Then, Let Them Offer Their Loyalty!

Chapter 79: A Harvest Worth Millions

Perhaps sensing Qiu Tu's hesitation, Forensic Expert Qin turned his head to glance at him and spoke earnestly, "Every body has its own unique code. If we can decipher it, the body will speak to us."

"So, we must trust in science and evidence."

"We can’t let the strangeness of the case lead us into the trap of skepticism!"

Qiu Tu smiled in response.

He truly wished he could trust science and evidence. But... he himself possessed extraordinary powers that defied scientific explanation.

How could he believe that just because science didn’t detect any issues with the body, it meant there were no issues?

However, these thoughts were not something he could share with Forensic Expert Qin. Aside from confidentiality, their relationship simply wasn’t that close.

With that in mind, Qiu Tu simply smiled and responded politely, "I understand. I just have some other suspicions."

Forensic Expert Qin was a sharp-minded individual. Hearing Qiu Tu’s words, he shot him a suspicious look, opening his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately held back.

After completing the autopsy, Qiu Tu led Chen Feng, Song Qing, Wang Xi, and Xiao Liu back to the investigation team's temporary office.

When they returned, Qiu Tu checked the time and saw that it was already 5 PM.

He promptly clapped his hands and said, "Alright. Today’s work is done for now. Everyone can go home and rest or clock out."

"If you have any other thoughts, we’ll discuss them tomorrow."

Hearing Qiu Tu’s words, Chen Feng, Wang Xi, and the others were visibly surprised.

Clearly, in the Investigation Department, everyone had long grown accustomed to working overtime, with no concept of clocking out on time.

So, even though they heard Qiu Tu’s command, no one dared to move.

At that moment, the always bold Xiao Liu looked at the others, then raised his hand and asked, "Sir, are you serious? No overtime?"

Qiu Tu glanced at him and smiled, "Why do overtime if you can finish your work during office hours?"

He pointed to the files spread out on the table. "Besides, what more can we do now?"

"We’ve gone through all the case files and documents, and we’ve witnessed the autopsy. As for the lab results, the earliest we’ll have them is tomorrow."

"We don’t even have a preliminary autopsy report yet. We don’t even know how the victim died, so we can’t just grab a suspect and start interrogating them, right?"

"So..." Qiu Tu waved his hand, "Dismissed. Go home, get some rest, and recharge so we can solve the case tomorrow."

After Qiu Tu’s final word, Song Qing, who had been barely containing her excitement, couldn’t hold back any longer. She jumped up and cheered, "Long live the boss!"

"I knew I made the right call!"

With that, she happily packed up her things and bolted out of the office.

Seeing her take the lead, Chen Feng, Xiao Liu, and the others exchanged glances, then smiled and thanked Qiu Tu before packing up and leaving as well.

Qiu Tu was the last to leave.

He carefully packed up all the case files and documents, locked them away, then turned off the lights, locked the door, and left the Investigation Department.

Perhaps because it was rare for an investigation team to finish work this early in the Political Division, Qiu Tu noticed quite a few envious looks on his way out.

Meanwhile, his loyalty notifications kept popping up.

[Chen Feng’s Loyalty +1]

[Ding Xiaoliu’s Loyalty +2]

[Wang Xi’s Loyalty +2]

[...]

[Song Qing’s Loyalty +7]

Seeing the last exaggerated loyalty increase, Qiu Tu couldn’t help but chuckle.

This girl really hated overtime, her loyalty jumped so much...

After work, Qiu Tu first drove to the Investigation Department’s gas station and filled up his tank.

Since he wasn’t a division head yet, he couldn’t use a company car, so he had to pay for the gas himself—a whole silver coin.

In his past life, that would have been around 800 yuan.

And this much fuel would only last him three days. Sure enough, in the planning area, these regulated resources were insanely expensive.

If he weren’t about to receive Fourth Master Qin’s assets tonight, Qiu Tu would’ve hesitated to keep driving this car.

With these thoughts in mind, Qiu Tu drove to a small restaurant at 29 Nanfang Street—a regular meeting spot for him and his brothers.

The restaurant owner had been a big shot in A Tai’s old gang. Two years ago, when the military swept through New Realm City, he managed to escape, but lost a leg in the process.

So, he retired from the underworld and opened a restaurant with his wife.

When Qiu Tu arrived, the owner was wearing an oilcloth apron and sitting on a chair, scaling fish.

Seeing Qiu Tu, he smiled and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, Tu! They’re inside."

Qiu Tu nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks, Qiang."

He then headed straight for the backyard.

The small restaurant didn’t have private rooms, so Qiu Tu and his brothers usually took over the owner’s backyard, setting up a few tables for outdoor dining.

In the yard, about a dozen young men were chatting in small groups.

When they saw Qiu Tu enter, they all greeted him. "Brother Tu’s here." "Brother Tu." "Brother Tu, you made it."

Qiu Tu greeted them with a smile, his eyes sweeping over them.

His small group consisted of 15 members, including himself. The core members were Qiu Tu, A Tai, and Eagle.

The rest were mostly people Qiu Tu had picked up or whom A Tai had brought back after subduing them.

Now, A Tai had joined the Special Operations Division. Eagle and A Kun had moved to the Political Division. There were 12 people left unassigned.

Qiu Tu’s task today was to select two suitable candidates from them to send to the military.

