Enforcer Manual
Chapter 1078 - 935: The Mastermind Black Hand

Chapter 1078: Chapter 935: The Mastermind Black Hand

As the Sun set and it was time to go home and cook, Mr. Song Lan finally remembered another duty he bore—a consultant for the Spiritual Energy Research Institute.

The main reason he remembered wasn’t a pang of conscience but rather because the people from the institute, seeing he hadn’t reported for duty, had resorted to blocking the door.

"Mr. Song Lan, please come with us to the department," they said, "We have some matters we would like to consult you about!"

The man who approached was in his late thirties, dressed in a standard-issue white lab coat. Seeing Song Lan emerge from the department and head to the parked MK-III outside the Security Bureau, he hurried over with a cheerfulness akin to those on the streets who try to drag you into beauty treatments, with a sales pitch almost identical, "It won’t take up much of your time."

"Sorry, I still have important matters to discuss with Director Lu that are critical to national security," Song Lan declined, showing an "uninterested" attitude familiar with deceitful tactics.

In the year 2167, this kind of phenomenon had not decreased; here, as the former head of the Anti-Fraud Department, he needed to remind everyone not to trust such encounters on the street. "It won’t take up much of your time" and "free trials" are scams—trust them, and you might find yourself inexplicably charged hundreds of watts.

Captain Doug had been fooled like that before.

To his surprise, the middle-aged man’s eyes lit up as he quickly said, "That’s a remarkable coincidence, Minister Lu is currently inspecting work at the Psychic Abilities Research Institute."

"I need to make a call to verify this."

Song Lan remained calm, took out his phone, and dialed Lu Xiang’s number.

The call was picked up after two rings.

Just when he was ready to ruthlessly expose the middle-aged man’s lie, the call gave him two important pieces of information.

First, Old Lu was indeed conducting an investigation at the Psychic Abilities Research Institute.

Second, she wanted beef offal hotpot for dinner, the kind with deep-fried potato slices soaked in oil.

"I didn’t lie to you, did I?"

The middle-aged man’s face broke into his usual smile, which aroused some curiosity in Song Lan.

Why would the Counter-Intelligence Department and the Spiritual Energy Research Institute, two departments as unrelated as could be, have dealings with each other?

But since he had already made a statement, Song Lan, to maintain his image of being sincerely approachable, climbed aboard the MK-III. Indeed, he had important matters to discuss with Lu Xiang, like... which parts of the beef offal could be added in greater quantity—the last time he made the dish, Lu Xiang meticulously picked out and consumed all of the tripe.

With the head of the household away, little Yeying had to step up to the plate and once again take on the duty of supermarket shopping.

To motivate Yeying, Song Lan always gave her an extra 100 watts, and any leftover money could be spent entirely on snacks.

...

The journey to the Spiritual Energy Research Institute wasn’t too far, and this wasn’t his first visit to the oppressive institution.

After the dark ages had ended, researchers who refused to give up were still trying to carve out a new path to the upper world through their efforts. This team, with Jiu at its core as head of the research institute, had persisted in their research for decades. Almost all of the United Government’s pioneering research projects in the field of Spiritual Energy had been led by Jiu personally.

This researcher, whose real age was over a hundred years old, remained active at the forefront of the research.

Guided by the middle-aged man, he found Lu Xiang at a computer in the database of the Spiritual Energy Research Institute.

The room was not lit; the computer screen was usually the only source of light here.

Lu Xiang was looking intently at the screen and didn’t even notice their arrival.

Song Lan tiptoed behind her and peeked at the computer screen. The dense array of data and text immediately made his head spin; she seemed to have dug up nearly a decade’s worth of research projects from the institute.

"You two talk; I won’t disturb you further," the middle-aged man said with tact, stepping outside. "Rest assured, in accordance with the Counter-Intelligence Department’s request, we have already turned off all surveillance and recording devices in the database."

Hearing their conversation, Lu Xiang looked over with a puzzled expression and asked, "What are you doing here?"

She preempted him with the question he intended to ask, blocking the possibility.

If she remembered correctly, beef offal hotpot needed to be stewed for a long time to reach the perfect state of tenderness.

"I was planning to use you as an excuse to fend off the people from the Spiritual Energy Research Institute, but to my surprise, you’ve come here," Song Lan explained.

"Next time, use Yeying. I worry about the child being alone at home," Lu Xiang quickly found a perfect excuse for Song Lan.

Moreover, this excuse was genuine, as after she quelled the turmoil at Kolo Film Industry and returned home, she nearly fainted at the sight of an utterly raid pantry.

She could only console herself with the fact that at least Yeying, the child, would seek out food when hungry and wouldn’t starve.

The only downside was that Yeying’s hunger occupied most of her time, and with no supervision, she always confused cravings with hunger, especially with an increasing number of culinary videos and her browsing habits—at least half of the recommended videos on the homepage were local snacks.

Lu Xiang glanced at the time, and as a master of time management, she needed to control her time efficiently, "I’ll need about half an hour more here, then we can go home together. That way we can have dinner before 9:30 PM."