The Dark Star Bureau

Platform 96, Yuezhou East Station. Li Banfeng stepped off the train and scanned the platform meticulously from end to end. The last time he had arrived at this platform, he had been in a rush and had not had the chance to look around properly. Back then, he had not bought any food, the train had not served any either, and a deputy captain from the Dark Star Bureau had been hot on his heels, determined to shoot him dead. Today, that deputy captain was gone, but the Dark Star Bureau had still sent people. Director Shen Jingye had come, as had Security Captain Chen Changrui. Shen Jingye stepped forward first to shake his hand. "Young Li, you've had a hard journey." It was a subtle linguistic technique: with just a single phrase, he managed to project both an elder's paternal warmth and a superior's commanding authority, naturally seizing the upper hand for the conversation to follow. Li Banfeng took Shen Jingye's hand, nodding. "Young Wang, you've worked hard too." Shen Jingye froze for a moment. "My surname isn't Wang." "Then what is it?" Li Banfeng asked with earnest sincerity. Standing nearby, Tangyuan hurriedly made the introduction. "This is our Bureau Director Shen." Li Banfeng nodded. "Ah, so it's Young Shen. How are things at the bureau?" Shen Jingye thought for a beat and answered, "Quite good." "Good in what way? Let's talk specifics," Li Banfeng said. Shen Jingye paused to consider. "All right, let's take this to the car." *Wait, something isn't right.* *Why is this man so peculiar?* Even if he was a big shot in Puluo Province, now that he was in the Outer Province meeting someone of such high status, shouldn't he show at least a hint of nervousness or unease? Shouldn't he understand basic rules and courtesy? Why did his demeanor make him look like a superior arriving for an official inspection? Once they were in the executive van, Shen Jingye gave a broad overview of the Dark Star Bureau's organizational structure. After listening, Li Banfeng shook his head slightly. "Just hearing you describe it like that doesn't give me an intuitive understanding of the bureau." Shen Jingye did not quite know how to respond. "How about this: in a little while, we'll give you an on-site tour." When they arrived at the Dark Star Bureau, Li Banfeng looked up at the height of the building. It had thirty-six stories in total. Shen Jingye first escorted Li Banfeng to the exhibition hall, giving a brief introduction to the Dark Star Bureau's history. The bureau's history was actually quite short, spanning barely over a decade since its founding. Tracing the bureau's predecessors, however, proved a far more complicated matter. It had more than a dozen predecessor organizations, each with distinct duties. Shen Jingye brushed over them with a few passing remarks, clearly reluctant to let Li Banfeng learn too much. Leaving the exhibition hall, Shen Jingye led Li Banfeng on a tour through various departments. Afterward, he convened a meeting of personnel at the mid-management level and above—serving both as a welcome for Li Banfeng and as an opportunity to arrange the next phase of his work. According to past experience, no one arriving from Puluo Province could ever adapt to such a meeting. With dozens of attendees in the room, all eyes remained fixed entirely on a single person from Puluo Province. Every move, every word, every gesture under heavy scrutiny—no one could bear being stared at like that. They would either become intensely flustered or deeply resentful, or under sheer exhaustion, simply ignore the rest of the procedures and submit completely to the bureau's arrangements. Of course, there were exceptions. Xiao Zhenggong had been rather unusual; even after enduring several such meetings in succession, he had persistently chosen the post of deputy security captain. Shen Jingye had been extremely displeased, yet in the end, he had yielded to his demand. This time, Shen Jingye had learned his lesson and adjusted his strategy. First, he provided an in-depth analysis of the current situation, subtly pointing out the threats looming over Puluo Province. All of those threats originated from the Inner States, and Shen Jingye subtly made it clear that only their bureau could assist Puluo Province in resisting them. At the same time, he analyzed the situation from Li the Seventh's personal perspective. The core of his argument was that Li the