Chapter 5

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The room was pitch black without the lights on, yet Shen Chuyi could clearly see Scone on the sofa. Underneath his disheveled black hair, two rabbit ears drooped over his shoulders, trembling violently. Something beneath Shen Chuyi’s palm was also shaking intensely.

It was the rabbit tail beneath his dress pants.

“Shen Yulan!” His voice was muffled but fierce from the sofa. “Let go of me immediately! I am Scone!”

“You thief, how dare you yell like that!” Shen Chuyi pretended not to hear clearly, pinching his trembling rabbit tail through the fabric of his trousers. Feeling his whole body react and bounce with tension, she couldn’t help but laugh. She had wanted to do this since daytime.

“You broke into my room illegally. What are you trying to steal?” Shen Chuyi’s fingers slid into his black hair, finding the base of his rabbit ears and massaging them with a bit of force.

He let out a pitiful cry, his body taut as a string, the base of his ears burning unusually hot.

“Not confessing yet?” Shen Chuyi wasn’t about to let him off. She stroked the base of his rabbit ears, enjoying their soft texture. The fluffy ears were turning a deep red from the heat, twitching uncontrollably.

His rabbit tail twitched even more fiercely, like a tiny electric motor.

“Then I won’t be polite.” This time, Shen Chuyi didn’t go through his trousers but grabbed the twitching rabbit tail directly.

“Ah…” His cry sounded like sobbing. His back beneath the shirt was soaked with sweat. Whimpering, he seemed to be saying, “Let go, let go…”

Suddenly, Shen Chuyi caught a scent of freshly baked bread—the aroma of butter mixed with cream, as if it was emanating from Scone himself.

Could this be… his pheromone?

She recalled that herbivorous ability users couldn’t release pheromones unless it was mating season.

Her wristband suddenly lit up, popping up a game prompt—[The target has prematurely entered mating season. Now is the best time to use the Dream Card to pursue them. Use Dream Card?]

The screen displayed the very image of a [red-eyed rabbit with drooping ears, panting lightly].

Shen Chuyi was stunned. In reality, Scone had gone into heat due to stress, and in the game, the corresponding red-eyed rabbit had also prematurely entered heat…

Could this game be real? Was everything happening in the game actually true?

This thought shocked Shen Chuyi. Lost in reverie, Scone seized the opportunity to struggle free, tumbling off the sofa and finally uttering a clear sentence:

“I am Scone, Shen Yulan!”

His voice was hoarse and trembling, with a sobbing tone. Afraid she wouldn’t recognize him, he forced on the floor lamp beside the sofa.

The orange light illuminated his face, his neck, flushed red from face to collarbone. His face was damp, indistinguishable between sweat or tears. His two rabbit ears drooped among his messy black hair, glowing as if feverish.

He sat there with his hands bound behind him, looking up at Shen Chuyi with a mix of fear and resentment. He was quite handsome, but now that the light was on, she couldn’t keep pretending. She just uttered a surprised “Ah” and then said, “Why is it you? Officer Scone, sneaking into my room in the middle of the night, what are you doing?”

Did she really not know? Could she not recognize his voice at all?

Scone glared at her furiously but his body’s reactions were overwhelming. He couldn’t control his trembling or the pheromones pouring from him. The scent was too obvious. He felt as though his skin was sweating and trembling, ready to burst into a puddle at the slightest touch.

He couldn’t even retract his rabbit ears and tail.

He couldn’t stay any longer. He needed to return to his safe zone quickly to calm himself and stop releasing pheromones.

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“Untie me.” Scone forced himself to speak through his discomfort, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

Shen Chuyi smiled and reached out to undo the belt binding his hands. The moment her fingers touched his skin, he shuddered violently and quickly said, “Don’t touch me!”

The pheromone scent intensified, emanating from the back of his neck and every pore.

“What’s that smell?” Shen Chuyi asked knowingly, leisurely unbinding him while softly speaking near his trembling rabbit ears, “Officer Scone, aren’t you in heat anymore?”

Unable to endure it any longer, Scone shoved her aside, jumped up, and fled her room.

Shen Chuyi leaned back on the sofa, laughing quietly. She didn’t chase him but went over to close the door firmly.

The buttery bread aroma inside the room was almost cloying.

She sat back down, opened the terminal on her wristband, and launched the “Genetic Animal City” game. If this game was real, could she use it… to leverage Scone?

She only wanted to ask a few questions…

She just wanted to solve the case and grab the reward, then leave…

Solving the case would be good for everyone…

Unfortunately, she found that without a Dream Card, she couldn’t enter any character’s pursuit option in the game. She simply couldn’t reach “their side.”

Even the option for Scone required a Dream Card to enter again.

