237: Unexpected gift

Crossbell Police Academy, main hall.

Lloyd and the others sat around a makeshift conference table in the corner, planning to summarize the day's investigation results before Chief Sergei arrived.

"Regarding Lechter Arandell's movements," Lloyd opened his notebook, "when I found him on the rooftop today, he mentioned a person codenamed 'Silver.'"

Elie frowned: "That legendary assassin?"

"Hmm, but I didn't find anything when I chased after him." Lloyd shook his head, about to add something, when the main door suddenly pushed open. Chief Sergei, with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, slowly walked in.

"Oh, quite the lively discussion you're having." He scanned the group. "Hold on a minute, I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" Wazy raised an eyebrow. "The Chief actually prepared a surprise? It's not more paperwork for us, is it?"

Sergei snorted and turned to walk out of the hall: "Follow me."

The group followed, puzzled. As they turned the corner to the garage entrance, a sleek silver orbal car appeared before them.

"This..." Noel's voice trembled slightly as her fingers carefully touched the car body. "This is!"

A large, silver-white orbal car, its curves as elegant as a leopard's, yet with the rugged lines of industrial aesthetics.

Chief Sergei had a rare smile on his lips: "Well, are you satisfied?"

Noel excitedly walked around the car, her eyes sparkling with admiration: "Is this a product from that workshop? It doesn't seem to be Urnus's style, nor a Reinford product?"

"That's right, this is a product from Liberl's Zeiss Central Factory." Chief Sergei nodded.

"What!?" Noel exclaimed.

Seeing her companions' puzzled looks, Noel explained: "Liberl has many mountainous areas, so orbal cars aren't very common. And the Zeiss Factory? That's a top-tier airship manufacturer."

"I didn't expect them to enter the orbal car market! What are the specific specifications? What's the top speed?"

Chief Sergei waved his hand, signaling Noel not to get so excited, "Don't rush, don't rush. I'm not clear on the specifics, I only know it hasn't officially been released yet. Its codename is XD74, it's equipped with a small airship engine, and its top speed is 150 kilometers per hour."

"What! That's faster than a railway train!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Wazy's finger lightly traced the hood: "Oh my, this is quite the lavish expense, isn't it?"

Lloyd took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down: "Chief, why would such a high-end car be assigned to our Special Support Section? This doesn't seem reasonable at all, does it?"

Chief Sergei shrugged: "Mayor Dieter's arrangement."

"Mayor Dieter?" Noel looked up in surprise.

Elie nodded thoughtfully, saying: "Speaking of which, Uncle Dieter does have a lot of dealings with the Zeiss Central Factory, so he certainly could make such an arrangement."

"Well, according to Mayor Dieter's wishes." Chief Sergei exhaled a smoke ring. "He said the Special Support Section is the backbone of Crossbell's public order and needs the best equipment."

Elie frowned slightly: "This... won't it be too flashy?"

"If you think it's inappropriate, you can refuse." Chief Sergei pulled a set of keys from his pocket. "Then you can switch to a standard police car from the Urnus Company."

The group exchanged glances.

Three seconds later.

"We'll take it!" The four said in unison.

Chief Sergei laughed heartily, tossing the keys to Noel: "I knew you'd say that."

"Then work hard to repay this kindness."

Noel fumbled to catch the keys, the cold metallic touch giving her a sense of unreality.

"Wait, why me?" She looked at Chief Sergei, confused.

"Because you're the only one here with formal driving training." Chief Sergei pointed to her Garrison epaulets. "Are we going to let Lloyd, the rookie, drive?"

Lloyd scratched his head awkwardly: "Well, I passed the test last year, but I haven't driven since then..."

Noel's face flushed slightly, her fingers gripping the keys tightly: "I-I'll be responsible for driving it well!"

She gently pressed the start button, and the engine emitted a low hum, like a sleeping beast being awakened. The orbal dashboard inside the car lit up, full of futuristic technology.

"Get in." Chief Sergei opened the back passenger door. "We can discuss your investigation progress on the way."

Noel took a deep breath and sat in the driver's seat. She adjusted the seat to her preferred position, and the sensors on the steering wheel glowed faintly.