Seventh's personal fate—including his businesses, his forces, and his personal safety—was entirely within their grasp. Shen Jingye's speech lasted a full thirty-eight minutes. He wanted to drive home a single truth to Li the Seventh: whether for the collective interests of Puluo Province or his own personal interests, cherishing his status as a balancer and strengthening operational cooperation was his only way forward. Li the Seventh showed neither annoyance nor anger. He listened with absolute attentiveness. Next came the turn for Li the Seventh to declare his stance. Shen Jingye had already prepared his plan: he would offer Li the Seventh several options, placing him in an idle sinecure where he could live in the Outer Province under the Dark Star Bureau's surveillance and play his required role at critical moments. That was the proper value and purpose of a balancer. He was confident Li the Seventh would not refuse his arrangement. Li Banfeng took a sip of tea and began to speak. "Young Shen, judging from the presentation materials you just delivered, you've clearly put some effort into your work. However, there are many issues and omissions in those materials, and I think it's necessary to point them out here. "Looking at the materials as a whole, there are three primary issues. The first issue encompasses five aspects..." Unlike Shen Jingye, Li the Seventh did not need to consult notes. His eyes remained fixed on Shen Jingye's expression the entire time. Shen Jingye had initially looked back with a smile, showing faint disdain and irritation, even quietly mocking Li the Seventh for overestimating himself. Fifteen minutes in, the smile faded from Shen Jingye's face. His gaze dropped to the tabletop, no longer meeting Li Banfeng's eyes directly. The groundwork had been laid smoothly. Half an hour in, Shen Jingye was sweating, shifting uncomfortably. He began to feel that listening to Li Banfeng speak with empty hands felt improper. He picked up the notebook beside him and started taking notes. At first, he merely jotted down a few casual lines, but gradually he wrote with increasing seriousness. Li Banfeng's address lasted an entire hour, and Shen Jingye's pen never stopped. Only when Li Banfeng finished speaking did Shen Jingye let out a long breath, his clothes completely soaked through with sweat. "Young Shen, is there any need to look so exhausted?" Li Banfeng took another sip of tea. "I didn't even tire myself out talking, yet just listening to me has worn you down like this?" Shen Jingye truly was exhausted. He had sat with his back rigid, leaning forward on only half the chair, listening to an hour of discourse while filling an entire notebook. Wiping away his sweat and resting a moment, Shen Jingye regained some clarity. He signaled his secretary to present a stack of forms to Li the Seventh, detailing the scopes of responsibility and compensation packages for various positions. The purpose of today's meeting was to choose a suitable role for Li the Seventh. If Shen Jingye had gotten straight to real business earlier instead of wasting words, he wouldn't have suffered so much. Li the Seventh took the forms and flipped through them casually. To him, all of these positions were the same. He had no need for a salary and cared nothing for benefits; any post would do. Shen Jingye waited for his selection. Suddenly, Li the Seventh set the papers down, looked up at him, and said, "I've decided. The director's seat looks pretty good." Shen Jingye panicked, shaking his head repeatedly. "The director position isn't an option! It isn't on the form! I'm the director, you can't seize my—" He cut himself off mid-sentence. Shen Jingye realized he had lost his composure. Li the Seventh couldn't possibly seize the director's post with a single sentence. It was clearly a joke—how had he taken it seriously? And by taking it seriously, he had thoroughly embarrassed himself. Li the Seventh sighed. "Young Shen, you certainly set great store by official titles. I never said I was going to take your seat. None of the posts on your forms really suit me. I'd like to be a deputy director—what do you think?" Shen Jingye stared blankly. "That isn't something I can decide on my own..." "Then study the matter at your leisure. Tomorrow I'm taking the train back to Puluo Province. Let me know when you reach a conclusion." Li the Seventh rose and left the conference