Two Hungover Stray Cats (First Guaranteed Update, Please Subscribe!!!)

Whether it was the Howard Stark couple or Da Vinci, the amount of information about these three people circulating online was enormous.

Not to mention—

Among all that information, there were even several claims in recent years that someone had discovered Howard Stark somewhere in the world, or had seen Da Vinci himself.

As for evidence?

There hadn’t been enough time, but the person swore on their life.

It was an extremely blurry photograph taken in the current 4K era, yet with fewer than ten pixels.

After taking one look at it, Lake immediately had Red Queen block those rumors. Online, whether human or ghost, everyone was showing off. Hadn’t someone confidently claimed a few years ago that they had seen the Führer?

Look at your barren bullshit.

Fake news.

However…

It wasn’t as if there were no useful leads.

After Red Queen had spent the past few days digging almost all the way down to the bottom of the internet, she had still managed to find what seemed like a clue: Da Vinci’s manuscripts preserved after his death.

According to an Italian newspaper from who knew how long ago, someone seemed to have seen wording resembling "zodiac" in one of Da Vinci’s manuscripts.

That manuscript was now in the collection of an Italian museum. Lake called Emilia and asked her to find a way to acquire it.

At the same time.

Lake also thought of the Howard Stark couple, whose souls were not in Hell and whose life or death could not yet be determined. If Da Vinci’s surviving manuscripts contained clues, then what about the things left behind by the Howard Stark couple?

So a few days ago, Lake called Tony and told him to pay attention to it. He also told Tony that S.H.I.E.L.D. had preserved some of his father’s belongings.

Who knew? What if the Howard Stark couple’s belongings at S.H.I.E.L.D. contained a clue?

Lake couldn’t be bothered to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. himself. Tony had to handle this matter. After all, reclaiming his own parents’ belongings was only right. If they refused, Tony Stark would dare to throw a fit on the spot.

"Red Queen!"

"Present."

"Archive all these compiled materials and create a new file."

"Understood."

Lake rubbed his brow and stared at the two faint chains of clues projected before him, feeling a headache coming on.

Fuck!

Lake suddenly felt as though he were playing some bizarre game called Where Did My Wife Go? God was his witness—if Lake hadn’t also been somewhat uncertain about what Wanda was thinking, he wouldn’t have known whether to continue this game at all.

After a while.

Lake checked the time on his watch, then looked up at the empty spiral staircase and blinked. "It’s already ten in the morning. Skye still hasn’t gotten up?"

After saying that.

Lake raised an eyebrow as he remembered.

The day before yesterday had been the graduation ceremony of Alexis downstairs. Lake had gone to watch it as well. After the ceremony, Skye told Lake that she wanted to go on vacation to the Hamptons with Alexis. After all, Alexis would be going to college soon.

At that point, Alexis’s grandmother—Cassel’s mother, Martha—said that she would look after the two girls.

Lake agreed.

After all, he had never been in the habit of restricting what Skye could or couldn’t do. Besides, at this age, Lake didn’t want to experience firsthand what a rebellious teenage girl was like.

He had already witnessed Betty’s rebellious phase. To be frank, if he hadn’t been worried about Karen’s heartbreak, Lake had sometimes felt like slapping Betty to death.

Children in their rebellious phase were the worst.

Lake had never gone through one.

Er…

He had in his previous life, but in this life, Lake never had. A rebellious phase meant doing things that one would regret later. Lake had never done anything he regretted, so he hadn’t had a rebellious phase in this life.

It was just that…

Lake raised an eyebrow and rubbed his chin.

Judging by the timing, Skye should have been in the Hamptons with Alexis and Martha. Why did their auras still seem to be inside this apartment?

And…

Beckett’s, too?

Lake blinked. Something wasn’t right. Hadn’t George said more than ten days ago that Cassel had mysteriously disappeared during these latest cases?

Downstairs.

"Knock, knock!"

"…Coming."

Lake greeted Martha when she opened the door, then immediately saw two hungover girls sitting at the bar, both unconsciously clutching their foreheads.

Well, damn.

After seeing Lake, Martha helped explain on behalf of the hungover girls. "Lake, I should tell you about this. I wasn’t paying attention."

Lake smiled at Martha. "Martha, I got through my first hangover when I was thirteen."

Martha fell silent. Seeing no anger on Lake’s face, she said, "All right. But this wasn’t Skye and Alexis’s fault."

Lake smiled and glanced at the staircase leading upstairs. "Where’s Cassel?"

Martha shrugged. "The girl upstairs hasn’t hidden herself properly yet. I’ll go up after she does."

Lake’s lips curved upward. He also said, "Okay," then walked over to the two girls experiencing their first hangovers.

