The next morning, "huaaaah," Dylan stepped out of his room and yawned in the afternoon light. He saw Ellie, Amy, Maya, Lena, Aaron, Clara, Fiona, and Iris watching television, viewing the news about the arrest of several officials, major businessmen, law enforcement officers, and celebrities on the cruise ship for participating in a black market auction of stolen and smuggled goods. Dylan saw the guests from last night being escorted out by the police and put into a detention vehicle.

Seeing Dylan standing behind the sofa, Amy and Aaron glanced at him and both gave a subtle smile, then returned to watching the television. Then, the security room guard, who was now conscious and looked confused, was also shown being arrested by the police. A card with a cat's head emblem was found in his pocket.

"Police will investigate all parties involved with the bust of last night's black market auction. It's likely that Phantom Cat was also among them. We will wait for the results of the investigation. That concludes this breaking news. Good morning, and have a productive day," the reporter concluded.

The broadcast then switched back to a cartoon that Fiona and Iris were silently watching. Not long after, "driiing... driiing," an unknown number called Ellie's smartphone. Ellie immediately answered it.

"Hello... Ellie? Please don't hang up, it's Dad... please bail me out of jail... I got tangled up in something last night... you have to help..."

Ellie hung up the phone before Alex could finish speaking. Then she reopened the news from last night on social media and news sites. After reading it, Ellie smiled.

"Oh, so my dad got busted too last night on the cruise ship," Ellie said.

"Let me see?" Maya asked, immediately sliding over next to Ellie to look at her smartphone.

"I wanna see too," Lena added, moving closer to Ellie.

Both immediately looked at the news site Ellie had opened, which showed a photo of Alex, wearing a mask and trying to cover his face, being escorted into a detention vehicle by the police.

"Wow, we should thank Phantom Cat, huh... he's the one who exposed it last night?" Lena asked.

"Yep, that's right. Now you're safe, Ellie," Maya added.

"Yeah, thankfully," Ellie replied, ignoring the ringing on her phone.

The three of them looked over at Amy, who remained silent with a blank expression and her arms crossed over her chest, but even without an expression, Amy looked slightly proud. Then they also saw Aaron, who looked calm while talking to Clara. They looked back at Amy.

"Why do you look like you're proud? Are you hiding something?" Maya asked directly.

"No reason... I'm not hiding anything," Amy answered curtly.

"Hmm... really?" Ellie asked suspiciously.

Amy didn't answer, but she nodded and kept her eyes straight ahead, watching the cartoon with Fiona and Iris. Finally, Dylan leaned his head forward, placing both hands on the back of the sofa.

"Okay, I'm going out now to check on my house and give some directions to the construction workers," Dylan said.

"Can I come along?" Maya asked, raising her hand.

"No, you just rest. We were tired from tidying up yesterday, and remember you're pregnant," Dylan replied.

"Okay, if that's the case, can you grab some lemons? I want to make fresh lemon juice," Maya said.

"Alright, I'll get them," Dylan replied.

"Get me some ice cream, too," Lena added.

"Can you buy me a whole jar of pickles?" Ellie asked.

"Okay, I'll buy those too," Dylan answered.

Suddenly, Amy stepped forward, grabbed a paper and a pen, and started writing something on the paper, then gave it to Dylan. It turned out to contain the requests from Maya, Lena, Ellie, and five items for herself, including potato chips, sliced cheese, wings, hot sauce, and a hamburger.

"Wow... that's a lot," Dylan replied.

"Let me see," Maya snatched the paper from Dylan's hand.

The four of them looked back at the list, then added their own writings. Then they gave the list back to Dylan, who was getting dizzy trying to read it.

"Jeez... do you want me to buy out a whole store? That's insane," Dylan replied.

"It's your child's request," Ellie replied, holding her stomach.

"That's right, it's what your baby is craving," Maya added, holding her stomach.

"Fulfill my request, Daddy," Lena added, holding her stomach.

"Your child is going to be a big eater, apparently," Amy added casually, also holding her stomach.

"If that's the reason... I can't say no then. Alright, I'll shower and change clothes first, then I'll head out," Dylan said. "If this is what it's going to be like, I need to get my driver's license and learn how to drive. There's no way I can go on the bus or train with this much shopping... alright, I'll look into it tomorrow," Dylan muttered in his head.

"Okay... let's shower, all together,"

"Huh," Dylan muttered.

Ellie, Maya, Lena, and Amy immediately stood up, then shoved the struggling Dylan into his room. Aaron, Clara, Fiona, and Iris turned to look at their older siblings' behavior.

"Big Brother Aaron, what are they doing to Big Brother Dylan?" Fiona asked.

"Yeah, why are they showering together? It'd be okay if it were just me and Fiona," Iris added.

"Don't worry about it," Aaron replied, embarrassed.

"Why am I getting embarrassed too," Clara added, covering her face.

"Don't worry about it," Aaron replied, his face starting to turn red.

***

Meanwhile, at central police headquarters, "clap," John walked out of the investigation room and sighed. As usual, he looked very tired. Paul approached him.

"Well?" Paul asked.

"They said they don't know anything. Their purpose for coming was indeed to buy the tiara from the old dynasty at auction price for their collections... but almost all of them said the police stormed in before the auction even started. So, what about the logistics? Are all the items on the ship accounted for according to the data?" John asked.

"Hmm... one item is missing, and it's not just any item," Paul answered.

"Let me guess, the ancient tiara with the obsidian onyx ornament that was the main star of last night's auction, right?" John asked.

"Correct. From a few people I interrogated, they didn't know anything about the tiara and hadn't seen it, which was the primary reason they attended the auction," Paul replied.

"Then who took it? The organizers? That's unlikely. None of them admit to it either," John replied.

"Who else... of course, the guy who left this card," Paul said, showing a card with a cat's head logo sealed in a plastic bag.

"Phantom Cat," John muttered, looking at the card.

"Exactly. Besides busting the auction, he also took a souvenir home," Paul added.

"This is confusing... are there absolutely no clues about his presence on that ship?" John asked.

"None. All the cameras on the ship were off. It looks like they were disabled from the central hub by the man we arrested last night, who reported everything to the police. He admitted it himself, but he's confused about why he reported it, as if he was hypnotized into doing it without realizing it," Paul answered.

"First the jewels...now the tiara...again the Phantom Cat case...really confusing," John replied irritably and rubbed his hair.

Both walked down the corridor toward their office, continuing to discuss and try to solve the mystery of who Phantom Cat really was.

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