room. Chen Changrui watched Li the Seventh's departing figure, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. He felt an uncanny sense of familiarity about that silhouette, yet because the changes were so vast, he did not dare confirm his suspicion. The others turned to look at Shen Jingye. Shen Jingye's face was dark as iron. Since he had not dismissed the meeting, no one dared to leave. *** Inside Xie Juncong's bedroom at the Ghost Hand Sect headquarters, He Jiaqing was devouring a roast chicken with ravenous speed. Xie Juncong had prepared an elaborate spread of food and wine, waiting on him with great caution. Once He Jiaqing had eaten his fill, he asked, "Where is Big Head?" "Do you mean that friend from the Outer Province?" Xie Juncong replied. "He came by last night while you were still unconscious. He said he would visit again tonight." He Jiaqing drank a pot of wine and caught his breath. "If not for him, you wouldn't have even thought to look for me, would you?" Xie Juncong didn't dare lie. "We truly had no idea you were in trouble." He Jiaqing cast a chilly glare at Xie Juncong. "Did you think Big Head knew? Did you think that if I were in trouble, I would send you a special notice? Why was Big Head the only one who thought to look for me?" Xie Juncong dared not speak further. He Jiaqing ordered the table cleared, lay down on the bed, and went back to sleep. Come evening, Big Head arrived, and He Jiaqing woke up. Upon seeing Big Head, He Jiaqing moved to perform a formal bow of gratitude, but Big Head held him back. "We are brothers. Saving you was what I ought to do." He Jiaqing sighed. "You are my true brother. Without you, my life would have been forfeit for sure. How did you know I was trapped in the Jiangxiang Gang's headquarters?" Big Head recounted his investigation. When he mentioned Xiao Zhenggong's death, He Jiaqing was thoroughly shocked. "Li the Seventh killed Xiao Zhenggong? Xiao Zhenggong was a balancer, and Li the Seventh just murdered him like that?" Big Head nodded. "The current balancer is Li the Seventh." He Jiaqing's eyes widened. "Li the Seventh became the balancer? Didn't you say the balancer must maintain ties with the Inner States?" Big Head explained, "According to the Garrison Office's investigation, Li the Seventh indeed has ties with the Inner States. When Sage Peak was wiped out, Li the Seventh rescued many people near Jianrengang." "Sage Peak was wiped out?" He Jiaqing was even more astonished. Big Head was surprised as well. "I heard from the foreign doctor Critick that you were involved in that affair too." "I was involved?" A bad premonition crept over He Jiaqing. Big Head said, "Some suspect you seized the Sage's jade seal, calling you the greatest beneficiary of that incident." "Me, the beneficiary..." The space between He Jiaqing's brows twitched violently. After a long moment spent calming himself, he asked, "What else have I supposedly taken part in recently?" Big Head shook his head. "That's all I know for now. You might have to ask that foreign doctor for the rest." He Jiaqing gathered his thoughts and asked again, "Because Li the Seventh killed Xiao Zhenggong and has ties with the Inner States, he became the balancer?" "Not directly. In between, a new balancer named Chen Weixin was appointed, but he disappeared for unknown reasons. Li the Seventh was able to secure the position mainly because of the Xuansheng Red Lotus incident." He Jiaqing was startled. "The Xuansheng Red Lotus was exposed?" "Yes. The Xuansheng Red Lotus had been hidden in the residence of the Yesong Bridge local spirit all along, and Chief Commissioner Liao uncovered it." "The Yesong Bridge local spirit?" He Jiaqing was bewildered once more. "Are you talking about the Xuansheng Red Lotus?" Big Head recounted the events at Yesong Bridge, leaving He Jiaqing entirely at a loss. *The Xuansheng Red Lotus found in the local spirit's residence could summon heavenly light and refine pills from human flesh and blood.* *Then what in the world was the Red Lotus I handed over to Li Banfeng?* *How did two Red Lotuses appear?* *The world has changed far too fast.