130: Chapter 130 The Death of the Mayor

At 7:15 AM, Thompson woke up in his apartment.

He sat on the edge of the bed, stretched his joints a few times, and subconsciously reached out to grab his phone from the nightstand.

He habitually swiped away junk text messages and clickbait notifications from news apps, but his finger suddenly stopped when he reached the seventh item.

"President Issues Statement: Calls for New York Citizens to Remain Calm and Restrained, Reject Violent Confrontation"

He clicked on it. The statement had been released at 3:00 AM, and the wording was completely different from the battle manifesto he had seen yesterday.

Yesterday, in a national address, the President had still classified A-Zu's Special Ability shop as an "illegal organization," calling on all Americans to unite and resist the alien invasion.

But in this statement, those sharp words were all gone. "Illegal organization" had become "unregistered Special Ability group," "resist alien invasion" had become "resolve differences through dialogue," and "fight to the end" had become "maintain social order and public safety in New York."

Thompson frowned and read the statement from beginning to end again.

There was no retraction of yesterday's speech, no admission of any policy adjustment, just a very subtle softening of the wording.

Ordinary citizens might not notice such details at all, but having been a police officer for twenty-two years, he was all too familiar with this flavor.

When the highest official of a law enforcement agency suddenly starts using milder terms to describe an object he called an "enemy" just the day before, there is only one explanation: negotiations have already begun.

Perhaps there are no results yet, perhaps they are still bargaining, but both sides have already sat down at the same table.

He exited the President's statement and opened A-Zu's social media account. This account was managed by Sima Bei; after all, online publicity was more important than offline publicity.

An update was also posted early this morning:

"True liberation is not about destroying the old world, but transforming it. The working class does not need to shed blood to gain dignity. We call on all parties in New York to remain restrained and let reason return to dialogue."

Thompson stared at the word "dialogue," suddenly feeling a wave of nausea rise in his throat.

Two enemies who were at each other's throats yesterday could now sit together smiling today; it really lived up to that old saying: there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

He sent an encrypted message to Black Panther:

"President's wording softened. A-Zu starting to talk about 'rational dialogue.' High probability of private contact between the two sides. See you at the usual spot tonight."

After the message was sent successfully, it automatically disappeared, as if it had never existed.

Only then did Thompson realize what this meant.

When A-Zu and his group first descended, facing humanity, they only had violent deterrence and commercial means in their hands. At that time, they numbered no more than twenty people, at best just a violent gang.

But with the addition of Sima Bei, it was completely different. On one hand, they began to build a complete ideological framework, using it to attract the lower classes to join.

On the other hand, they used interests to win over the elite class, buying time for their own development.

And an organization with an ideological program, a course of action, and violent deterrence is usually called a political party on Blue Star.

Thompson stood up from the bed and walked to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water.

The aliens had actually established a political party within Blue Star, which made Thompson feel incredibly absurd.

His phone rang while he was brushing his teeth; he held the toothbrush in his mouth and walked to the bedside to answer it.

"Officer Thompson." It was the voice of the silver-haired policewoman at the front desk. "Please come to the Interstellar Police Department immediately. Chief of Staff Danzo has a case for you."

"What case?" Thompson spat out the toothpaste foam and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"There is no explanation in the system. Chief of Staff Danzo is waiting for you in Room 412. Please arrive within thirty minutes."

The phone hung up.

Without time to think, he immediately notified Agor. Agor casually picked up Gugu Gaga and followed Thompson to the Interstellar Police Department.

On the way, Thompson pointed to the dazed little penguin and asked, "Does she have to work too?"

Agor shook her head. "She is here for a vacation!"

Thompson fell silent. He understood that whether it was humans or A-Zu's group, this struggle was just an exciting movie to the people of Guga Planet.

And the little penguin was a VIP customer in the audience, able to experience everything personally, or even guest-star in the movie.

——————

Room 412 was three times larger than Conference Room 302. Although the entire room was incredibly bright, it felt extremely eerie because a figure in a black cloak was standing in the center of the room.

"Officer Thompson." Chief of Staff Danzo turned around and glanced at him. Thompson instantly felt his hair stand on end, and he immediately lowered his head, not daring to look directly into Chief of Staff Danzo's eyes.

"Here, Chief Danzo."

"Officer Agor." He immediately nodded slightly toward the silver-haired woman behind Thompson.

"Chief of Staff." Agor gave a standard Guga military salute, her movements crisp and clean, like a sharp knife sheathing.

"Gugu Gaga!" The little penguin, having woken up on the side, also gave a cute salute.

Chief of Staff Danzo did not return the salute. He reached out a hand from under his cloak, holding a thin photograph, and handed it to Thompson.

"Look at this first."

Thompson took the photo and found it was a standard-spec crime scene evidence photo.

It was taken indoors. The background was a large window with blinds. On a chair under the window lay a man, a white male, about sixty years old, with gray hair, wearing a dark suit jacket.

Both his hands were pressed tightly against his heart, his ten fingers twisted and digging into the fabric of his chest, as if he wanted to dig something out of his chest cavity.

His mouth was wide open, his tongue slightly protruding, and his lips showed an abnormal cyanotic color.

The whole person could be described as having died in a very hideous way.

"Robert Coleman." Chief of Staff Danzo's voice was as calm as water. "Mayor of New York City. At 6:12 this morning, a cleaner found him dead in his chair at the City Hall office."

"The police report call was received by the New York Police Department at 6:14, and at 6:30, the New York Police Department transferred the case to the Interstellar Police Department."

"According to your forensic examiner's preliminary examination, the cause of death was cardiac arrest, but Mayor Coleman had no history of heart disease."

"Coupled with the recent turmoil." Chief of Staff Danzo looked at Thompson. "So, with the Mayor dying mysteriously at this point in time, the New York Police Department does not have the ability to handle it independently, so it was transferred to the Interstellar Police Department."

"Officer Thompson, this case is fully entrusted to you."

Thompson was stunned for a moment, and he subconsciously turned to look at Agor.

Agor was expressionless, as if she had already anticipated the outcome.

"Agor." Chief of Staff Danzo's voice suddenly became serious. "You can only assist him, do you understand?"

Agor's salute was even crisper than before. "Yes, Chief of Staff Danzo, I understand. Commander Chen Mu told us before we came."

"Remember, only assist. Do not lead. Do not overstep your authority. Do not use any technical means outside of standard procedures." Chief of Staff Danzo emphasized it one last time, then waved his hand toward the door. "Go."

After walking out of Room 412, Thompson immediately turned to Agor.

"What does 'only assist' mean?"

Agor did not stop, answering as she walked, "It means I can only watch you investigate the case using your human methods. I cannot use our technology to assist."

Thompson caught up with her and asked curiously, "Then how do you people from Guga Planet investigate cases?"

Agor stopped, smiled mysteriously, and said, "Have you ever heard of Time Replay?!"