Star Gate

Other cities were both envious and admiring. Of the thirty-two cities in the province, only nine possessed Night Watcher branches. Silver City would be the tenth. There were limited numbers of Night Watchers in the province; they were mostly concentrated in the big cities. White Moon contained a population of thirty million and Flare more than ten. It used to be that five million inhabitants were the baseline consideration for creating a branch.

Population size was a very important condition to be met. Branches were typically not considered for cities that were too small, out of concern that the agency would be spreading their resources too thin and opening themselves up to defeat by supernatural organizations.

A Night Watcher branch in Silver City was a jaw-dropping, unprecedented occurrence. The branch was ultimately approved out of consideration for Yuan Shuo and the secretive eight families. White Moon City paid it special attention all the same, assigning three supernaturals to the new branch—none of them rookies!

They were all Darkmoon, with one apparently of the Fullmoon level.

……

July 28.

Li Hao didn’t pay attention to the official documentation. He was wandering around a traditional compound with houses on four sides of a rectangular courtyard. It was enormous at four hundred square meters and another garden of one thousand square meters.

An individual compound for an entire family!

The young man couldn’t stop gasping in shock as he walked around. He looked blankly at Liu Yan. “Sis, don’t you think too highly of me?”

The vice captain had insisted on finding a house for him; Li Hao had no choice but to agree when he couldn’t turn her down.

Just look at this! I asked you to find me a two bedroom apartment, preferably on the first floor. If not, then someplace with good soundproofing. But this was where Liu Yan led him to early this morning?

They were in the eastern district of Silver City, the affluent neighborhoods. Nearly all of the city’s rich and famous lived here. The young man found the unit inappropriate as soon as they arrived. Housing prices were extremely elevated in this locale. Normal monthly rent ran about three thousand in Silver City, whereas the ones here reached five thousand.

When he’d been a third rank inspector, his monthly wages were roughly two thousand star coins. It was sufficient for Silver City. He could save roughly twenty to thirty thousand a year if he lived a frugal life, particularly as he was a civil worker. Many things could be written off for reimbursement and there were some bonuses he could work toward. All of that made saving approximately thirty thousand a year an easy enough task.

A house that was one hundred square meters cost at least three hundred thousand. He could afford it even without being promoted for ten years. It would be easier now that he was much more highly ranked. However, a complete complex like this cost at least four or five million, and he wasn’t inflating his estimate! It would cost at least that much!

He didn’t have any money! It was illegal to sell mysterious power to other supernaturals and his colleagues didn’t have any money if he were to sell to them.

Liu Yan also looked around the premises. “What am I thinking too highly of?” she answered blithely. “You’re going to be a deputy director of the Silver City Night Watchers soon. You’re going to be someone of note! Are you supposed to be jammed like a sardine into a high density apartment complex? When it comes to houses… you’re a commissioner inspector, how can you not have a house?”

“…through embezzlement? Corruption?” asked a speechless Li Hao.

“Pfft!” Liu Yan looked contemptuously at him. “Is that all you know? What corruption? These are spoils of war, do you understand? Loot is handed in and divided according to Night Watcher rules! This house is from our last operation!”

Loot? Li Hao blinked.

“Have you forgotten Zhou He?”

“Oh, oh yeah!” Li Hao did remember the name. It was the first person that he’d killed—no, the martial master that Captain Liu and the others beat to death during their interrogation.

“He owns this!” A peal of tinkling laughter came from Liu Yan. “And a car as well, you’ve seen it before. It’s in the Inspectorate garage—you can drive it away anytime! You’re the one who arrested Zhou He, so keep his house and car now that you’ve been promoted!”

So this was the background of the house!

“How does a Slayer have so much money?” Li Hao couldn’t help but ask.

“What kind of bullshit is that? He was a martial master of many years, how would he not have a few million? Just think about it, you’d be a multimillionaire right now if you were willing to sell the mysterious power that you got!”

Earning money was very easy for them, but what good was wealth? The truly good stuff couldn’t be bought. It was easy for Zhou He to gather five million, but could he buy the same equivalent of mysterious power?

That would be very difficult!

And even if he did, he might not see that much benefit after absorbing it all.

Li Hao’s worldview was so small that Liu Yan found it impossible to further converse with him. Although she lacked money, she didn’t fret over it like the young man. All he worried about from day to night was how to get a raise! People would laugh at him if word of this got out! He would already be a laughingstock for wanting a promotion because his wages would increase.

