Chapter 25: A Sweet Little Lamb Clinging to His Heart…

The two exhausted all their strength and ran out of the inn onto the empty street.

A clear firelight shone from a window on the fourth floor of the inn, with thick black smoke billowing out from the gaps in the window glass.

It seemed like the entire street was filled with people.

There were guests who had been ushered out, night owls who hadn’t gone to sleep, and those woken by the noise. They chattered noisily, asking each other what had happened and what to do next.

Moments later, the fire brigade under the City Lord’s Mansion finally arrived and began extinguishing the flames.

Fortunately, Alex had been sharp enough to evacuate the crowd and notify the fire brigade while the fire was still small.

Even so, the inn’s originally neat and beautiful outer walls were now marred by ugly black scorch marks, like hideous scars burned in by cigarette butts.

Not to mention the rooms on the fourth floor—the furniture there had likely burned away completely and would need to be renovated.

Leaving aside the inn’s owner, even Xie Jianxun himself was a bit dazed.

He couldn’t help but shiver.

A coat carrying a faint scent of machine oil draped over Xie Jianxun’s shoulders.

He turned his head in a daze and saw One standing beside him, watching him. No light reflected in its inorganic, pale blue eyes.

He opened his mouth, then finally lowered his head in confusion and said softly, “…The inn is on fire.”

One said softly, “It’s the arsonist’s fault. Before we judge him, you need to rest first.”

It took Xie Jianxun a moment to nod.

For the first time, he fully accepted being picked up by the mechanical puppet.

His limp arms draped over One’s shoulder, his legs swaying slightly with its walking motions.

One’s movements were steady; its mechanical arms could bear hundred-kilogram boulders, yet now they cradled a dazed little bird.

Xie Jianxun: “Mm, what do we do next?”

Alex’s voice was slightly hoarse: “Check the surveillance, catch the guy… I’ll handle it. You go rest; don’t worry about this.”

The crowd soon dispersed. Many, having survived the ordeal, grumbled about how unexpected the incident had been.

Soon, the familiar Captain pushed through the crowd and entered their view.

Seeing that both Alex and Xie Jianxun were unharmed, he visibly sighed in relief.

“Thank God you’re both safe.”

Basero said in a low voice, “I can’t believe it. I was still sleeping in bed when suddenly a call came in saying Slieberlich had caught fire in the early morning. I nearly rolled right off the bed in fright…”

“Basero, let them go rest at your place.”

Alex interrupted him firmly: “I don’t need sleep for now. I’ll stay here and watch until the fire experts arrive at dawn to investigate. You take him and go rest first.”

Basero frowned: “What’s your deal?”

Alex fell silent for a moment before saying, “There are surveillance cameras at the inn and on the street. First thing at dawn, I’ll pull the footage and catch the guy.”

Basero said in surprise: “You’re just gonna wait here? It’s so cold.”

Seeing the young inn boss nod deeply, Basero irritably scratched his hair, momentarily at a loss for words.

He thought for a moment and said, “Anyway, whether you admit it or not, you’re our most important partner. Don’t push yourself. Call me if anything comes up. I’ll take them first.”

Xie Jianxun glanced at the inn, then at Alex’s pale face.

The young inn boss looked exhausted, his lips as white as paper. He pinched the bridge of his nose wearily, as if overwhelmed by the burden.

And in his arms, he still clutched something tightly hidden, its exact shape unclear.

Seeing Xie Jianxun look over, Alex tugged at the corner of his mouth and proactively lifted the edge a bit.

It was a portrait.

“My mother’s portrait painting,” he said softly.

Before leaving, he quietly turned back and saw Alex hugging the portrait as he sat down on the curb across from the inn.

He had refused the neighbors’ kind offers and sat there alone, staring dazedly at the now-empty inn.

The young Captain took them back to his home, around four in the morning.

The elders in the house heard the commotion and came downstairs. Upon learning of the fire at Slieberlich, they all showed shocked expressions.

Mr. Big Basero asked, “What happened? That’s never occurred before.”

Mrs. Basero asked urgently, “What about Asa?”

“He’s still guarding there, refusing to leave,” Basero said dejectedly. “He must be thinking of his mom.”

Mrs. Basero sighed: “Ah, that poor child… Oh, and you—look how frozen you are.”

