Arknights: The Scarlet Devil of Terra — Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Dragon vs TigerYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

Flandre hadn’t been in this area for long. She was quite curious about the bustling streets of Lungmen, peering out the window to take a good look around as the city blurred past. Then, she hopped into Beatrix’s luxury car.

The engine purred as the vehicle handled the dense traffic, soon arriving at the Lungmen Guard Department headquarters. Inside the L.G.D. compound, uniformed officers hurried back and forth, the atmosphere thick with structured chaos. Fortunately, the two in the car didn’t have to squeeze through the crowded main entrance. Swire expertly steered the vehicle around the block, slipping into a quiet side garage reserved for personnel.

Just as Flandre stepped out, her crimson eyes caught a familiar figure. Ch’en Hui-chieh was striding across the lot, preparing to dispatch with a squad of officers.

“Sister Ch’en!” Flandre stuck her head over the car door and waved her small hands enthusiastically.

An operator standing beside the stern superintendent blinked in confusion. “Officer Ch’en, is that child calling you?”

Ch’en glanced over. Her breath hitched, nearly fainting from the sheer shock of seeing the little walking calamity on her turf. She immediately broke into a jog, closing the distance.

“What are you doing here?” Ch’en demanded, her voice tight with stress.

Before Flandre could even open her mouth, Swire slammed the car door shut.

“Hey, how can you talk like that to a child?” Swire’s voice dripped with aristocratic disdain. “A little girl comes all the way to see you, and you can’t even manage a gentle tone? Is she your daughter, that you feel the need to be so harsh?”

Swire was already extremely annoyed by Ch’en’s accusatory glare and snapped back without a second thought.

Ch’en finally noticed the driver. Her eyes narrowed. “And who are you? Why are you interacting with Flandre?”

“Sausage Dragon, who do you think you are to ask me that?” Swire crossed her arms, her tail flicking sharply. “Why am I interacting with Flandre? Because unlike you, I actually care about others! You let such a young child live completely alone in that massive, empty mansion without even considering if she might be lonely! You’re a grown adult—if you don’t have a brain, keep your mouth shut!”

Swire’s rapid-fire scolding hit like a physical barrage, leaving Ch’en momentarily speechless.

“But Flandre is a guest personally invited by Chief Executive Wei,” Ch’en finally managed, her tone reluctantly softening. “Is it wrong for me to ask why she’s wandering around the L.G.D.?”

“Then speak politely, or I’ll keep scolding you!” Swire huffed, her combat power operating at absolute peak efficiency.

Throughout their intense friendly exchange, Flandre didn’t say a single word. She simply sat on the hood of the car with great interest, swinging her legs as she watched the literal dragon-versus-tiger battle unfold before her.

When the two glaring women finally turned their attention back to her, Flandre slowly reached into her pocket. She pulled out the crisp, official appointment letter brought to her earlier by Madam Fumizuki.

What on earth was Wei Yenwu thinking, making a Vampire the special consultant for the Special Inspection Unit? Was his wife crazy, or was he?

A tall, green-haired Oni stepped out from behind Ch’en, peering over her shoulder at the document.

“So Chief Wei has found another expert for the L.G.D.?” Hoshiguma whistled softly. “Special consultant… wow, that’s some serious authority.”

After reading the seal, Hoshiguma looked straight at Swire, who was still leaning against the car. “Do you think you can handle this job?”

“Huh? It’s just being a police officer. Why wouldn’t I be able to!” Swire bristled, feeling like this giant woman was mocking her capabilities.

“A special consultant isn’t an ordinary police officer, miss. Our Special Inspection Unit deals with the most troublesome, gruesome cases in the city,” Hoshiguma pointed out, tapping the letter in Ch’en’s hand.

“Ah, wait. I’m not the special consultant. It’s this child!” Swire realized the Oni had completely misunderstood the situation.

Hoshiguma froze. She turned in utter surprise to look at the little blonde girl sitting by the car window, dressed in an outfit that vaguely resembled scrambled eggs with tomatoes. This child was the special consultant?

