He grimaced.
"Especially after those bastards opened doors. A damn charitable organization… they house them, educate them, support them financially, and even give them proper jobs. We lost a bunch of junior members to those assholes — this guy was one of the kids who left the gang and became a squeaky clean member of society thanks to them."
Sunny and Effie looked at each other.
"A charitable organization? What charitable organization?"
The thug cursed under his breath.
"Mirage City Center for Troubled Youths… it's a private charity run by the Valor Group. You think we can compete with a damn conglomerate?!"
Sunny stared at him for a while, and then smiled viciously.
This… this was what he needed.
This was the thread he would pull to unravel the case!
"Valor Group, huh?"
***
Soon enough, they left the upturned boxing gym and returned to the car. Effie seemed thoughtful… or maybe she was just wondering where to get more food. At this point, Sunny could not be sure.
He lingered in front of the car, soaking in the rain. She waited for a while, then gave him a confused look.
"What, are you sad that we hit a dead end? This whole Black Snake lead turned out to be meaningless."
Sunny shook his head.
"No, I'm not sad. And it wasn't meaningless… in fact, it was quite a fruitful visit."
Then, he turned to the tall beauty and looked at her somberly.
"Listen… partner. Things are going to get interesting from here. So, I need you to tell me something honestly."
She smiled innocently.
"What's that?"
Not sharing her laidback tone, Sunny asked bluntly:
"Who the hell are you? Oh, and think carefully before answering. You might end up dying heroically on your first day as a detective if you don't. Killed by the vicious gang members… it will be a real tragedy."
The threat in his tone was apparent. He was saying that he would kill her if she tried to lie.
Sunny would have loved for his threat to be a joke, but it wasn't. The Nihilist case was far more dangerous than even those terrified of the elusive serial killer suspected — that was because it involved people whom a mere cop like him could not dare to touch.
Those people would not hesitate to make a troublesome cop disappear… they could, for example, insert one of their operatives into the case and force the higher-ups of the Police Department to saddle Sunny with that operative as a partner — to keep an eye on him, and dispose of him if need be.
He was not sure that Effie was a double agent, but he knew that she was not who she appeared to be.
His supposed partner stared at him for a while, silent. There was a hint of a odd emotion in her eyes… unease? Uncertainty? Fear?
But a split second later, it was gone.
Effie laughed and reached to slap him on the shoulder with her usual easygoing smile.
Her hand remained there, holding him lightly.
"What are you on about, Sunny? Snap out of it."
Sunny tensed, preparing to strike…
And then, something odd happened.
He snapped out of it.
A shiver ran through his body, and he looked around with a startled expression.
A strange city. Pouring rain. Air that smelled neither like the sterile cleanliness of NQSC nor the poisonous miasma of the outskirts. Unfamiliar buildings;a weird PTV of archaic design.
Shifting his gaze to the boisterous huntress, Sunny blinked a couple of times.
"Effie? What the hell?"