James ignored his shock completely and quickly said: "I'm going to look for some fabrics to have a suit made for me too! So, behave calmly, agreed!" With that, he headed towards one of the shelves.
"Fine, do as you please!" said Xiao Ping, heading towards one of the windows overlooking the street.
Madeline wandered among the shelves, wanting to pick out some beautiful fabrics to surprise James with new suits, even though she knew he didn't need new clothes and his wardrobe was full. But she wanted it as a gift for him, wanting to surprise him, so she didn't mind.
Xiao Ping stood near the window watching the street and noticed unusual movement: a man in a long brown coat standing across from the store, not appearing to buy or sell anything, just smoking his pipe and observing. His glances weren't casual; they were fixed, directed at them.
'Oh, another tracker! Is he from that mysterious organization? Not unlikely! James killed three of their members! But also, were they the ones who brought those drunk mercenaries James and I faced? Or are they official ability holders? That's a stronger possibility! But anyway, it doesn't matter! Whether they are mercenaries, mysterious organization members, or official ability holders, I'll try my new skills on them, use them as lab rats!' Xiao Ping thought while imagining a ball of threads in his hand, and soon the threads appeared, growing larger and larger!
'Oh, it seems I've broken through to the second layer! That's why I feel my power is different from before! But how did this happen? Because of today's events? That's likely, but there's no need for foolish joy over breaking through to a second layer! I still have a long time, so I must hurry and break through the remaining nine layers and advance to the second level!' Xiao Ping's eyes gleamed coldly before he said: "James." Without turning around.
"I know." James answered while examining a fabric. "I saw him since we entered the market. And it seems he's following us! Let's finish this." He said while looking at Xiao Ping and seeing that ball of energy that was dispersing in the air! 'What is this strange ball of energy! It doesn't look ordinary at all. I've become more enthusiastic about any other sequence, to be able to do all this at just the first level! And it also seems he achieved a breakthrough to the second layer! That's rapid progress!' James was impressed, then said: "Madeline, hurry up with what you're doing, I still want to go buy the glasses."
"Yes! Just wait for me a little!" said Madeline, who was confused between various fabric colors.
After half an hour, they left the store. James and Xiao Ping were carrying several suits Madeline had chosen for James, while she was holding the umbrellas, a few fabrics, and a happy smile adorned her face. They carried the additional parcels and headed towards the glasses store.
On the way, the feeling of being watched intensified. The brown-coated man disappeared, but Xiao Ping noticed two others: a woman holding a red umbrella standing at a corner, and a man reading a newspaper on a park bench, both glancing their way from time to time.
"More than one." Xiao Ping whispered to James.
"I know. Don't show you've noticed." James's voice was calm, but Xiao Ping saw the hand holding the suits tighten.
'It seems I'm going to be in trouble for a while! But that doesn't stop me from getting rid of them, right?' Xiao Ping thought as he carried the suits with James. 'But isn't it strange that I'm only carrying James's things just because Madeline asked? No, this is only to repay James's favor, I don't want to involve that girl in this!' Xiao Ping looked ahead and saw the intended store, so he continued walking towards it.
They entered the specialized glasses store, a narrow place crammed with shelves full of frames and lenses. The old man running the store, named Herbert according to the plaque James read, looked at them over his thick glasses.
"Ah, James Beyond! You've broken your third pair this month. I'm starting to believe you do it on purpose."
"An accident, Mr. Herbert. And this time I want a more durable frame."
While James was trying on frames, Xiao Ping stood near the door, his eyes not looking at the displayed glass but at the reflection in the window, where he saw the woman with the red umbrella now loitering in front of the neighboring store.
'It seems that woman is tired of life! If she wants to die, let her try standing in my way! I'll really kill her!' Xiao Ping thought, his thoughts growing more devilish with time, as imagining the scene of killing her gave him a strange thrill.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang and the door opened. A man in formal official uniform entered: a dark blue coat with a silver badge on his chest depicting a crossed scale and sword. His face was serious, and his eyes quickly scanned the place.
'Here he comes! Will he attack or not?' Xiao Ping and James thought at the same moment, both ready to pounce if he tried anything. Xiao Ping began gathering threads in his hand, while James was quietly raising his body's energy level.
But contrary to expectations, the man didn't do anything, and quickly said: "Good day." in a resonant voice, then added: "I am Inspector Lockhart from the Public Safety Office. We are investigating an incident that occurred in the port district last night: a clash involving members of an extremist group. Did any of you see anything unusual in that area?"
'He didn't attack!' Xiao Ping thought to himself and dissipated the energy of the ball of threads that was gathering quickly over his hand... but fortunately, Lockhart didn't seem to notice it.
A heavy silence fell for a moment. Then James spoke as he placed a frame for his new glasses: "Unfortunately, I wasn't at the port last night. I was here, in 'West End,' repairing an old clock at a jeweler's."
The inspector looked at James, then at Xiao Ping, then at Madeline. "And these two?"
"My girlfriend Madeline, and my new partner Ping. He's new to the city, came from the north."
The inspector examined Xiao Ping with interest. "From the north? Isn't the Death Desert there?"
'Does he suspect me? Hahaha, why don't I make things worse for this man.' "There are oases and tribes, sir." Xiao Ping answered in a quiet voice, looking directly into the inspector's eyes. "I didn't see anything at the port. I haven't gone there yet." 'Man, I haven't gone anywhere here except two streets! So how do you expect me to know what happened yesterday when I only arrived in this world yesterday!' Xiao Ping mocked inwardly.
The inspector seemed unconvinced, but didn't press. "Very well. If you remember anything, report it to any guard on the street." Then he left, but not before casting one last look at the parcels they were carrying, and looked at Xiao Ping's cold face at that moment! But Lockhart didn't care about that, and soon left.
"Public Safety Office... that's new." said James as he adjusted his glasses on his nose, and was conveying his voice directly into Xiao Ping's mind, so Madeline wouldn't hear their conversation. "Hahaha, he wants to deceive us! It was clear he was an official ability holder but disguised himself as someone from the Safety Office? Who would believe that! That's a very obvious trick."
'Lockhart! I'll remember this name! There wasn't any energy leakage or the like! Even his calmness was suspicious, indicating his professional training! But that's what fools others, not me!' He thought, then said: "He might have been lying, but I think he was truthful in what he said about an extremist group clash! Do you think it was the Viper mercenaries?" said Xiao Ping. "Perhaps they found evidence of a fight between some ability holders!"
James looked at him sharply. "Yes, that's likely, but what makes you think it was a clash between mercenaries and that they found traces of ability holders fighting?"
"Nothing! It's just a guess, nothing more, nothing less!" Xiao Ping didn't want James to know about his sequence's abilities, so he said it was just a guess. He wasn't ready to trust James that quickly, even if they were partners, shared a meal, and went shopping together.
'Trust is the last thing I'd give to James, I think! I'm not ready to be betrayed quickly in this world; instead, I prefer to build it slowly in the end!' Xiao Ping thought to himself, unafraid of his thoughts transferring to James's mind due to their telepathic conversation.
Xiao Ping realized his progress was very fast, as if he was racing against time to advance, and found he could use telepathy just by thinking about it.
'The Observer of Mysteries sequence, truly a strange sequence!' Xiao Ping looked at the old man Herbert and saw new threads of a snowy white color, chaotic on his face.
'Is this a new color that appeared because I broke through to the second layer? But what does it represent? What is that old man trying to hide behind his smiling mask?' Xiao Ping wondered to himself, remembering the words of the entity when it told him he would be like a psychiatrist suffering from psychological ailments!
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End of Chapter ~ To be continued.