* He Jiaqing looked at Big Head and asked, "This is Puluo Province, right?" Big Head stared back, baffled. "Where else do you think it is?" He Jiaqing replied, "Having been locked underground for so long, I feel as if I've ended up in the wrong place." "The place is certainly right, though there might be details I don't know enough about. You could ask your aunt, He Yuxiu. She was one of the eyewitnesses, and she seems to have a rather unusual relationship with Li the Seventh." "They do not have an unusual relationship!" The veins on He Jiaqing's forehead pulsed. He quickly asked Big Head, "How much longer can you stay in Puluo Province?" "Actually, it's about time for me to head back. I plan to leave Puluo Province the day after tomorrow." He Jiaqing said, "Once you're back, you must keep me informed of Li the Seventh's situation." Big Head offered a reminder: "According to Chief Commissioner Liao's latest findings, Li the Seventh and your friend Li Banfeng are not the same person." "Not the same person?" He Jiaqing chuckled. "Never mind whether they're the same person or not. Just remember one thing: Li the Seventh is extremely important to me." *** "Li the Seventh is extremely important; he must be retained. Do not fuss over petty details..." Shen Jingye received these instructions from his superiors, and the very next day, a new appointment decree arrived: Li the Seventh was officially named a deputy director of the Dark Star Bureau. The compensation for a deputy director was generous: a duplex apartment, an automobile, and since Li Banfeng lacked a mobile phone, they specially provided him with a cell phone and a satellite phone. Come evening, Li Banfeng arrived at the duplex. Taking out the gramophone Ling Miaosheng had gifted him from his suitcase, he played a record toward both the mobile phone and the satellite phone. He replayed the track over a dozen times, but the melody never changed pitch. *No hooks on the phones at all?* Li Banfeng walked through each room, yet the music maintained its pitch throughout. There were no hooks anywhere in the apartment. *The Dark Star Bureau actually didn't plant hooks here? They don't want to spy on me?* *Could something so good really be true?* Just as Li Banfeng was puzzling over the bizarre situation, the projector suddenly lit up beside him. It generated an illusory image: in the picture, Li Banfeng sat quietly on the sofa, concealing the real Li Banfeng who had been walking around carrying the gramophone. *What is this?* Li Banfeng looked at the projector in surprise. The projector replied, "Director Qi, there are others of my kind in this room." *Others of his kind.* Li Banfeng slapped his forehead. His mindset had failed to make the switch. In the Outer Province, one didn't need to hang hooks; there were devices known as surveillance cameras. The projector was acutely sensitive to camera lenses. Inside the duplex, it had detected eleven cameras in total. "Director Qi, don't speak just yet. The Outer Province's technology is strange; my peers here can actually capture sound too, and they transmit images and audio through some unknown means. "These peers don't seem to be used for shooting movies. I had better do something with them." Not a single word spoken by the projector could be picked up by the cameras, but Li Banfeng could not speak incautiously. The projector hovered in midair, casting its Wither technique upon every camera. Each camera vanished first, then reappeared in its original spot. "Director Qi, no need to worry anymore. These Outer Province peers have all become my friends. From now on, they will only transmit the images I want them to see and the sounds I want them to hear." "Do you need to stay in this room all the time?" The projector sounded thoroughly confident. "No need. These new friends are very obedient. Even if I'm not here, they know what they ought to do." This could be considered a technological showdown between Puluo Province and the Outer Province. Li Banfeng let out a sigh. Having spent so long in Puluo Province, he would still need some time to readjust to life in the Outer Province. The mobile phone rang, and Li Banfeng answered it. Brick, the security team member on duty tonight, had issued an alert: an unidentified creature had appeared in a residential building at Huayuan Residential Community on Qingzhou Road in Baiyuan District. Suspected to be a dark-energy anomaly, it had already caused one fatality, leaving sixteen other residents trapped inside the building. All security team members were ordered to report to the scene immediately. *A dark-energy anomaly?* *What kind of term is that?* *Yuezhou has things like this?