A New Mission

Lin Zhiyan said, "Xu Fang, hand out the documents to everyone." "Yes." A middle-aged woman stood up and distributed the prepared files to everyone present. Lu Zhao and the others noticed that the members of the special investigation team appeared to have been completely replaced; not a single face was familiar. Lu Zhao didn't dwell on it. None of them had been familiar to him anyway. He picked up the file—this was his first time actually seeing documents from the special investigation team. Before, he had only heard things through Zhang Like, always having to wait until Zhang finished a meeting to brief him. And Old Zhang was fairly sloppy with his work, only ever skimming files for a general gist. [Thunder 021] Aided by his powerful psychic power, it took him only ten seconds to read each page and commit its contents to memory. Old Zhang had already explained the origin of the case to him. The excavation of an ancient tomb had yielded a massive quantity of Fate Bones; having no precedent for such a discovery, authorities were caught off guard, allowing the Fate Bones to be intercepted by Greenwood bandits, who were now scattered on the run. Now, as one criminal after another was captured, more details were coming to light. The reality was that a gang of grave robbers calling themselves Mojin Xiaowei had used some method to locate the Ming dynasty Jingjiang King Tomb. They had then assumed official archaeological identities to excavate it and made off with the Fate Bones inside. A dispute over dividing the spoils triggered infighting, which in turn drew the police. Nanhai Circuit had responded with great speed, quickly locking down the area that very night and cutting off any possibility of the robbers using public transit to relocate quickly. They also deployed numerous special investigation teams—conducting relentless round-the-clock pursuit on one hand, while marshaling forces across the border regions to impose martial law on the other. Every move and firefight cost the bandits immense resources and energy, and the daily metabolic rate of superhumans made it impossible for them to simply lie motionless in the shadows. Frequent visits to public places inevitably heightened their risk of exposure, whereas deep mountain forests lacked enough calories to sustain their metabolism. As long as they were kept within the borders, discovery was only a matter of time. Even if stragglers managed to reach the border, they would end up just like the fugitive Lu Zhao had shot dead earlier—tormented into walking corpses, neither human nor ghost. The bandits could also try stalling until the security forces of Nanhai Circuit grew exhausted. However, trying to outlast the only state apparatus in the world still functioning normally was plainly a fool's dream. Currently, Nanhai Circuit held the upper hand; many of the robbers had been killed, arrested, or had surrendered. Now, the mission of the special investigation team and Lu Zhao was to guard the border, killing or capturing any stragglers slipping through the net. Lu Zhao reached the final page of the report. In the Sanjiang region across the border, an informant reported that some had already fled abroad. At the same time, last night, one bandit had confirmedly slipped into the territory of Fangshi to hide. Male, 1.7 meters tall, gunshot wound to the leg, with an attached portrait. Having finished reading, Lu Zhao set the report down. Lin Zhiyan did not wait to see if the others had finished. Resting her chin on her hands, she said, "Our task going forward is to intercept the stragglers. There won't be many, and most of them are wounded. "The problem is tracking them down. We have to find one person in a city of three million, or within dozens of square kilometers of dense mountain forest." Lu Zhao asked, "What was the deal with those people from before?" "Sent by Greenwood to sow chaos in the border region, hoping to rip open a breach so more robbers could escape." Lin Zhiyan disclosed information not written in the report. "Right now, a gap in border defense has already opened up over by Linchen City." Lu Zhao frowned. "We won't be able to hold the line either. The targets are too small, and we lack effective surveillance measures." If technology were a decade or two further along, with widespread surveillance cameras and a Skynet-like network established, it would be another story. Yet computers had only recently become common, and surveillance cameras were few and far between. Ant Ridge had no Great Wall either; for a superhuman, slipping across the border was child's play. Lin Zhiyan said, "My divine power is suited for finding people. Besides, higher-ups have placed no hard quota on intercepting them: failing to stop them won't bring blame, but stopping them earns merit." Lu Zhao glanced sideways slightly, while Zhang Like and the others also wore surprised expressions. A mission this cushy? Border defense had always been thankless work—doing the bitterest, most exhausting chores only to receive reprimands from superiors. Considering Lin Zhiyan's background, everyone felt a wave of understanding. Highborn nobles truly lived in a different world; coming out on an assignment was like child's play to her, and they could just tag along to sip some broth. Zhang Like and the others visibly relaxed. Only Lu Zhao remained solemn. He asked again, "Then who carries out the duty of tracking and intercepting? The Fangshi police, or our border defense station? "If it's Fangshi, our border defense station only needs to perform our regular duties." Lin Zhiyan answered, "In theory, it's a division of labor: tracking them down is left to the Fangshi police. After all, it's their jurisdiction, so carrying out the work is straightforward." She paused slightly and let out a soft sigh. "But in my opinion, if we leave it to them, there's a high probability they won't find a thing." Over the past week, Lin Zhiyan had inspected various municipal departments in Fangshi, and based on the results, she judged that relying on them would never turn up the bandit. It wasn't due to the personnel's competence. Even if certain Federation units drew salaries while neglecting their duties, they were still sustained by ample quotas of life supplements; the quantity and quality of their superhumans far exceeded anything among the civilian populace. Lu Zhao recognized this as well, a trace of puzzlement showing between his brows. He sensed subtext in Lin Zhiyan's words: the local authorities were not cooperating with the special investigation team. Yet this was an opportunity. As long as he could extend his reach into the city proper—even just the Foreign District—it would be enough to doom Lü Jinshan beyond redemption. Lu Zhao was leaving in September; this was his only chance to put Lü Jinshan behind bars. "Our border defense station can provide assistance." The moment those words were spoken, everyone present showed startled expressions. Hunting down criminals was clearly outside their scope of duties, not to mention outside their expertise. Zhang Like said, "Old Lu, we still have flood-prevention work to do. Besides, professional tasks should be left to professionals." He worried Lu Zhao was taking too big a stride and would tear something. Chen Hongtao also objected, "By regulation, we have no authority to enter the city for searches and arrests. Even if we go in, we have to accompany the Fangshi police." Ignoring their voices, Lin Zhiyan said, "Under Article Three of the Nanhai Special Public Security Law, the special investigation team possesses the authority to conduct searches, closures, seizures, and technical investigations in any jurisdiction within Nanhai Circuit." Then she looked at Lu Zhao with keen interest, her tone shifting. "However, I cannot delegate that to you. Your rank is insufficient; you need to be at least a field officer." Lu Zhao did not feel offended; if anything, his impression of Lin Zhiyan improved even further. She adhered to the rules. Team Leader Lin seemed quite fond of plot twists, adding, "However, I need your station's assistance in the investigation. Staff Officer Lu may assist from the sidelines." At this moment, even Zhang Like faintly sensed that something was off. An investigative capture mission needing help from a border defense station? Although they weren't a regular legion, they were still an armed force modeled on the military, equipped with all sorts of heavy firepower. In ordinary times, at most they would be called upon for counter-terrorism; since when were they asked to enter the city to help round up suspects? Were all the other departments dead?