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*****
"A mission?"
Gwen and the other three immediately perked up.
Ever since Mary Jane joined, they rarely checked the Titan Squad's website themselves. Mary Jane was the one who monitored it and relayed any tasks to them.
"What kind of mission?" Gwen asked hurriedly.
When it came to these things, she was always the most enthusiastic one.
Mary Jane recalled the details and spoke slowly, "Someone left me a message asking us to help find her daughter. Her daughter went missing ten years ago."
"Ten years ago? That long?"
Harry frowned. "After such a long time, is it even possible to find her?"
"I don't know, but that mother has never given up searching. She said her daughter is her only remaining family, and she can feel that her daughter is still alive."
Luke shook his head. "There's basically no hope. Rather than wasting time on this, we'd be better off using our time to help others. Are there any other missions?"
Mary Jane nodded. "There are others. There's one..."
"Wait!"
Gwen suddenly interrupted. "We're taking that mission. We'll help her find her daughter, even if it's just to bring back news of her death."
A decade of waiting was torture for that mother.
everyone looked at Gwen. Suddenly remembering Gwen's own background, they exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
Mary Jane took out her phone, operated it for a moment, and said, "Here is some information provided by the client."
After the data was sent to their phones, the four of them reviewed the files while they ate.
Sally, a white female, ten years old at the time of disappearance. She vanished at 9:00 PM on Christmas Eve ten years ago.
She had brown hair, pale blue eyes, and was wearing a red dress when she went missing. The location was 13th Avenue in New York...
Although the information was comprehensive, much of it was unusable because too much time had passed.
Looking at the photo provided, staring at the little girl with the brilliant smile, the group silently committed her face to memory and decided to start acting immediately after school.
The members of the Titan Squad were people of action. As soon as school was out that afternoon, they gathered together and launched their investigation.
This mission was difficult for them; after all, it was a cold case from a decade ago.
They tried to check surveillance footage from ten years ago, but unfortunately, there were no cameras installed at the location where Sally disappeared back then.
Forced to improvise, they could only look for useful information from surrounding surveillance systems. However, due to the age of the records, most of the video footage from the day of Sally's disappearance had been lost or corrupted. There was simply no useful information to be found.
"It makes sense. If finding traces of Sally's disappearance were that simple, she wouldn't have been missing for ten years," Luke said, rubbing his eyes.
Although the intelligent comparison program Harry provided was very useful for locating target individuals, some footage still required manual verification.
He had been watching for two hours, and his eyes were sore.
"How about it? Have you guys found any useful information?" Harry asked Gwen and the others, rubbing his own eyes as well.
Peter stared intently at his computer. After recording a piece of information he had just found, he turned around and replied, "I found her school records from ten years ago and got a list of her former classmates and teachers. Using that list, I found their current social media accounts. I'm looking through their activity to see if I can find anything useful."
Mary Jane raised her hand. "I'm helping with the search."
"I'm using the data Peter gave me to contact Sally's childhood friends to see if they can recall anything," Luke added, then smiled at the three of them. "Judging by your expressions, I'm guessing you haven't found anything yet."
The three of them sighed helplessly.
"Alright!" Harry clapped his hands. "That's enough for today. We should go home."
If they didn't go back soon, their families would start calling.
The group nodded, packed their schoolbags, organized their data, and left Gwen's apartment.
Yes, Gwen's apartment.
This apartment was an asset left to her by Gwen's biological father, previously held in trust by Mike.
On Gwen's twelfth birthday, after Mike learned that Gwen and her friends had formed the Titan Squad, he handed the keys to the apartment over to her.
Since then, this place had become the Titan Squad's base of operations.
After leaving the apartment, Harry summoned his driver, who drove everyone home.
Seeing the lights on in her house, Gwen smiled. She waved goodbye to Harry, pushed the door open, and went inside.
"I'm home!"
Gwen shouted loudly.
Whoosh! Little Lamb instantly appeared in front of her.
Gwen bent down and squished Little Lamb's cheeks.
"What are you trying to do, popping up like that? Trying to scare me?"