* He wasn't an official member of the security team, so he was under no obligation to get involved. However, Li Banfeng decided to go take a look. He wanted to understand what a dark-energy anomaly actually was, and he also wanted to see what the Dark Star Bureau's security team was made of. Though Lightbulb had low combat prowess, he was merely a newcomer to the bureau. By Li Banfeng's estimate, the overall strength of the Dark Star Bureau's security team wouldn't fall short of the Garrison Office; it likely surpassed that of an influential clan or first-rate gang in Puluo Province. What they called a dark-energy anomaly was probably an exceptionally powerful cultivator, or an aberration on par with Madam Bagworm Moth. Could it possibly be a pureblood native of the Inner States? Only by seeing it could he know the answer. Qingzhou Road, Baiyuan District. Li Banfeng knew the area; after all, he had lived in Yuezhou for a long time. Being in the Outer Province meant adopting the Outer Province's way of life. Taking the subway to Qingzhou Road required several transfers and seemed rather far. *Why take the subway? I have a car!* *Except I don't know how to drive, and they haven't assigned me a chauffeur yet.* Li Banfeng had driven a steamroller in Lanyang Village, but driving a steamroller was hardly the same as driving an automobile. *Should I just walk? With my current speed, running there on foot is far faster than driving.* *Yet this isn't Puluo Province. Sprinting wild through city streets late at night might invite trouble.* *Take back alleys?* He hadn't been back in two years, and Yuezhou had changed considerably; he might not even recognize some of the streets. After living in Yuezhou for twenty years, Li Banfeng had never imagined that the city could ever feel so alien to him. Driving was the safer choice. *Who would know how to drive?* Driving was essentially operating machinery. For anyone versed in artisan techniques, it wouldn't be difficult. Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling. "Old Master, I'm taking my wife out for a drive." The companion dwelling snorted. "What's there to wander around for in the middle of the night? You're not going!" "The Outer Province's night scenery is quite lovely. I'd like to treat my wife to something new." As he spoke, Li Banfeng took out a small electric toy train, switched it on, placed it on the floor, and let it run. The train scoffed. "What sort of toy is this? You think you can pacify this old man with such trash?" Li Banfeng took out a second toy train, letting the two race each other inside the companion dwelling. The companion dwelling let out a deep sigh. "Ah-Qi, fooling around with you on normal days is one thing, but a matter like this is no child's play. Put this junk away; I don't want to look at it for another second." Li Banfeng brought out a third toy train. *Wuu-hoo!* All three trains blew their whistles in unison. The companion dwelling flared up in irritation. "Ah-Qi, what am I supposed to say about you? Do you really take this old man for a toddler?!" Two minutes later, Li Banfeng stepped out of the companion dwelling carrying the gramophone. The gramophone surveyed Li Banfeng's residence. "My goodness, Husband, these Outer Province apartments aren't much different from Puluo Province." "They're vastly different. This place doesn't even have a courtyard, yet the price is outrageously steep." Just as Li Banfeng carried the gramophone toward the door, the projector reminded him, "Director Qi, there are more of my peers outside." There were cameras in the hallway, in the elevator, all the way to the parking lot, and even inside Li Banfeng's car. The projector turned all these peers into friends, then hopped into the vehicle alongside Li Banfeng. The gramophone settled into the driver's seat. After studying the controls for several minutes, she said to Li Banfeng, "Husband, the machinery of the Outer Province is rather unlike Puluo Province. Your humble servant feels somewhat uncertain." Li Banfeng sat in the passenger seat, offering encouragement. "Darling wife, with your dexterous touch and clever mind, a mere automobile is well within your grasp." The gramophone used a stylus needle to start the ignition. One stylus operated the gear shift, another managed the accelerator and brake pedals, and the remaining stylus gripped the steering wheel. From the back seat, the projector cast