Chapter 212: Willing Phoenix nannies.
The precinct bullpen was a mess. Worse than vendors and clients haggling at a marketplace over prices. Different detectives, each with their own brand of stubbornness, were arguing loudly over who should keep the rescued phoenix chicks. The tiny creatures they were arguing over chirped and flapped their wings, glowing faintly with embers, oblivious to the storm their existence had created.
Liwu sat on one of the desks, pinching the bridge of her nose, damp towel around her neck. "Guys, nobody is keeping a phoenix, they are evidence, not pets." She repeated the same words she had said for hours, and yet nobody seemed to hear her.
Her husband Weijun, was still cradling the chicks like babies, rocking them gently, while juggling a phone call with Cross, whose frustrated voice was loud enough to reach Liwu’s ears. "No, I don’t know what phoenixes eat. Have you tried bird feed?"
"Of course I tried bird feed." Weijun answered rashly, equally frustrated.
Then, Liwu heard Cross make a ridiculous suggestion, "They produce fire, so maybe chili peppers could work." She rolled her eyes.
Weijun was flabbergasted, "Chili peppers! Have you lost your mind?"
"Well at least I am trying," Cross replied, "They are mythical creatures that talk in like every drama I have ever seen. Have you tried asking them what they want to eat?"
Weijun groaned. "You say that as if they are parrots....Just figure it out!" He hung up, looking harried but oddly proud, as if he was a man whose wife had just given birth.
Across the room, Analyst Bird was waving his arms. "I am the bird guy. Until my bird watching group came along, you guys thought they were egg laying chicken! I found them first! They imprinted on me."
"Oh yeah, call them." Su Jin dared him.
Analyst Bird whistled, and one chick sneezed a puff of smoke.
Weijun laughed. "I think that was smoke for no...you get it?" He laughed.
He Xiao Yi, the one person Liwu did not ever expect to be mixed in the mess was also a part of it. At the front, he had made a list of pros and cons that was projected from the screen. "Obviously, they need calm, intellectual company. Which means me."
Xuanji adjusted his glasses. "You would bore them to death. They are creatures of fire, their blood burns for excitement. I can see their aura. They are healthier when I am near."
Linlin, leaning against the wall, smirked. "Fate predicting system host over here. I can keep them safe from all the greedy people that will be coming after them once this news spreads. I am the obvious choice."
A small red bird flew over Liwu’s head, and as usual, dropped some shit! Liwu managed to throw the damp towel over her head, before she could be made a victim of bird poop. "Thanks for the gift," she screamed to it.
It whistled, continuing on its merry way.
"Will someone get all these stupid birds out of my precinct?" Liwu bellowed.
Her frustrations went over their heads, and out of the window. Even Chief Abby was more focused on where the phoenixes would be going rather than keeping order. Liwu’s patience thinned. She was about to slam her fist on the desk when the air shimmered.
In teleported the president of the bureau, Tai Alix. The room froze.
Her mother’s presence worked better than any command. She was immaculate, her eyes sharp, her bodyguards deadly. She stood in the center of the chaos, looking around. "What is going on here?"
"They are arguing over who gets to keep the phoenix chicks?" Liwu reported quickly.
Xuanji gestured wildly. "They will have fun with me!"
He Xiao Yi adjusted his tie. "I will keep them from starting fires randomly."
Su Jin raised her hand. "I have a large farm and my grandma raises chicken."
Chief Abby smirked. "I am the chief. Need I say more?"
Analyst Bird muttered, "I have a bird watching club and hundreds of knowledgeable members."
Linlin cleared her throat. "Safety. Safety first."
Weijun, still cradling the chicks gave his own response. "They are family now."
President Alix let the debate run its course, her expression unreadable. Finally, she raised a hand. Silence fell instantly.
