“Department head Rui…… what should we do?” asked Kimura Akino. He hadn’t recovered from the shock he had just experienced and still had lingering fears.

  “What else can we do? Report everything that happened here to the Metropolitan Police Department.”

  Miyazaki Rui answered as he grabbed his left shoulder in pain and continued, “Hurry and have them send over an ambulance. I need to get prompt treatment for this injury.”

  “Yes, I’ll call for an ambulance immediately. But about making that report on all the things that have happened here—will they believe it?” replied Kimura Akino, very doubtful about how that report would look.

  Would they believe it?

  Miyazaki Rui laughed wryly. It was true. If one had not witnessed the incident in person, it would be hard to believe such nonsense about genetically mutated human beings. Everyone in the police department would think that they had made up the story. Imagine having to report that incident when Xiao Han collided with the car—the car got smashed up, and he walked away unhurt. And not forgetting that he continued to fight with the genetically mutated human being, even jumping to heights of four to five meters. How were they going to report these without sounding like they were crazy? No matter how hard they tried, no one would believe them.

  “Regardless of whether they believe it, we have to report everything that happened. We will leave it up to them to judge,” Miyazaki-san said.

  “Okay.”

  Kimura Akino nodded his head and accepted Miyazaki Ronjin’s instruction. ……

  [Lotus Manor, Central Dongjing]

  Xiao Luo looked at the mansion in front of him and was a little surprised to find such a mansion right in the middle of a bustling city. There were two stone lion statues placed at the main entrance. It reminded him of the homes of high-ranking officials of the Hua Nation in ancient times. Since he was reconnoitering covertly, he did not enter from the main entrance. He took another route where they had no surveillance cameras. He leaped across the high wall and landed in the courtyard without making a sound.

  Cobblestones covered the courtyard grounds. The landscape had a traditional appeal, with flowers and trees lining the walls. There were two stone lamps in the middle of the courtyard, contrasting aesthetically with the black glazed tiles that covered the walls. A pavilion stood majestically as a prominent feature of the landscape, and in the distance, they built a small bridge over a stream of running water. This place could easily be mistaken for a mansion in ancient Hua Nation. The only difference here was that the stone lamps had Japanese characters carved into them, and the images printed on the doors and windows depicted Ri nation women in their traditional costumes. These touches gave the place a rich sense of their culture.

  \r \r \r

  Xiao Luo sauntered around as if the premises belong to him. This villa and its surrounding garden were expansive and even included a lake, a rock garden, and a man-made forest. If he had known that it was this vast, he would have entered from the main entrance and asked someone for Asou Jiro, the head of the Asou family.

  But it was not too late to do that now. Xiao Luo walked into the villa along the cobblestone path. After walking for a short distance, a man in a leather jacket appeared. He was holding onto a manuscript.

  Xiao Luo was about to question him when the man noticed him and waved his hands at him frantically. “Do you know what time it is? Why did you only arrive now? Hurry it up! I’ve been waiting for you to get to work,” he said.

  Get to work?

  Those words puzzled Xiao Luo. He pointed to himself and asked, “Are you talking to me?”

  The man was fuming. “Who else? Does it look like I’m talking to a ghost? Quickly, come with me now. Otherwise, I’m going to cut your pay,” he scowled.

  He must have mistaken me for someone else.

  Xiao Luo quietly followed the man, a little bewildered, but keen to see where it would lead him.

  “Young people like you these days do not seem to manage your time well. That’s why you guys are always late. We tell you to come at noon, and you turn up late by more than an hour. The Director is hopping mad! If you don’t perform well later, I won’t be surprised if he skins you alive!” the man nagged.

  Director?

  Xiao Luo’s looked at the man suspiciously and asked, “Are we here to film something?”

  The man stopped to turn his head around and replied, “Of course! What’s the matter with you? Didn’t Oda-san explain things clearly enough to you?”

  Xiao Luo thought briefly and then shook his head.

  “That goddamn Oda-san! How could he be so negligent? Does it mean that you don’t even know what you need to do here?” the man asked.

  “Err, no, I don’t,” Xiao Luo replied, playing along.