Alexis clutched her splitting head and said weakly to Lake, "Uncle Lake, I was the one who dragged Skye into this."

Skye, who was also sitting beside her with her head lowered and one hand pressed against her forehead, glanced over with bleary eyes. "Sorry, Lake."

Lake chuckled. "Do you know what I did to get rid of my first hangover?"

Alexis and Skye looked up at Lake in unison, as if asking, What?

Lake turned and walked to the refrigerator in Cassel’s house. He took out a bottle of beer, opened it, placed it on the bar, and gestured toward the two hungover girls. "This."

Alexis looked confused. "Beer?"

Skye shook her head while holding hers. "I searched online. I’ve never heard of using beer to cure a hangover."

"That’s because this is a secret passed down through the ages!"

Lake smiled faintly, then said mysteriously, "It’s a secret passed from man to man. If you don’t believe me, ask your dad."

At that moment, Cassel came hurrying down the stairs. Upon hearing that, he froze, then stared blankly at Lake, who was also in his house. "Lake, what are you doing here?"

Lake pointed at one of the hungover girls. "I had no choice. One of mine is hungover too."

Skye looked up at Lake with annoyance. "Hey, I’m not a ‘one’!"

Lake looked at Skye. "Then what? Calling you a little drunkard won’t work either. Little drunkards are described as ‘one.’"

Skye lay on the table in discomfort. "My head feels like it’s about to explode."

Lake smiled without saying anything.

A hangover.

Lake couldn’t help remembering his first hangover after drinking. Although the law prohibited drinking before the age of twenty-one, there were still ways to drink if one wanted to.

Blame Skye?

Not at all. One should not impose on others what one did not want imposed on oneself. Lake himself had drunk at thirteen. Skye was seventeen before she drank, which was already much better than Lake had expected.

Of course, if Skye had been drinking alone, Lake would have said something. But this time, she had gotten drunk with Martha accompanying her, so there was no need to lecture her.

Lake watched Cassel glance toward the upstairs floor every few steps, the corner of his mouth curving upward. "Hey."

Cassel snapped back to reality and looked at Lake. He coughed. "Since Skye is back, why don’t you take her home first?"

Lake asked curiously, "Why?"

Cassel winked at Lake.

Lake…

Ignored him completely.

Cassel’s face gradually darkened.

Seeing this, Martha helplessly patted her forehead and shouted, "Good Lord!" Then she said to Cassel, "You can let Beckett come out of your wardrobe now."

Cassel was completely dumbfounded.

Martha turned to Lake and said, "You should have seen them when I first came in. They were like frightened little rabbits. I had already given them enough time…"

Cassel interrupted her directly. "Mom!"

Martha immediately fell silent.

Cassel looked at Lake, then at Martha, confused. "How? How did you know?"

Lake shrugged. "Hey, don’t ask me. The answer is my Sixth Sense. I’m a detective and a law enforcement officer. Sometimes, my Sixth Sense is incredibly powerful."

Martha pointed at the corner of the sofa. "Look there."

Cassel looked over.

The next second.

His face instantly turned black.

It was a piece of underwear—a woman’s underwear, to be precise. Red lace underwear.

Half an hour later.

Since Cassel’s house had run out of aspirin, Martha took Alexis and Skye upstairs to find some and suppress the demon known as a hangover.

As for Lake?

Lake sipped the good bourbon in Cassel’s house with a smile, then looked at the dark-faced Cassel across from him. Smiling, he asked, "So, you and Beckett—wow, how long?"

It had to be at least four years, right?

People in the Federation were very straightforward about dating. After three dates, they went to bed to test their compatibility. It was an unspoken rule, and Lake quite liked it.

But Cassel and Beckett? They hadn’t even managed to finish a four-year marathon.

Cassel rolled his eyes. "You’ve already seen me at my most embarrassing. What are you still doing here?"

Lake said, "I heard Beckett was suspended?"

Cassel seemed to think of something and looked at Lake. "Can you get Beckett reinstated?"

Lake shook his head. "No."

Reinstated?

How many things had happened over the past four years? At the NYPD, the people Lake knew had been replaced one group after another. There were already very few left.

But…

Lake looked at Cassel. "I can give you something that will let you establish a deeper connection with Beckett. Do you want it?"

Cassel looked at Lake, his face growing even darker. "Thanks, but I don’t need some miraculous little blue pill."

Although he was nearly forty, he was still strong and healthy. He couldn’t claim to be able to run like the wind, but climbing three flights of stairs in one go was no problem at all. He hadn’t reached the point where he needed a miraculous little blue pill to enhance his abilities.

Lake rolled his eyes. "I’m talking about Beckett’s mother’s case."

Cassel froze.