Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 255: It all made sense

Before Ryan saw the skill activate, he was feeling a bit nervous. After all, every skill had its own activation conditions.

He thought back to the time he used the skill Blind Massage Techniques. The condition for that one was being blind, so Ryan had to cheat a little by covering his eyes to make it work.

This time, the skill was called Bloodhound Instinct, and honestly, it wasn’t exactly a skill Ryan was thrilled about. Pretending to be a dog in front of Mia? He’d rather not have the skill at all.

Luckily, the system didn’t embarrass him this time, and the skill activated smoothly.

Ryan opened the skill and began observing the world through its lens. No wonder it was an A-rank skill—the things he could do with it were mind-blowing.

The world was full of traces. Footprints left by people walking on the ground were traces, and even the water stains left by rain on tree bark were traces. Humans could only perceive a small part of these, and even then, it was pretty superficial.

That’s why police forces train dogs to assist in investigations—those furry friends can pick up on traces far more intricately than humans can, especially when it comes to scent.

Right now, Ryan’s view of the world was incredibly sharp. Different smells traced arcs through the air, representing the movement of various things. The ordinary smells were faint and ethereal, while the dirty, heavy ones were darker and more polluted. But what really mattered were the bright red traces—those were the scent of blood.

The worker’s injury and the crane operator’s fall were clearly connected to blood. Ryan squinted as he looked toward the distant crane. The red there was so thick it made his heart race.

“What’s up? Did you find something?”

Mia, noticing Ryan’s expression, wrinkled her cute little nose. He’d been acting off ever since they got in the car. Was there something she didn’t know about?

Even though Mia was putting on a tough front, trying to pressure Ryan into talking, she was well aware of her own worries deep down.

She blinked her big eyes and glanced nervously at the reporters gathered near the main entrance. Then, she leaned in closer to Ryan and adjusted his mask.

Going back to the construction site right now wasn’t exactly the smartest move. Not only was there a good chance they wouldn’t find any evidence, but they also risked exposing themselves. She couldn’t figure out what was going through Ryan’s head.

“Yeah, I found something.”

Ryan let Mia adjust his mask as his eyes followed the faint, almost invisible trail of blood in the air. He’d made up his mind.

The crane operator had died the night before last, falling from a great height. The bloodstains were thick and terrifying.

At first, they said the guy had only been hit by a falling brick, which seemed like a minor injury in comparison.

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Ryan?”

Ryan and Mia had been standing there for a while when someone finally showed up to greet them.

The person who approached was a young man, probably only a few years older than Ryan. He wore a white hard hat, marking him as part of the construction site’s management.

Ryan had never worked on a construction site, but he knew enough to recognize the significance of the hard hat colors. Yellow was for regular workers, white for management, and blue or red for technical staff and other roles.

The man looked pretty disheveled. His tie was crooked, and the top button of his shirt had popped open. Sweat had dried on his face, suggesting he hadn’t had the best morning before Ryan arrived.

He spoke to Ryan while nervously glancing back at the crowd near the main entrance. The reporters were acting like they’d lost their minds.

“Yeah, that’s me. Miss Alice told you I’d be coming, right?”

Ryan wasn’t surprised to be recognized. Miss Alice was always like that—planning ahead and making arrangements before things even happened.

He’d only mentioned his schedule to Alice that morning, and she’d already set up someone to meet him at the construction site.

“Yes, Mr. Ryan. I’m the new manager here. I’ll take you to the scene of the incident right away.”

The man pulled out a tissue to wipe his forehead and quickly straightened his tie. He didn’t dare show any disrespect toward Ryan.

He was the new guy in charge, recently promoted, and he had some knowledge of what had happened before.

The previous manager, Dave, had been fired after the accident on the site. That’s how this guy had gotten the job.

But being fired was just the surface of the story. The man had some connections and knew people who worked for Miss Alice. They’d told him the deeper truth.

Dave had been responsible for welcoming Ryan yesterday, and during that time, something had gone wrong. The incident had even made it to the trending news. Alice had given Dave clear instructions, but he’d messed everything up. After being fired, Dave had disappeared completely.

The main reason the man had been promoted was because of Ryan. In a way, Ryan was his benefactor, so there was no way he would dare slack off.

