161: Chapter 162: The First Head-on Confrontation with the Officials

When Feynman had previously seen that badge, he had deliberately sensed the aura on Locke Galahad. Upon discovering that Locke Galahad was only a Sequence 9 and had not yet reached Sequence 8, he had assumed the young man was just a lucky brat, which made him feel a bit jealous; thus, his words and attitude had been somewhat lacking.

However, after Locke Galahad displayed an Extraordinary Ability similar to spatial manipulation, he put away the contempt in his heart.

Now, hearing Locke Galahad speak like this, he had absolutely no resentment left toward him.

There was no helping it; in the entire Church of the Night Goddess, there was only one person capable of gifting a supernatural raven to others, and that person's status was too noble for him to touch.

Locke Galahad naturally did not know that a casual remark of his had caused the bartender to let his imagination run wild.

He continued to chat and laugh with Maria and Lily.

"By the way, Locke Galahad, you don't look very old. Are you currently in school or—" Lily asked tentatively.

"Me?" Locke Galahad's mind raced. To complete his mission, he quickly devised a plan: "I'm still in high school. I just transferred from North Carolina to the Florence Academy for Nobles."

"Really!" Hearing this, Maria couldn't help but widen her eyes, unable to believe her ears.

"That's right." Locke Galahad asked, pretending not to know: "Could it be that you two are also students at Florence?"

"Yes, yes!" Lily glanced at Maria, then quickly nodded with a smile, speaking before Maria could: "What a coincidence! We can go to school together from now on."

"Where do you live?"

"Hmm—it's not decided yet, but I plan to buy a house near the school." Locke Galahad feigned thought.

"You want to buy a house?" Thinking of a villa currently for sale next to her own home, Maria asked reflexively, her tone tinged with a hint of surprise.

"Yes, if I don't buy a house, where would I live while going to school?"

Locke Galahad smiled, his tone carrying a touch of teasing: "It's not like I can stay at your place, Maria, today, and Lily's place tomorrow."

Maria didn't respond to his teasing, only shyly nodding slightly, while Lily immediately beamed with joy: "You can stay at my place! We have an empty guest room in the attic. I can tell my parents you're a boarder."

"Wow, if that happens, the three of us can go to school together every day."

Locke Galahad's words played right into Lily's hands; she had been worrying about not having a chance to get close to him.

However, Locke Galahad was only joking and didn't actually intend to live at either of their homes. He had too many secrets and couldn't live with outsiders for the time being. So, facing Lily's enthusiastic invitation, he could only smile and shake his head: "I was just joking. How could I, a guy, stay at you girls' homes? If the classmates at school found out, who knows what kind of rumors would spread."

"I don't care."

Lily, having drunk some alcohol, didn't know what she was doing anymore. She reached out and grabbed Locke Galahad's arm: "Let them talk if they want to. We're innocent anyway."

Locke Galahad noticed Maria's expression had turned somewhat unpleasant and quietly pulled his hand away from Lily's grasp.

"No need. I'm used to living alone; it's better to buy a house."

Hearing this, Maria's previously dimmed expression brightened up immediately, and she said with a smile: "There's a house for sale next to mine. The landlord is moving to Philadelphia, so they're selling it at a 20% discount."

"The house was built not long ago and is still in prime condition, with all the furniture and facilities perfectly intact. Locke Galahad, if you want to be close to the school, buying it is definitely the right choice."

"Plus, their house is very close to mine, so we can go to school together in the future."

Maria racked her brains to list all the advantages of the house; from the bottom of her heart, she hoped to become neighbors with Locke Galahad.

That way, she would have a chance to see him every day.

"That sounds great. I'll consider it."

Locke Galahad nodded, calculating internally.

His desire to buy a house wasn't a whim, but the result of careful consideration.

After all, he would often be moving around downtown New York in the future and couldn't always drive back to the castle to rest, so he had the plan to buy a house to use as a second base.

Coupled with the fact that he had just received the mission of "The Man in the Mirror," he moved the house-buying schedule up.

"I'll make a call later and have Emilia secure this property."

As for the school matter, that was indeed a spur-of-the-moment decision.

