Chapter 1576: Investigation IV

Lory’s body instantly tensed. In one smooth motion, she summoned a dagger from her spatial ring, the cold blade appearing in her hand as she rushed after Zhao Li Xin. He had already vanished over the rocky slope, his speed so fast that even the wind seemed unable to keep up with him.

Lory quickened her pace. Suddenly, from a distance, she heard shouting. At first, it sounded strange, high-pitched and oddly muffled, echoing across the rocky terrain. She slowed slightly, confusion flickering across her face.

’Wait a second,’ That... didn’t sound like an adult voice.

When she reached the top of the slope, the scene before her made her stop short. Zhao Li Xin was standing there, holding a small boy by the collar, lifting him off the ground like one would hold a misbehaving kitten.

The boy kicked and flailed his arms wildly in the air, his face red with fury. "Put me down - put me down, you bad man!"

Zhao Li Xin stared at him with a deep frown, clearly unimpressed.

Meanwhile, the boy continued to throw a full tantrum.

"Let me down!"

"If you want to fight, fight like a man!"

"Let me go, or I’m gonna make you feel sorry!!" He showed his little fist.

Lory blinked in disbelief, staring at the scene with a baffled expression.

"Um, Li Xin... that..." she tilted her head, appeared to hesitate. This was definitely not what she had expected to find.

"This loud cat is the one who is watching us," Zhao Li Xin said flatly, glancing at the boy with obvious disdain. The child kept swinging his small arms uselessly in the air.

"Honey... maybe you should put him down first," Lory said gently, feeling a little bad watching a child struggle like that.

"Hey, you—!" The boy began to shout at her angrily.

But the moment his eyes landed on Lory, his voice suddenly stuck in his throat, and his expression froze. Then suddenly his eyes lit up, the boy’s big, round eyes suspiciously sparkled like glitter.

Zhao Li Xin heard Lory’s suggestion and casually lowered the boy to the ground, assuming the kid was harmless.

The moment his feet touched the dirt, the child immediately straightened the wrinkled collar Zhao Li Xin had stretched earlier. Then he quickly smoothed his messy hair with both hands, trying his best to look presentable.

After finishing his small grooming ritual, he confidently walked toward Lory.

"Hello, pretty lady," he said with a wide grin. "I’m sorry for scaring you."

His expression even carried a look of genuine remorse.

Lory was rendered speechless.

For a moment, she simply stared at him, completely caught off guard. At the same time, Zhao Li Xin’s face darkened.

The little boy, with messy black hair and bright blue eyes, suddenly puffed out his chest and struck the pose of a tiny womanizer.

"You must have been scared, right?" he said solemnly. "I’m sorry I didn’t notice you there." Then he leaned forward slightly and puckered his tiny lips with great seriousness.

"Why don’t I give you a kiss to make it up?" The confident expression on his face made it look as if he had just delivered the most gentlemanly offer in the world, even though he was barely tall enough to reach Lory’s elbow.

Lory blinked, wondering what was going on. Though she had to admit... the little kid was rather cute. But Zhao Li Xin clearly did not share the same opinion.

Before the boy could get any closer, Zhao Li Xin reached out and grabbed the back of the kid’s collar again, lifting him into the air like a troublesome kitten.

"Let’s throw this thing somewhere," Zhao Li Xin said flatly, lifting the boy like one would hold a mischievous stray cat that needed to be abandoned somewhere far away.

"Hey - hey - hey! Put me down!" the kid immediately started wriggling his arms and legs in protest. "Put me down, you rude man! This is not how you treat a man!"

"Shut up," Zhao Li Xin said flatly, shooting him a cold glare.

His gaze was sharp and oppressive. Even grown men would feel a chill run down their spine under that look, let alone a child.

The boy stiffened instantly. His small body seemed to shrink under Zhao Li Xin’s gaze. His lips curled downward and began to tremble, and soon his big blue eyes quickly filled with tears.

A second later—

"Waaaaah!" He burst into loud, dramatic sobs, "Bad man, you are a bad man, you want to kill me, aaahhh....I don’t wanna die, I’m too young and handsome to dieeee!"

"Arguably," Zhao Li Xin scoffed with obvious disdain.

The boy’s crying instantly increased in volume, as if someone had just turned the knob on a broken radio.

Lory pressed her fingers to her temple and rubbed them helplessly as she watched the great Lord of the Hei Shen Sect arguing with a little kid who wasn’t even as tall as his waist.

"Okay, okay... Li Xin, stop scaring him," she said with a sigh.

Lory gently took the boy from Zhao Li Xin’s hands and set him down on the ground. Then she crouched in front of him and carefully wiped the tears and snot from his face.

"Alright, don’t cry," she coaxed softly. "My husband was just playing with you. Don’t be scared... aren’t you a man? Men shouldn’t shed tears so easily, right?"