The man led the way, taking Ryan to the spot where the worker had been injured by the falling brick.

Ryan followed the trail of blood, confirming that the man was indeed leading him to the right place. Satisfied, he gave a slight nod.

Mia, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at Ryan’s theatrics. Still, since they were already here, there was no reason to stop him from investigating. She clasped her hands behind her back, humming a tune as she trailed behind Ryan.

She had originally planned to convince Ryan to stop wasting his time, but now she had a change of heart.

A stubborn guy like Ryan needed to experience failure firsthand. Once he hit rock bottom, Mia would swoop in, and by then, he’d have no choice but to fall for her.

“Do you have a registry for the workers on-site?” Ryan asked as they walked, his eyes scanning the construction site. He didn’t see a single security camera.

It made sense, though. This was an active construction site, and it wasn’t like people were sneaking in to cause trouble. Security was pretty lax, with only a few of Miss Alice’s people guarding the entrances.

In fact, those guards had only been stationed here after the incident. Before that, the site’s security consisted of two elderly men in their sixties and a yellow mutt.

“Normally, yes…” the man replied hesitantly. “But this project was rushed, and none of us have much experience. We’ve been pretty lax with management.”

Typically, construction and operations for a project like this would be handled by separate contractors. Except for a few top-tier companies like Tishman Speyer, most firms didn’t have the capacity to both build and manage a commercial complex.

But Alice had taken on the entire project, from construction to eventual operations, biting off more than she could chew. Now, the lack of expertise among her team was starting to show.

Ryan could understand Alice’s urgency. She needed something to prove herself, and she was desperate to break free from the existing system.

Obsession can be both a blessing and a curse, and now everyone was seeing the downside of Alice’s ambition.

“So, what did you do before this?” Ryan asked, curious about the man’s background. Alice’s workforce was mostly made up of people from the underworld, given her connections.

“Uh, just some manual labor…” the man replied awkwardly, rubbing his nose as if embarrassed.

Alice was trying to restructure her operations, and this guy was one of the more successful examples of that transition. “Manual labor” was a vague way of putting it, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Whether it was mixing concrete on a construction site or roughing people up on the streets, it was all just different kinds of “manual labor,” right?

As they chatted about the construction site, Ryan gained a deeper understanding of the situation, and his concern for Miss Alice grew.

On the surface, Alice seemed to have everything under control, but Ryan suspected only she knew how much she had gambled on this project.

Seizing an opportunity and doubling down was what any smart businessperson would do, but this had gone beyond that.

Alice had fought tooth and nail for this chance, and she had staked everything on it. If things didn’t turn around soon, she could end up in a situation she couldn’t recover from.

“Mr. Ryan, we’re here,” the man said, interrupting Ryan’s thoughts. The three of them had arrived at the base of a tall building.

The structure was already over 90 feet high, with the basic framework in place. If it weren’t for the recent incident, construction would have been completed in about three months.

Ryan pushed aside his worries for Alice and looked up. The bloodstains were much clearer here—this was definitely the site of the accident.

A brick had fallen from above, injuring the worker. It all made sense.

But Ryan narrowed his eyes. He had noticed something interesting.

————-

PS:

Ryan’s detective mode is officially activated! Between shady construction projects, bloodhound skills, and Mia’s… well, Mia-ness, I’m amazed he hasn’t lost his mind yet. But hey, that’s why we love him, right?

Alice’s ambitions are no joke, and it looks like Ryan’s starting to see just how high the stakes are. Will he crack the case? Or will Mia’s “support” end up distracting him more than helping? Only time will tell!

Oh, and can we talk about Mia for a second? She’s clearly scheming her own little plot, and you just know she’s going to make things even more interesting (and probably more complicated). Her laid-back attitude is almost too perfect—like, how can anyone eat ice cream while all this chaos is going on? But that’s Mia for you, acting like she’s just along for the ride when we all know she’s up to something.

This whole dynamic between Ryan, Mia, and Alice is really about to shift, and let’s face it—Ryan needs all the skills (and luck) he can get to stay afloat. Will his Bloodhound Instincts save the day, or is there more to this mystery than meets the eye?