NIKKE, Swordmaster Ark Succubus Daily

In the outer area, in a half-collapsed tin shack.

Sitting on the ground, Krau said to the mysterious messenger at the door, "Tell Cheryl that I can help her."

132. Double Insurance

Bran quickly explained the ins and outs of the intimidation case in detail.

Two weeks ago, Cheryl, the manager of Gold Coin Wars, received a threatening letter demanding that she immediately stop operating Gold Coin Wars or she would face retaliation.

Cheryl didn't take it seriously at first and still had her staff prepare for the opening of the Gold Coin Wars.

However, not long after, the employees of Gold Coin Wars inexplicably found a letter in their personal clothes in the locker room. When they opened it, it turned out to be a threatening letter with content roughly the same as that received by store manager Cheryl.

Even so, seemingly for the sake of her own performance, Cheryl still required her employees to come to work as usual, and anyone who dared to be absent would be fired immediately.

The very next day, Cheryl arrived at her office and let out a terrified scream.

The employees who heard the noise rushed over and saw a human head, so rotten that the bones were exposed, on the manager's desk.

Later, the police came to investigate, but the head did not match any of the information in the police department's database, so they guessed that it was very likely from the outer perimeter.

What's even more terrifying is that no one knows how the severed head managed to evade heavy surveillance and end up in a locked office.

So after this incident, all the human employees either resigned or were transferred to other positions; no one dared to risk their lives.

The store manager, Cheryl, subsequently received several more murder warning letters, forcing her to stay at home under the protection of dedicated police officers.

Tetra's top management, who control the vast majority of media channels, also suppressed the matter, not wanting it to affect future opening performance.

Therefore, the most urgent task is to resolve this intimidation case and bring it to a close as soon as possible.

Li Zuoyi just didn't understand why Ma Shiding didn't just entrust him with solving this matter.

Forget it, let's deal with this case first.

After hearing this, Little Red Riding Hood also felt troubled and asked, "What do we do next, Commander?"

Li Zuoyi already had some ideas in mind, and he said:

"Since the other party wants to kill her, the best course of action is to go to her house and wait there, catch the murderer, and then interrogate the other party's organization."

This kind of thing is obviously because the gold coin war is blocking the financial path of a certain organization, so they want to intimidate Cheryl.

Moreover, it's very likely that it's one of the gangs in the Ark. In that case, if the police force isn't effective, he can also get the underworld queen's army to take action.

"But aren't there police?" Little Red Riding Hood asked. "What if they see too many people and are afraid to come?"

Li Zuoyi looked at the white rabbit Bran and said, "You should come along too. After all, we'll need your strength."

"You think this will work?" Little Red Riding Hood was astonished by his actions; he actually wanted to catch the criminal by luck.

Seeing Bran's hesitation, Li Zuoyi asked, "Won't luck energy work in this kind of situation?"

“It should be possible.” Bran glanced at her sister and said to Li Zuoyi, “But I wanted to ask if Noal could come along too? She also possesses lucky energy, so it would be more useful if the two of us went together!”

“Brand…” Noah was touched that Brand was still thinking of him at this moment.

“Since it’s advantageous, I have no reason to refuse.” Li Zuoyi pointed to their revealing bunny girl outfits and said, “However, you can’t just go out like this. Go change into some ordinary clothes.”

While the two rabbits were changing clothes, he messaged Anik, hoping she could check if any strange people had appeared near the Gold Coin Battle area the night before the head appeared.

The police's inability to find it does not mean that Anik's inability to find it.

With double insurance, the advantage lies with me.

"It will take time," Anick replied.

【it is good. 】

But soon after, Anik sent another message: "[Only at times like this do you think of me]."

Before Li Zuoyi could react, the message was immediately retracted.

...Hmm? Why does it feel like Anik has been acting a little strange since he came back this time?

He deliberately sent a message: 【I didn't see it just now, what did you send?】

After a while, Anik sent the message again, paused for two seconds, and then retracted it.