It was mainly so that going to and from school with Maria would allow him to better get in touch with her, facilitating the completion of the mission.

The three continued to chat in the bar. Following that, Locke Galahad inadvertently saw through the bar's glass window that there were actually two people dressed in police uniforms fiddling with their phones in front of his jaguar. "How did these two guys manage to track me here?"

"What are they trying to do?"

He was no stranger to these two; they were the rookie police officer Lanus and his partner Albert, whom he had seen twice while speeding outside the New York ring road.

Locke Galahad didn't make a move immediately but calmly watched the two from the bar counter, while simultaneously expanding his attention to the limit, preparing to eavesdrop on their conversation.

One old, one young, one fat, one thin—the two huddled together, circling Locke Galahad's black jaguar and looking it over, seemingly confirming something.

"Lanus, is your information accurate?" Albert, sticking out his big belly with a cigarette in his mouth, lightly patted the hood of the car: "Are you sure this is the ghost car we saw in the suburbs?"

"I'm sure. This is what my cousin, who works in that department, told me."

Lanus, brimming with excitement, aimed his camera at the license plate.

The reason he was so excited wasn't because of the 10,000 us dollars, but because his cousin had told him that as long as he thoroughly investigated the information on the jaguar's owner, he would petition his superiors to give him an interview opportunity to join the special operations unit.

"As long as I find out, with my cousin's help from the side, I'll definitely be able to successfully join this mysterious organization."

The reason Lanus was so persistent wasn't just because of his longing for the supernatural, but even more so because he wanted to avenge his parents.

As for Albert, being a veteran, he only wanted money and didn't have much pursuit of power. If Lanus hadn't told him he had found clues about the ghost car owner, he wouldn't have come.

After all, having been an American police officer for decades, what he pursued was stability; staying alive was the most important thing. This was also the main reason he had never been shot by criminals—because he never got out of the car when encountering incidents.

"Your cousin told you this?"

Hearing this, a trace of doubt arose in Albert's heart: "Since your cousin knows, why didn't he come himself? Does he not need that 10,000 us dollars?"

"Albert, your worry is truly unnecessary."

Lanus stood in front of the car, focused on taking photos with his phone: "Isn't it simple? My cousin is a person from that department, and this bounty was issued by their unit. If he found this information, could he claim this 10,000 us dollars?"

Albert took the last drag of his cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and crushed it fiercely: "If you put it that way, that makes sense. Let's agree on this beforehand: after we find out the information, you and I will each take 2,500, and then the remaining 5,000 us dollars will go to your cousin."

"You can have my half too, as long as you help me cover for me and accompany me to investigate the information."

Lanus hadn't taken this job for the money; he was after the fame.

The reason he included Albert was because he valued the fact that the other was older and steady, and could help him investigate a lot of information within the police station that he couldn't access himself.

"Heh, I don't know why you kid is so persistent."

Albert shook his head, his expression gradually becoming vigilant, and began to look around to keep watch for Lanus. He was able to work as an American police officer, a job with the highest mortality rate, until nearing retirement age, not just because of his cowardly nature, but also because he was extremely cautious and had very strong reconnaissance and situational awareness skills.

In his early years, he had been an army scout, but after getting married and witnessing the death of his partner, he no longer obsessed over meritorious service, but began to seek stability.

"Sigh, wouldn't it be better if you just lived your life peacefully like me? Like an old man like me, marry a wife, and live this ordinary life; isn't that also very happy?"

"Marry a wife... if my parents hadn't died, I probably would be just like you, Albert."

Lanus walked around the black jaguar with his phone. When mentioning his parents, his eyes became sharp.

"Unfortunately, they are the pain of my life. I must find out the cause of their death."

Lanus spoke, but his actions didn't stop. The flash kept flickering, attempting to record the details of the entire car into his phone, and then he would go back to the police station system to see if he could find relevant information about the driver.

Although normally, with his status, he couldn't access so much, but with his relationship with Albert, they could go through the back door.

The surrounding passersby were not surprised by this, thinking he was that kind of vain person; there were even many vain people who followed his lead and raised their phones to take selfies in front of the black jaguar.