Skeptical, Hoshiguma double-checked Wei Yenwu’s signature on the letter. It was authentic. She looked back at Flandre.

“Are you… Flandre Scarlet?”

“That’s right! I am Flandre,” the girl nodded brightly.

Hoshiguma inhaled sharply. “Hiss… are you an adult?” She started to ask the girl’s exact age, but realized that might be impolite, quickly rephrasing her question.

“Well, Flandre has four and a half years left until she’s an adult,” Flandre counted on her small fingers, answering with absolute seriousness.

Hoshiguma’s jaw dropped. Surely this appointment letter had to be a forgery! How could Chief Wei let a minor work at the L.G.D., especially in a high-risk division like the Special Inspection Unit?

“But Madam Fumizuki brought this to me herself. She wouldn’t lie to Flandre, would she?” Flandre tilted her head, looking genuinely confused.

“Madam Fumizuki, huh…”

Hoshiguma examined Flandre more closely. Her eyes drifted past the blonde hair and finally locked onto the strange, crystalline bat wings hovering behind the girl’s back. The Oni’s pupils contracted.

“A Vampire!”

“Flandre isn’t dangerous,” Ch’en interjected quickly from the side, keeping her voice low. “Her stay in Lungmen was personally approved by Chief Wei.”

“Forget it. I’ll take you upstairs.” Hoshiguma sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. Confirming the letter was genuinely from Wei Yenwu meant it was official. Though she had no idea what the Chief Executive was plotting, this wasn’t the time to undermine his authority in the middle of the garage.

She opened the car door wider and led Flandre out. After taking a few steps, Hoshiguma glanced back at Swire.

“Why are you following us? Go back and tell Wei Yenwu I’ll take good care of her.”

Clearly, both Ch’en and Hoshiguma had mistaken Swire for a private driver arranged by the Chief Executive to escort Flandre.

Hearing this, Swire proudly dug into her designer purse and whipped out another L.G.D. employment notice, flashing it like a badge of honor.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m Flandre’s neighbor. I just happened to receive my notice to start work here today.”

Ch’en frowned slightly. To think this spoiled rich girl would soon be her colleague. Considering Swire’s explosive, arrogant personality was completely unsuited for the gritty reality of police work, why was she even here?and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

But Hoshiguma leaned in, glancing at the name printed on the second appointment letter. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Beatrix Swire… you’re from the Swire family!”

“That’s right. I am indeed a member of the Swire family. What about it?” Swire lifted her chin proudly.

Ch’en naturally knew this name; otherwise, she wouldn’t have tolerated being scolded so viciously earlier without drawing her blade. As a childhood friend, she knew exactly how much power the Swire family wielded. Their chamber of commerce controlled massive sectors of Lungmen’s economic lifelines, their influence contributing significantly to the city’s rapid rise.

“Perfect, let’s go in together!” Hoshiguma laughed, her expression instantly friendly and welcoming.

Swire only disliked Ch’en; she had no ill feelings toward Hoshiguma. In fact, standing beside this somewhat goofy, towering Oni woman actually made her feel quite safe.

After entering the main building, the group quickly made their way to the L.G.D. Personnel Department.

Naturally, the operators inside experienced a collective shock. Flandre simply looked far too young. Even if she was a Vampire, letting a literal child participate in the Special Inspection Unit’s bloody work felt entirely inhumane.

A crowd of curious operators quickly gathered around the blonde girl, eagerly bombarding her with questions about Vampires.

Flandre honestly stated that she didn’t really understand other Vampires. However, since Blood Fiends also drank blood and had bat wings, they probably weren’t much different. Talking about Blood Fiends should have some similarities, even if not exact.

She answered whatever she could. Whenever a question became too complicated, she simply blinked her large crimson eyes and said, “Flandre doesn’t know.” That single, cute response was enough to make the operators’ maternal instincts flare up, immediately stopping any further interrogation.

