Chapter 257 Some Doubts
The conversation between Donna and Principal Roman was seen by Qi Ji who was in the cabin far behind the grove... all through a hidden mini puppet.
"…Why did this person reveal all his details?"
After making sure Donna had left the library safely, she scratched the back of her head in confusion.
Then he casually glanced at the killer who was still unconscious and lying on the ground not far away, with a thoughtful look on his face.
Qi Ji had some doubts about the past events that Principal Luo Meng told Donna.
Although based on the observation and scanning of the mini puppet at the scene, she did not find any signs of the old man lying or concealing anything.
But he was a smelter after all, the closest thing to a myth. It was hard to say whether the previous experience in polygraph detection for mortals and low-level extraordinary beings was still applicable.
Moreover, she was only detecting the other party through the puppet's perception.
——Although the puppet’s perception ability is extremely strong, it is definitely not comparable to her original body, so there is no 100% certainty.
The reason why she thought that Principal Luo Meng's statement was problematic was not simply because of her preconceived notions.
Because logically, if what he said to Donna was true, there must be some people he had offended in his early years who were tracking down his whereabouts...
His act of telling Donna all this, then, seemed contradictory.
According to Principal Luo Meng's narration, his "archenemies" were not only ruthless and brutal, but also cunning and meticulous.
He even didn't dare to overly strengthen the security forces in the school, because doing so would attract the attention of the "big enemies".
Assuming all this is true, how could Principal Roman dare to tell all this information to Donna, an ordinary student?
Isn’t he afraid that Donna will tell others intentionally or unintentionally?
Or did the "enemies" capture her and torture this information out of her?
After all, since Donna has been targeted by the killer and the latter has taken actual action, it means that she has entered the sight of the "big enemies".
Telling such a person your most confidential information is not only extremely risky, but also unnecessary.
Principal Luo Meng doesn't seem like the kind of person who is not on guard at all, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to escape from the "enemy" and live a changed life for more than ten years.
The second point is why he chose to hand the killer over to Bernice first?
Since he recognized that the killer man was the vanguard sent by the "big enemy", shouldn't he be eager to torture him to obtain some information?
He trusts Bernice, a vampire of unknown origin, so much. Isn't he afraid that she might accidentally kill him or simply run away, causing him to lose the opportunity to obtain intelligence?
There are so many things about this principal's behavior that don't make sense.
"Tsk..."
All these contradictions made Qi Ji confused and curious. His slender and delicate fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the rocking chair.
"It seems that it would be best to find a time to meet him... Wait, meet him?"
She suddenly realized something, and her slightly wrinkled brows slowly relaxed.
"He doesn't mean... Tsk, I think I understand."
Qi Ji smiled in sudden realization, then stood up from the rocking chair, grabbed in the air with one hand a few times, and pulled out several sets of clothes out of thin air.
This was a set of clothes she had made using her own abilities, combining some design elements from her previous life on Earth. She had worn it once before when she infiltrated a charity adoption group in Sunset Harbor.
She planned to go out in person, but not to see Principal Roman.
Because in her plan, this "line" is temporarily handled by the vampire Bernice, and she only needs to ensure the basic personal safety of innocent people such as Donna.
Although she was somewhat curious about Principal Luo Meng's abnormalities and contradictions, she was not in a hurry to solve them immediately.
So, this time she went out, she planned to meet another clue character for a while.
She changed her clothes quickly and neatly, and her body suddenly twisted and shrank, turning into a small black and red lizard.
Outside the Imperial University, on the pedestrian street outside the campus.
As a neighborhood built on the basis of the Imperial University, it is prosperous in all aspects.
There is not only a well-developed commercial street, but also rental houses of various grades to accommodate students who do not want to live in dormitories.
The main consumers are mostly university students, who generally look young and energetic.
The bustling flow of people passes through the wide and clean roads, and the noise of vendors and pedestrians gives the place a vibrant atmosphere.
No one noticed...
A strange little lizard lying in the shadow of a corner suddenly swelled and deformed.
She transformed into a cute black-haired girl wearing a light grey single-breasted narrow-collar coat, white cropped trousers, black and white canvas shoes, and a small light-colored top hat on her head.
"Huh... I still prefer lively occasions..."
Qi Ji stood firm, pressed the light-colored top hat on his head, lowered its brim a little, and slightly covered his overly stunning and eye-catching face.
"It's this look. Although I like it, it's a little inconvenient sometimes."
In fact, with her current abilities, she doesn't have to go there in person to do almost everything. She can just let the puppet do it. She only needs to sit in the rocking chair in the tree house, control it remotely, and make plans.
There is no need for control, because the puppet itself has a certain degree of intelligence and can handle some simple matters on its own.
But, what’s the point if everything is left to puppets or subordinates?
As long as she can spare time, she would rather experience the world in person and go through all kinds of adventures, explorations and investigations.
Compared with the old shady guy who relies on puppets and his subordinates to hide in the dark and plan his strategies, this way of doing things has its own unique flavor.
Of course, it’s nice to fuck an old pussy occasionally, it can change your mindset.
In order not to attract too much attention, Qi Ji chose to appear in a remote place on the pedestrian street where there were few people.
So she waited there for about ten minutes until a rented carriage rumbled by, and she immediately stopped it.
"Go to the Hibiscus Bar."
After getting on the car, she said to the driver concisely.
"Hibiscus Bar?"
The driver in front repeated it as if to confirm, with obvious surprise in his voice:
"Miss, are you sure it's there?"