"Investigate my information, cousin, that department, bounty—"

Through a piece of glass, Locke Galahad still clearly heard the conversation between the two, which made his eyes turn sharp.

"Who exactly is behind them? To actually track me from the New York suburbs to the city center. Is it the authorities, or—Death Walker!"

He didn't rule out that the other party belonged to the Death Walker organization, but this possibility was likely very low.

Locke Galahad estimated that the party behind them likely belonged to the official Transcendent side, but regardless of who they belonged to, he couldn't tolerate the two hanging behind him like a tail.

After all, he had too many secrets on him that couldn't be exposed.

"I might need to go out and handle some things. You two go ahead and have fun."

Thinking of this, he made up a casual excuse to Maria and Lily and walked toward the door. "Ah—okay, I will be here waiting for you to come back."

Lily's reaction was extremely fast, immediately saying such ambiguous words, while Maria's reaction was half a beat slower. "I—I am too, Locke Galahad. I will be here waiting for you."

Locke Galahad nodded at the two with a smile and strode toward the bar's entrance.

As he walked, he reached out his hand and gently stroked Little Seven's head, whispering instructions: "Do you see the two people circling in front of my car at the door?"

"Mm-hmm." Little Seven's eyes glowed with red light, and she nodded fiercely. "Very well. In a moment, use your Extraordinary Ability to pull them into an illusion."

Locke Galahad's expression was very calm, and his tone gradually became cold: "I have a few questions I want to ask them."

Seeing his attitude and expression, Little Seven understood immediately that he was going to interrogate the two, and the bird became excited in an instant.

She subconsciously began to flap her wings on Locke Galahad's shoulder, feeling quite like she was rubbing her hands in anticipation.

There was no helping it; under Locke Galahad's restrictions, she had been holding it in for so long, and now that she had finally found two punching bags, she naturally had to have some fun.

Thinking of this, both his and Little Seven's eyes gradually flashed with light, just like playful children seeing their favorite toys.

Lanus and Albert outside the door didn't know that their actions had already attracted Locke Galahad's attention.

Mainly, they didn't know that Locke Galahad was not an ordinary person. Although they had seen Locke Galahad driving so fast earlier, the two only thought he had some special skills and unknown secrets.

They had no idea that Locke Galahad was a Transcendent they couldn't afford to provoke.

Otherwise, even if they had 100 guts, they wouldn't dare to take photos here so brazenly.

"Lanus, are you done shooting? Hurry up, I have an ominous premonition."

Albert looked around and suddenly felt a gust of eerie wind, which made him shrink his neck involuntarily.

"Almost done, almost done. Just the interior left."

Lanus waved his hand, then aimed his phone camera at the car window, wanting to record the details of the interior structure as well.

"You'd better hurry up. I feel like the owner is coming back soon. I don't want to be mistaken for some bad—"

"I'm back."

Before Albert could finish his sentence, he heard an extremely cold voice appear beside his ear. Immediately following that, before he could turn his head back, he saw a pale palm suddenly appear on his shoulder. This made even him, who had experienced quite a few things, swallow his saliva.

At the same time, he was surprised to find that the entire street, besides himself and Lanus, only had that car left, and the tall figure standing behind him who knew not when he had arrived.

This immediately made him start to feel afraid from the bottom of his heart, and the pupils of his eyes began to tremble.

Because this had exceeded the scope of his cognition, coupled with the supernatural aura that Locke Galahad had intentionally released, and the atmosphere that Little Seven had deliberately created using an illusion, it made even an old hand like Albert panic.

Albert slowly turned around, simultaneously squinting his eyes, fearing that he would see something terrifying the next second.

Seeing Locke Galahad, who was a head taller than him, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Locke Galahad's eyes were cold: "What are you relaxing about?"

"I—"

Albert opened his mouth slightly, then suddenly turned around and shouted at Lanus, who was still taking pictures: "The situation has changed, run!"

Lanus looked up upon hearing this, saw the completely dark street and the tall black figure wearing a trench coat, and his expression immediately tightened. He grabbed his phone and turned to run as well.

"You've already been caught. You still want to run? That is simply wishful thinking."