This Dream Card was like a portal, transporting her to their “bedroom.”

Currently, she had no usable Dream Cards, and the system gave no hint on how to obtain one.

The last Dream Card she used had turned into a high-definition photo of Scone in the bathtub with tentacles, unusable again.

What to do now?

Shen Chuyi stared at the HD photo for a long time, then resolved to screenshot and save it.

She contacted Bao Xiao for Scone’s communication number and sent the first message to Scone using her secondhand wristband—[Professor Scone, I would like to ask you a few questions.]

Although her wristband was secondhand, it had anti-surveillance and anti-tracking systems installed by friends from the underground network. Plus, Shen Chuyi was a black market identity, so her use of abilities to swindle and deceive over the years had never been caught. It was a perfect disguise.

Very convenient.

She pulled the diamond watch from her sock and touched the sparkling gem. The black market offered 400,000 for it, trying to pressure her into selling quickly. Dream on. She could wait.

Sliding the diamond watch onto her wrist, she went into the bathroom to shower. Afterward, still no reply from Scone.

That was expected. She was just testing the waters.

While blow-drying her hair, she sent another message, this time attaching the HD photo of Scone with tentacles in the bathtub, with a sentence—[Professor Scone, you wouldn’t want everyone to know your ability is tentacles, right?]

If Scone replied, it would mean everything in the game was true. That he truly deceived the royal family and the public about his ability being tentacles, not a giant deer.

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Though she didn’t know why Scone concealed his true ability, there had to be an untold secret hidden within.

The hum of the hairdryer matched the racing beat of Shen Chuyi’s heart. She was taking a gamble—after all, she never feared losing.

※※

Outside the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, rain poured down on the crystalline skyscraper. Beneath that alien-like crystal tower stretched the cityscape of City A, shimmering like a silver dragon. Standing in Professor Scone’s living room afforded a breathtaking view of City A’s most magnificent night scene.

But Bai Shizhou had no heart to enjoy it. He stood with his back to the window, facing Professor Scone across the long table. He had lost count of how many times he had come to ask him to return to the Special Crime Division. He had said everything he could, yet aside from a dinner cooked personally by Scone, he gained nothing.

“The murderer has escalated from committing crimes every two days to now striking daily,” Bai Shizhou said with helplessness. “Perhaps tomorrow there will be new victims. Unless the killer is caught, more will fall, Professor Scone.”

Scone looked down, flipping through a black booklet. “Director Bai, even without the murderer, people die every day. That’s the natural order of the world.”

“Professor Scone,” Bai Shizhou frowned in disbelief, “could you tell me why you refuse to return to the Special Crime Division?”

“Because it’s become boring,” Scone answered calmly, stroking the pages of the black booklet.

“Boring?” Bai Shizhou could not accept the answer.

Scone looked up at him, smiling apologetically. “Sorry, I know it’s hard to accept, but I truly have no interest in punishing evil or saving lives. I joined the Special Crime Division purely out of curiosity about criminal methods and motives.” He fixed his gaze on Bai Shizhou. “And of course, because I was fascinated by your strong alpha wolf personality.”

Bai Shizhou was taken aback.

Under dim lighting, Scone’s gaze was gentle yet cold. “I know you were born into a strict military family, your ancestors all were polar wolves. You have no siblings and were naturally groomed as the next alpha wolf. Your childhood lacked toys a child should have.”

Bai Shizhou’s expression grew serious. No one liked being analyzed.

But ever polite, Scone did not stop. “You fulfilled expectations, becoming soldier, director, hero—leading the Special Crime Division like an alpha wolf defending your territory in City A. You are excellent and strong, intolerant of any harm to civilians. You embody the image of an alpha wolf everyone admires. So I was curious—what is your true nature? When will your darker side overcome your alpha wolf personality?”

“Professor Scone,” Bai Shizhou finally lost patience and stood up. He noticed the black booklet contained page after page of leather samples. Scone’s fingers gently caressed the leather.

“No offense intended. I just want to explain why I won’t return to the Special Crime Division.” Scone smiled, stroking the leather. “I’ve been wanting to make a new sofa lately, but have yet to find satisfactory leather.”

He flipped through each smooth piece regretfully—too soft and fine, or too rough.

In the brief silence, his wristband lit up, displaying a picture and a text from an unknown number—[Professor Scone, you wouldn’t want everyone to know your ability is tentacles, right?]

His finger paused, opening the picture as Bai Shizhou said, “Professor Scone isn’t interested in punishing evil, but perhaps one day you and I will both become victims.”

Victims.

Just as now—he seemed to have encountered an extortionist.

Surprised, he stared at the image, feeling the sensation of a “forced intrusion” again. This was the second time experiencing such a feeling—and from the same person.

Intriguing indeed.