Li Zuo was shocked; things were indeed different!

what happened?

By this time, both Black and White Rabbit had changed into their everyday clothes. Li Zuoyi didn't delay any longer. After asking Cheryl for her address, he took Little Red Riding Hood with him and headed there.

In an upscale residential area of ​​Ark, Li Zuoyi parked his car in front of a detached villa surrounded by police.

"There are too many police officers," Little Red Riding Hood exclaimed. She saw seven or eight police officers near her house.

This level of security was only to protect a shop manager, which Little Red Riding Hood couldn't understand. How did Ark become like this?

“Cheryl was originally a high-ranking official in Tetra, but it seems she lost in a political struggle and was transferred to the War of Gold as store manager…” Bran explained.

"But this is too big a show of force." Li Zuoyi sensed something was amiss.

After getting out of the car, Li Zuoyi saw a police chief reprimanding several officers who had come to reinforce from another area.

"Look at the time! Why are you so late?" the sheriff said impatiently.

The reinforcements kept their heads down obediently, letting the sheriff vent his anger.

When the sheriff saw strangers approaching, he immediately turned around and raised his hand to stop them, asking, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

“I’m an employee of Gold Coin Wars. I have something to discuss with Manager Cheryl about the opening of Gold Coin Wars,” Bran said.

"No, no," the sheriff shook his head. "No one, no matter who, is allowed to approach this house."

"but……"

Bran hoped the other party would be lenient, but Li Zuo handed his phone to the sheriff and showed off his military rank.

"Captain!" The sheriff immediately saluted, recognizing him as the former outpost commander who had recently gained notoriety.

“I’m here to protect Cheryl, please step aside,” Li Zuoyi said directly.

"But……"

"Step aside."

Seeing Li Zuoyi's cold expression, the police chief had no choice but to stand aside.

Once the captain and his entourage entered the villa, the sheriff finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the reinforcements who had arrived, and seeing that they were still keeping their heads down, he regained some of his earlier imposing manner, slightly raised his head, and said:

"By the way, I still don't know your names. Please tell me your names so we can make arrangements later."

“Egbert Zevani”.

Eudora Belle.

……

When it was the last, slightly shorter female officer's turn, there was no movement for a long time. The sheriff saw that she was looking at the villa and seemed not to have heard anything.

"Your name!" the sheriff said angrily. "I'm going to record this offense!"

Krau withdrew his gaze, looked at the sheriff, and said with a smile, "My name is Krau Kellogg, sheriff."

133. Anies...was poisoned?

Li Zuoyi told Niki and the others to stay outside, and he went into the study alone. Looking past the desk, he saw Ms. Cheryl.

I heard that she is over fifty years old, but you can still tell that she must have been a stunning beauty in her youth. Time does not seem to have left many marks on her face. Only the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes and the gray hair roots hidden under her black hair tell the story of her being a middle-aged woman.

“I heard you’re here to protect me, Captain,” Ms. Cheryl said, looking at the handsome man before her.

"Actually, I'm here to catch assassins, but it should be close. I'll do my best to ensure your safety," Li Zuoyi said. "Afterwards, I'll uproot their organization to ensure the Gold Coin War can begin."

The saying goes, "He who takes a favor owes one a favor." Since Ma Shiding had helped him before, Li Zuoyi should also do something for him.

“Uprooted…you’re very confident, Captain.” Cheryl smiled, her nasolabial folds deepening, making her look several years older. “I was just as confident as you back then.”

Li Zuoyi didn't know if she was laughing at him or at herself, and said, "You seem to know who is threatening you."

She was practically saying that she had been fighting with the other party for so long and still couldn't do anything about it, so how could you possibly do it?

Is this implying that this intimidation case is not the first confrontation?

Judging from her tone, it seemed that she had already clashed with that organization a long time ago.

“No, I don’t know.” Cheryl suddenly became dejected. “I still don’t know.”

