48 Hours a Day

“You can even tell that they had a quarrel?” Shen Xixi asked with raised eyebrows.

“Well, I spent quite some time with Holmes in one of my previous quests.” Zhang Heng explained as he started the car.

“How long? Two months? And that’s enough for you to learn his deductive reasoning skill?” Shen Xixi asked.

“Actually… slightly longer than two months.”

“That’s amazing,” Shen Xixi complimented, “It seems that 1810 has found the right person this time.”

“…I’ll do my best,” Zhang Heng said and drove his car out of the parking lot. He then continued, “We still have some time. Do you want to go back to school?”

“No need.” Shen Xixi shook her head. “I have nothing to do when I go back. Yogurt has been missing for more than a week. The sooner I can find her, the better. How about you? Detective, do you have any clues?”

“Hmm, we need to find the mastermind. First, we need to play by his rules. Do you remember the Sphinx that attacked us earlier?”

“Of course.”

“Although the sphinx is a fake, its behavior was a direct copy of the Greek mythological Sphinx. In the surveillance video that 1810 showed me, the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles got into the sewer after passing the intersection. Except for Dumbledore, who acted out of character, the others tried their best to stick to their roles. That shows that no matter who their creator is, they tend to imitate their original characters.”

“Hmm… Indeed.

“We can use this pattern to find them,” she said after thinking for a second.

“To be precise, we’ll let them come to us,” Zhang Heng said. “Although they change locations constantly, we know the place that they always go to and their behavioral pattern. Maybe we can lure them out.”

“So… we’re going to go into the sewer next?”

“No, I mean we can pretend to be the emperor.”

“Who?”

“Sheev Palpatine, the Galactic Republic’s former speaker, later launched the Clone War, declared the Jedi Order’s treason, and singlehandedly established the Galactic Empire. He is regarded as the number one enemy of the Jedi Order.” Zhang Heng briefly introduced the emperor’s background to Shen Xixi, “If Master Yoda sees the emperor, he will definitely show up.”

“Okay, I understand your plan now. Where should we start next?”

“Let’s figure out a way to get the emperor’s costume first. Know where we can get it?”

Zhang Heng actually knew how to procure it, but doing so would be very troublesome. Eventually, he decided to ask Shen Xixi first.

“Well, let me think about it,” the latter raised her eyebrows, “I can ask Rabbit to help us. She is a huge anime fan and is in a cosplay club. She should be able to get us the costume.”

“We owe her a favor this time. It would be ideal if we can buy it because I can’t guarantee that we won’t damage it,” Zhang Heng cautioned.

An hour later, the two came to an apartment. A boy with glasses was waiting for them at the entrance. There was a box beside his feet with the emperor’s costume in it. Zhang Heng did a quick take and found out that it looked realistic enough. Although not on the same level as the Sphinx, it was good enough to fool the enemies if one didn’t take a good look at it, especially at night.

“Are you really willing to spend two thousand yuan for this costume?”

The boy hesitated.

The price of cosplay outfits fluctuated greatly and could cost up to tens of thousands of yuan. This set of Palpatine’s costume was a well-made reproduction. Its real cost, however, was estimated to be only around five-hundred yuan. Besides, the seller was bored of playing an emperor at comic con, deciding that it was time to make a change. So, when he heard that someone was willing to pay a high price to buy his costume, he immediately agreed to it.

“Hmm.” Zhang Heng took an envelope from the storage compartment in the car and handed it to the boy. “You can count it.”

The latter took the envelope and opened it. He felt the envelope’s thickness and smiled, “No need. You are a friend of Rabbit. I know I can trust you.”

After that, he looked at Shen Xixi. “Dude, are you interested in Shimakaze’s costume? It is a treasured collection of mine. Initially, I planned to let my future girlfriend wear it for me, but it seems that’s not going to happen anytime soon. I can sell it to you at a low price.”

“Thank you for your kind offer, but I think you shouldn’t give up your dream,” Zhang Heng said, “after all, who knows will happen tomorrow.”

The boy with glasses put on a bitter smile upon hearing those words. “Tomorrow. Perhaps I will be on my own tomorrow…”

Before he could finish, he heard Shen Xixi suddenly saying, “Do you have Voldemort’s costume?”

“I don’t have a Voldemort costume. His popularity has dropped a lot recently. I do have Hermione’s costume, though. Are you interested?” The boy was getting excited.

“How much would it set me back?”

He hesitated, “You don’t need to pay me. Just wear it, and let me take a picture of you.”

“Okay?”

He seemed afraid that Shen Xixi might change her mind, so he hurried back home to grab the costume.

“You guys, wait for me.”

Less than five minutes later, he was back. There was a box in his arms, and he was sweating profusely.

“Gryffindor school uniform. Tie, cloak, skirt, magic hat, scarf, and staff. It’s all inside the box.”

“You came well-prepared,” Shen Xixi grinned.

“You’re right. Everyone in the cosplay scene knows how serious I am. I used to crawl on the ground for the entire day in my Bulbasaur costume,” the boy with glasses gushed. He then passed the box to Shen Xixi and shouted, “Oh, yes, I still have something to do. I need to head back first. I wish you all a good time!”

Shen Xixi frowned. When the boy with glasses ran away, she opened the box. The items in the box matched his description. When she noticed the size of the shirt and skirt, however, she became a little unhappy about it.

But soon after, her anger dissipated, seemingly amused by the boy. “The guy said he wanted my photos, but he didn’t even add my WeChat account. Forget it. Let’s just consider this a gift from him to us.”

On the other hand, Zhang Heng had changed into the emperor’s costume. Compared to other more complicated designs, this one was rather simple to wear. All he needed to do was to put on the black robe and a special skin mask. The boy with glasses was not bragging when he told them that this set was his masterpiece. He had even fashioned a pair of ‘wrinkled hands’ gloves.

Upon donning on the costume, Zhang Heng felt like he had transformed into a Star Wars major villain.