Swordbearer Binhai Branch, Director’s Office.
Lin Mo set down the loss statistics report in his hand, his brows furrowed tightly.
He raised a hand to massage his throbbing temples, and let out a heavy sigh.
“Sigh….”
For this operation, the reported losses across all city districts and streets amounted to approximately 317.3 million.
The third-generation communication equipment set atop the municipal building alone accounted for almost a third of that.
On top of that, the costs for compensation and follow-up treatment for the casualties among the operatives involved in the battle were astronomical.
Although most of these expenses didn’t need to be borne by the Swordbearers, as Binhai’s chief armaments officer, Lin Mo wasn’t under any less pressure.
The most crucial point…
In the past, just secretly harboring Chu You, a single youkai, was enough to make him anxious.
Now, there was also Xia Ji.
Lin Mo slowly got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out at the streets under reconstruction in the distance.
He suddenly felt a little sentimental.
Life’s really getting more and more ‘interesting’!
Fortunately, that fool Gu Qiancheng hadn’t left.
With his cooperation, it wouldn’t be so difficult to cover up Xia Ji’s traces in this incident.
But Lin Mo was still unhappy.
The reason was simple—Chu You wasn’t in Binhai.
After the veiled written report about this incident was submitted, Gu Qiancheng had been assigned the title of Patrol Investigation Team Leader and was now handling a case in a neighboring province.
Chu You, on the other hand, had split from Gu Qiancheng, going to the city under the guise of a temporarily dispatched team member.
…
…
Southeastern Province, Provincial Capital, Air Service Office.
With a head of fiery red hair, Gu Qiancheng strode into the office hall with the kind of walk that showed no respect for anyone.
Behind him, several security guards who failed to stop him now lay sprawled across the ground, each one groaning and struggling.
“Halo, my darling~”
“Anyone still breathing? Someone come out and serve me!”
Gu Qiancheng casually tossed aside his soda can and shouted in the center of the hall.
A few uniformed staff, frightened by the scene, huddled together, whispering in panic and hesitation, not a single one daring to step up and confront this troublemaker.
After a brief standoff, with a click, the door to an office on the inner side of the hall swung open.
A figure surrounded by several subordinates, exuding obvious anger, walked directly up to Gu Qiancheng.
The newcomer was a woman in her forties, dressed in a sharply tailored yet slightly stiff dark women’s suit, her hair permed to a neat puff, not a strand out of place.
Her gaze was sharp, carrying the assertiveness developed from years in a managerial post.
At this moment, her brow was slightly furrowed as she swept a judgmental and disapproving look over the nonchalant Gu Qiancheng.
“Who are you? Do you know where this is? How dare you cause trouble here?” she spoke, her tone harsh, laced with condescension and accusation.
The Air Service’s ties ran deep, with connections to the military and even the Swordbearers—complex and intertwined.
As the actual authority of the province’s Air Service Office, Zhang Yuyan certainly had her own confidence and clout.
But what she didn’t expect was that the rascal standing before her, looking every bit the street thug, Upon hearing her words, not only didn’t show a hint of fear, but instead grinned provocatively, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
“I know, Air Service Office, right? Very impressive, high threshold, strict rules…”
Gu Qiancheng dragged out his tone, his lazy eyes sweeping across the badge pinned to the woman’s chest.
When he clearly saw the name and title on it, the smile instantly vanished from his face, his gaze turning sharp as a blade, his voice suddenly cold and full of undeniable pressure: “….Zhang Yuyan, Dispatch Section Chief?”
Zhang Yuyan’s heart clenched, but she didn’t answer immediately.
The sudden change in his demeanor sent a wave of intense foreboding through her, her official aura instantly replaced by unease.
The next moment, a black-cover certificate emblazoned with a special insignia was shoved almost up to her face.
That insignia—she would never mistake it, it was Swordbearer!
And the style and serial number… looked almost identical to the one she’d seen at the Provincial Governor’s banquet on a Swordbearer of extremely high rank.
Zhang Yuyan’s pupils trembled.
Her eyes darted between the certificate and Gu Qiancheng’s cynical face in utter disbelief.
She only heard Gu Qiancheng speak in an official tone, every word as cold as ice shards: “I’m Gu Qiancheng, leader of the Swordbearer Headquarters Special Patrol Investigation Unit.”
He paused, his gaze pinning Zhang Yuyan’s face, which had lost all color.
“Now, according to the law, you are summoned to our designated location to explain, in detail, how you shielded and assisted one of the perpetrators of the 11.3 Binhai Variant Invasion Incident—your daughter, Chen Xinyu.”
“Do you… have any objections?”
At these words, Zhang Yuyan’s face turned ashen in an instant, her body uncontrollably stumbling half a step back.
She stared in disbelief at the stinging insignia on that certificate, her lips trembling, only able to let out unconscious murmurs: “No, no, impossible….!”