Little Lamb blinked, shook his head rapidly, and held up the item in his hands for Gwen to see.
"Sister, I drew this in class today. It's for you!"
Little Lamb grinned, revealing a bright smile.
Gwen opened it and her eyes lit up.
"It's so beautiful!"
Looking at the portrait that bore a seventy percent resemblance to her, Gwen was surprised. "Did you really draw this? When did you learn to do that?"
"Yesterday!"
Gwen looked at Little Lamb with a depressed expression. "You really are a little monster."
Little Lamb smiled happily. He tugged on Gwen, and when she bent down, he whispered in her ear, "Sister, keep it a secret. You're the only one who got one today!"
Gwen's heart warmed, and she rubbed Little Lamb's head.
Little Lamb left happily. When the door to Gwen's room clicked shut, he carefully opened his own door. His eyes twinkled with sly mischief as he held two more drawings in his hand. He looked toward the kitchen, then vanished from the spot.
At the dinner table, Mike and the other two looked at Gwen, who had turned into an eating machine, with some confusion.
Why was Gwen so quiet today?
Usually, Gwen would tease Little Lamb at the dinner table or talk about things happening at school. Why was she behaving so abnormally today?
Raven looked at Mike with an inquiring gaze. Mike shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.
"I'm full!"
Gwen finished her meal quickly, put down her bowl and chopsticks, and ran upstairs.
"What's wrong with Sister?" Lamb asked in confusion. Then his eyes lit up as realization dawned on him. "I know! She must be in love!"
In love?
Mike's body went stiff. Images of Gwen getting married involuntarily flooded his mind, and a heavy, oppressive aura quietly radiated from him.
If she really was in love...
Damn it, don't let him find out who that kid is!
Wait a minute, could it be one of those boys Gwen always hangs out with?
Peter? Harry? Or Luke?
Should he go ask?
Or maybe use telepathy to check the character of those brats?
If...
Thoughts flashed through Mike's mind one after another, his expression becoming increasingly serious.
Raven looked at Mike's expression with amusement. She couldn't help but shake her head and laugh. "Relax. Look at Gwen's expression; it doesn't look like she's in love. She probably just has something weighing on her mind."
"Really?" Mike looked at Raven with pleasant surprise.
Raven nodded. "Trust my judgment. If she were in love, she wouldn't look like this at all."
"Phew! That's good!"
Mike relaxed and glared at Little Lamb. "Don't talk nonsense in the future!"
"Oh!"
...
Back in her room, Gwen took out the files and continued to study the relevant information.
"They must be looking at this stuff right now, too."
Gwen was certain of it.
Checking her phone, Gwen counted down silently in her heart.
10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1!
Ding!
Her phone rang. Gwen glanced at it and chuckled softly.
8:00 PM sharp.
ever since they started taking missions, this had become their default time for discussing matters.
Propping her phone up on the desk, Gwen answered the call. They started a video chat and began discussing their mission.
The group discussed for several minutes and distributed tasks. Just as they were about to hang up, Harry couldn't help but ask, "Gwen, does Uncle Mike have a way?"
"He probably does," Gwen said casually while looking at the data. "Traveling through time and space, using psychic power to search the globe, or using magic and stuff like that..."
Hearing these words, the other four widened their eyes.
Good heavens, is it that exaggerated?
"Um, can we ask him for help?" Luke asked.
"This is our mission," Gwen said flatly.
She didn't want to rely on her dad for everything. She wanted to grow so that one day she could be someone her father could rely on.
"I was just asking casually," Luke laughed sheepishly. "I'm going to get back to work."
With that, Luke exited the video link.
The others subsequently dropped out of the video chat.
For the next two days, aside from their normal studies, they devoted all their spare time to this mission.
But to their frustration, even after tracking down all of Sally's childhood friends, no one could provide a single useful piece of information. Even Sally's mother could provide nothing beyond what she had already given them.
For a time, their investigation ground to a halt.
Gwen was a bit depressed because she hadn't found anything useful at all; there was still no news of Sally.
It had been too long. Aside from Sally's mother, who still missed her and searched for her daughter, many people had forgotten she even existed, let alone being able to provide effective clues.