"Tell me," she said, her voice calm but cutting, "why none of you is waiting at the bedside of the reporter you rescued? We need his statement as soon as he opens his eyes, or did he give you anymore useful information. Like how he knew about the ledgers. How the rest of the men he followed were involved? Where the phoenixes came from?"
The detectives blinked. Liwu grimaced, "Mother we---"
"This team has just conducted a large search and seizure. You fought armed guards, rescued a kidnapped victim and unveiled a conspiracy that has every suit at the top levels awake and demanding for answers. Like where is the missing 17.9 billion. Yet here you are, squabbling over chicks, while the reporter lies in the hospital with answers you desperately need." Alix lectured them.
The room went dead quiet. Even the chicks chirped softly, as if embarrassed.
Alix turned to Weijun. "And you. Put those things back in the cage."
Weijun sighed, reluctantly handing the chicks to Alix’s bodyguard who was waiting, with a cage in hand. "A cage is cruel," he grumbled, "They are so soft and cute..."
Alix’s glare cut him off. "Cute or not, they are evidence. They belong to the bureau."
Groans erupted. Xuanji slumped in his chair. He Xiao Yi ripped his tie off. All of the detectives and officers in the precinct who had been fighting for the job of phoenix nanny, reacted in some way. They knew what would happen after the bureau took them. Either they would never be seen again, because they would be returned to their original world. Or, they would become national property, treated like precious gems. Anyone could look at them from behind a glass, but never touch one.
Weijun seemed to sulk the most, like a child whose toys had been confiscated.
Alix ignored them all. "The chicks are commandeered. They will be studied, protected, and used to trace the smuggling network. Your personal desires are irrelevant."
The guard with the cage was teleported away first. Those who had vied for nanny duty watched with heartbreak, as if their souls were being dragged away.
Liwu sighed. "Well, that settles that."
Her mother’s eyes softened slightly. "You have all done a wonderful job in this case. But that job is not over just yet. There are still more phoenixes to hunt. I have been informed that there are a total of twelve phoenixes that were actually sold. We may not be able to give you your own personal phoenixes, but there are other recovered birds which are just as beautiful and less dangerous. If you want one, earn it through investigation."
Some detectives cheered.
Alix cleared her throat. "Happy hunting. Every buyer you catch is a bonus of fifty thousand yuan. Every phoenix you return, double that."
More cheering filled the squad room.
Alix raised her hand, silencing them. "This is a serious mission. Do not leak a word to any reporters, especially about the phoenixes. You are not going out to have fun, you are going to recover evidence. You have all been authorized to use your systems to the full extent, and take the canine unit. The wolf morphing system unit will also be joining you."
"Boss, just call it the werewolf system unit." Someone shouted.
Alix shot the detective a look. "No."
Weijun raised his hand. "As the mayor of this city, in which the highest number of phoenixes are likely to be circulating, can I have a press conference with the chicks?"
"No." Alix replied firmly.
"Can I cradle them again?" He asked, hopefully.
Alix sent him a sharp look. "No."
Liwu shook her head. "I will buy you some chicks from the market. If they poop my shoes, we have them for dinner. Simple."
President Alix left, the precinct calmed down. Detectives focused on their work once again. While Weijun went off to give his pres conference, and others started the phoenix hunt, Liwu drove to the hospital and sat quietly in the sterile corridor outside reporter Han’s room.
Six agents of the bureau were keeping watch; two inside, and four outside.
Han remained unconscious, his breathing steady but shallow, according to his surgeon. Now, it was just a waiting game. As long as no one pulled his oxygen tube or tried to assassinate him covertly, he would recover.
As she adjusted her seat, a woman in a purple suit and black heels approached. It was Mihou, reporter Han’s editor. Her expensive purse was slung over her left arm lazily, as she had both arms crossed over her chest.
Her gaze lingered on Liwu, searching as though weighing her presence. After a pause, she leaned closer, lowering her voice.
"Is it true?" she asked. "That you found real phoenixes."
Liwu raised her brows. "And where did you hear that?"
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