At this moment, a group from the Criminal Investigation Division across the hall was also slowly packing up, getting ready to leave work. Julian West was the first to walk out. When he saw the scene, he paused in surprise: “Oh, Mr. Sherman, here to block someone? You really picked the perfect spot!”

Carter Shaw followed behind him, clapping: “Right on target! That takes skill!”

Holly Harlow, flipping through a novel on her phone without even looking up, casually announced a hotel name and room number: “I think a night raid is a good idea too. Spiritual differences can be resolved with physical harmony.”

It seemed that in just a dozen days, this girl’s worldview had been completely shattered, and through some mysterious means, she had unexpectedly cultivated a bizarre mindset of “if you love him, watch him get topped by someone else.”

Charles Gray was the last to come out. He locked the door and politely said, “Hello, Mr. Sherman.”

Then, even though he didn’t know what was going on, he uncharacteristically added, “Director Sullivan isn’t mad anymore, right? Wasn’t he worried sick when Mr. Sherman got hurt a while back? He stayed by the bedside the whole time and didn’t even rest.”

The seniors in front all turned around together. Under Charles Gray’s completely clueless gaze, they collectively gave him a thumbs-up—Kid, bullseye, well done!

Charles Gray looked utterly confused, completely unaware that he had just accidentally exposed the boss and was about to face a whole year of being given a hard time.

Logan Sullivan: “……”

This whole bunch of ungrateful little brats!

In the blink of an eye, everyone scattered, leaving only Darrin Grant, bold as ever, sitting on the floor to watch, trying to observe what would happen next. Who would have thought that just then, Old Barnes, who always left work late, came walking over with a lunchbox, the smell of dried fish wafting down the hallway. Darrin Grant let out a “damn!” and circled around William Sherman’s feet twice: “Boss, please take me in!”

William Sherman fished out the key to Logan Sullivan’s apartment from his pocket and hung it around the cat’s neck. Darrin Grant shot off like an arrow, his chubby body darting out the hallway window and running away.

Of course, Old Barnes saw this. He helplessly nodded at the two of them, bent down, and placed the lunchbox at the Criminal Investigation Division’s door. He said to Logan Sullivan, “Tell Darrin Grant to heat it up before eating tomorrow.”

Facing the person who had bullied his cat while he was away, Logan Sullivan didn’t know what expression to use, so he just nodded blankly. Old Barnes sighed, “It won’t be crispy anymore.”

Then he walked away, looking a bit lonely.

Finally, only the two of them were left in the hallway bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

William Sherman was silent for a while, then softly said, “You still won’t forgive me?”

Logan Sullivan turned his head away, suddenly finding the weather outside extremely interesting.

William Sherman lowered his head and slowly let go of his hand. “Highspire, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”

Actually, Logan Sullivan didn’t want anything. He just couldn’t bring himself to hit or scold him, but his feelings were hard to settle, so he could only throw a tantrum. He said, half-joking, half-serious, “What are you talking about, sir? I really just ‘lost my memory’ for no reason, and I still don’t know how it happened. Don’t take advantage of me being dumb and try to fool me. You should be honest, you know.”

William Sherman’s lips turned a little pale. Logan Sullivan hardened his heart and refused to look at him, turning to leave. But before he could take a step, there was a sudden sound behind him. He whipped around to see William Sherman kneeling down to him.

Logan Sullivan: “……”

“What are you doing?” Logan Sullivan bent down to pull him up. “Are you crazy? Get up!”

William Sherman said nothing.

Logan Sullivan: “Get up!”

William Sherman still said nothing.

Logan Sullivan was at a loss and could only plop down on the floor himself.

After a while, he reached out and poked William Sherman: “Hey, the sun’s going to set soon, and the night shift will be coming out. Aren’t you embarrassed, Lord Soulwarden?”

William Sherman said in a low voice, “Didn’t you say you don’t remember me?”

“…” Logan Sullivan replied irritably, “Yeah, and who are you again?”

William Sherman gripped his hand tightly.

Logan Sullivan was silent for a moment. “If it weren’t for Embergrower’s scheming, and if, when you decided to erase my memory, the real Warden of Highspire hadn’t been released, what would have happened to me? Would I have woken up like everyone else, remembering nothing, never knowing there was ever a you in this world? Maybe everything related to you would have disappeared too. Would I just be left wondering who remodeled my kitchen, right?”

