Shawn currently has two solutions.
The first is to find the wallet himself, but he's unfamiliar with the area, which might be quite difficult.
The second is to call the police.
Shawn chose the latter, and directly called the police.
Of course, relying solely on the police might not be enough to get the wallet back, as this matter involved Transcendents. So, Shawn took out the credential from his coat's inner pocket.
— Investigator Shawn.
His failure to guard against theft partly stemmed from his past habits—he liked to keep his wallet in his pants pocket for convenience. If he kept it with his credentials, it wouldn't be as easy to steal.
However, he had two guns in his inner pocket, and guns definitely weren't suitable to carry outside, so the wallet had to be kept outside.
Upon seeing the dual-headed eagle badge on the credentials, the previously nonchalant patrol officer's expression immediately turned serious.
"Sir."
"Please wait, I'll notify the station immediately." The officer's face showed a bit of tension.
The badge on the credentials resembled the Roman Empire's eagle standard, yet it was a dual-headed eagle, flanked by sword and shield designs, with a scepter and crown reflected in the background—quite a complex badge.
The investigator's identity is somewhat special, not officially recognized within the police system, but possessing certain special powers.
About half an hour later.
A man who looked to be around twenty-five or six years old, slightly unkempt, approached, looking groggy, extending his hand to Shawn and saying, "William Wallace."
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Shawn, the captain will be here soon."
This guy shared a name with a historical figure; as Shawn shook his hand, he felt the roughness of his palm, unlike the roughness from manual labor, the calluses were concentrated at the base of the thumb.
This was the hand of a Warrior.
Night Watcher.
An organization of Transcendents in the Dorne Kingdom, also not officially recognized, unlike Investigators, they are more a group in charge of solving issues.
Shawn, as an Investigator, is more about identifying problems, signaling others, while solving problems is the Night Watcher's duty.
William Wallace, looking like he hadn't fully woken, bought a meat-filled wrap for 7 Seth, eating it while walking, said, "Can you tell me what happened?"
Shawn explained the situation.
The other finished his lunch in a few bites, looked up and asked, "Could you tell me how much money was in the wallet?"
Shawn replied, "Over twenty-nine hundred denars."
William nodded knowingly, saying, "No wonder they took the risk to target you."
"Are you sure the other party is a Transcendent?"
Shawn nodded.
His senses were extremely sharp, and the other party was definitely a Transcendent, likely just recently promoted.
"That's strange." William's brows furrowed.
The Twelve Mythical Paths each have different abilities; the Path of Myth is more like a concept, with corresponding Promotion Sequences beneath it. In the Dark Ages, they were called Professionals, now referred to as Transcendents. Many Low Sequence Transcendents appear quite similar to ordinary people, but with much higher physical quality, making them hard to discern.
Shawn belongs to the Casting Sequence within the Path of Myth, having just ascended and acquiring more Supernatural Abilities, detectable once exhibited.
A low-sequence Wanderer doesn't show their abilities without displaying them.
William, observing Shawn's puzzled look, explained, "Recently, there seems to have been a surge of low-sequence Transcendents, and we're investigating the source of this."
Transcendents can't ascend on their own.
Because the Extraordinary Essence of the Bizarre Realm is locked, as Lady Hecate stated, Transcendents are a band of thieves, their Extraordinary Essence all sourced from ancient, unspeakable origins.
The real world, isolated from the Clockwork Nirvana Twelve Realms, separates the Bizarre Realm and our world by the world's miracles.
This means most people might never encounter Extraordinary Essence in their lifetime.
Unless someone brings it in from outside.
Many here likely don't know about the existence beyond the real world.
"The captain is here." William said solemnly.
This morning, the person responsible for receiving Shawn, Benjamin Tilian, appeared across the street. After greeting Shawn, he promptly said, "I've already had the Port District gangs investigated."
"They might be from the recently notorious Mole Gang."
"The leader is a guy named Hans, who was once sentenced to six years for grave robbery."
Benjamin thoughtfully took out a stack of small bills, handed them to Shawn and said, "Mr. Shawn, let us handle this matter."
"We should be able to retrieve your wallet soon."
The other was worried Shawn might not have money on him, making it difficult to return next time.
A very meticulous person.
Shawn didn't reach out to take the money but softly said, "Can I join in the action?"
Benjamin Tilian thought for a moment, then nodded, "That would be perfect."
