Chapter 59: Darius's Bar

Frankia Region
Paris - 3rd District Police Station - Interrogation Room.

"Name."
"Bah! You freeloading trash, you damned meat-eaters, you're not worthy of knowing my name."
"Old man, we've tolerated you for a long time. You..."
"Oh my, the good-for-nothing lapdogs are going to hit someone."
"Damn it!"

The officer conducting the interrogation fought hard against the urge to beat the old man to a pulp. After hastily finishing the paperwork, he ordered the old man to be locked up in the detention cell.

Wearing gloves, old man Bob walked into the detention cell, muttering curses under the breath, led by two burly officers. As soon as he stepped inside, he spotted a blond teenager sitting on a long wooden bench.

"Hannibal, your posture when you threw that tomato was simply magnificent," old man Bob said familiarly as he sat down beside Xaio, offering immediate praise.
"Not at all, not at all. You're the truly magnificent one, sir," Xaio shook his head in denial.

He genuinely hadn't thrown with as much ferocious conviction as the old man. Old man Bob had actually stood his ground against riot shields, launching a barrage of tomatoes around the museum perimeter with pinpoint accuracy.

"Hahaha, the young are always so modest!" Bob laughed happily.
"If I may be so bold to ask, how are we going to get out of here? We're not actually going to serve the full fourteen days of detention, are we?" Xaio asked curiously, turning to old man Bob.
"Don't worry, someone will come to bail us out," the old man leaned back against the wall, narrowing his eyes as he replied with an air of unshakeable confidence, like an enlightened master.
"Is that so?" Xaio said, feigning sudden enlightenment.

Of course he knew someone would come to pull them out. The [Wilson Wildlife Response Unit] had quite a comfortable footing within the central government agencies. They had their people in the upper and lower houses of various countries, and environmentalist factions were countless.

Sure enough, after they had spent half an hour inside, a police officer unlocked the detention cell door and looked at them with an expression as if he were severely constipated.

"Hey, you damned troublemakers, you can leave now!"
"Damned meat-eater, watch your tone! Don't tempt me to file a complaint against you at the Central Police Station." Old man Bob wasn't one to take things lying down... well, actually he *did* take things lying down since he was a vegetarian, but he just had a rather fiery temper.
"Tsk~" The officer didn't want to waste any more breath on the old man. He left the door wide open, gesturing for Xaio and the others to get lost quickly.

Xaio grabbed old man Bob, who looked ready to engage the officer in a one-on-one physical contest, and led him outside. This old man truly had a massive temper, and Xaio certainly didn't want to spend fourteen whole days rotting in a jail cell.

When Xaio and old man Bob finally emerged from the police station, the old man was still muttering curses under his breath.

"These freeloading bastards... sooner or later, we're going to plant a cleansing round right between their eyes."

***

Observing old man Bob's lingering indignation, Xaio asked him with a puzzled expression:

"I'm a student from Londinium studying abroad in Paris, and I'm not yet very familiar with the city. After arriving here, I've noticed that many local residents don't think very highly of the Frankish police. Might I ask why?"

"Those freeloading parasites! The government allocates so much funding to them every year, yet to this day, they still haven't resolved the wolf plague in the Gévaudan region."
"This has been going on for three years. Not only have they failed to resolve it, but they've allowed the wolf plague to continuously spread outward. Recently, I heard that in the 6th District—around Luxembourg—a family of five was devoured by a Gévaudan beast that wandered into Paris..."
"It took those useless parasites a whole five days to clear out a single wild beast that strayed into the city. Truly the epitome of incompetence," old man Bob said loudly, deliberately wanting those freeloading bastards to hear every word.

*Strayed into Paris...*

A sharp glint flashed through Xaio's eyes. These environmentalists really were well-informed. Before coming here, he had specifically checked the *Frankish Times*, but the paper had remained tight-lipped about the Gévaudan beast incident.

Xaio continued, speaking to the old man:

"Is that so? It seems the Frankish police department really isn't doing a good enough job. The affair of the Gévaudan beast is also widely circulated back in Londinium; by now, it's even used as a scary story to frighten disobedient children."
"We've disgraced ourselves all the way to foreign shores," old man Bob said unhappily.

After his initial irritation subsided, old man Bob raised his head to glance at the gradually darkening sky, then turned to Xaio and said:

"Hannibal, fancy grabbing a drink? I'll take you to the gathering place of our environmentalist vegetarian movement. There are plenty of fellows there who share the exact same faith as us."
"I'd love to," Xaio removed his hat and smiled at old man Bob.

Xaio had played along with these environmentalists and caused a ruckus today precisely to infiltrate their gathering place and acquire the intelligence he desired.

"Let's go then."

Bob led Xaio onto the automated light rail transit line, heading toward the 13th District—Gobelins. When the two stepped off the light rail, the crimson moon was already hanging high in the night sky.

"Tonight happens to be the red moon. Lately, spooky rumors have been circulating all over Paris that during the red moon, the Gévaudan beast emerges from the shadows to hunt. Tsk, that's why the streets are so desolate right now," Bob explained to Xaio beside him, eyeing the deserted street.
"May the disaster be pacified soon, and prosperity return to this place," Xaio replied.
"Let's not dwell on such gloomy things. Come on, I'll take you to the [Darius Bar] right now." Bob patted Xaio's shoulder warmly and instructed him to stay close.

Xaio followed Bob through a complex maze of streets. They crossed bustling commercial blocks, passed by dilapidated garbage disposal sites, traversed abandoned residential areas, and finally came to a halt before the entrance of an underground bar.

Right beside the steps leading down to the underground bar sat a weathered sign that still flashed with tricolor lights, bearing the words—Darius Bar!

"Let's go in," old man Bob waved at Xaio, then walked right up to the iron door of the bar.

*Thump, thump, thump—*

Bob struck the iron door with the back of his fist. A small hatch near the top of the door slid open, and a pair of cautious eyes peered out into the outside world.

"It's me, Bob. This young man next to me is called Hannibal, a new recruit I brought along," old man Bob told the person inside.
"Why didn't you report bringing a new recruit?" the eyes behind the door asked with a frown.
"We just came out of the slammer, didn't we? Don't worry, this young man smashed a museum with me, glued ourselves to walls together, and even did time in a cell together. He's totally reliable," old man Bob laughed heartily.
"Next time, remember to report to the superiors instead of always acting on your own authority," the person inside complained before unlocking and pushing open the iron door.
"Let's go," old man Bob signaled for Xaio to follow.

Xaio obediently trailed behind old man Bob. Beyond the iron door lay a stone tunnel embedded with electric lights along its sides, its walls plastered with all sorts of graffiti.

When old man Bob led Xaio through the long, narrow tunnel and pushed open the door ahead, a cacophony of loud music flooded into Xaio's ears.

[Opinions expressed on this recording
are entirely the artist's, absolutely not the artist's
do we encourage or condone violence against law enforcement officials
Uh, this is for you, this is for you!
Uh, yeah, this is for all my street ********!
Feel that!
Count to 3 and say f*** the police
1, 2, 3!
(F*** the police)
Yeah, f*** 'em!
Applaud for any ******** (scratch)] *(Note)*

Xaio couldn't help but twitch his brow. The sheer profanity density of this song was truly astounding, and nothing about the people here looked like the sort of place environmentalists should hang out.

Should I say, as expected of the [Wilson Wildlife Response Unit], they really are rotten to the core!