Chapter 34: Justin Brooks! Inquiry and Inspection

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Justin Brooks! Inquiry and Inspection

The next morning, Seraphina Sullivan woke from a hazy sleep to find her room unusually dim.

She could hear the sound of rain outside.

She threw off her blanket and rushed to the window. The sky was as dark as ink, and a fine drizzle was already streaking the glass. Below, the road glistened with water.

"It’s really raining?"

Seraphina was instantly wide awake, all traces of sleep gone. She had just received the rain notification yesterday, and now it was raining right on schedule.

Seraphina had never known the weather forecast to be so accurate.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. A message from Dexter Luther popped up on the screen:

[Seraphina Sullivan, that Disaster Game thing online is real! A friend of mine became a Player, and he says our world is changing. You have to stock up on supplies!]

Seraphina stared at the message, her brow furrowing.

’Dexter Luther didn’t care about the online rumors before. So why now...’

’This guy... Don’t tell me he became a Player himself? And he’s feeding me that clichéd "I have a friend" line.’

As she thought about this, Seraphina suddenly realized something. ’If Dexter Luther was chosen at the start of the second Disaster Game, that means the number of Players is still growing...’

Outside, the rain began to fall harder, the drops hammering against the windowpane with increasing intensity.

Seraphina turned on the TV. Every channel was broadcasting an emergency weather alert:

"Breaking News! A period of continuous, heavy rainfall is expected worldwide..."

"Meteorologists state this anomalous precipitation may be linked to global climate change..."

"Citizens are urged to avoid going outdoors. Residents in low-lying areas should prepare to evacuate..."

But Seraphina knew this was no ordinary weather event.

She quickly replied to Dexter Luther with an ambiguous message:

[Thanks for the heads-up. You take care, too.]

She didn’t reveal that she was a Player, and she didn’t expose Dexter Luther’s disguise, leaving herself plenty of room to maneuver.

She turned and headed to the storage room to take another inventory of her supplies.

If this downpour was truly the first disaster of Azure Star’s apocalypse, it would likely be followed by floods, power outages, or even...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The sudden knocking at her door shattered Seraphina’s train of thought.

On reflex, she instantly formed a Silver Needle.

"Hello, census!" a man’s voice called from outside. "Please open the door and cooperate with our inspection!"

Seraphina glanced at her phone. It was already past nine. The census that property management had mentioned yesterday was already underway.

Seraphina peered through the peephole. Two uniformed officials were standing outside, and they did have ID badges hanging on their chests.

But what put her on alert was the strange device one of them was holding.

As Seraphina looked through the peephole, she suddenly recognized one of the two census takers.

’Isn’t that Justin Brooks, the son of my next-door neighbor, Miss Webb?’

’He probably doesn’t know me, but I know Miss Webb quite well.’

So she’d heard a lot about Justin Brooks from her.

"Just a minute! I’m getting dressed!" she shouted, intentionally raising her voice. At the same time, she quickly scanned the room to make sure nothing suspicious was visible.

Outside, the two men audibly sighed in relief when they heard her reply.

The younger of the two wiped the sweat from his brow and whispered to Justin Brooks, "Captain Brooks, don’t you live on this floor?"

Justin Brooks stood ramrod straight, his uniform impeccable, with his collar buttoned to the top. He projected an air of stern righteousness.

He gave a slight nod. "Right next door, in fact. But work comes first. Don’t get distracted."

The younger man, Ronald Lynn, nodded in understanding, but his gaze was involuntarily drawn to the security door of Seraphina’s apartment.

The door was clearly much thicker than those of the other units, and the frame was reinforced with metal strips.

It was clearly no ordinary apartment door.

"This door... its defense Level is pretty high, huh?" Ronald Lynn mused, touching the reinforcements.

Justin Brooks recalled his mother’s usual chatter.

"A young woman lives here alone. My mom mentioned her before, I think her last name is Sullivan... Mom said she’s usually pretty quiet. It makes sense for someone living alone to want a secure door like this."

He looked at the detector in his hand. "But in times like these, it’s normal to be a little cautious."

Inside, Seraphina was pressed against the door, and she heard their entire conversation with perfect clarity.

’I’m so glad I insisted on getting this security door when I renovated,’ she thought. ’It was a brilliant decision.’

"Coming, coming!" She deliberately tousled her hair and opened the door, pretending to have just woken up. "Sorry, I was up late last night... just woke up."

Justin Brooks showed his ID. "Hello, routine census. May I see your ID, please?"

Seraphina cooperatively handed over her ID.

Justin Brooks took Seraphina’s ID and scanned it with the device in his hand.

Seraphina didn’t know what it did, but it looked very high-tech.

Meanwhile, Ronald Lynn began his routine questioning.

"You live alone, Miss Sullivan?" Ronald Lynn asked as he filled out his form. His eyes swept over her tidy entryway, but he only saw what Seraphina wanted him to see.

"Have you noticed anything unusual lately?"

"Just me." Seraphina rubbed her eyes, feigning sleepiness. "Unusual? Do the rumors spreading online count? And are you registering all this because you know something?" she asked, feigning curiosity.

Neither of the two men responded to Seraphina’s question.

’Boring men!’

"Miss Sullivan," Justin Brooks said, "the registration is complete. Be extra careful these days, and stock up on some daily necessities."

Seraphina was surprised to hear him say that.

The registration ended quickly. To her surprise, they didn’t use any special equipment to check if she was a Player.

Seraphina closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a long sigh of relief.

She had expected some kind of high-tech device to detect Players, not just a simple interview and visual inspection.

’It seems the government’s methods for detecting Players are still pretty limited...’ she murmured, wiping the cold sweat from her brow. She tiptoed back to the window and watched Justin Brooks and his partner leave the complex.

Meanwhile, Justin Brooks and Ronald Lynn walked through the downpour under an umbrella.

"Captain Brooks, that Seraphina Sullivan seemed like a regular person. Not a Player," Ronald Lynn said, shaking the water from his umbrella.

Justin Brooks’s brow was furrowed. "Who can say for sure? We don’t have the Ability to detect whether an ordinary person is a Player."

He glanced back at Seraphina’s building. "But that security door of hers is definitely suspicious..."

Ronald Lynn suddenly lowered his voice, a note of envy in his tone. "I’m so jealous of Jen. He was lucky enough to become a Player! I hear he can create Ice Formation with his bare hands now..."

"Lucky?" Justin Brooks scoffed. Rain dripped from the brim of his hat. "You only see the benefits of the Ability. You didn’t see what he looked like when he got back from the instance, did you?"