CHAPTER 695: HIGH ALERT, POPULARITY, AND THEFT

"Commander, what’s inside the letter?" Houqin asked immediately as Xiaoyun walked back into her office.

"Just baking soda and a small note. Nothing too major... You don’t have to throw your bag away."

"Oh."

Seeing the bag missing behind her, Xiaoyun quickly realized why she suddenly looked so grumpy. But he wasn’t about to address something so small.

"Houqin, I need you to put all soldiers on high alert notice. There might be something big happening soon."

"Is it something to do with the letter?" Houqin curiously asked.

"Maybe. Just make sure at least an entire division can be rapidly deployed within an hour to the front line and ready for combat."

"Okay, I can do that... Um, actually, Commander, I’m not sure if we can really mobilize and transport that many soldiers at once."

"Why not?" Xiaoyun questioned back.

"We don’t have enough fuel for it yet. They still haven’t finished connecting the pipelines for the oil to flow through."

"Still? Hasn’t it been half a month?"

"Commander... It says the estimated time is by the end of August. Did you already forget about the paper you signed yourself?"

"I thought it was shorter... Ahem, I’ll go make up for the fuel. You make sure each front has backup in case something goes wrong."

"Yes, sir."

---

As Xiaoyun exited the logistics office and began heading towards the storage unit, his phone was suddenly called by an unknown number.

Picking it up, the other side turned out to be the mechanic who had finished repairing his car.

He quickly drove Yuqi’s car back to the administrative building, letting her know about it before walking over to the mechanic shop a mile away.

"Good afternoon, Governor." A man waved as he noticed Xiaoyun walking by on the open street.

"Good afternoon."

Xiaoyun didn’t waste any time chit-chatting as he continued walking along the road, walking past several more people who all waved at him.

"Geez, does everyone recognize me now?"

Despite only being a mile away, the walk seemed never to end as more and more people appeared in front of him.

All of them were waving at him, trying to say hello, some even wanting an autograph. But he quickly refused it as he continued walking down at a snail’s pace.

"Governor! I’m a big fan of yours! Please sign my shirt!" A girl yelled as several more people turned their attention towards him.

"Sorry! I can’t sign anything. I have important things to do... Please move out of the way, everyone."

The crowds of people in front of him surprisingly didn’t try to block him, letting him through as he started speedwalking away.

"I knew I shouldn’t have gone on television... I need something to cover my face from now on."

Xiaoyun thought to himself as he began to realize his status as a celebrity. Somehow, Shen Wen really was right.

His popularity had only gotten higher, rather than receding. It was almost as if all the hit pieces on him had done the opposite effect.

"Governor! Good afternoon!" A worker in a hard hat yelled.

"Good afternoon to you, too."

As Xiaoyun replied back to the person calling him out one last time, he quickly created a mask inside his pocket before putting it on.

With a pair of sunglasses next, he finally stopped getting attention from people nearby as he arrived at the mechanic shop.

"Hello? Anyone in there?"

Walking around the front entrance and peeking through the glass, Xiaoyun couldn’t see anyone inside the mechanic shop itself.

But he could see his car behind a fenced gate of a parking lot, seemingly to be fully repaired with new sets of tires and even a fresh layer of coating.

"Don’t tell me they are on luck break——"

Just as Xiaoyun was about to complain, someone finally came out to open the door—a middle-aged man with a wrench in hand.

"Sorry. I was in the back repairing something... Do you have an appointment, or are you trying to make an appointment?"

"I’m here to pick up my car."

"Your car? Can you tell me the phone number associated with your car?"

As the middle-aged man walked around the counter, Xiaoyun quickly told him the number, which caused him to freeze for a second.

"I beg your pardon, can you say the phone number again?" The man asked as he checked his clipboard again.

"I’m not going to repeat myself... Now, do you recognize me?"

The moment Xiaoyun took off his sunglasses and mask, the middle-aged man quickly nodded his head.

"T-This way, sir."

---

After getting back his car, Xiaoyun finally drove off, heading towards the storage unit before noticing something was a little off.

There were no guards in the front at all. In its place were endless cameras around the entire block and an ID scanner right at the gates.

As he lowered his window and scanned his ID, the metal fence slid right open, letting his car pass as it closed on its own.

"What did Yueyue do to this place?" Xiaoyun murmured to himself as he could clearly tell someone had redesigned the security.

Driving towards the usual parking lot, every single one of the buildings was filled with cameras around the corner.

There was zero blind spot, as the entire place felt much emptier than before. Not a single guard was nearby at all.

"Did she really just put cameras everywhere——"

Just as Xiaoyun put his car into park, he could suddenly hear a faint footstep walking right by his left window.

With zero hesitation, he took off his mask and sunglasses. Opening the door as he stepped right outside.

"Anyone there?"

"Xiaoyun? Why are you here?"

As Yueyue revealed herself by turning off her invisible cloak, Xiaoyun was the more confused one.

"Why are you here? Where are all the security guards?" Xiaoyun questioned back as he looked around their surroundings.

"I’m investigating an inventory theft. I sent all of them home early today... You still haven’t explained why you’re here."

"I’m coming here to resupply things needed for the army. It’s not going to interrupt your investigation, right?"

"What do you think?"

Before he could answer back, Yueyue already spoke up again.

"Don’t answer that. I already know you’re going to respond with something dumb. Just give me thirty minutes, I’m going to catch this thief."

Xiaoyun thought about it for a second, then nodded in agreement as he got ready to head back into his car.

"Wait, you’re just going to leave?"

"Yeah. I thought you didn’t want me to interrupt your investigation... Do you need me to help you catch this thief or something?’

"Hell yeah, you’re coming with me. Hurry, make your own invisible cloak. The thief could come at any time."

"Okay then."

As he quickly created a copy of the invisible cloak, he put it on before pressing a button, turning himself completely invisible.

"Where are we going now?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"Down at unit 9."

Looking around, the storage unit Yueyue was talking about happened to be the one right next to the parking lot.

"Wait a moment, isn’t it the middle of the afternoon? Who’s stealing through all these cameras?"

"That’s the confusing part. I checked all the cameras and couldn’t find the person. An entire crate of food vanishes from the storage unit."

Hearing the level of loss, Xiaoyun quickly realized the problem was much worse than he had imagined.

"An entire crate? How the hell are they sneaking that out? You sure it isn’t the guards who’re doing it themsleve?"

"None of them went inside the unit when the item was lost. No workers from the logistics either."

"How about the camera inside?"

"The whole storage unit is too dark to record without turning on the light, and Yuqi isn’t passing the budget to replace it with night cameras," Yueyue answered.

"Why?"

"Because she said the electric bill alone would cost more than the food lost... Now, can you shush and stop asking questions?"

Xiaoyun fell into silence as the two of them entered storage unit 9, which was completely dark inside as the building had no windows.

"How long are we going to wait?" Xiaoyun quietly asked as he started to get a little bored standing behind Yueyue near the entrance.

"Right around this time."

Yueyue’s answer only led to more questions inside his head. He just couldn’t understand why someone would steal food in the afternoon.

It just made more sense to rob at night or something, or right in the morning, where the guards would be too tired to check the cameras.

Not to mention her answer seemed to imply that the robber had only taken food from the storage unit, not any of the other valuables.

"You sure they are coming today?"

"I’m sure of it. I have been studying their schedule for a month now. Just you wait——"

Before Yueyue could finish talking, the two of them could hear a weird clunk sound coming from underneath them.