Super Zoo

He Baowen called for an assault vehicle, and along with Suming, they boarded it. A squad of assault team members accompanied them, escorting the two ninjas back to the Major Crimes Unit.

According to the regulations, if the suspects are injured, they are entitled to request an ambulance. However, these two guys had been uncooperative since their arrest, not uttering a single word. With anger in his heart, He Baowen simply ignored this procedure.

After all, their injuries didn't seem to be that severe.

This was Suming's second time at the 'palace'; last time he was here as a consultant for an investigation, but this time he was the victim. This was Suming's intention, to keep things within controllable limits before knowing the origins of the attackers. If they were investigated under the charge of assaulting a police officer, attacking senior law enforcement personnel, and damaging official firearms, the nature of the case would be completely different.

He Baowen had been promoted three levels, but his office environment was similar to before, still on the same floor. The only difference was he had moved from the large, open office to a smaller compartment next door, where a sign reading "Senior Inspector" now hung.

"What did I ever do to offend you guys? Is this really necessary?"

Suming was utterly speechless with the two suspects. At first, he had been extremely angry, but on the way there, the expressions on the faces of the two men looked as if they had suffered the greatest humiliation, full of desperate grief, which involuntarily evoked sympathy.

Suming really couldn't understand what he had done to incur such wrath. Had he killed their father? Stolen their wife?

The two men's mouths twitched twice, and they closed their eyes without speaking.

Following the procedure, He Baowen went to interrogate the two suspects while Suming was taken to another office to give his statement.

"Hello, Su Sheng, do you remember me?" The one to take Suming's statement was a young policewoman with a petite figure. She carried a large cardboard box and greeted him sweetly as she entered, making it seem less like an official interrogation and more like meeting a friend.

Suming did remember her and said with a grin, "Mmm, of course I remember. You made me coffee last time. Have you been promoted too?"

Abby looked down at her epaulettes, nodded vigorously, and said with serious, wide eyes, "Mmm-hmm, and it's thanks to you. After cracking such a big case, everyone in our team received commendations." She then pulled out a milk tea and a packet of fried chicken from the cardboard box like magic, "Taking your statement might take a while, so I went and bought some fast food to treat you."

"Haha, that doesn't seem quite right, given that we're in a police station," Suming laughed as well. He quite enjoyed interacting with girls of this type – they might not be very pretty, but they gave off a very relaxing vibe.

"It's okay, I'm hungry too," she said, taking out another milk tea and several egg tarts from the box, laying out a feast on the table. With a giggly voice, she said, "You wouldn't report me, would you, Su Sheng?"

"Maybe!" Suming said with mock seriousness, "If it's not delicious, I will definitely report you!"

Abby pretended to be scared, sticking out her tongue.

The statement went very smoothly as the two chatted like friends, eating and drinking while Abby recorded Suming's statement. Sometimes when her hands got greasy, she would suck them clean and wipe them casually with a napkin before quickly jotting down some notes.

While Suming's side was going well, He Baowen encountered some problems.

It turned out that the identities of the two men were quite extraordinary; they were security personnel belonging to the Japanese Imperial Family's Ministry of Internal Affairs, high-ranking ninjas specifically responsible for the safety of royal family members.

Normally, these ninjas would rather die than confess. If this were ancient times, they would have committed suicide the moment they were caught.

Of course, times had changed. Modern-day ninjas' martial skills might not be inferior to those of the feudal era, but their spirit has unavoidably been influenced by civilized society. It's difficult to find those willing to die for a cause or a word, to sacrifice their lives for their master.

Even ants cling to life; when it really comes down to it, Momotaro and Liuchuan Feng still want to survive.

Moreover, the police defenses were too strong; the ninjas had no opportunity to act. Plus, the effects of the drug were just wearing off—their hands and feet were weak, and the thought of death wasn't as intense—so they neither committed suicide nor cooperated with the police.

The police have their own methods for conducting investigations—if breaking through a suspect's psychological defenses to extract confessions or catching loopholes and inconsistencies in their words can be considered a science, then He Baowen, a top graduate from the police academy, had quite the knack for it. After the absurd incident at Lijing Hotel, the disturbed ninjas, particularly the younger Liuchuan Feng, finally let slip some useful information.

Japanese, ninja... These sensitive pieces of information put together made He Baowen immediately realize that this was no ordinary case and that these two individuals had an air about them that wasn't ordinary.

With a woman's intuition, she even thought of Princess Jiako at the first instance.

She had seen everything clearly, the "affections and grievances" between several princesses and Suming at the horse track that day.

If it really involved Princess Jiako, then it would be a major issue concerning the diplomatic relations between the two nations. How to handle it was no longer a decision that could be made by He Baowen, a senior inspector, and even less so by Suming, who was involved. In the face of national interests, all individuals must give way.

He Baowen couldn't even seek verification from Princess Jiako, but had to report directly to her superiors.

Soon enough, a department head from the Xiangjiang Police personally came to take over the case. The police high-command naturally had their own channels of information, and confirmed He Baowen's guess: these two individuals were indeed protectors from the Japanese Imperial Family, leaders of the Koga Faction ninjas loyal to the Imperial Family.

The Criminal Investigation Department took over the entire case.

With the authority Suming and He Baowen held, this was all they could know. As for how the two nations would negotiate and strategize afterward, and what would become of the two ninjas, that was no longer their concern.

Moreover, Suming finally understood why the two ninjas had troubled him: the issue was long-winded; the car he had damaged belonged to Princess Eugene, leading to the subsequent gambling match, and it seemed like Princess Jiako was taking revenge for Eugene…

"Mr. Su, you really are no ordinary person. I admit I underestimated you before. Just one casual visit to Xiangjiang, and you've got princesses from the East and West fighting over you."

The trip to Xiangjiang concluded, and as He Baowen escorted Suming to the airport, she spoke at the boarding gate with a strange expression and a tinge of sourness in her voice.

"What do you mean, 'fighting over me'? It's more like both princesses joined forces against me," Suming said, pointing at his backside and making a bitter face. "My butt's blossomed from the beating."

He Baowen, recalling everything they had been through in the alleyway, couldn't help but let out a chuckle, followed by a sigh, "You're a billionaire tycoon, a well-known social figure; you should be more careful in life, learn to take care of yourself..."

The advice was good, but the tone sent a shiver down Suming's spine... This wasn't the sort of tone friends used in conversation, but more like that of lovers parting ways.

He should hurry back to the mainland. If he stayed any longer, who knew what unexpected things might happen.

I've come so far, pure as jade, resisting so many temptations without starting any harems. Let's not spoil that chastity at two million words!

——————Divider————

Speaking of which, the book previously mentioned using honey soaked in vinegar to treat acne. Many readers asked if it's really true.

This is a folk remedy, and since people have different physiologies and causes for their conditions, it obviously cannot be applied universally.

In short, it's just something written in the novel—don't mess around with it in real life, or you might ruin your looks.