I Start with a Mysterious Island

Chapter 295 - 241: An Easy Favor

"Yeah!" said a smiling Liu Jialin, who was getting ready to head home. After telling her colleague, "Thanks for working so late," she walked toward her car.

CLICK...

She opened the car door and slid into the driver’s seat. Liu Jialin had just fastened her seatbelt, but before she could even start the car, her phone, which was in her bag on the passenger seat, suddenly started ringing.

RING... RING...

She unzipped her bag, took out her phone, and the name on the caller ID made her eyes widen in surprise.

’Lin Li?!!! Strange. Why is he calling me so late?’

She answered the call.

"Hello."

"Liu Jialin, it’s me."

"Yeah, I know. What’s up?"

"Are you off work yet?"

"I just got off. About to head home now!"

"I’ve caught the prison escapee, Tie Qiu Heng, along with his three accomplices. Are you free to come and pick them up?"

Liu Jialin, phone in hand, was just about to start the car and pull out of the parking lot. But when she heard what Lin Li said, she froze.

Then, she asked in disbelief, "What did you say? You caught Tie Qiu Heng and his accomplices?"

"That’s right. Are you free? If not..."

"I’m free! Just give me a second, I’ll bring a team over to you... Oh, right. Where are you?"

"I’m not exactly sure where I am. I’ll send you my location. Just find me using the coordinates I send."

Lin Li looked around and found that there were no street signs or anything similar near this remote riverbank, which made it impossible for him to clearly state his location.

"Alright," Liu Jialin agreed, and then they hung up.

The case of Tie Qiu Heng’s successful escape from South District Prison was considered a high-priority case at the Superpower Administration Bureau.

Liu Jialin’s superiors had asked her about the case’s progress several times.

The constant failure to capture Tie Qiu Heng and his accomplices had put a great deal of pressure on Liu Jialin and her colleagues.

And now, Lin Li was claiming he’d captured Tie Qiu Heng and his accomplices. This left Liu Jialin feeling incredibly excited, but also a little doubtful.

According to their intelligence, the two accomplices who helped Gang Leader Tie Qiu Heng escape had power levels of Second Order Middle Stage and Second Order Initial Stage, respectively.

’Adding Tie Qiu Heng’s own Second Order Middle Stage power, how could Lin Li possibly have captured a trio of Tier Two users all by himself?’

While Liu Jialin was caught between excitement and doubt, her phone chimed.

It was the location data Lin Li had sent.

After looking at it, Liu Jialin pushed her doubts aside for the moment. She immediately got out of the car and hurried back toward her department’s office.

A few moments later, Liu Jialin emerged from the office building with five of her colleagues.

The six of them split into pairs, piling into three Superpower Administration Bureau patrol cars. They left the Bureau headquarters and sped toward Lin Li’s location.

......

The dim riverbank.

"Ugh... my head hurts! Where am I?" Xiaoli muttered, raising a hand to his head.

Just as he was about to open his eyes, he was struck hard on the head again and instantly blacked out.

Lin Li stood over the four Canglan Society members, who were laid out neatly on the ground. He was holding his phone, scrolling through short-form videos.

When he heard Xiaoli stirring and realized he was about to wake up, Lin Li simply lifted his foot and kicked him, knocking him unconscious again.

He’d had to do this a few times already while waiting for Liu Jialin to arrive.

A few minutes earlier, Lin Li had considered just calling the emergency line and having the Superpower Administration Bureau dispatcher send a team to take custody of the thugs.

But just as he was about to dial the number, he had a thought. For an ordinary citizen like him, capturing these thugs would, at best, earn him some reward money. For an Investigator, however, it was a significant achievement.

He wasn’t very close with the Superpower Administration Bureau Investigator, Liu Jialin, but he considered her a friend now, more or less.

’Wouldn’t it be better to just call Liu Jialin directly and let her take in these thugs and get the credit, rather than calling the emergency line and letting some random dispatcher send a team?’

With that in mind, Lin Li had immediately dialed Liu Jialin’s number instead. After the call, he sent her his location. Then, he went back to playing on his phone while keeping an eye on the unconscious thugs.

WHOOSH...

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH...

A sudden gust of wind swept across the river, making the waves lap noisily against the bank.

Once the slightly damp wind reached the shore, it rustled through the row of large trees lining the embankment,

making them sway and whisper pleasantly.

HSSS...

Standing on the windy riverbank in the dead of night, he found the wind was actually quite cold.

Feeling the chill from the wind, Lin Li shivered. With a thought, he retrieved a pack of spicy strips from the Mysterious Small Island.

He tore open the package, pulled out a strip, and ate it. The chill he’d been feeling in his body instantly faded, replaced by warmth.

’This brand is way too spicy!’ Lin Li liked spicy food, but he couldn’t handle it very well. After finishing just one strip, he was so overwhelmed by the heat that he couldn’t help but stick out his tongue.

’When Su Yue recommended this brand to me, she said they weren’t too spicy—that the heat level was just right. That woman can lie without even blinking.

’No wonder they say a mother once told her son, "The more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie."’

As Lin Li ate the super-spicy strips, sucking in sharp breaths against the heat, his mind wandered. He thought about the next time he saw Su Yue, he’d have a serious talk with her about these so-called "not too spicy" strips, right to her face.

Not long after Lin Li started on the spicy strips, a group of people rounded a distant corner.

They were all dressed in uniform. Leading them was a tall, beautiful woman with wavy hair.

’They’re here already...’ Lin Li was in the middle of eating his spicy strips, his mind drifting, but he immediately snapped back to reality when he saw them.

"Lin Li."

Liu Jialin led her colleagues up to Lin Li. She and her team glanced at the four people lying on the ground, looking absolutely miserable. They instantly recognized the bald one: Tie Qiu Heng, the very man who had recently escaped from prison.

"Liu Jialin, I thought you’d be another few minutes! You guys sure got here quick!" Lin Li said, swallowing the spicy strip in his mouth and fighting the urge to stick his tongue out from the heat.

"It’s late, so there was very little traffic. We came at full speed, so it didn’t take long."

Liu Jialin tore her gaze away from Tie Qiu Heng’s group and turned to look at Lin Li. Then, her eyes involuntarily drifted to the bag of spicy strips in his hand.

"Want some?" Seeing her gaze land on the bag in his hand, Lin Li mistakenly assumed she wanted some and offered.

In reality, Liu Jialin was thinking about how Lin Li had claimed to have captured these four. Judging by their miserable state, there had clearly been a fierce battle.

’Yet Lin Li didn’t have a scratch on him and was just casually eating spicy strips. How in the world did he manage to capture them?’

When she heard Lin Li ask if she wanted some, Liu Jialin immediately shook her head.

"Lin Li, we’ve been hunting Tie Qiu Heng and his accomplices for days without success. We’re so grateful that you were able to catch them for us."

......