Four "Vertical and Horizontal" and two plays

The next day, at 8 a.m., in a café on a street about 500 meters away from "Binjiangyuan".

Sakikawa Kokoro, dressed as a white-collar worker again, leisurely sat in a seat by the window. It was still a single table.

"Hello, ma'am. Your espresso." A female waiter in a white dress with a high ponytail put down the coffee.

"Thank you." Sakikawa Kokoro replied politely and picked up the cup, taking a sip.

"Dingling~"

The bell at the door of the café rang clearly. A middle-aged man with obvious but not many wrinkles on his face, exuding the elegant temperament of a European white noble, yet having a standard East Asian face, who looked about fifty years old, pushed the door and walked in.

He was wearing a proper black tailcoat, with a black and a white on each hand. On the left chest, there was a letter "A" embroidered with golden thread.

Just from his clothes, he looked like a musician about to perform in a concert hall.

Walking to the counter, the man didn't look at the menu but said "the usual" to the clerk with familiarity.

The young male clerk smiled and asked in a confirming tone:

"Americano, no sugar, no milk, right?"

"Yeah." The man nodded slightly and added:

"And a tiramisu."

Hearing this, the male clerk smiled embarrassedly: "Look at my memory. I even forgot that. Sorry."

"It's okay." The man maintained his elegance, turned to look at Sakikawa Kokoro who was enjoying her coffee beside the French window, and silently walked in front of her, turned the chair at that position around, facing her, and sat down.

Sakikawa Kokoro held the cup, squinted her eyes, and observed the middle-aged man who, although there were empty seats all around, insisted on sharing the table.

After a few seconds, she smiled, put down the cup, took out a pebble about the size of a baby's fist from her handbag. It didn't seem special. She placed it on one side of the table and tapped it gently with her index finger. Then she took the initiative to strike up a conversation in English:

"We haven't seen each other for a long time, right?"

"Almost." The man closed his eyes and replied in English.

"I really admire myself for recognizing you." Sakikawa Kokoro boasted and continued:

"When was the last time we met? Four years ago? Or five years ago? I remember that at that time, our meeting place was in New York City of the United States. At that time, you and I were both at the 'Nature' realm, and in the whole 'Ace' organization, only 'King' was at the 'Vertical and Horizontal' realm.

"Right? 'Ace'."

The man called "Ace" by Sakikawa Kokoro didn't answer and still sat there with his eyes closed.

Sakikawa Kokoro wasn't in a hurry. She picked up the coffee cup again and waited patiently.

After a while, the female waiter in white walked over with a tray.

"Hello, your..." The female waiter stopped halfway through her words. Then she looked around in confusion. After seeing that everything was normal, she put down the food on the tray and said again:

"Hello, sir. Your Americano and tiramisu."

"Yeah, thank you." The man called "Ace" finally opened his eyes, thanked her in Chinese, and picked up the coffee to take a sip.

Putting down the coffee, he exhaled and continued in English:

"'King' wants you to be more restrained."

"Hmm?" Sakikawa Kokoro smiled and said in a teasing tone:

"I'm the person in charge of East Asia. How I move around in my jurisdiction is my freedom."

"If you continue like this, the organization will be more closely investigated." There was no emotion in "Ace"'s tone.

"Eh?" Sakikawa Kokoro said indifferently: "So what? Anyway, for people like us, we can even give up our lives. Why do we care about the strictness of the investigation? What's more, 'that' is coming soon. It will be even crazier then."

"This is an order from 'King'!" There was a trace of impatience in "Ace"'s words.

Sakikawa Kokoro leaned back on the chair and compromised reluctantly:

"Okay, okay, I know. I'll be more restrained." As she spoke, she picked up the coffee again.

"Ace" didn't say anything more. He gracefully but quickly finished the coffee and tiramisu in front of him and got up to pay the bill.

After paying the bill, he walked back to Sakikawa Kokoro's table and whispered in English:

"If there is a next time, 'King' will deprive you of your position as the person in charge of East Asia." After saying that, he walked out of the café without looking back.

Watching "Ace" leave the café, Sakikawa Kokoro snorted and said to herself, whether it was sarcasm or self-mockery:

"It feels so good to be trusted, 'Ace'."

After drinking the last bit of coffee in the cup, Sakikawa Kokoro also got up to pay the bill.

......

At the same time, in the "All-knowing" detective agency.

With the sound of the doorbell "dingdong", Lin Yuexiang, who hadn't slept all night because of what happened yesterday, opened the door.

There were three policemen standing outside the door, wearing dark blue police uniforms. However, the police ranks on their epaulets were not silver bars and silver flowers but blue bars and yellow stars.

Lin Yuexiang quickly swept his gaze over the three of them, especially the epaulets, and then asked in a flat voice:

"Has the support not arrived yet?"

The policeman in the middle of the three shook his head and said:

"The 'Instructor' has already arrived."

Hearing this, Lin Yuexiang raised his eyebrows, let the three policemen in, and then turned his head to look at the empty seat beside Lei Ting on the innermost sofa. Oh no, to be more precise, the empty seat beside Lei Ting.

"I knew it was you, Lao Qian." There was a hint of helplessness in Lin Yuexiang's tone.

As soon as he finished speaking, a man who looked about thirty years old suddenly appeared in the empty seat beside Lei Ting.

He was wearing a thin black short-sleeved shirt on his upper body, vaguely outlining his pectoral muscles on his abdomen. He was wearing a pair of gray-black jeans on his lower body, looking simple and capable.

"After all, only I would play along with you like this." The man waved his hand. Under the surprised gazes of everyone except Lin Yuexiang, especially Lei Ting, he stood up and took the initiative to introduce himself:

"Qian Daosheng, thirty-four years old. My apparent occupation is a fitness coach. As for my real occupation, those who know, know. I'm at the 'Vertical and Horizontal' realm. As for my ability... it's temporarily a secret..."

"My first ability is 'Space Sensing'; my second ability is 'Space Jump', and after the qualitative change, it becomes 'Space Manipulation'." Lin Yuexiang didn't intend to keep Qian Daosheng's ability a secret and interrupted to say.

Qian Daosheng was stunned for a moment, then complained:

"Hey! Lao Lin! Give me some face and let me maintain a sense of mystery!"

"There's no need." Lin Yuexiang didn't seem to want to give him face either:

"The enemy we're dealing with is no ordinary one. We must understand each other's situations as soon as possible."

Qian Daosheng wasn't someone who would be unreasonable. He quickly accepted Lin Yuexiang's explanation and said:

"Okay, okay. Seriously, I can't even show off a bit..."

After muttering in a low voice, Qian Daosheng turned to Lei Ting and the others and said:

"As your captain said, my first ability is 'Space Sensing'. I can sense all entities within a certain spatial range. Whether they have life or not, whether they are organic or not, as long as they are not too small, I can sense them; my second ability is 'Space Jump'. I don't think I need to introduce it too much. It's not much different from what appears in various novels; the 'Space Manipulation' after the qualitative change of my second ability is the same."