D-daughter…Xinyu?
Perpetrator?
What variant invasion?
Didn’t her husband tell her that their daughter just got sick and needed rest, that she should call the school and ask for a few days’ leave?
How could… how could it be like this?!
The shock and terror sent her head snapping up, like grabbing at a final straw.
She glared at Gu Qiancheng, fiercely retorting, her voice obviously shaking: “No way! You’re making this up! My daughter is an outstanding student, top of her class….”
“She, she just got sick for a bit recently, felt unwell, so as her mother, I called the school to ask for leave! What’s wrong with that?!”
“Her father knows about this too… Yes! Her father! How dare you arrest me? Even if you are a Swordbearer, this isn’t within regulations! I want to make a call, I want to call my husband!”
“Do you know who my husband is?! No, you can’t arrest me!”
Watching her bluster, trying to rely on her connections and regulations, Gu Qiancheng just pulled his lips into a cold, mocking smile.
“Your husband?”
He slowly repeated, as if he’d heard something amusing.
“No need to rush, you definitely won’t be able to reach him—” he deliberately dragged out his words.
Zhang Yuyan’s expression instantly froze, a chill shooting straight up her spine.
Gu Qiancheng, one hand in his pocket, leaned in a little, his voice cheerful yet each word fell like a heavy hammer on Zhang Yuyan’s heart, sinking her into an icy abyss: “He’s luckier than you, moved fast, already enjoyed a meal at our place…. Sigh, I’m a soft-hearted guy, can’t bear to see lovers separated. See? I hurried over here to fetch you so you two can… reunite as soon as possible.”
As soon as he finished speaking.
Zhang Yuyan’s mind went blank, her strength drained all at once, and with a heavy thud, she collapsed to the ground.
Her expensive suit skirt was stained with dust, but she didn’t notice.
She just stared vacantly at the floor, muttering “impossible” over and over, her body trembling violently like a leaf in the autumn wind.
Seeing this, a flash of undisguised disgust appeared in Gu Qiancheng’s eyes.
He couldn’t be bothered to look at such a pathetic sight any longer, so he turned toward the door of the office and raised his voice with a faint tone: “What are you all gawking at outside? Come in already! Hurry up and escort our esteemed Chief Zhang back—move it, maybe you’ll even make it in time for lunch!”
As soon as the words fell, a team of Swordbearers in uniform filed in, all highly trained and expressionless.
They directly lifted the now limp Zhang Yuyan from the ground without the slightest courtesy.
Under the deathly silence and countless terrified stares, they quickly escorted her out of the Air Service Office hall.
Gu Qiancheng swept his gaze around the room with a cheerful grin.
Everywhere his eyes fell, people instantly dropped their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.
“Tsk, Air Service sure is gutless~”
Not like the thrill he got at the Enforcement Directorate this morning—Chen Xinyu’s father, Chen Dezhen, an internal affairs chief, actually incited his subordinates to draw their guns and confront them?
Of course, it wasn’t that Chen Dezhen was especially brazen, it was just that his own position was so dirty he got rattled.
Leaving aside the pressure he put on the school to grant Chen Xinyu medical leave.
Abusing his post to traffic important supplies from the Enforcement Directorate, using filthy means to take advantage of young girls still in school, pushing some to suicide… and more, even someone as jaded as Gu Qiancheng was left cursing out loud at the sight.
And Zhang Yuyan, as the Air Service Provincial Office’s Dispatch Section Chief, was no better—smuggling contraband on military flights, dabbling in things that could cost her head.
And finally, Chen Xinyu….
As they say, birds of a feather flock together.
“Di di di di…”
A shrill ringtone suddenly rang out.
Gu Qiancheng fished his phone from his pocket and answered, his tone even more teasing than before: “Hey, junior? How’s it going, need your senior to step in~~~”
On the other end.
Chu You glanced down at her feet—a middle-aged man, face bruised and battered beyond recognition, was shivering.
“I want to file a complaint, I want to complain about you! This is abuse of authority, blatant abuse…” the man muttered repeatedly from beneath her foot.
“Lu Ran’s father says he wants to complain about my excessive use of force…”
Chu You looked away in disgust, but twisted her foot down even harder on the man.
“Chief Gu, why don’t you explain to Director Lu exactly what your position is, and what gives you the right to arrest him?”
As Chu You spoke, she turned on the speakerphone.
At her words, Gu Qiancheng replied with an “Oh?” then chuckled—
“Jinwu Swordbearer.”
“Swordbearer Northwest Special Commander.”
“Swordbearer Northern Headquarters Dispatched Investigation Team Leader… and, Patrol Investigation Team Leader, Gu Qiancheng.”
“Want to complain, do you?”
“I’m afraid there’s no one in Nanwan Province who can handle your case. You’ll need to file it with Northern Headquarters. Would you like the email address?”