Xie Jianxun was pulled into a warm guest room. Basero brewed him a cup of hot milk, while the elderly mother rummaged through the cupboard for a thick blanket and wrapped him up from head to toe.

She said affectionately: “Go back to sleep for a bit. You young people love sleeping in anyway.”

Xie Jianxun said dazedly: “Thank you, ma’am.”

He drank the hot milk and lay down again, but he couldn’t sleep.

The moment he closed his eyes, he heard the thudding footsteps echoing in his ears, along with the acrid black smoke choking him into coughs.

The edge of the soft bed sank. Xie Jianxun subconsciously started to call that name, but when he opened his eyes, he saw One sitting at his bedside. The words on his lips changed.

“What is this?”

Xie Jianxun said, “My heart feels so strange and uncomfortable.”

He spoke calmly, but his golden eyes held a thin sheen of water.

The mechanical puppet gazed at him and frowned slightly.

Moments later, it reached out and slowly wiped away that glint of moisture—it didn’t like seeing this.

“I thought this was a normal human emotion,”

It pondered and explained for Xie Jianxun, “When a place you like is destroyed, it’s normal to feel sad.”

“Don’t you think so?”

“Julius never taught me this. This is my first time… experiencing it. My heart feels sour and so sad.”

Xie Jianxun curled up, burying his face in the blanket.

The mechanical puppet sat quietly for a while. After a moment, it asked: “Who is Julius?”

There was no answer. It lowered its head; the human had closed his eyes, lightly furrowed brows, half his face sunk into the blanket. He had already fallen asleep.

Familiar voices came from outside the door.

Xie Jianxun sat up, yawning. The clock was right above his head; he counted and found he had only slept four hours.

“This price looks great. You should consider it more… Oh!”

It was Basero and One talking. After just a few exchanges, the sound of a door opening came from behind.

Immediately, a little bird flew over and burrowed into the mechanical puppet’s arms.

Xie Jianxun wrapped his arms around One’s waist in an embrace full of utmost trust and attachment, as natural as if he had done it thousands of times.

Basero stood by with arms crossed, smiling as he watched their interaction.

He clucked his tongue: “What a cute little baby. Can’t bear to let go, huh?”

Then he changed the subject: “So, what do you think of what I just said?”

Xie Jianxun had arrived late and hadn’t heard the earlier part, so he politely asked him to repeat.

Basero: “Here’s the thing: In a couple days, the City Lord’s Mansion will post a bounty notice. Roughly, drones spotted a possible Golden Fruit Forest, but for safety, they want a joint exploration. Our team has everything except people who can fight.”

Xie Jianxun listened in a daze: “You need fighters to find a fruit grove?”

“You bet!”

Basero rattled off, “Gotta fight bugs and people! Joint explorations aren’t easy. If your team doesn’t have enough heavy hitters, the Golden Fruits will all be taken, and you’ll be left picking up scraps—not even a pit.”

Xie Jianxun realized this was the same reason Magm had invited him before.

He tilted his head slightly to check One’s expression.

The mechanical puppet’s face remained calm and unruffled, seemingly unmoved by the high pay: “Thank you for the invitation. I’ll consider it carefully.”

Basero: “Come on, do me a solid. I can’t find a single fighter right now.”

A call from downstairs came from the elderly woman’s voice—Mrs. Basero summoning them for breakfast.

After the meal, they returned to the Slieberlich Hotel.

Alex huddled in the corner monitoring room, facing four large screens alone.

He pored over the overnight surveillance footage repeatedly and finally locked onto a certain shadow.

However, the figure seemed prepared for the inn’s cameras, never looking up, so no clear face was captured.

Basero walked in and asked: “What’s the situation?”

“The fire experts say it was a fire from aged wiring contacting flammables.”

Alex sneered, “Just feeding me the standard line. Did they think I didn’t inspect the rooms before renting them out?”

As the inn owner, despite his young age, he handled things personally and didn’t delegate much.

He truly wanted to run this inn well and truly wanted to take good care of his mother’s belongings.

But now, someone wanted to destroy his things.

Basero: “A grudge?”