Her soft voice and gentle manner slowly soothed the boy. Finally, his loud crying gradually faded into small hiccupping sobs.

"H-Hiks... I’m not scared," the boy insisted stubbornly, his voice still thick with tears. "I’m just...just...shocked."

His entire face had turned bright red from crying so hard.

’So you were shocked to the point of tears, huh...’ Lory was amused, but still she did her best to keep a straight face and swallow the laughter threatening to escape.

Zhao Li Xin, standing nearby, looked at the boy and let out a quiet snort of disdain.

Lory sighed softly. "Alright, alright... you were just shocked," she said patiently.

She reached into her ring and secretly took out a water bottle. After opening the lid, she handed it to him. "Here, drink some first."

The boy suddenly realized how dry his throat had become after all that crying. Without hesitation, he grabbed the bottle and took a big gulp.

Then another...

Before he noticed it, he had already finished half the bottle. Only when he lowered it did he seem to realize what he had done. His ears turned slightly red as he handed the bottle back.

"Th-thank you..." He said sheepishly.

Lory smiled warmly. "What’s your name?"

"My name is... Toby," the boy replied.

"Okay, Toby," Lory said gently. "Why are you here?" She deliberately kept her tone soft, afraid of scaring the poor little boy again.

"I heard a loud sound," Toby answered. "I thought they came back."

"They?" Lory repeated curiously.

"Yes, I saw a bunch of big trucks come out of nowhere at night."

Toby said, tilting his little head as he tried to recall what he had seen. "It’s true! I wasn’t supposed to go out that night, but my dog went missing, so I went looking for him."

"Where are your parents? Why didn’t you wake them up? Why did you leave the house alone at night?" Lory looked at the boy with clear disapproval.

Toby lowered his head with a guilty look. "Be-because... Dad doesn’t know I have a dog."

Lory frowned in confusion. "Huh?"

"What does that mean?" Zhao Li Xin asked, equally puzzled.

A moment later, realization dawned on Lory’s face. She covered her forehead with her palm. "You secretly keep a dog without telling your family, huh?"

Toby’s face turned red. "Yeah... I found Snowy all alone, and I felt bad for him, so I brought him home," he admitted quietly. "But I know my dad doesn’t like pets, so I never told him about Snowy."

He lowered his head and began fiddling with his thumbs, looking exactly like a child who had just been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to do.

Lory sighed softly. She understood how Toby felt. After all, she had brought Girsha home for more or less the same reason.

"You should talk to your family about Snowy," Lory said gently. "You can’t hide it forever, right? Just talk to your dad and promise that you’ll take responsibility for Snowy."

"Um..." Toby murmured quietly.

Seeing him seem to understand, Lory continue "Okay, let’s go back to what happened that night," Lory steering the conversation back to the beginning. "So you’ve been secretly keeping Snowy, but one night he disappeared, and you went out to search for him, right?"

Toby nodded slowly. "Yes..."

"Then what happened?" Lory asked him to continue.

"I saw a long convoy of trucks," Toby said, squinting his eyes as if trying hard to remember every detail. "It looked like they were carrying heavy equipment, but I didn’t know what it was."

He paused for a moment, thinking. "Then they stopped in front of the hole you came out of earlier," he continued. "There were a lot of men... and they were carrying guns and big weapons."Toby swallowed nervously.

"Then I saw them blow up the hole... and that’s when I got scared and ran home."

Lory clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"You’re lucky they didn’t see you. You should never go out alone at night, no matter what," she said, gently reprimanding him.

"I know..." Toby scratched his head embarrassedly.

But the next moment, his face brightened, and he grinned from ear to ear. "Luckily, Snowy was already back when I got home!"

"See? Dogs are smart animals. You shouldn’t worry too much, even if he wanders off, he’ll find his way back on his own," Lory said.

Then she continued, "About the trucks, did you notice anything unusual about them? A name, maybe? Or a symbol?"

The boy suddenly clapped his hands. "Oh yeah! There was a weird symbol, like an owl," he said excitedly. "And there was a name on it too... uh... Orsus."

"Orsus?" Lory’s brows knitted together. Why did that name sound so familiar?

Lory took out her phone and quickly typed ’Orsus’ into the search bar. Within seconds, information appeared on the screen saying: Orsus is a technology company owned by Amanda Haynes.

Lory’s eyes narrowed slightly. Amanda Haynes... wasn’t that the name of Elena Reynolds’ younger sister? Then she remembered seeing Amanda Haynes entering the Aeon building before.

As she scrolled further, another piece of information appeared.

Amanda Haynes was reportedly dating Jacob Augburn.

Which meant that if the rumors were true, the union of the two would effectively connect two major corporations, Orsus and Anchora.

Lory’s expression darkened almost imperceptibly. That... was definitely not good news for her and her people. She would need to call Fredhard as soon as possible.