♫ Don't bury me alive
Sweet talk and lullaby♫
-- Avril Lavigne, I Fell in Love with The Devil

"I'm sorry, we have...important guests. Please give us a moment, detectives."

Chocolate's parents walked briskly to the gates, opening it and greeting the person inside the limousine. She didn't make a move to get out at all.

"Weird." Michael muttered out and Celeste observed them silently.

"Miss Lu, what can we do for you?"

"Give it to me, the microchip. " The woman said lazily, extending her palm towards them.

"Right now?"

The woman pushed down her sunglasses slightly, her bright red eyes glinting dangerously. "Yes, right now, do you have a problem?"

"Right away."

The middle-aged parents hurried off, the mother casting the two detectives a guilty look. Soon enough, they ran back and Michael was clueless as to what was happening. Celeste on the other hand, had already grasped the situation almost completely.

Disappointment welled up in him, a useful clue had slipped from his hands.

"That's all Peach needed to be free, didn't she?" The mysterious woman questioned to someone beside her that was hidden from view.

"Yes, mistress."

"Hmph," The woman pushed her sunglasses up, a cold smile on her lips. "If she wasn't Peach, I wouldn't have even bothered about such a degrading task."

"You are very generous, mistress."

The raven-haired woman played with her ponytail, scoffing. "I'm only accommodating to her request because she must never be caught, she holds too many secrets for all of us. I guess even legends like her makes a mistake."

"Indeed, mistress. This is the very first mistake I've ever known Peach to make."

"It's unbelievable she has gotten this far without making a mistake in the first place."

Other than her "personal" picture for Celeste, the only picture of Peach to the public was an intentional part from her. That client of hers required her to get proof using a picture, that she was delivering his package. Unfortunately, Peach was still in her early years, and she did what she had to, allowing her photo to get taken.

That client then made his biggest mistake by exposing Peach to the public even more. The loyal clients of Peach who did everything they could to protect her identity, since they didn't want to get themselves exposed either, were infuriated by his thoughtless action. Peach never heard from that client again ever since, and she was relieved.

The raven-haired woman looked around, her dark brown eyes landing on Celeste in the garden.

"Löne, please zoom in."

Her lenses zoomed in, and the woman got a good look at Celeste. His devstatingly handsome features that suited his striking eyes and hair too well, along with him donned in a long-sleeved shirt and pants that compliemented his lean body, all of it made the woman's eyebrows raise in approval.

"Handsome man," she complimented. "真是太帅了。(Really too handsome)."

Chocolate's parents ran back, finally obtaining the item the woman demanded. Her father placed the item on the woman's palm, and she glanced at it, it was an object resembling a microchip. The woman withdrew her hand, handling the microchip carefully.

"I'll trust you." The woman stated emotionlessly.

"Of course."

"If this isn't the item I wanted," the woman spoke chillingly. "I'll be sure to come back."

The two of them gulped, nodding their heads. The window went up, and the limousine drove away. The two parents could finally turn their attention to the detectives.

"Detectives, we do apologise but we had to--"

"Your lives were on the line," Celeste cut them off. "You wouldn't be able to oppose them, it's alright.

Michael and the middle-aged couple was puzzled at Celeste's words.

"Uhhh, mate. Wanna explain?"

Celeste blinked, his head turning towards the direction the limousine was previously at.

"The guilty looks on your faces tells me that you have given that person what we needed. Though, from what I observed, it was out of fear and obligation. Whoever they are, they have a higher position than you in the society, probably those at the top of the world, and they are probably the people responsible for creating your guard dogs." Celeste explained patiently.

"That's...correct."

"I noticed the person showing their hand from afar, and I used my binoculars mode. The tattoo on their hand is a recognized tattoo of the prominent Chinese mob, "Zhong" and if it was an ordinary gang member, it wouldn't explain for your frightened actions or the expensive limousine. So, I noticed it was a woman, and there is only one Chinese mob in the world with a woman at the top of the world, and she's Lu Ruoyi. The leader of the Chinese mob."

The parents were stunned speechless by Celeste's observations.

"Now people know how I feel." Michael shrugged.

***

Peach tapped her foot impatiently on the sidewalk. She simply put on a hat and a mask, while waiting for Ruoyi to pull up beside her. She bit on her lip anxiously, she had after all went through a lot just to call in this particular favour.

Fortunately, since she was a favoured night courier among those in the underground world, calling in favours from everywhere was possible for her without much consequences. Sadly, she could only do it once or twice since she had to maintain in a neutral position among her clients. Moreover, she always had to repay those favours in a generous amount, not because she was forced to, but it was a habit which she can't seem to get rid of.

A familiar limousine drove up to the sidewalk, the street was extremely quiet despite it being in the evening. Though, with the decrepit state the buildings were in around her, it was hard not to tell that this was an abandoned area.

The window was wind down again, and the same woman was seen in the car. Peach immediately gave her a respectful greeting, and the woman pushed up her sunglasses. The moonlight framed the woman's tiny face, her features were beautiful.

However, Peach knew the woman before her was a nightmare in disguise.

"I believe this is what you wanted." The woman smiled, but the smile wasn't reflected in her red eyes.

"Thank you, Miss Lu." Peach collected the item with two hands, her tone respectful.

"You owe me a huge favour, Peach."