Qi Ji nodded, said "hmm", and then asked:
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with that place?"
She could have just let the puppet crawl over and then use "Stand-In Flash" to exchange positions with it.
But it was just after noon, and there was still some time until the time Vincent had agreed to meet the killer in the library that day.
If we just wait like that, it will be boring.
So she decided to take a carriage, in order to kill time on the journey.
Secondly, it is also a way to experience the scenery of this imperial capital from the perspective of an ordinary person.
This is much more interesting than using puppets or super perception to explore.
"Uh, miss..."
The driver sitting in the front driver's seat couldn't help but turn around slightly, looking nervously at the black-haired girl behind him. Even though he couldn't see her face clearly, he could still deeply appreciate her extreme charm:
"The Hibiscus Bar you mentioned is in downtown..."
"Downtown area?"
Qi Ji actually knows a lot about the situation in Twilight City because he has read all the books in the core library.
But she still asked back like an ordinary foreign tourist, seemingly ignorant of the world.
"Miss, are you from outside the city?"
Qi Ji nodded:
"Yes, I just arrived in Twilight Town the day before yesterday."
"No wonder, you don't know."
The driver let out a sigh of relief and explained:
“The city is mainly divided into Uptown, Midtown, Downtown, Queens, and Palace Circle.
“Uptown and Queens are where the big bosses and big men live, and they also have the most fun and interesting things.
“Not to mention the imperial palace circle, those who can live under the emperor’s feet are basically from such a prominent background that it cannot be directly mentioned.
“Most people living in the Midtown area are ordinary people. There are many interesting places there, which are quite down-to-earth. You can go and have a look when you have time.
"The downtown area is very chaotic, with a lot of people coming and going, and a lot of trouble. It's hard for the security team to control it.
"That kind of place is very dangerous for a beautiful and lovely rich lady like you to go there."
Qi Ji was not wearing any jewelry, but her clothes of novel style and fine texture, as well as her drool-worthy, fair and attractive skin, made the driver believe that this black-haired girl was definitely not from an ordinary family.
She must be from a wealthy or noble family, and is definitely the daughter of some big boss or lord.
"That's it..."
Facing the driver's kind reminder, Qi Ji nodded slightly as if thinking, and then said:
"It's okay, just take me there first."
Chapter 258 Squatting
Horse-drawn carriages travel through the prosperous and industrial city.
In the first ten minutes or so, the city scenery on both sides of the road made Qi Ji feel very novel, but it became a bit boring afterwards.
What passed by the car window were either tall gray-black buildings with small windows or square, rigid and dull concrete boxes. To put it nicely, it was "Victorian industrial style", but to put it bluntly, it was an abandoned industrial area in the Northeast.
At the beginning, it was indeed novel for Qi Ji, who was used to modern glass curtain wall buildings and postmodern deconstruction architectural designs, but after a while, he felt a very obvious sense of depression.
Moreover, as the carriage moved from the edge of the city where the Imperial National University was located and gradually went deeper into Twilight City, the air quality began to gradually deteriorate, and a pungent and unpleasant smell lingered faintly around.
Moreover, one can always see a few wisps of gray haze floating on the tops of the towering buildings, obstructing the vision of ordinary people.
That kind of smog is not the fairy-like, refreshing and clear mist in the mountains and forests, but gray, dirty, and carrying a lot of unpleasant industrial waste gas.
Although it is already summer and the temperature is not low, most pedestrians are dressed rather warmly, with masks or scarves covering their mouths and noses.
They all walked quickly on the road with their heads down. There was hardly any verbal communication between them. They were all doing their own things.
Even though there were a lot of people, there wasn't much conversation and the atmosphere seemed dull and solemn.
It seems as if there is a whip behind everyone, urging them to carry out all kinds of busy and trivial tasks, without a moment's chance to stop, rest, and communicate with each other.
In short, this city is indeed magnificent and majestic when viewed from afar, and is filled with a rough and vibrant sense of power, but if you were to visit it from an ordinary person's perspective, you probably wouldn't have a very good experience.
"The Age of Roaring Growth..."
Qi Ji sighed for no reason. He sat on the shaking seat, waiting for the carriage to take him to his destination.
After waiting for nearly an hour, the galloping carriage finally arrived at its destination.
"Thank you."
Qi Ji got off the car and paid the fare, while muttering to himself:
"It's really huge. I sat there for so long even though there wasn't much traffic..."
The white-haired, lean driver obviously heard the whisper. He took the Ferum copper coin and explained with a confident smile:
"Miss, you didn't feel the traffic jam, I took a detour to a more unobstructed route. If it were those inexperienced drivers, they would definitely take the shortest and closest route.
"That would indeed shorten the journey a lot, but at this time, those main roads will definitely be blocked like sewer pipes in the downtown area. It will be difficult to move forward or backward, and it will take at least three or four hours to get there."
Qi Ji thought about it and it made sense. It was afternoon now, which was the typical evening rush hour after work in cities on Earth. Although the working system in the other world was very different, some rules were still similar.
"If you just want to go fast, you can take the subway. It only takes about 10 to 20 minutes to get there."
The driver continued, and suddenly laughed:
"But that kind of place is extremely dirty and messy. A delicate young lady like you might not be able to stand it."
Yes, there is a subway in this place.
Although there is no electricity in this world, coal-fired technology has developed quite well. To a certain extent, it can replace the extremely high cost of magic power and maintenance, and create urban rail transit that ordinary people can afford.