Gwen returned home, ate dinner, and rushed back to her room. Just as she took out some new information she had collected today to review, Little Lamb pushed the door open and walked in.
"Sister, I can't sleep. Tell me a story."
Little Lamb held a storybook in his hand and waved it at Gwen.
Gwen didn't even look up from the documents.
"Stop playing around, I'm busy. Go find Aunt Raven and Dad."
"No, I want to hear you tell it. You tell it more interestingly."
The stories Gwen told him were always different from what was in the storybooks.
Glinting swords and shadows, chivalrous heroes and the martial world—Gwen often told Little Lamb stories like these.
"Be good, you..."
"No!"
Little Lamb looked at Gwen stubbornly. Seeing that Gwen kept staring at the documents on the desk, his body flashed, and he appeared beside the table. Before Gwen could react, he grabbed the papers and ran to the side.
"Give it back! Stop making trouble!"
"Hmm?" Little Lamb looked at the documents and asked in confusion, "Sister, are you looking for something?"
"Not something, someone."
Gwen grumpily took back the papers and pushed Little Lamb toward the door. "Go, go, I have work to do. I'll play with you after I finish this."
Little Lamb stood rooted to the spot. Even though Gwen used all her strength, Little Lamb's feet didn't move an inch.
If Gwen didn't transform, she couldn't do anything about Little Lamb.
Gwen's feet slid against the floor. Little Lamb rolled his eyes, gave a mischievous laugh, and said, "Sister, you're looking for this person, right?"
"Yes, now get out!"
"I can find her, you know. Are you sure you want to kick me out?"
"Huh?"
Gwen, who was in the middle of pushing Little Lamb, suddenly grabbed his shoulders.
"What did you say?"
"I can find her."
Little Lamb repeated himself. He didn't look like he was joking.
A brilliant smile suddenly bloomed on Gwen's face. She picked Little Lamb up, placed him on the bed, took out the snacks she had hidden in her room, sat down beside him, and said in a gentle tone, "Then you'll help your sister, right?"
Little Lamb pushed the snacks aside and said solemnly, "Sister, eating snacks this late will make you fat."
"Never mind that. Hurry up and help. How do you find her?"
Little Lamb held out his hand to Gwen. "Give me your phone."
Gwen immediately handed it over.
Little Lamb looked at Gwen's phone with a face full of envy.
He wanted a mobile phone too, but he was too young, so Raven had refused.
His fingers tapped the phone twice, bringing up the world map.
Gwen watched Little Lamb curiously, waiting for his next move.
"Do you have a photo of her? And her name and stuff?" Little Lamb asked Gwen.
Gwen handed Sally's file to Little Lamb and couldn't help asking, "What kind of ability is this? How come I've never seen you use it?"
"New ability. Perfect time to test it out."
"New ability?" Gwen opened her mouth in surprise.
"Yep. It can be used to find things or people. I call this ability 'Search and Rescue Dog'!"
Search and Rescue Dog...
The corner of Gwen's mouth twitched.
That was certainly... down-to-earth.
Little Lamb projected the map in front of him. He reached out and touched the map with one hand while holding Sally's file in the other.
In the next second, Little Lamb's eyes lost focus. The papers he was clutching slowly turned into ash and fell from his hand, while his other hand began to move rapidly across the map.
Half a minute later, when the documents in Little Lamb's hand had completely turned to ash and fallen to the floor, his moving finger stopped.
"Sister, the information isn't detailed enough."
As Little Lamb spoke, he used his finger to draw a palm-sized circle on the virtual map screen. "This data is only enough for me to find this area."
The more detailed the information, the more precise the location he could find.
Gwen looked at the area outlined in red, her eyes flashing with surprise and joy.
"No, my dear brother, you've done enough."
Compared to her aimless searching before, she now had a rough area. Most importantly, Little Lamb had used his ability to confirm that Sally was still alive.
A range with a diameter of three kilometers?
Gwen murmured to herself.
Little Lamb smiled happily and picked up the storybook. "Sister, time for the story."
"Okay!"
(End of this chapter)