VESSEL - Extinction Countdown 982: Secret of the Aura

Yi Qing got a sharp call from the deputy chief, scolding her thoroughly.

Her job didn’t require daily precinct check-ins, giving her freedom, but someone saw her at Shisan Bakery and reported it.

The reprimand had deeper reasons.

The Hong Gang’s big shot, “Big Block,” active in Yingtian City, vanished recently. Intel said he led a crew to the Shanzhou Archipelago, five hundred kilometers away—a tourist island city.

One island, privately leased, was a Dragon Gate stronghold, codenamed “Dragon Gate Inn.”

By bad luck, Big Block’s men targeted that exact spot.

Local gang versus outside power was big news. The higher-ups rallied dozens of precincts, nearly ten thousand officers, to catch both groups.

But, oddly, within hours, both sides fell silent. Hong Gang fled, Dragon Gate cleared the scene, and the police found nothing.

Stranger yet, Big Block disappeared. Rumors said he was possessed and killed himself.

That was ridiculous. A Hong Gang key figure, Big Block’s reach covered Yingtian and much of Jiangnan. Seen as a top pick for the next leader, suicide? Possessed? Absurd.

The 067 Precinct was swamped over this, but Yi Qing was calmly “undercover” at a bakery. No wonder the deputy chief was furious.

Holding back her frustration, Yi Qing connected the dots from both sides’ intel.

The police reports were solid, except for Big Block’s timing trick. But they missed one thing: Ye Shisan.

Yi Qing knew well—Ye Shisan’s days away matched Hong Gang’s attack on Dragon Gate Inn. He returned with Dragon Gate’s heiress, You Long’er. Who was Ye Shisan? Why was she with him?

Hong Gang’s sudden raid, their odd retreat, and Ye Shisan returning unharmed with You Long’er meant they knew big secrets.

The key to it all? Ye Shisan.

At the bakery, Yi Qing wasn’t idle. She got Vanilla’s fingerprints and photos, but a police database search found nothing—no missing child reports, no fingerprint matches.

That was curious.

Vanilla called Ye Shisan “Uncle” so naturally, it didn’t seem fake. But where did he get a niece?

Since taking the car crash case, Yi Qing thought she understood Ye Shisan. Now, she wasn’t sure.

YiQueen from Fireseed said Ye Shisan had a “Heart Demon.” But living at the bakery, Yi Qing saw no signs.

She found no trace of the file’s schizophrenia or delusional disorder. Could those really heal?

Damn it, if only I still had my eye.

Yi Qing’s lost eye, the Innate Azure Eye, could see "Aura"—a rare ability enhanced by Fireseed’s surgery.

Under Zhang Dulao, as a recon leader in Fireseed’s vanguard, her Azure Eye earned her many honors.

It saw Aura on all things, living or dead, like faint light. Killers had a pale red glow of malice; happy children shone white; the dying were dim. Even her boss, Zhang Dulao, had a faint golden flicker.

With her Azure Eye, Yi Qing faced death, saw unimaginable sights, and confronted the world’s darkest evils.

But a teammate’s stray shot in a drill took her eye. If she still had it, she’d see Ye Shisan’s truth—for instance, a killer, even years later, would show crimson bloodlust.

Her Aura sight could reveal anyone’s past, human or object.

Now, she relied on herself.

“Yi Qing! It’s a meeting! Focus!” The deputy chief’s shout pulled her back.

A few colleagues snickered—rejected admirers or jealous of her skills and ties. And why, missing an eye, was she still the precinct’s beauty?

The deputy chief tapped the table. “What’s funny? Tasks assigned. Follow the plan. Any issues?”

Everyone readied to shout, “Task guaranteed!” when Yi Qing spoke up.

“I have an issue.”

The deputy chief glared, angry. “Say it!”

“I have a bigger task. Give mine to someone else.”

“Bigger than catching Big Block? Yi Qing, be serious. The brass trusts 067…”

Yi Qing cut him off. “The higher-ups know nothing about Dragon Gate Inn. These tasks are just tailing to find Big Block. I have a faster way to uncover what happened between Hong Gang and Dragon Gate—maybe even Big Block’s fate.”

The deputy chief scoffed. “Big words. Dozens of precincts, pros better than you, and you’ll solve it alone?”

Yi Qing hated being doubted. “Why not? I’ll prove it.”

He jabbed back. “And your car crash case? Solved yet?”

“You—!” Yi Qing stood, stormed out.

The deputy chief, regretting his words, called, “Yi Qing! Come back! What’s this outburst?”

Without looking, she shouted, “I’m getting the chief’s warrant. This case is mine!”