The two of them didn't need to discuss before knowing to flee separately. Ground spikes, half a person high, erupted from the spot where they had been standing. The entire gallery began to shake violently, and the alarm grew louder.
The foreign man with beige hair narrowed his eyes, a wild smile curving his lips. He snapped his fingers, and everything within the radius of his palm began to shatter, rapidly spreading outwards. Collapsing buildings blurred the foreign man's figure.
Lu Zhi, fleeing, suddenly felt a prickling sensation on his scalp. Without thinking, he rolled on the ground. A gust of wind grazed the tips of his raised hair. With a clang, sharp enough to cut iron, the upper half of the gallery was cleaved in two, and stone bricks from overhead rained down.
Lu Zhi rushed out of the gallery, followed closely by Yan Shao, who emerged from another direction. Outside, a large crowd had gathered. Jiang Yue, seeing the two of them emerge, let out a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened?"
"Too many people, too many eyes. Let's head back to the hotel first," Yan Shao said, giving a meaningful glance.
Lu Zhi carefully covered the still unconscious, chubby little fur ball with his jacket. Taking advantage of the crowd's confusion, they quickly left the scene.
The three returned to the hotel and went to Lu Zhi's room. As soon as the door was closed, Lu Zhi quickly took out the little fat mouse and examined it. After a careful observation, his expression turned troubled. "I... I don't know how to treat mice."
Yan Shao: ...
Jiang Yue's eyes widened in shock. "You two didn't cause such a huge commotion at the art exhibition, did you? Just to catch a mouse?"
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Lu Zhi and Yan Shao exchanged wary glances. It was Wang Caotian's voice: "Lu Zhi, open the door, it's me."
Jiang Yue opened the door. Wang Caotian slipped into the room, looking conspiratorial, and quickly closed the door. He spoke urgently, "What's going on? You two are all over the city's trending searches. The police are looking for you everywhere."
Lu Zhi was astonished. In just a few minutes, they were already fugitives?
Yan Shao was unfazed. "Mm, it seems we've been used."
Lu Zhi frowned. "Could those two be foreign apostles?"
"It's quite obvious that those two are foreign apostles, and they stole a painting from the gallery," Yan Shao said, crossing his arms. "My intuition tells me that painting must be very important."
"What are you two talking about?" Wang Caotian asked, looking bewildered.
Lu Zhi glanced at the white fur ball, whose fate was still uncertain. "What about this? Should we find a vet? We're wanted citywide now, and the police will be here soon."
There was surveillance footage near the scene where they had fled, capturing everything clearly. On the other hand, the two foreign apostles had somehow managed to conceal their tracks. He and Yan Shao were now the prime suspects for theft and destruction of the gallery.
Wang Caotian suddenly pushed Lu Zhi aside and peered at the white fur ball lying on its back, revealing its pink little mouth. He blurted out, "You two didn't blow up the gallery just to catch this mouse, did you?"
Lu Zhi: ... I suspect you and Jiang Yue are long-lost siblings.
Wang Caotian's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, "Could this be the legendary Rat God?"
Jiang Yue's eyes widened. "Yes! How did I not think of that."
Lu Zhi: ... Someone, please take these two simpletons away!
Yan Shao's quantum communicator beeped. It was Xia Zhi, who was keeping watch in the hotel lobby, sending a message that two police cars had arrived at the hotel entrance.
Lu Zhi walked to the window, sidestepped, and lifted a corner of the curtain. Indeed, he saw two police cars, black special units. A man got out of one of the cars and entered his line of sight. Lu Zhi froze and instinctively said, "Lofis? What is he doing here?"
Yan Shao walked over to the window and immediately said, "It's good that it's someone we know. Let's go down."
Three minutes later, Lu Zhi, with a small mouse in his pocket, went with Yan Shao to 'surrender'.
Lofis. Louden saw Lu Zhi and Yan Shao and smiled maliciously. "Yo, suspects. What a coincidence."
Lu Zhi knew from his tone that Lofis had come specifically to find them.
"Too many people and eyes here. Shall we go to the Special Department to talk?" Yan Shao suggested.
Lofis nodded. "Let's go. You two, you cause such a commotion as soon as you arrive."
Jiang Yue and the other two stayed at the hotel and did not follow.
Special Departments were located throughout the country. Unlike regular police stations, the Special Department was responsible only for handling problems caused by superhumans.
Lofis's presence here was due to orders from above.
The female driver focused on the road ahead. Lofis spoke without reservation, "The higher-ups have caught wind that the foreign divine realms have been quite active in recent years. Some apostles infiltrated our country a while ago. Some went to Kunsata, and some came to the City of Never-Sleeping."
Yan Shao: "We just happened to run into them."
Lofis chuckled. "I mean, who dares to cause such a huge disturbance in a safe zone inhabited by ordinary people? Are they not fools? Hahaha... I guessed right."
Lofis's tone shifted, his voice turning serious. "Did you two get a clear look at their faces?"
Lu Zhi nodded. "They were easy to identify. Both had foreign features. One was blond with blue eyes, a powerfully built superhuman who could use wind abilities. The other had beige hair and blue eyes, and his strength... was immense."
There was a standard among superhumans for measuring power, and the man with beige hair and blue eyes had simply moved his fingers, causing the entire gallery to collapse.
Yan Shao: "Extremely powerful superhuman ability, capable of shattering everything it touched."
Lofis became even more excited upon hearing this, saying enviously, "That's great. Why didn't I get to encounter them?"
Lu Zhi: ... Almost forgot, this guy is a battle enthusiast.
"By the way," Lu Zhi said, taking out the white little mouse from his pocket. "I rescued this from those two. I think it might know something."
Lofis chuckled. "Isn't this the guardian mouse of the gallery? Let me see... Hmm... It's fine. It's entered a state of feigned death to protect itself. Once we get to the department, we can wake it up by tempting it with food."
Lu Zhi was half-believing.
Soon, the special car transported them to the Special Department in the City of Never-Sleeping. The staff there greeted Lofis very warmly.
Lu Zhi curiously looked around and suddenly asked, "Huh? Why don't I see Qin Huai?"
Qin Huai was practically Lofis's personal secretary. Not seeing him felt unusual to Lu Zhi.
"This is also why I came to the City of Never-Sleeping and planned to enter Never-Sleeping Island," Lofis said, his eyes darkening slightly. "Qin Huai disappeared on Never-Sleeping Island last week and still hasn't been found."
Lu Zhi was a little surprised but not overly worried. After all, Qin Huai had the protagonist's halo; he shouldn't be in too much danger.
"Is he on Never-Sleeping Island?" Yan Shao asked.
"It's confirmed he's on Never-Sleeping Island. We plan to look for him tonight," Lofis said, taking a cigarette from a drawer and offering one to Yan Shao, then to Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi: "Thank you, I don't smoke..." Before he could finish the word "smoke," a hand reached from behind him and took the cigarette. Lu Zhi turned his head and saw Shen Qi, who had claimed to be busy and left.
"When did you learn to smoke?" Shen Qi asked, his tone somewhat casual. His silver-grey eyes glanced at Lofis, with a hint of danger. "Did he teach you?"