[Monkey’s Loyalty: 85]

[A Shui’s Loyalty: 83]

[Big Head’s Loyalty: 81]

[A Xiong’s Loyalty: 89]

[...]

Most of the brothers had loyalty levels between 80 and 85, indicating deep bonds with Qiu Tu and their unwavering commitment to follow him.

This was understandable, given the years they had spent depending on each other and the countless trials they had faced together.

Among them, A Xiong surprised Qiu Tu the most.

A Xiong hadn’t been someone Qiu Tu had picked up. He was someone A Tai had dragged back one day.

At the time, A Tai was still involved in gang activities, and A Xiong had been a member of a rival gang. During a gang fight, A Xiong’s reckless and ferocious fighting style had caught A Tai’s eye.

After A Xiong was nearly hacked to death, A Tai had dragged him back, hoping he could still be saved. At the time, A Xiong was covered in blood, barely clinging to life. Out of kindness, Qiu Tu paid for a doctor to stitch him up and clean his wounds, leaving the rest to fate—this was the best medical care the lower class could afford.

Maybe it was fate, but A Xiong actually survived. From then on, he started hanging around with Qiu Tu, A Tai, and the other brothers.

Despite being part of the group, A Xiong was extremely reclusive. He rarely spoke and would often sit silently by himself during gatherings. He seemed to carry deep emotional scars from his past, and his gaze always held a natural hostility towards others. Because of this, he wasn’t very well-liked even within Qiu Tu’s small circle.

Initially, Qiu Tu thought A Xiong would be the least loyal of the group. But to his surprise, A Xiong’s loyalty was actually the highest, apart from A Tai and Eagle.

Qiu Tu speculated that this loyalty might have something to do with A Xiong’s personality...

As Qiu Tu was observing his brothers, Monkey picked up a canvas bag from the ground and carried it over to him. Handing the bag to Qiu Tu with a grin, he said, "Brother Tu, these are the things we took from Fourth Master Qin’s wife."

Qiu Tu took the bag, feeling its weight. He opened it to find it filled with glistening small gold ingots and a pile of paper certificates.

In this post-cataclysm world, gold was far more valuable than silver. One small gold ingot could be exchanged for about 200 silver coins, equivalent to roughly 160,000 units of purchasing power.

With over 30 small gold ingots in the bag, that amounted to a fortune of around 6 million.

And this was just the cash that Fourth Master Qin’s wife and children carried with them as they fled.

Adding in the paper certificates, property deeds, and land titles in the bag, along with Fourth Master Qin’s other hidden stashes, Qiu Tu roughly estimated that Fourth Master Qin’s total assets were worth at least a billion, and the contents of this bag alone could be converted into at least two or three million.

Qiu Tu couldn’t help but curse silently, "Damn, he was filthy rich!"

"Luckily, it’s all mine now!"

With that thought, Qiu Tu didn’t waste any time. He began pulling out the small gold ingots from the bag and tossing one to each of his brothers. As soon as one brother caught an ingot, Qiu Tu would pull out another and toss it to the next.

Cheers erupted in the courtyard.

For the average person in this world, with a minimum monthly expense of around 200 copper coins, one small gold ingot was enough to live comfortably for decades. Even if they lived extravagantly, it could last three to five years.

Given how casually Qiu Tu was distributing such a massive fortune, it was no wonder his brothers were so excited.

In just a few moments, Qiu Tu’s notifications were flooded with loyalty increases.

The gains weren’t massive, which Qiu Tu attributed to the already high loyalty levels of those present...

After handing out 12 small gold ingots, Qiu Tu placed the canvas bag on the ground and instructed, "Keep these gold ingots as a safety net, for getting married or settling down. Don’t spend them recklessly."

"I’ll have Eagle exchange two or three ingots for silver and copper coins later, and you can use those as pocket money."

"For now, I’ll hold onto the rest of the money. If you need anything, come to me."

Hearing Qiu Tu’s plan, Monkey, A Shui, Big Head, and the others quickly voiced their agreement.

The entire courtyard buzzed with joy, the chatter growing louder.

Distributing wealth was always an exhilarating affair.

Before long, Eagle and A Kun arrived, though A Tai was still nowhere to be seen.

Qiu Tu didn’t wait for him; A Tai had never been punctual, always getting sidetracked by something. So, Qiu Tu asked the owner to start serving the dishes.

As food and drinks were brought out one by one, the brothers dug in with gusto.

After a few rounds of drinks, the time had slipped to 9 PM.

At that moment, Qiu Tu’s communicator buzzed.

He pulled it out to see an unfamiliar number on the screen.

Feeling a slight twinge of anticipation, Qiu Tu guessed who it might be.

He answered the call, and sure enough, Qin Shuman’s voice came through, "I’m outside."

Qiu Tu informed Eagle and the others before getting up and leaving the courtyard.

As soon as he stepped out of the restaurant, Qiu Tu looked up and spotted Qin Shuman standing across the street.

Tonight, she looked different from her usual self. She wasn’t wearing her cheongsam or military uniform but a black, high-collared cashmere coat.

The coat, though concealing her curvaceous figure, accentuated her tall, graceful form, lending her an air of timeless elegance...

Seeing her, a smile naturally spread across Qiu Tu’s face as he walked toward her.

Noticing him approaching, Qin Shuman’s lips curled into a smile as well.

It seemed she had deliberately applied light makeup tonight, making her smile all the more breathtaking.

Author's Note