Enforcer Manual

"It’s a rare sight indeed." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Watching the armored floating car slowly depart above the street, Song Lan commented, "I didn’t expect to encounter a normal kid in District 17."

The children in District 17 are mature beyond their years.

The Law Enforcers could recognize this better than anyone else. When other people’s children were her age, they were already capable of planning armed robberies, and there had been several cases in their department where, due to underestimating a child, officers had been seriously wounded by gunshots.

"Nowadays, there’s hardly anyone who still believes in fairy tales."

"I didn’t expect you to have this trick up your sleeve either."

Lu Xiang regarded Song Lan with an evaluative gaze, "Just a few words and you convinced her to go back with Captain Doug."

This guy always seemed to display astonishing talent in the most unexpected fields, "If you joined the Human Trafficker Group, you’d probably become quite a troublesome figure."

As the two locked eyes, after a while, Song Lan asked with a strange look, "Boss, otherwise how do you think the people at the dump got there?"

These are basic skills in the field of human resources; he had even recruited criminals wanted by big companies and the United Government.

Lu Xiang was momentarily at a loss for words.

"But speaking of which, don’t you think that little girl seemed familiar?"

"You’ve seen her before?"

"No, I mean the matchbox setup."

"What about the matchbox?"

Lu Xiang’s bewildered look did not seem feigned, making Song Lan soon realize she too was a mature child without a childhood. Her achievements far outshone those of the street thugs of District 17; while they were planning supermarket heists, Lu Xiang might already have been practicing infiltrating a factory controlled by terrorists for a mission.

"It seems you haven’t heard the story of ’A Little Match Girl’ then."

Lu Xiang immediately took out her phone and looked up the fairy tale mentioned by Song Lan. Although different in setting, the core of the story had persisted through time.

After reading the story, she quickly raised a question, "But the wishes that come true in the story should just be the girl’s hallucinations as she’s dying, right?"

Judging from the story itself, there wasn’t much that defied common sense.

Yet the cake rain had indeed happened in reality.

"Welcome to ’Fairy Tale Story 2166’; that’s the effect of that person’s ability," said Song Lan, "Remember the guy whose head got flattened earlier? In cartoons, that’s quite a common occurrence."

"You mean to say his ability makes people’s physiques like those in cartoons or fairy tales?"

This was indeed a reasonable explanation.

But Lu Xiang couldn’t immediately discern which type of ability this fell under—the change that had occurred was not a hallucination but had indeed taken place.

"And he should be in this hotel right now."

"How do you know?"

"Look at that person over there."

Following the direction of Song Lan’s finger, Lu Xiang saw a man slumped on a hotel lounge sofa, fast asleep. It was quite normal to see people napping on the sofas in the lobby due to waiting for someone, but what set this man apart was the "Zzz" symbol floating above his head.

That’s right, the symbol itself.

It was the first time Lu Xiang had ever seen symbols floating above someone’s head as they slept.

And to add to the peculiarity, there was also a large bubble forming in front of the man’s nose which grew larger with each breath.

"Is this man the Ability User?"

She had neither an in-depth understanding of Spiritual Energy nor watched many animated movies and fairy tales, so she was not familiar with their forms of representation; therefore, she could only seek help from Song Lan—who was an expert in both areas.

"No, he’s just an ordinary man asleep... Watch carefully."

Lu Xiang looked at the middle-aged man who was asleep with a skeptical eye.

The next moment, her consciousness experienced a brief void, and time jumped forward. When she came to, Song Lan had already returned to his side, while the bubble growing in front of the man’s nose suddenly burst, emitting a muffled "pop" that could be heard even through a glass door fifteen meters away.

The startled man suddenly opened his eyes, and in a manner defying physics, he bounced several meters high.

She was certain she had not seen it wrong—the plain man had jumped to a height greater than that of a professional athlete while still seated.

"This is also a very common trope in animated films, where to wake someone up, all you need to do is pop the bubble on their nose."

"You used your ability just to pop the bubble on his nose?"

Lu Xiang rolled her eyes, wondering how bored one must be to use such an exceptional ability to disturb someone’s sleep.

"I’ve wanted to do this ever since I watched animated movies."

Song Lan’s demeanor resembled that of a child who had succeeded in a prank.

Upon being awakened, the man looked around bewilderedly, then seemed to completely immerse himself into the character of an animated figure. With exaggerated movements, he rolled up his sleeves, stamped his foot, and leaned forward aggressively as he approached the doorman, no different from Tom going to find trouble with Jerry.

"This definitely isn’t normal."

Before the man could unleash something akin to the "Pegasus Meteor Fist," Lu Xiang intercepted him. Upon closer inspection, everyone in the hotel could be described as bizarre.

She had good reason to believe that if the man’s head were to be struck hard at this moment, his face would cave in just like the injured person in the car earlier, but without leaving any fatal injuries.

After steering the man away from the hotel, she asked in a low voice, "So, this means that we’re also affected by his ability?"

"Mhm."

Song Lan nodded noncommittally, "Look, I’ll perform a stunt for you."

Under Lu Xiang’s puzzled gaze, Song Lan rolled up the sleeve of his right arm and after loosening up briefly, he began to whirl his arm at the frequency of a propeller. The wind pressure from the swinging arm forced her to squint her eyes, a sight clearly beyond what a normal human could achieve.

"How’s that?"

As an animation and film enthusiast, Song Lan had seamlessly adapted to the change the moment he stepped into the hotel. For him, this was unquestionably a novel experience.

But Lu Xiang asked worriedly, "Is your arm okay?"

She was terrified, afraid that the next second, Song Lan’s right hand would be launched like a rocket.

"Of course, this is a secret technique only animated characters can master."

"Hey! You two!"

An exasperated voice came through, "Are you two deaf to what I’m saying?"

Hmm?

The sudden voice made them look around, until a dark green figure leaped from the floor, using Song Lan’s knee as a springboard to jump up and hit his chin forcefully. It was then that they realized the voice belonged to a frog that was scolding them.

The frog was speaking.

But more so than the absurdity of a speaking frog, the loud impact and explosive symbols that floated in the air darkened Lu Xiang’s expression considerably. Before the frog could speak again, she seized it in her palm, with literal flames of anger in her eyes.

A sinister black aura emanated from her, her murderous intent almost tangible.

She still remembered the photo of that victim whose entire face had caved in.

If this frog that had popped up out of nowhere had dislocated Song Lan’s chin, she definitely wouldn’t let it off!