"Of course."

"I'll contact you soon." She put on her sunglasses again, and the limousine drove off moments later.

Peach sighed, staring at the microchip in her hand. "It's all because of you, I have to go through all this fucking trouble." She stated, her tone accusing.

***

Michael cut at his chicken in a furious manner, chewing it with an unhappy look. On the other hand, Celeste on the opposite cut his chicken in an elegant manner, munching on it with an impassive look.

"We almost got something on her, for the first time in years! And the mob just had to step in at the last moment!" Michael barked out after swallowing his food.

Celeste remained impassive, eating a fry, enjoying its crispness.

They were in a fusion bar, and it was rather crowded since it was dinner time for mostly everyone. Michael and Celeste had decided to settle in a table at a secluded corner.

"Cel, mate, really? You don't feel mad at all?"

"Why should I?" Celeste said, sipping on his drink. "Lu Ruoyi stepped in to specifically help her."

Michael almost choked on his food as he coughed harshly.

"How...how does a measly night courier..." Michael wheezed out, drinking down his water. "...get involved with the one of the most dangerous mob in the world?"

"Peach isn't a measly night courier." Celeste furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why do you sound offended?"

Celeste blinked away, "I'm not."

"I've never heard of the mafia helping night couriers."

Celeste put down his utensils softly, staring intently at Michael. Michael only gave him a confused response, and Celeste frowned at him.

"You really don't know?"

"Yeah, mate."

"You said your department has been trying to catch Peach for years, you should know why."

Michael laughed, "I told you, no one has a passion to catch those runners like you. These people in our department? They hate it."

Celeste sighed, "Peach, Black Jack and Cyclamen, they are valuable people in the underworld. Each of them having their own styles of a night courier, which makes it hard for them to get caught, making them the best. The three of them have been around the industry enough to reveal sensitive information about their clients, especially the underworld."

"So, if one of them gets caught, it destroys the balance?"

Celeste didn't say a word or react in any manner, only putting another small piece of chicken into his mouth. If one were to exaggerate, they would say it's destroying the balance. Nevertheless, none of them could ever be caught, as it would no doubt send the underworld into a frenzy.

Depending on the night courier who was caught, and what they decided to say, chaos may ensue.

Revealing secretive locations, the addresses of the various mobster leaders. Along with telling them where the packages were delivered too, and the person who collected them. Despite not knowing what are in the packages, night couriers played a big part in the business of the underworld.

"Hey, hold on. I've been noticing this, but you are only obsessed with Peach and not the night couriers, aren't you?" Michael added on. "What, she's your ex-lover or something?"

Celeste narrowed his eyes at him.

"I take that as a no." Michael grinned. "What is it then?"

"She's something." Celeste answered vaguely.

"Something, you say?" Michael repeated, smirking. "So what are you planning to do now? Wait for a clue to drop out again? Or something to happen again?"

"Wait." Celeste nodded.

He knew that patience was something that he needed to have after tailing her for years. For now, all he could do is wait and try to intercept her yet again, though he doubted she would risk going through another police barrier.

A notification popped up in front of Celeste, an alert that a video message was incoming.

V has sent a video message to you, do you wish to view it now?

Celeste stood up slowly from his seat, earning a curious stare from Michael. Celeste took out his wallet, whipping out a few notes and placing it down on the table.

"I have to go."

Michael blinked, and he swallowed his food. "Ri-right now?"

Celeste nodded, and Michael looked at Celeste's food that was only half finished.

"Uh, you sure mate? You haven't even finished--"

"Bye." Celeste interrupted, marching away.

Michael was speechless at Celeste, scoffing in disbelief. Meanwhile, Celeste exited the fusion bar in a hurry, shoving hi hands in his pockets as he strolled on the pavement. He clicked on the "yes" option to view the video footage sent to him, and the video footage immediately enlarged.

The video was taken through someone's lenses, and the audio was captured clearly. The owner of the lenses seemed to wandering around the backstreets of some place. Celeste recognised the backstreets, it was in a rowdy area, where petty crimes were higher.

The person meandered his way through the backstreets, ending up in an alleyway. There seemed to be a huge traffic in this alleyway. The person bumped into some strangers, mumbling out apologies and anyone could tell the voice belonged to a young man.

"Hey detective, you see this? It's this place, just in front. I can't go near, since I'm permanently banned from this place. This as far as I can go."

The young man mumbled into the microphone, his voice low.

"You'll eventually see these two big men blocking the way. You need to show a token, and you'll get in. I'll upload the path on my map right after this."

The young man turned and began walking back the way he came from.

"Good luck, detective. Thank you for the generous payment."

The video footage stopped and Celeste stored it away. An alert popped up on his lenses a moment later, and Celeste read it.

V has sent you a copy of a marked map. Would you like to accept it?

Celeste accepted it, and there was indeed a clear indication of a trail leading towards a destination. There wasn't a change in his blank expression, but there was slight tremor in his eyes that were glowing a little.

Trying to keep chapters shorter, and just making the length of the book longer. Hahaha, 3000+ words for a chapter is clearly a tad bit too long xD. I'll keep it to 1800++ words to 2000++ words from now onwards. I'll do the same for the previous chapters soon, thanks for sticking around!

I hope every single one of you has a great week ahead!