Star Gate

He was a bit disappointed. Had the captain overlooked them for such a nice gig? So it was Commissioner Inspector Li who truly had their backs!

“Bastard!” The awkward Liu Long quickly returned to his customary aloofness. “Of course I did, I was just worried that you’d be afraid of danger…”

“Just listen to yourself, captain! Forget it, I’m going to ask the commissioner inspector if there’s a spot for me. I’m not talking to you anymore, captain.” Old Zhou ran off happily to search out Li Hao, leaving a resigned Liu Long in his wake.

Tea cools down as soon as someone’s gone, but I’m right here still! These guys are too materialistic.

Li Hao returned before long and raised his voice when he saw how busy everyone was working.

“Move faster, folks! Let’s try to be done by tonight! The new place is nice and I’ve just come from talking to Inspector General Mu. He didn’t want to see everyone go, so I only managed to wrangle ten spots! I can only promote you guys one rank higher, it was too hard to get any commissioner inspector titles. Therefore, I recommend having second rank inspectors in the first round. That will maximize our benefits!

“If third rank inspectors wish to apply for this opportunity, please wait a bit longer! Once the branch grows bigger and we have more people, I’ll recruit some more big brothers and sisters from the law enforcement team to help!”

“Commissioner Inspector Li is the best!”

“As expected of a top student from the Veteris Institute!”

“Cheers for the commissioner inspector!

“……”

A chorus of flattery rose from the inspectors. This was a very exciting announcement! Not all of them were able to undertake exhausting missions like Liu Long and the rest of his Single Hunters. Those guys fed their entire family when they ate for one. Some of the law enforcement team, like the rest of them, had families to feed!

Advancements and raises were an occasion of absolute delight.

……

Liu Long watched silently off to the side, turning to Liu Yan after a while.

“We’ve focused on pursuing the supernatural all these years,” he whispered. “And forgotten what a mundane life feels like. No wonder Law Enforcement was such a hot mess.”

They’d forgotten what these brothers and sisters needed. So long as one didn’t ascend beyond this system, advancement and raises were what everyone sought after. Liu Long had failed to give these to them over the past few years.

Meanwhile, Li Hao still viewed himself as a mundane. He knew what they wanted, so could satisfy their desires. Therefore, they were happy to hail him as a commissioner inspector despite being newly promoted. Currying favor cost them nothing. Being able to join the new branch’s back office meant striking rich.

“It\'s nothing to do with me, I was just a deputy,” Liu Yan chuckled. “This is your oversight, chief. Don’t try to drag me into it.”

“Everyone’s willing to move!” Li Hao ran up to them excitedly. “I told the inspector general about our needs and he said Law Enforcement can use the building next door. It’s empty anyways, all it needs is a bit of cleaning up. Look, chief, we have our own station now!”

“You definitely know how to take care of things!” Liu Long broke out into laughter. And he’d thought the lad would give rise to general discontent! “How did you think of this, and to recruit a bunch of people into the back office?”

“Wang Ming told me about it.” Li Hao still recalled their final conversation. “When he told me to move to White Moon, he said it was fine that I’m mundane. White Moon Night Watchers need mundanes for administrative work, so I asked around. As it turns out, Night Watcher branches can recruit mundanes so long as they aren’t on the frontlines. There’s no set number—but generally fewer than the Night Watchers.”

“You’ve got a good memory!” complimented Liu Long. “But don’t forget the proper task at hand! Don’t be preoccupied with the minutiae of your position—being obsessed with the trappings of power isn’t good. Remember to keep increasing your strength. You’re a deputy director now and your strength is quite unfit for the task!”

“Don’t worry, chief,” Li Hao laughed dryly. “I’ve been working hard and will make the crossover as soon as possible!”

My strength? Sunderer of Hundreds. That’s good enough, right? Sharpening the ax did not delay cutting up firewood. Li Hao didn’t want to be forever bogged down by administrative detail. Identifying people to split his load now would give him adequate time to train later.

……

The day passed in a busy flurry.

Night.

Nine Night Watchers drove two cars, one of them Liu Yan’s and the other the one allotted to Li Hao. S 7219. Liu Long and the others were in the first car, whereas Li Hao took the new arrivals.

Wang Ming hadn’t wanted to sit in the passenger seat, but also didn’t want to squeeze with Li Meng and Hu Hao after they plopped themselves into the back seat. He reluctantly sat down in the front.

It wasn’t long before he shifted uneasily.

“Li Hao, do you know how to drive?!” he couldn’t help but cry out. He’d thought of a plan of attack before getting in, of how he’d avoid conversing with Li Hao. Yet why was the guy driving the car??

“Yeah!” Li Hao answered eagerly. “I’ve driven cars before, but not ones as fancy as this one. Driving is so easy! All you need to do is handle the steering wheel, step on the pedal, and brake! Don’t you know how to drive, Ole Wang?”

