to wait, this was the plan. Crap.” Yan Chenli immediately hung up the phone and turned his head, issuing an order in a hurried tone, “A-Lu!! Green taxi, license plate ACX-7010, catch up to it!”

“Got it.” The brown-haired man nodded and walked towards the window, and Yan Chenli had already stepped towards the door, “Dongmi, let’s go, quick!”

“Huh, ah?! Okay!” Shao Dongmi was unable to keep up with Yan Chenli’s sudden orders, but instinctively followed a few steps behind Yan Chenli. He was just wondering why the brown-haired man had walked in the opposite direction from them, when he saw that guy opening the window and gracefully jumping onto the windowsill.

This dangerous action made Shao Dongmi’s heart skip with nerves, after that, just as he was feeling worried, the other person leapt down.

“Fuck!! Brother, why did you suddenly stop thinking straight?!!” Shao Dongmi’s heart pounded wildly, this was the seventh floor!! Without time to think about it much, he had already rushed to the window. Surprisingly, the tragedy he expected hadn’t occurred, and instead he saw an unimaginable scene——

The brown-haired man had leapt an unimaginable thirty metres or more across the street, stopping for a moment on the wall of the opposite building like a gecko, then easily jumped all the way down, grabbing onto branches and installations on the walls to lessen his momentum, gracefully dropping down safely. He didn’t hesitate for a second after reaching the ground and rushed forward with astonishing speed, moving fast as lightning and practically disappearing from sight in a split second.

Shao Dongmi wondered if he was seeing things right, standing dumbstruck right where he was, and when he turned his head back to ask Yan Chenli what was going on, he saw that the room was completely empty. Both people had already disappeared.

“Ca-ca-captain wait for me ahhh———!!”

Shen Lu sped along the road, catching up to the taxi in a few breaths. The pedestrians on the side of the road only felt something flashing past their eyes, no one discovered that someone had passed them at an incredible speed.

Shen Lu looked at the taxi driving along a distance away and hesitated a bit: although it wouldn’t be difficult for him to rush forward and stop the car straight away, this would cause a series of car accidents with the other cars on the road, not to mention the fact that the person who made the report——who should be regarded as a hostage now——wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and she was the most likely to get injured, so he couldn’t do that.

Shen Lu followed the taxi for more than ten kilometres, and the taxi drove into a remote small road. The car slowly came to a stop, and Shen Lu took the opportunity to inform Yan Chenli of the location. After the car sopped, the door opened and the criminal used a knife to hold the other person under duress, dragging her outside.

“Let, let me go… What do you want? Do you want money? I’ll give it all to you… Please let me go…”

She cried and begged, losing her mind with fear, but the criminal had clearly already lost his reason. His skin was dry and waxy, and his eyes were turbid as he clutched her arms and twitched unnaturally, “Bullshit!! You reported me to the police!! Clearly, clearly I love you so much, I gave you flowers and rings and pictures, and you actually ran away and even tried to have me arrested?? ——Damn you, you should die, you should really die!!!!!”

“Aaahhh help me!! Help me!! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I was wrong… Please, please…” She trembled from head to foot, and the sharp blade pressed tightly against her neck immediately sliced open a gash and blood started pouring out.

The criminal covered her mouth in an even more violent rage: “I’ll make you scream!!”

“Wait!”

The suddenly-appearing male voice startled the criminal, and the victim shrieked again. The criminal turned his head to look at the tall brown-haired man who suddenly showed up, and the blue veins on his forehead jumped, “Fuck, fuck me, why is there someone here?!!! Don’t come close, you can’t come here!!!”

The criminal grabbed the hostage and moved back in a panic, catching sight of the black holster on the brown-haired man’s shirt and becoming even more alarmed, “Fuck, you’re a cop?!”

“No, I work for a private security company, I’m just a security guard.” Shen Lu raised his hand slowly, lifting the collar of his suit and revealing the logo on the left side of his chest, “Look, doesn’t it say ‘VIEAS’ here? That’s the name of the company I work at, it’s not an abbreviation for any kind of governmental organisation, right?”

After releasing his collar, Shen Lu slowly raised both of his hands, turning around and speaking at a slow pace, “Don’t worry, I won’t come close. I’ll keep my back towards you, so you don’t need to worry about me.”

“You just stand there, you can’t come here, or else I’ll kill her!!” The criminal relaxed slightly, looking around left and right in his surroundings, wanting to drag the hostage and retreat.

“How about you let her go and take me as your hostage?” Shen Lu proposed, still with his back towards him.