Meanwhile, despite having officially started her first day of work, Swire made no effort to find a supervisor or arrange her tasks. Instead, she stood off to the side, watching Flandre being pampered by the crowd with a happy, satisfied smile on her face.

Processing Flandre’s paperwork was incredibly easy. Wei Yenwu’s signature acted as an absolute pass, and having Ch’en personally escort her upstairs served as an unspoken endorsement. Ch’en, having interacted with Flandre previously, silently vouched for the girl’s reliability to the department heads.

After finalizing the appointment, Flandre was led back out into the hallway by Swire.

“Where are you two going?”

Before they could reach the main entrance, they bumped into Ch’en, who had actively come looking for them.

“Flandre said her house is empty, so I’m taking her to the shopping district to buy some dolls,” Swire said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Officer Ch’en, being so steady and experienced, must have long forgotten about young girls’ hobbies!”

Ch’en’s mouth twitched in irritation. “That might have to wait. We happen to have a case right now that needs Flandre’s help to look at.”

Ch’en crouched down, bringing herself to eye level with the little vampire. “Is that okay?”

“No problem!” Flandre nodded cheerfully.

The three of them headed outside and climbed into an official L.G.D. police cruiser.

Sitting in the back seat, Flandre listened quietly as Ch’en outlined the grim details of the case. It was a serial murder. The victims were five sisters, killed at different times over the past few weeks. The killer’s signature was gruesome: each victim had a specific body part severed and taken after death.

Because two of the bodies had been discovered by civilians in public areas, the news had spread like wildfire, putting immense public pressure on the L.G.D. Chief Wei had explicitly ordered the Special Inspection Unit to solve the case within a strict deadline.

But currently, the department’s clues were completely insufficient to track down the real culprit. Ch’en believed in the natural sensitivity Vampires had toward blood, hoping Flandre’s unique biology could help them sniff out a trail they had missed.

Flandre nodded in understanding. She followed Ch’en as the cruiser visited all five distinct crime scenes across the city.

Throughout the entire journey, the normally bubbly girl remained completely silent, a very strange, unreadable expression settling over her delicate features.

“Did you find something?” Swire whispered, noticing the shift in Flandre’s mood.

“Sister Ch’en, Flandre wants to see those bodies,” the little girl said, raising her hand slightly.

Ch’en frowned, gripping the steering wheel. “Those bodies are incomplete. They look terrifying, Flandre. It’s quite scary.”

“Are they scarier than a Vampire?” Flandre tilted her head, her innocent tone slicing right through the tension.

The question left Ch’en completely speechless. She pressed her foot down on the gas pedal.

The cruiser quickly sped back to the L.G.D. headquarters, and the trio descended into the sterile, freezing depths of the morgue.

“I say, this is Special Inspection Unit business. Why are you, a patrol officer, following us down here?” Ch’en glared at Swire with clear displeasure.

Since Swire was sticking to Flandre like glue, Ch’en couldn’t easily force her away. But standard protocol dictated that unless a patrol officer was lying on one of the metal tables, they had absolutely no business entering the morgue.

“Hmph, I don’t trust you,” Swire declared righteously, crossing her arms.

What was wrong with being a patrol officer? Patrol officers had clearance to access most general areas in the L.G.D., and the morgue wasn’t technically a restricted high-clearance zone. Ch’en had no official grounds to kick her out.

Ch’en could only shake her head helplessly. She turned and led them deeper inside.

With the assistance of the on-duty forensic doctor, Ch’en began unzipping the thick, black body bags containing the five corpses, one by one.

Although they had been heavily refrigerated, the bodies had been exposed to the elements for a while before discovery. The flesh was bloated and somewhat decayed. Worse still were the missing pieces—severed hands, feet, and heads, leaving jagged, bloody stumps in their wake.

It was a deeply shocking, stomach-churning sight.

A certain little tiger, for instance, lasted less than ten seconds before clapping a hand over her mouth and sprinting out into the hallway to violently vomit.

Even the hardened Ch’en Hui-chieh found herself frowning repeatedly, her jaw clenching at the highly impactful, gruesome scene laid out before them.You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.