Chapter 93 Open the Door for a Water Meter Check

Uriah went silent. "No wonder you took so long; you just wanted more Stellar Coin."

"I'll take seventy thousand Stellar Coins, and you get thirty thousand!" John declared.

Uriah smirked, "You must really hate criminals."

John nodded, "Yeah, but I love Stellar Coin more. No conflict there."

"Alright!" Uriah agreed, "But I'm not much of a fighter, so that's all on you."

They hopped in a car and headed north in the City of Wisdom.

"Aren't we going to the slums in the west?" John asked.

The west side was the roughest part of the city. It made sense to look for criminals there.

Uriah said, "Don't trust the official information."

John thought about it and agreed. If it was public knowledge, the criminals would have moved by now.

John asked, "So, Uriah, why'd you suddenly take on tasks? Running low on Stellar Coin?"

Uriah sighed, "School's starting soon, and I need to make some money for living expenses."

"That's rough. Earning for your kid isn't easy." John patted his shoulder, "How about this? I'll take eighty thousand Stellar Coin, and you get twenty thousand. Students shouldn't have too much money to blow."

"You're a real jerk." Uriah gave him the finger.

He thought John would cut him some slack, but instead, John wanted even more Stellar Coin.

"We're here!" Uriah said.

They arrived at Thyme Estates, a mid-level neighborhood, not the slum they expected.

John asked, "You sure this is the place?"

Uriah nodded, "You can doubt my fighting skills, but not my investigative skills!"

"Alright, let's get this done!"

John moved forward but was stopped by security.

John calmly said, "I live in Building One, but I forgot my card."

"You're lying; there's no Building One here!"

John's face twitched. There was no Building One.

"The neighborhood only has Buildings Two to Nine, to keep out people like you!"

John felt foolish.

Stuck at the entrance, they hadn't even started.

"Now what?" Uriah asked, "If we don't catch anyone, you owe me for the car ride."

John waved it off, "Don't worry. We'll figure it out."

He spotted a familiar face.

"I have an idea." John shouted, "Joshua!"

Joshua looked over and smiled shyly, "Oh, it's John."

It was Joshua, the guy John met last night.

"My name's Joshua." Joshua extended his hand, "John, taking your dad for a walk this early? Walking's great; it prevents dementia."

John and Uriah were both confused.

Uriah said, "Not only are you crazy, but you're also blind?"

John took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Joshua, do you live here?"

"My relatives do," Joshua said.

John and Uriah exchanged a look and smiled.

Ten minutes later, they were inside the neighborhood.

Joshua asked, "Are you really here to catch criminals?"

"Of course, praising virtue and punishing vice is our thing!" John nodded, "Uriah, where are the robbers?"

"Follow me!"

The three of them sneaked up to Apartment 403 in Building Three.

Uriah whispered, "This is it. You trick him into opening the door!"

John nodded. This kind of thing needed a pro.

He knocked twice, and a voice came from inside.

"Who is it?"

John raised an eyebrow. The voice sounded familiar.

He shrugged it off and said, "Hey, I'm from property management. Here to read the water meter!"

Time passed, but there was no response. No one spoke, and no one opened the door.

"Did I blow my cover?" John was puzzled. He hadn't even started, and there was already a problem.

He shouted, "Is anyone there? If no one's home, just say so!"

Still, silence.

"Looks like we'll have to force our way in!" Joshua stepped up seriously, "Everyone, step aside."

He crossed his arms and charged the door with his shoulder.

"Ouch." Joshua bounced off the door, rubbing his shoulder. "Isn't this how they break doors on TV?"

"You're nuts; this is a security door." John's face twitched. He thought Joshua had some special skills, but nope.

"Step aside." John summoned his golden Slime.

The hallway was narrow, so he couldn't use its giant form, but the Slime's nearly two-meter size was enough.

The Slime's eyes widened with determination, and it charged the door.

The once impenetrable security door was smashed open, flying several meters away.

"Move quickly; that noise must've alerted others."

John was about to search when Uriah released his own contract spirit.

"Let me handle this!"

A chubby caterpillar appeared, surprisingly with a pair of transparent wings.

John, with all his knowledge, couldn't identify this contract spirit.

The caterpillar's wings fluttered slightly, spreading an invisible energy.

"There's no one inside." Uriah shook his head, instantly grasping the situation inside the apartment.

John was amazed, "You can detect people inside?"

"Yep."

"Then why didn't you use it earlier? We wouldn't have had to break the door."

"Because you guys were so impulsive."

"What now?" John didn't expect the robbers to escape so quickly. No wonder the police couldn't catch them.

"Don't worry. They can't have gone far." Uriah asked his contract spirit to use another skill.

The caterpillar's eyes glowed green, and the light seemed to come alive, floating in the air before heading out the window.

"Follow that light."

As they were about to go downstairs, Joshua suddenly said, "Let's take my bird."

They looked at him, puzzled.

"I mean it." Joshua summoned his own contract spirit, a large bird with blue feathers and eyes that seemed to crackle with lightning.

John was shocked. He didn't recognize Uriah's contract spirit, but he knew Joshua's.

It was an A-level Thunderbird!

"Are there so many geniuses now? Even a mental patient has an A-level contract spirit." John raised his eyebrows, feeling his Slime was less impressive.

The three of them got on the Thunderbird and flew out the window.

People in the neighborhood looked up, seeing a large bird flying in the sky.

Although summoning contract spirits in the city was usually prohibited, chasing criminals was a special case.

Their three contract spirits—one for investigating, one for flying, and one for fighting—could cooperate perfectly.