"No way..." Li Zuoyi had a bad feeling. He asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Cheryl lowered her eyes, thought for a while, and finally shook her head. "Forget it, you have a bright future ahead of you, so it's better not to get involved."

"Alright, alright, I didn't expect you to be a riddle person. Then you shouldn't have said those things earlier," Li Zuoyi said speechlessly.

However, this also shows that the job that Mastin gave him was indeed not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Perhaps... it's related to those traitors from back then.

Thinking of this, Li Zuoyi finally had the motivation to get involved in this matter.

He decided to try to get some information from her first, so he looked around the study. The bookshelves next to the desk were filled with all kinds of books, while in the transparent glass cabinet on the other side were many trophies and photos.

"Runner-up in the 11th Tetra Newcomer Idol Selection..." Li Zuoyi pointed to the trophy displayed in the center of the glass case and said, "You were an idol before?"

“That happened when I was young,” she said.

Li Zuoyi noticed that the expression on her face was neither nostalgia nor disgust, but a more complex emotion, which, if he had to describe it, was more like anger.

“The selection process was very brutal in the early days,” Cheryl said. “Unlike now, where you can debut as long as you’re in the top few, back then only the champion was qualified to debut and had the best resources. Other girls could only be supporting characters to the champion.”

“The best resources…” Li Zuoyi chuckled.

I know what you're thinking.

Cheryl picked up the tin box and lighter on the table, took out a slim cigarette from the tin box, lit it, slowly took a puff, and skillfully exhaled smoke rings.

Behind the white mist, she looked shrewd and cunning, saying, "Using your body to curry favor with those powerful people in order to obtain those so-called resources, right?"

“I think many people think this way,” Li Zuoyi said.

Given the situation in Ark, it would be strange if it weren't like this.

"Haha, that's exactly right!" Cheryl laughed without hesitation, her hand holding the cigarette trembling as she said:

"Only the girls who didn't win the championship need to do this. The champion is different; she's the company's darling. She only needs to give up that precious night when the company needs her most. If she can make good use of this opportunity, it's possible for her to rise to the company's management."

“But you’re the one sitting here now.” Li Zuoyi walked to the glass case, looked at the trophy and said, “You paid a considerable price to win that championship.”

Cheryl's smile vanished. She took a deep drag on her cigarette, then stubbed it out hard in the ashtray, and said curtly:

"No, that girl won the championship, but she died less than an hour after she stepped off the podium."

"...How did she die?" Li Zuoyi's gaze swept over the group photo next to the trophy. In the photo, a group of girls were lined up like flying geese. He immediately spotted Ms. Cheryl next to the champion.

She was indeed beautiful and charming at that time, exuding youthful energy. However, her expression was not good when taking the photos, and her eyes were slightly turned towards the girl next to her, who was the champion. She was probably angry because she did not win the championship.

“She was poisoned in the backstage dressing room. When she was found, she was slumped over the dressing table, her whole face purple,” Cheryl said, frowning. “Later, the police came and found the deadly poison in a carbonated water can next to her body.”

"It was poisoning..."

Following Cheryl's gaze from back then, Li Zuoyi looked at the champion surrounded by flowers and wearing a queen's crown. When he saw the somewhat familiar face behind the flowers, his eyes widened involuntarily.

Anies?

Although their face shapes are slightly different, their smiles and the way they look when they smile are exactly the same as Anies'.

Niki was created primarily from the brains of human women. For many years, Ark has claimed that Niki was created by randomly selecting female residents who died of natural causes.

But nearly forty years ago, Anies was poisoned and then turned into Niki, without her knowledge...

Li Zuoyi concealed his rage within a seemingly regretful sigh, turned to Cheryl, and asked, "Has the murderer been found?"

“No.” Cheryl shook her head. “After the cause of death was determined, the police haven’t done anything else.”

"By the way, what's this girl's name?" Li Zuoyi asked casually.

“Sina Russell,” Cheryl said.

Sina reversed is Anis... Li Zuoyi rubbed the dark gold ring on his finger.

Mustin, you definitely did this on purpose...