Shawn's current identity is an investigator.
He wants to adapt to this world and will eventually have to deal with these matters.
It's better to take the initiative than to passively accept.
Old Town District.
A small figure darted through the dark alley, quickly bypassing a pile of low, messy goods, and ducked into a room on the underground level. Due to the terrain, the residential area on the left side of the Wharf District is relatively low, with houses in the Lower City District built in a stair-step manner down to the River Valley.
"Got it?" A deep male voice sounded.
The speaker was a middle-aged man with a big beard, his gaze merciless, with slightly yellowish, cloudy eyes, fiddling with a dagger in front of him.
"Yeah." A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy bent down and walked in, followed by a young man.
The young man grinned with some pride, "Didn't think we could catch such a fat sheep so early in the morning."
"But he was very alert, almost let him slip away."
The boy took out Shawn's wallet, placed it in front of the middle-aged man, and said in a deep voice, "Boss. That guy was pretty skilled, we won't get into trouble, right?"
The middle-aged man greedily grabbed the wallet, "If we don't pay back what we owe the Lady of the House, we'll have big trouble."
A total of over 2900 dinars.
This is a considerable income. At the salary of a formal worker at the shipyard, it would take over nine months of not eating or drinking to save up this much money, which would take at least one or two years to actually save.
The boy still seemed a bit uneasy, "Very few people carry such large 100-dinar bills."
According to the current market, three thousand dinars can buy a one-room, one-hall old house in the Old Town District, whereas many white-collar employees earn only about 500 dinars a month. They hang around the wharf, and besides this score from Shawn, the most they got in a single deal this year was just over a thousand dinars.
If they stole from ordinary workers, vendors, and civilians, they'd basically get dozens of dinars, and very few people in the Old Town District carry this much cash.
Most workers in the Wharf District get paid on the 12th, and some take the money home, making that day a more successful day for their thefts.
29 pieces of 100-dinar bills, six or seven pieces of 10-dinar old bills, plus a little pocket change.
The middle-aged man picked up a note emitting a fresh ink aroma and inhaled with a hint of intoxication, "It's a new bill."
"Must be a rich kid."
"Stay clear of the cops for a while."
He pulled out two large bills and handed them to the young man in front of him, then took out another large bill and tossed it in front of the boy, saying solemnly, "Here's your share."
The two others were a bit dissatisfied with this distribution but looked fearful and didn't dare to speak up.
The middle-aged man put the wallet away, glaring at them, "Don't think I'll pocket everything; this money is to pay off debts."
After saying this, he picked up the dagger and walked into the small room inside.
Once inside, the bearded man took out the wallet, pulled out ten 100-dinar bills, and put them in his pocket, then opened a safe, snarling, "A bunch of ungrateful wretches."
"Without me, would you even qualify to become Transcendents?"
The safe was empty.
The bearded man was momentarily stunned, then immediately opened the drawer on the right, one hand pulling out the dagger from his waist, the other pulling out an old handgun.
The light in the small room flickered.
Before he could see what was happening, he felt his hand suddenly empty, and the handgun he held was gone. He slashed the dagger behind him, but his wrist was easily grasped, and the dagger fell to the ground. The slender figure behind him gave a slight nudge, and the sharp dagger was suddenly against the bearded man's throat.
"These count as interest." An alluring, sweet female voice sounded.
A slender, dark-skinned arm leisurely took out the wallet, then emptied the bearded man's pocket as well. That skin, like black jade, was extremely delicate and shimmered like obsidian in the lamplight.
"Lady of the House?" The bearded man's voice had a slight tremor, awe mixed with fear, "Your appearance?!"
In the small mirror on the opposite wall, reflected a pair of bright red eyes, subtly changing, with a hint of shallow purple in the irises.
A head of snow-white long hair accentuated her skin, appearing darker and smooth as fine jade, reflecting a subtle glow.
The bearded man remembered that the last time he saw her, she didn't look like this.
"I've been promoted." The woman referred to as 'Lady of the House' took Shawn's wallet.
She took all the valuable things from the safe, then gracefully retreated, gradually fading into the shadows.
The bearded man broke out in a cold sweat, his eyes fixed on the mirror in front of him. At the moment her figure disappeared, he saw a strikingly glamorous face and a pair of long, sharp, pointed ears.
The last time he saw her, she was still human, but now she wasn't anymore.
.........