"This feeling..." She gently gripped the steering wheel. "It's much more advanced than the Garrison's armored vehicles."

Lloyd sat in the passenger seat, curiously examining the center console: "What do all these buttons do?"

"Don't touch anything!" Noel nervously slapped his hand away. "Let me get familiar with the controls first."

Wazy sprawled lazily in the back seat: "Oh my, now going out to play—no, I mean, chasing criminals will be much more convenient!"

Elie suddenly paused after sitting down, realizing something: "Wait, if this car hasn't been officially released yet, doesn't that mean it's still in the testing phase?"

Chief Sergei sat in the back, casually exhaling smoke rings: "That's why it's an experimental model."

"Which means..." Wazy narrowed his eyes. "We're the guinea pigs, then?"

"You could say that." Chief Sergei grinned. "Don't worry, no one's going to die."

Cold sweat broke out on Lloyd's forehead: "Chief, that's not funny..."

Noel's hands trembled slightly, but she held the steering wheel steadily: "I-I'll be careful."

She gently pressed the accelerator, and the orbal car smoothly drove out of the garage. The last rays of the setting sun fell on the car body, the silver paint reflecting a dazzling light.

"Alright, let's get down to business." Chief Sergei's expression turned serious. "How did the investigation go today?"

The atmosphere inside the car instantly became somber. Lloyd briefly recounted his encounter on the rooftop today, including Lechter's mention of "Silver" and his eventual escape.

"It might have been a diversion." Noel analyzed, her hands steadily controlling the steering wheel. "He deliberately led you away to make his own escape."

Wazy mused: "But why would Lechter mention 'Silver'? He could have just made up anyone, couldn't he?"

"I don't know." Lloyd shook his head. "But I think he might have been hiding something. The look in his eyes at the time, I just felt it was the kind of look you get when you've discovered someone important."

Elie and Noel reported their findings at the Foundation. Dr. Katja Rosenberg had visited the Epstein Foundation several times, and based on the reaction of the person in charge, Albert, it seemed some cooperation had been reached, but the specific details were unknown.

"Additionally, Dr. Katja Rosenberg took the Septium Veins exploration data, but we don't know her purpose."

“Septium Veins… terrorists… mysterious Doctor…” Chief Sergei mused, “Ah, things are getting more and more complicated.”

Noel focused on driving the new car through the streets of Crossbell. The performance of the orbal car far exceeded her expectations; its steering was precise, acceleration smooth, and even the noise was much less than the Garrison’s old car.

“This car is really good…” she couldn't help but praise in a low voice.

Lloyd’s gaze went through the windshield, looking at Crossbell City in the distance, where lights were gradually turning on.

“Chief,” he suddenly asked, “Do you think these incidents are related?”

Sergei was silent for a moment: “Who knows.”

Lloyd leaned back in the passenger seat, flipping through his investigation notes from today, his brows slightly furrowed: “To be honest, we’ve been busy all day, but it seems we haven’t made any substantial progress.”

Ellie sighed softly: “Although Lechter found some clues, he cleverly avoided them. As for Dr. Katja…”

She paused, looking at Wazy: “Wazy, did you find anything?”

Wazy lay lazily in the back seat, his fingers gently tapping the edge of the car window: “Hmm, I did find some interesting things.”

His tone was still frivolous, but a hint of imperceptible sharpness flashed in his eyes: “I asked some old friends I know in the Entertainment District to help me investigate all the information on Scholars within the Liberl Kingdom.”

“Especially Scholars who had travel plans recently or had left Liberl.”

“What was the result?” Lloyd turned to look at him.

“You should know the result by the look of me.” Wazy shrugged: “Obviously, there’s no such person as Dr. Katja Rosenberg.”

“As expected…” Lloyd murmured, “This identity is fake.”

Wazy’s lips curved slightly upward: “However, I also found some information about the movements of the Black Moon.”

Everyone’s gaze instantly focused on him.

“Black Moon?” Noel gripped the steering wheel, “Are they really coming to Crossbell?”

“Yes.” Wazy nodded, “And there are quite a few of them. You know Rubas’s original headquarters in the Entertainment District, right? It’s now an asset of the Black Moon.”