William Sherman hesitated, then nodded.

Logan Sullivan asked coolly, “I just want to know, how could you be so ruthless?”

William Sherman tentatively reached out, and seeing that Logan Sullivan didn’t pull away, finally inched over and hugged him. He seemed to have a thousand reasons, but couldn’t say a single one, didn’t even want to bring them up. He just whispered in Logan Sullivan’s ear for the third time, “I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

It was as if no matter how much pain he felt, he could just gloss over it in silence, and could always, without rhyme or reason, take the blame.

The last bit of anger in Logan Sullivan’s heart suddenly vanished without a trace, leaving only a faint ache.

He helped William Sherman up in that position and walked out with him, following the afterglow.

William Sherman caught up, asking hopefully in a soft voice, “Are we going home?”

Logan Sullivan: “Hotel.”

William Sherman suddenly stopped, his gaze dimming.

Logan Sullivan sighed and said, a bit nastily, “I already paid for the room, what’s wrong with staying one more day?”

William Sherman blinked, staring at him blankly.

“Besides, I never said you couldn’t come with me.”

Extra Story 2

In a certain southern city, there was a case involving raising little ghosts, which caused quite a stir. Carter Shaw took Charles Gray with him, and they stayed there for almost a month before finally resolving the matter perfectly and returning to No. 4 Radiant Way.

Charles Gray still wasn’t very capable. Sometimes, everyone felt that Charles Gray and their office’s new member, Mims, couldn’t be more alike.

Oh, forgot to mention, Mims is a Samoyed dog a little over a year old, with a huge appetite and very little intelligence. After getting lost, he was sent to the local police station near Radiant Way, stayed there for over a month, never found his owner, but managed to eat the station nearly bankrupt. After several twists and turns, Logan Sullivan brought him back to raise at No. 4 Radiant Way, to keep Darrin Grant, who always got depressed when he saw Old Barnes, entertained.

Mims spent his days eating and drinking, never worrying about a thing. Before leaving, Carter Shaw spent over a month painstakingly teaching the dog to “sit” and “shake hands.” But when he returned from his trip, he found that the only two skills Mims had learned had long since been forgotten. Now, all Mims could do was stare with his big, clueless eyes and go around hugging people’s legs, his mind as empty as ever.

Judging by how nothing could be taught to him… Charles Gray and Mims must have been family eight hundred years ago.

But at least he had a magic weapon.

The underworld was almost wiped out in the chaos when the world was torn apart, and the new order that followed was almost single-handedly established by William Sherman. Even though he acted aloof and rarely showed up or got involved, the new underworld survivors didn’t dare take him lightly. The Soulwarden, feared by all three realms, was even more formidable than before. Collecting the remnants of wandering souls and ghosts was nothing to him—all of it ended up in Charles Gray’s little electric baton.

This shivering, featherless chicken turned his fear into strength at every moment, which was pretty amazing when you thought about it.

After returning to the office, Carter Shaw started studying stock reviews and K-lines with a serious face, acting like a hands-off boss. Charles Gray patiently stuck receipts and filled out reimbursement forms. He wanted to go find Logan Sullivan for a signature, but the office across the hall was locked—Logan Sullivan was gone again.

Charles Gray scratched his head and came back looking innocent: “Director Sullivan isn’t here?”

Without looking up, Holly Harlow said, “The official story is that our new office is being handed over today, so he went to inspect it and move in himself—damn, why does it always lag? I sincerely hope the internet will be faster after we move.”

Darrin Grant was busy bullying Mims, and the poor big dog was being chased all over the place by the little cat. Hearing this, the black cat stopped, looked up, and asked, “So what’s the unofficial story?”

Holly Harlow replied in a strange, dreamy, and slightly sour tone, “He’s been so thoroughly worked over by his man that he can’t get out of bed.”

Charles Gray was so startled by this that he jumped, his chair sliding out from under him, and he landed solidly on the floor.

Holly Harlow gave the overreacting Charles Gray a disdainful look: “Tsk! The boss is gay, what’s so surprising about that—hey, is your internet slow? Today is driving me crazy.”

Carter Shaw: “Pretty slow.”

Julian West, who was hogging the bandwidth playing online games, stayed silent, trying to blend in, but didn’t manage for long. Soon he was discovered and got beaten up by Holly Harlow.