  “Follow me and you will find out soon enough. It’s something that’s going to make you thrilled. Hehehe……”

  The man snickered creepily. “The female lead filming with you has only just turned seventeen this year. She only took the plunge recently. Boss has spent loads of money to nurture her for some time now, and she has finally accepted some roles. What a lucky guy you are!”

  A seventeen-year-old female lead?

  Just taken the plunge recently?

  If Xiao Luo still did not know what kind of flick the man was filming, then something had to be very wrong with him. He wondered if he had found his way into the wrong place. Was this the location of a pornographic movie shoot and not the Asou family’s Lotus Manor?

  “Sorry to bother you. But is this place the Lotus Manor that belongs to the Asou family?” Xiao Luo asked.

  “This is the Lotus Manor. What’s wrong? Do you have doubts?” the man asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he continued trudging along.

  Then, as if he understood what Xiao Luo had meant to ask, he continued, “I get it. You must wonder why we are filming this genre of movies at the Asou family mansion.”

  Xiao Luo nodded his head.

  The man giggled. “You are way too ignorant! How can you not know that the Asou family is the biggest investor in SOD?” he said.

  That piece of information truly shocked Xiao Luo. He knew that Asou Jiro from the Asou family was a politician in Japan but never knew that the Asou family was also an investor in the pornographic movie company, SOD.

  “The Hua Nation is the primary reason the Asou family is so supportive of our SOD films,” the man said.

  “Because of Hua Nation?” Xiao Luo asked in surprise. This time around, he could not understand what the man was saying.

  “Of course! The Asou family has inherited the will of the Emperor, and the entire country is aware of our hostility toward the Hua Nation. The Hua Nation is the largest exporter of films produced by SOD. There are three deadly vices in this world—pornography, gambling, and drugs. They can all lead to acute problems. The Asou family is trying to use this approach to entice teenagers from the Hua Nation to get hooked on pornography.”

  Having such an unrestrained indulgence during their formative years will harm their minds and bodies and lure them into an addiction to pornography. It will affect their physical and mental health. After several generations, it will destroy the Hua Nation’s strength,” the man whispered.

  Xiao Luo wanted to laugh as soon as he heard that. The Asou family had lost its direction. They were obsessed with finding ways to destroy the Hua Nation. First, they tried to destroy Xiahai with their MLM scam, and now they hoped to corrupt generations of the youth of the Hua Nation with pornographic films. He wished he could wipe this family off from the face of Earth with one slap.

  “We’ve arrived!”

  The man pushed open the pavilion door.

  Looking in, all Xiao Luo saw were the bright lights. Cameras and lighting equipment had already been set up. Those in charge of the lighting were in position, and those in charge of props had made sure that everything was in place. There was a mattress in the center of the floor, and on it, a young and attractive girl laid, completely nude. Her body was curvaceous, her skin was fair, and her face was attractive. She was like a fruit waiting to be plucked.”Where’s the guy? Bloody hell, is he here already?”A chubby middle-aged man stood up in front of the camera and shouted towards the door.The man nodded his head respectfully and replied, “Yes, yes, he’s here.” He turned his head around and suddenly found himself standing alone. It was as if he had been talking to a ghost earlier. In a daze, he said, “Eh, where did he go?”The chubby middle-aged man walked toward him and slapped him without warning. “Bloody hell, I’m the one asking you a question! Why are you asking me the question instead?” he screamed, “Where’s the guy?”The man held his hand up to his face where it hurt from the slap. With a glowing red mark on his face, he said tearfully, “He…… He was here just now. B-but in the blink of an eye, he’s now gone!””You stupid fool! Are you trying to mess with me? All I can see is you standing here alone,” the Director yelled.”Director, I swear, he was here. We even had a chat earlier on. I have no idea why he just left. There…… There’s no way I could have seen a ghost,” the man explained.THWACK!The Director gave him another slap. “This is the Asou family’s mansion. Ghosts can appear anywhere, but there is no way they would dare appear here! If you want to quit, then tell me right now. I can hire someone a hundred times better than you!””Director, I…… I……” the man mumbled.The man wanted to cry. He was not only shocked but horrified. How could a human being just vanish into thin air?