Inside the moving carriage, Grego's spirits lifted upon hearing his sister's question, and he immediately offered the excuse he had prepared long ago.
"I'm working at a security company now. You know, your brother here might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but my fists are hard enough. Whether in the village or in this city, not many people dare to mess with me."
"With this talent for fighting, a security company took a liking to me. Now I'm hired by them, specifically assigned to be bodyguards for rich people. You know, the richer those guys are, the more they fear accidents, so they don't hesitate at all when it comes to spending money on safety."
Grego said with a smile towards Dorothy, his expression natural, his tone relaxed. It was clear he had been practicing this line for a while. Watching Grego's demeanor, Dorothy nodded her chin and said,
"That's quite impressive, isn't it? But since so many rich people favor you, the security company that hired you must be quite famous, right? What's its name? And where is it located?"
"Ah... the name..."
Hearing Dorothy's words, Grego paused slightly, then after his eyes darted around twice, he seemed to remember something and spoke.
"That company is called Heavy Fist Security, yes, Igwinte Heavy Fist Security Company. How about it, Dorothy, doesn't it sound impressive?"
'Indeed, it sounds impressive, very rustic...'
Thinking this, Dorothy's lips curved slightly upwards, while Grego, after a moment of thought, quickly explained.
"Listen, Dorothy, this Heavy Fist Security Company I work for usually serves wealthy clients. Because many rich people require security services to be confidential, according to some regulations, it's not convenient for me to disclose the company's specific details."
"Oh, I see. In that case, I won't ask any more questions. I was just a little curious earlier."
Listening to Grego's lie, Dorothy said, while also thinking to herself.
'Huff... As an honest young man not far from being a greenhorn, working in a secret department must be hard on Captain...'
"But... I never thought being good at fighting could actually make a name for Captain... That's truly impressive. But isn't this job a bit too dangerous? Captain must encounter a lot of dangerous situations, right?"
Changing the subject, Dorothy no longer pressed Grego, but continued with a tone of concern.
"Haha, I do run into some troublesome issues, but they're nothing. Don't worry, Dorothy, your brother is like a fish in water in this line of work."
Grego responded with a chuckle, and Dorothy also nodded in reply.
"I see... Even so, Captain must remember that Captain's safety comes first."
"It's alright, I know what I'm doing."
...
The carriage carrying Dorothy and Grego traveled forward and soon reached its destination, at the bottom of a small apartment building.
This apartment building had six floors, not too tall, with outer walls paved with red bricks and white window frames. Each floor had a small balcony, some with plants and some with clothes drying. In front of the ground floor was a flower bed, where vine-like plants climbed high up the red wall, adding a touch of green to the building.
The apartment was located next to a quiet street with few pedestrians passing by. There were tall street trees along the road, and the overall environment was quite serene, a good place to live.
"It's not bad, right? Nanyang Flower Road is a good location. If you keep going north, you'll reach the Riverside Park, and if you go north and then east, you'll reach the Church. It's convenient for both walks and prayers, it's just a bit far from the commercial street, sometimes it's hard to buy things."
Standing below the apartment building, Grego proudly introduced it to Dorothy, who was also looking around with a hint of surprised curiosity.
"Wow, that's amazing. Apartments in this kind of place aren't for ordinary families, are they? Is your salary alright, brother?"
"Of course it's alright! I'm even thinking of buying a detached house in the suburbs directly when I save enough money someday. Alright, hurry up and come inside, our place is on the fifth floor."
Helping Dorothy with her suitcase, Grego entered the apartment via the stone path in the flower bed. Dorothy followed behind Grego all the way to their suite on the fifth floor. After Grego opened the door, what greeted Dorothy's eyes was a spacious and bright living room.
To be honest, even with the knowledge of a modern person, the environment of the apartment Grego rented exceeded Dorothy's expectations. It had a large living room with two bedrooms, as well as a dedicated washroom, kitchen, balcony, and laundry room. The interior furnishings were also quite good, with a sofa, fireplace, and phonograph, and it had running water and gas.
The room had good lighting and ventilation. Standing on the balcony, she could see the distant Riverside Park and the Church spire. This was practically heaven compared to the drafty little wooden cabin Dorothy used to sleep in back in the village.
"How is it? Your older brother's taste isn't bad, right?"
Looking at Dorothy, whose eyes were shining, Grego said with his arms crossed, and Dorothy simply nodded in response.
"It's truly... beyond my expectations. Thank you, brother..."
"You're welcome, who told you we're family? When I have more money, I'll bring Hannah Aunt and her family here too!"
Grego's tone was quite ambitious, and after looking around, Dorothy's gaze fell upon the coffee table in the living room, where an ashtray was full of cigarette ash.
"Grego, do you smoke?"
Dorothy asked curiously. Hearing Dorothy's words, Grego's expression froze for a moment, then he quickly said,
"No, no such thing. It's just that sometimes when colleagues come over, they smoke a little."
"Oh, I see..."
"Ahaha, they're colleagues from the security company, you know, a lot of them are rough guys, it's inevitable that they like tobacco. Oh, right, Dorothy, you must be tired from your journey, so hurry and rest. In a couple of days, I'll take you to the grammar school to register. Although the school year has started, I think with your level, fitting into a class shouldn't be a problem."
"Okay, I'll go with your arrangements."
Next, after putting away her luggage, Dorothy familiarized herself with her new home again, and then went out with Grego to buy some necessary daily necessities. After being busy until the evening, they had dinner outside. Upon returning, Dorothy went to bed early, citing fatigue from the journey.
After entering her room, Dorothy immediately locked the door. Then, instead of undressing for bed as she had said, she placed her suitcase on the table and opened it.
Inside the suitcase, besides a few clothes, were several boxes, a booklet, and a bottle containing a pale finger.
At this moment, the Iggwente Secret Agency Hunter Captain was still in his room not far away, while Dorothy had already taken out a pile of cult forbidden items.
Taking out the Corpse Puppet Ring from one box and putting it on, Dorothy opened another box. Inside this one was the corpse of a large gecko.
This was one of Edrick's experimental animals for the Corpse Puppet Ring. He had a pile of various experimental corpses in his house, some that could be controlled and some that couldn't. Basically, anything with a certain size could be controlled, but insect-sized ones couldn't.
According to the experimental notes Edrick left at home, Dorothy selected several experimental corpses. The large ones were packed in boxes and transported by truck, while the small ones were directly put into her suitcase and brought along.
Under the control of the Corpse Puppet Ring, the gecko in the box twitched twice before starting to move, crawling out of the box and then out the window along the table.
Under Dorothy's control, this gecko crawled along the outer wall of the apartment until it reached the window of Grego's room, coming from outside Dorothy's window.
"So, as a member of the An Yin Bureau, can Captain reveal anything about the secrets of the mysterious world to me? Brother..."
In the dim room, Dorothy, sitting at the table, murmured in a low voice while carefully making her Corpse Puppet approach Grego's window.