Alex irritably said: “Who would I have a grudge with? In business, I practically usher guests in and out myself. At most, I argued with Allen’s bunch a couple days ago…”

As if remembering something, he looked up sharply: “Allen’s group was arrested, right?”

Basero nodded: “Yeah. No trial yet, as far as I know, but can’t rule out remnants.”

Remnants…

Alex mulled the word over, then slammed the surveillance screen shut.

Xie Jianxun had been intently watching from the table. Suddenly, it slammed like a piano lid clamping a cat’s paw; he jolted back: “Not looking anymore?”

Alex: “Can’t see the face.”

Xie Jianxun scratched the table, pondering: “Since the inn has surveillance, what about the street? Maybe it caught the guy’s face!”

Basero pulled out his light brain: “I’ll call and ask.”

Moments later, he hung up and walked to the door: “There is. The operator says go to the window to handle procedures.”

No other choice, Alex quickly grabbed his coat, gestured for them to go, and left Xie Jianxun and One to mind the inn.

During the wait, the pretty little waitress pulled out yesterday’s sweets like magic.

They sat face-to-face at the same table, sharing a long baguette.

“Where did you go yesterday?” Xie Jianxun asked.

“I thought you’d gotten lost. You’re a grown man, so I figured not… but then the fire at night. Sigh, what a mess…”

He chewed unhappily, glancing at One with his eyes.

One was slowly slicing the baguette into pieces with a bread knife, placing the cut portions on his plate.

“Want me to toast them?” it coaxed. “Toasted is crispier.”

Xie Jianxun fell silent, his snow-white fingers pinching the hard edge of a slice, nearly rolling his eyes and ignoring it.

One looked down at those slender fingers and suddenly felt a soft ache in its core.

A sweet little lamb was leaping against its chest, exceptionally clingy and relentless.

Unknown data streams surged in its chip, generating and deleting spontaneously, forcibly extending the update log by several pages.

Logic told it this was mere data redundancy.

But it favored this subtle glitch and let it be.

“Sorry.”

The mechanical puppet lowered its gaze and apologized softly: “Yesterday, my companion urgently called me. Some Insect Clan had awakened early, so I couldn’t wait for you to get off work.”

Insect Clan?

Xie Jianxun startled: “Now?”

One: “Mostly cleared. Don’t worry.”

With bugs involved, staying out all night became a minor issue.

Xie Jianxun released it reluctantly: “Fine. You should get a light brain, though. A big person vanishing like that is scary.”

One: “As you command.”

Xie Jianxun had meant to keep a straight face but was amused: “Why so formal? Am I some big shot?”

Wind started blowing outside.

To keep sand from blowing into the first floor, Xie Jianxun specially closed the windows. Then he and One waited by the fully sealed floor-to-ceiling windows.

Moments later, people returned—but each one’s face was grim.

Xie Jianxun probed: “So?”

Alex’s face was thunderous; he barely restrained from spitting on the ground: “We went to the main hall window. They told us to prepare materials. I went to materials division; they said it wasn’t their department, send us to fire brigade. Then what happened next.”

He angrily flipped a chair open and sat down heavily.

Basero knew his temper, sighed, and sat too.

“We went to the fire brigade. They said they didn’t have authority, go to police station for it.

“Then to the police station. They said need City Lord’s Mansion signature and seal.

“Finally to City Lord’s Mansion. They said it needed main hall window approval first.”

Xie Jianxun: “…”

Alex: “…”

What the hell.

The young inn boss said angrily, “What shitty efficiency! Spouting that repetitive bullshit and wasting my time!!! I shouldn’t have bothered talking to them—finding someone to hack the surveillance would be ten thousand times better than dealing with the City Lord’s Mansion.”

Basero reminded him, “There are no hackers here. Do you want to check out the talent market?”

Xie Jianxun kept his eyes lowered, pretending not to hear.

He thought to himself, What kind of divine talent market is this—how could they even hire hackers there!

Sure enough, Alex said suspiciously, “The talent market has people like that? Find one for me to see.”

“What about me?”

The mechanical puppet spoke up suddenly, drawing surprised looks from the three beside it.

One smiled, saying casually, “If I can get close to the server storing the archives, as long as it has a connected network signal, I can retrieve the data.”

“…”

Alex said in bewilderment, “Mechanical puppets can do that too?”