Li Hao laughed dryly. It was true that he was yet to see the world. The richest he ever was in life was when he received his monthly pay from the Inspectorate. He’d looked at his accounts last month—his savings totaled twelve thousand!

But now… forget that.

He gazed upon the massive garden, then walked inside to take in the opulent interior. The exterior was done in a vintage style, whereas the inside was very modern. There were two floors in total as well as an underground garage. A pool could be found in the backyard, just like in other villas. A residence with enormous outdoor space like this one suited Li Hao’s tastes more.

“So huge!” the young man murmured and happened to look back at Liu Yan.

The woman grinned at the staring young man. “So you’ve finally come to your senses!” She thrust her chest forward. You finally know to compliment other people! Not bad, you’ve got good taste!

Li Hao immediately came to his senses and looked elsewhere with resignation. “Sis, do the others… really not need this? Is it okay if I just accept it?”

“It’s fine!” Liu Yan really thought nothing of it. “We live in the Inspectorate most of the time. You’re young and just joined the team, so you still have the habit of clocking in and out of work. We’re different. It’s been many years since we joined and typically, we stay at the Inspectorate in our free time.”

They rarely returned home as there was no one home. What was home? Just a house! Their homes were long gone. Liu Long once mentioned that there was a story behind every Demon Hunter. They never mentioned family, significant others, or children…

Wu Chao and Chen Jian seemed to live in the basement, as did Yun Yao. She was there whenever Liu Long saw her. The captain disappeared at times, but who knew if that was to go home or go elsewhere? Perhaps he had no home either and simply went out for a walk.

Liu Yan was the same! These people treated the team as their home.

Li Hao said nothing further. He didn’t care either, he just needed a place to absorb mysterious power and train. Some of his secret arts could not be revealed to outsiders unless his teacher approved. If he practiced in the team basement, the Breathing Method of the Five Styles might be exposed. That was completely unacceptable!

Li Hao continued to stroll around for a look. There was a living room, guest room, restroom, and a gym on the first floor. The second floor held the primary suite, study, children’s room, and others. He had no use for most of the rooms and the furnishings weren’t new. It’d previously been occupied, but this suited his purposes more. He didn’t need to do or renovate anything—he didn’t have the money to either.

All was in order; he just needed to bring a few changes of clothing. The more he appraised the complex, the more he liked it. He’d yet to reach the team’s level, he still had a need for materialistic objects. It’d been uncomfortable at Openlight before to be admonished for running through a boxing technique. Things were perfect now!

The front and back yards were ridiculously large. He could do whatever he wanted!

Liu Yan was already on a couch on the first floor. She winked coquettishly at Li Hao when he came down the stairs.

“The house is really big, Little Hao Hao. Are you afraid to be in it by yourself? How about big sis come and keep you company?”

Li Hao looked around calmly. “Sis, do you think I should host a housewarming or something?”

“Whatever you want!” Liu Yan grumbled. Are you ignoring me, little guy?

The delighted young man didn’t want to waste time discussing these sorts of things. “Sis, they say that they’re sending three Night Watchers of the Darkmoon level. This puts our team at six Sunderers and Night Watchers!”

Not including him. If counting him, that made for seven. It was quite a mighty force, putting Silver City’s branch on par with the other cities—if they overlooked the lack of Sunflare.

“Meh, that’s good enough.” Liu Yan shrugged carelessly. Thank goodness she’d ascended to Sunderer, or she might feel some pressure.

“There’s nine of us now. Recruiting another will pretty much fulfill the lowest requirements,” the woman remarked. “Chief says he wants me to be the team captain. Other than the one coming to be deputy director, the other two will join the field mission team. I wouldn’t be able to keep them under control if I wasn’t a Sunderer!

“Chief wants to make a five person field mission team. Wu Chao as scout, Chen Jian as shield, I’ll be primary offense. The other two will be assigned based on their abilities.”

A five person team could indeed satisfy some basic needs. More would require stronger leadership ability. There were no more resources for Liu Yan to draw on.

“What about me?” Li Hao asked with confusion.

“You’re top brass!” Liu Yan smirked. “One principal and two deputies! You’ll spend your days drinking tea, reading reports, and listening to debriefings. What, is our top brass supposed to go to the frontlines?”