“Nonsense, how could I do that?!!” The criminal flew into a rage.

“Well, you have already injured the carotid artery on her neck. She will bleed to death in five minutes, and not only will you not be able to escape, her death will be in your hands.” Shen Lu continued to persuade him calmly, “You have to at least keep your hostage alive, that’s what makes them useful to you.”

The criminal looked at the hostage’s pale face, the hostage had been injured by the knife in the struggle just now, and her chest was indeed already covered in flowing blood, but the brown-haired man in front of him really didn’t seem like an easily-kidnappable person…

“Are you worried you won’t be able to control me? Then I can do this.” Shen Lu intentionally slowed his movements as he slowly drew out the pistol from his holster.

“Fuck are you doing?!!!” The criminal immediately shouted in anxiety.

“I won’t turn my head for now, don’t worry.” Shen Lu pulled the trigger, aiming towards his own left forearm.

A loud gunshot rang out, and the bullet pierced through his arm at close range, mangling the flesh with the blast. Shen Lu’s face didn’t change as he turned the gun and aimed it at his right forearm, using his thumb to pull the trigger. After a second shot rang out, his right arm was also struck, and blood splattered on the ground. Both of his hands lost their strength, and the pistol fell to the ground with a thump.

Only then did Shen Lu slowly turn around, looking serene as he said, “Okay, I don’t have the ability to fight you anymore, now you can safely kidnap me.”

His face and tone of voice were as steady as usual, but both of his arms were drenched in blood, and the wounds were so deep one could see the bone, making them shiver with fear.

The criminal was stunned by his abnormal and astonishing act, and after hesitating for a moment, he spoke in a hurried, low roar, “Then, then, kick the gun over here!!”

Shen Lu lowered his head to look at the gun on the ground, and didn’t move, “I’m afraid it’ll go off, you can come take it yourself.”

The criminal wrestled with himself for a while, but still thought his own destructive power would be more reliable if he had a gun. He dragged the hostage over, going to take the gun, but just as he was about to bend down, Shen Lu suddenly used his foot to step on it, “I can’t let you take this thing to point it at her, let her go first.”

“You fucker…” The criminal fiercely raised his head to look at Shen Lu, wishing he could grab the knife and stab him. Shen Lu seemed to not sense his dangerous gaze, just gently reminding him: “If you hesitate again, you won’t be able to save her, then you’ll lose your negotiation ticket. In addition, if you keep delaying, I won’t be the only person rushing over here.”

At this moment, the criminal was seeing the shocking injuries on Shen Lu’s arms at close range. His blood flowed onto the ground, forming a large puddle, and the criminal finally let down his guard, releasing the hostage and going to pick up the gun. The hostage cried as she retreated a few steps, and Shen Lu immediately stepped between her and the criminal.

“Press down on your wound to staunch the bleeding as much as possible, and walk in that direction. There’ll be someone coming to get you right away.” Shen Lu spoke to her in a low voice.

The hostage couldn’t manage to say thanks, as she turned around and broke into a run in the direction Shen Lu spoke of, the criminal picked up the gun and broke out into a nasty laugh: “Son of a bitch, you should all drop dead, as long as I kill both of you, no one will know who did it…!!”

The criminal lifted his hand and aimed the muzzle of the gun at the fleeing hostage, but the moment he pulled the trigger, he was suddenly knocked over and sent flying. He hadn’t gotten up yet when Shen Lu pressed down on his chest with a bent knee, completely pinning him to the ground. However, Shen Lu’s arms were affected in the end, and as he tried to keep pressing down on the criminal’s throat he had no way to immediately take into consideration the criminal’s hand which was still holding a gun. In a brief lightning flash, the criminal lifted his hand and pressed the pitch-black muzzle of the gun between his eyes, shouting furiously:

“Go to hell!!!”

Bang.

A loud gunshot tore through the secluded silence.

When Shao Dongmi rushed to the scene of the crime, this was what he saw.

The criminal was thrown to the ground by Shen Lu, but he still fired successfully. Shen Lu only had time to tilt his head slightly, but the bullet still shot into his forehead, penetrating his skull and exiting through the back of his head.

Blood spurted from the back of Shen Lu’s head in a disturbing straight line, its end bursting into a frightening flower of blood.

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TN: The word pistol was censored in the og but I feel like it was obvious enough that it didn’t warrant a specific note when I filled in the blanks (and for some reason ‘pistol’ is censored but ‘gun’ is not, huh??). Also, my schedule is in shambles due to the holidays, so if I don’t update assume krampus has dragged me away.