He didn’t hail Wang Ming as “sir” anymore because they were of the same rank. Li Hao was twenty and Wang Ming seemed to be the same age, possibly even younger since he used to say “Brother Hao”. Therefore, a younger moniker was appropriate. However, calling someone “little buddy” seemed a bit rude, so Li Hao settled for “Ole Wang”.

Wang Ming didn’t know what to say. I don’t know how to drive? It’s more like you don’t know how to drive! Is messing with the steering wheel, gas pedal, and brakes all you need to do? I mean, it’s not like he’s wrong, but the way this guy drives is too damned terrifying!

Wang Ming reined himself in, trying to distract himself. If not, he’d throw up from being so carsick.

“Li Hao, how come Silver City put you forward to be the deputy director?”

“Oh, chief said I’m more suited to it and that the others aren’t, so he chose me.”

Bullshit! Wang Ming wanted to curse.

“Li Hao, you’re not Slayer of Tens yet, right?” Li Meng bounced so badly in the back that she had to join the conversation to divert her attention. “Did you find any mysterious power that suits you from the portion you were distributed?”

“No!” Li Hao answered morosely. “Teacher says that maybe my constitution is unique and it’s hard for me to find my proper match. I need to keep waiting and start from martial dao. Martial masters are quite something and just as strong as supernaturals!”

“Have you entered Slayer of Tens?”

“Pretty much!” the young man chuckled. “I’m almost there, I think I can resonate my bones and meridians! It’s just… I’ve yet to try in actual battle. Teacher says that martial masters and supernaturals who cannot fight are all trash!”

Expressions turned dark on all three faces. Thankfully, Li Hao included himself among that, or they’d think he was getting a secret jab in at them.

Wang Ming was close to erupting with anger and forced down the awkwardness he felt. “Have you visited Elder Yuan lately?”

“Yep.”

“What’d he say to you?”

“A lot, why?”

“Nothing.” Wang Ming dropped the topic. It looked like Yuan Shuo had indeed not said anything about taking honorary disciples. That was good. But… on the other hand… if the professor couldn’t even be bothered to mention them… that showed how worthless honorary disciples were!

Unnamed jealousy agitated in his heart!

They wouldn’t be happy to see Yuan Shuo announce their arrangement to the world, but the professor didn’t even tell his own disciple! The gap between the final and honorary disciples was too big. The professor hadn’t said anything to the trio after they moved to Silver City. It truly broke the heart.

Li Hao had his own agenda in mind. “Ah yes, Sis Li and Brother Hu, teacher said that you guys were here last time to escort him to a ruin. Where is it? Why’s it been canceled?”

“Not canceled, delayed!” Being the forthright sort, Li Meng kept nothing a secret. “A lot of people have their eyes on it. Before Elder Yuan broke through, we arranged for Director Hao to lead the team. The other factions were also going to send Solars for their expeditions to keep all sides in check.

“At the same time, Elder Yuan’s presence is a necessity. The other parties would want him to go even if we didn’t want him to because he’s very knowledgeable about that site.

“When the Night Watchers probed it three years ago, we ended up with severe losses and casualties. Three Solars and multiple Darkmoon died. Elder Yuan also suffered grave injuries from that expedition. The Night Watchers and other organizations have sent in their own people over the years, but always ended up losing a lot of personnel. Therefore, Elder Yuan being there is a must since he’s an involved party. That also means everyone needs more time to prepare now that he can kill Solars.”

Li Hao understood the situation now.

“You keep talking about other parties—is it Red Moon, Celestial, and Yama?”

“More than that!” Li Meng explained. “Those are only the three biggest supernatural organizations! Various smaller ones spring forth like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. New ones appear every year—some are eliminated, but some grow into their own!

“The Night Watchers and three biggest ones are the first tier of the supernatural domain. There are some weaker ones below that.”

“Wow, it’s that complicated?” Li Hao stomped on the brakes, nearly flinging everyone out of the car. Thankfully, they were all supernaturals and could catch themselves, but it was an absolutely ridiculous situation. He’d almost driven the car into the river!

“Sis Li.” Li Hao was fully engrossed in the conversation. “Don’t the Night Watchers care about that, sis? Either kill them all to establish our authority or recruit them to our cause. Why are there so many other organizations?”

An irritable Wang Ming cut in before Li Meng had a chance to respond. “It’s not that simple! Latter-day supernaturals are easy to take care of, but the Heaven Favored start off as supernatural. Their rate of improvement is horrifying, even faster than the Night Watchers! They’re Sunflare or Solar before you even know it!

“They haven’t broken the law, so are we supposed to pay the price of killing them just because they’re supernatural? We do think of recruiting them, but what can we do about those who don’t want to accept? They can run anywhere and be everywhere in this vast world. Forcing them to join results in more trouble as that just creates dissension and discord,” Wang Ming sighed. “The key thing is that we lack attraction for supernaturals! The three great organizations are much more alluring!”