“What?!” Everyone exclaimed.

Chief Sergei exhaled a smoke ring in the back row: “It seems the Republic is indeed plotting something.”

Lloyd’s fingers unconsciously tapped his knee: “But the problem is, what exactly do they want to do? Although the Black Moon certainly looks like a trading company, not many people don’t know they are a black society, right?”

“The goal might be to replace Rubas.” Ellie said in a deep voice, “Although I don’t want to admit it, Rubas did, to a certain extent, resist the infiltration of black forces from the Empire and the Republic in the past.”

“But after the cult incident, with Rubas’s downfall, Crossbell’s underground society has…”

A brief silence fell in the car. Noel’s fingers tightened slightly, and the orbal car’s speed unconsciously increased a bit.

“Calm down, Noel.” Lloyd gently reminded, “Don’t speed.”

“Ah, sorry!” Noel quickly let go of the accelerator, her cheeks slightly flushed.

Sergei looked at the scenery outside the window and suddenly spoke: “Speaking of which, KeA should be getting out of school around this time, right?”

At the mention of KeA, the atmosphere in the car instantly lightened considerably.

“That’s right!” Lloyd’s eyes lit up, “We can use the new car to pick her up!”

Ellie smiled and nodded: “She’ll be very happy to see this car.”

Wazy stretched lazily: “Oh, our little princess will probably jump for joy when she sees such a cool car~”

Noel also couldn’t help but smile: “Shall we go pick her up now?”

“Yes!” Lloyd nodded, “To the Sunday School.”

Noel gently turned the steering wheel, and the orbal car smoothly turned in the direction of the Sunday School. Everyone’s conversation also shifted from serious investigations to KeA.

“By the way, has KeA grown a bit taller recently?” Ellie asked.

“Yes,” Lloyd laughed, “She was so proud when we measured her height yesterday.”

Wazy narrowed his eyes: “That little girl has also gotten into baking recently. Last time, she insisted I try the cookies she made.”

“And what was the result?” Noel asked curiously.

“Hmm…” Wazy’s expression was a little smug, “They were delicious~”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh.

...

The orbal car slowly stopped at the school gate. After Noel turned off the engine, everyone got out to wait. Soon, the school gate opened, and children joyfully streamed out.

KeA spotted Lloyd and the others standing by the new car at a glance, and her emerald green eyes instantly lit up.

“Lloyd! Ellie! Everyone!” She excitedly waved her small hands and ran over quickly.

“KeA!” Lloyd squatted down, opening his arms to catch the little girl who rushed over, “Did you have fun at school today?”

“Super fun!” KeA looked up and suddenly noticed the new car behind them, “Wow! This is…”

“It’s our new car.” Noel squatted down, smiling and stroking KeA’s head, “Do you want to get in and try it?”

KeA’s eyes widened: “Really?”

“Of course!” Lloyd picked her up, “Come, sit in the passenger seat.”

After everyone got in the car, KeA curiously touched and looked around, her small face full of excitement: “This car is amazing!”

“Yes,” Noel started the engine, “Its top speed is 150 kilometers per hour.”

“150 kilometers!” KeA exclaimed, “Isn’t that faster than a train?”

Wazy said with a smile from the back seat: “How about it, little princess, do you want Sister Noel to take you for a spin?”

“Yes!” KeA raised her small hand and cheered.

Noel smiled and nodded: “Okay, then we’ll take a longer route home.”

The orbal car slowly drove away from the school. KeA leaned against the car window, watching the rapidly receding scenery outside, a happy smile on her small face.

Lloyd looked at her profile, and the gloom in his heart seemed to dissipate quite a bit.

No matter what… he must protect such a smile!

He secretly made up his mind.

However, in everyone’s blind spot, Chief Sergei’s brows furrowed slightly. His gaze went through the car window, looking at the gradually darkening sky in the distance, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

The Trade Conference… Black Moon… Imperial Intelligence Agency… and that mysterious Dr. Katja…

He took a deep drag from his cigarette and slowly exhaled.

This time, the trouble will probably not be small…