an illusion, concealing the gramophone and projecting Li Banfeng into the driver's seat so passersby would notice nothing amiss. "Husband, your servant is going to drive now..." The gramophone sounded very nervous. "Go ahead, wife. It isn't hard at all." "Husband, your servant is driving quite slowly." "No problem. If we truly run out of time, I'll sprint the rest of the way." After driving for less than ten minutes, the gramophone was nervous no longer. "Husband, this thing is far more amusing than a train! It doesn't have to follow tracks!" "Indeed! You can drive it however you please, my wife!" "Husband, there's hardly anyone on the road ahead—your servant is going to speed up!" "Drive as fast as you like, wife." *** Huayuan Residential Community, Qingzhou Road, Baiyuan District. Though called a residential community, it actually consisted of just a single apartment building. The building was long overdue for demolition, leaving only five households who had yet to relocate—a dozen or so people in all, all trapped inside tonight. At the stairwell entrance stood a tightly rolled sleeping mat. Beside the mat lay Star, Sun Haoran. Tangyuan arrived by car. Police cordon tape had already been strung up around the complex. Seeing Star sprawled on the ground, Tangyuan moved to rush forward and rescue him, but Lightbulb held her back. Tangyuan frowned. "Why are you stopping me?" Lightbulb said, "Don't underestimate that rolled mat. It's blindingly fast—we can't even get close." Tangyuan asked, "Did you already engage it?" Lightbulb nodded. "Star and I were the first to arrive. We originally intended to wait for backup, but a resident tried to flee the building and was nearly battered to death by that mat. Star and I discussed it and decided to strike first. "Bullets don't affect that mat. I figured the best way to handle it was fire. I was going to douse the mat in oil first and have Star set it ablaze. But right after I sprayed the oil, Star failed to ignite the flame and got knocked down by the mat instead." Tangyuan looked toward Star. "Is Star still alive?" Hearing Tangyuan's voice, Star opened his eyes and shifted his pupils slightly, signaling that he was still breathing. Lightbulb told Tangyuan, "By my estimation, beyond ten meters, it won't attack proactively. Within ten meters, so long as you lie flat and play dead, it won't attack either. "If you move around within ten meters, however, it will beat you mercilessly until you're dead. Before we arrived, an elderly woman was beaten to death in the stairwell. Residents saw the body and called the police, which was why we were dispatched. "The residents are on edge right now, and there seems to be something else inside the building. They might try to rush out again. All we can do now is maintain perimeter control, keep unauthorized people from approaching the building, and wait for backup..." Lightbulb's voice grew fainter and fainter. *Creak, creak.* The sleeping mat was walking toward Lightbulb and Tangyuan. Tangyuan asked, "Didn't you say it wouldn't attack beyond ten meters?" Lightbulb nodded. "From my observations, that was the case." As the mat drew closer and closer, Tangyuan prepared to unleash a technique. Lightbulb warned, "What technique are you planning to use? Seeking Lines Between the Ink? That move doesn't distinguish friend from foe, and Star is still lying there—don't drag him down with us!" Before the words had fully landed, the sleeping mat swept horizontally, striking toward Lightbulb. Lightbulb reacted with extreme agility, sliding his feet across the ground to dodge the mat's blow. The mat whipped around to strike Tangyuan, who had no room to evade. Just as the mat was about to slam into Tangyuan's face, a dull thud echoed out, and the mat was suddenly sent flying into the distance. Tangyuan had no idea why the mat had been flung away, and Lightbulb was equally bewildered. Seeing the mat tumbled more than thirty meters away, Lightbulb quickly rushed over and hauled Star to his feet. Before the injured Star could even steady himself, the mat charged back. Lightbulb attempted to flee with Star, but the mat moved far faster, descending upon the backs of their heads. *Thump!* Another dull impact rang out. The mat went flying once more. Tangyuan looked all around. She realized this was no coincidence; someone was saving them. Standing atop the stairwell's rain canopy was a man. Tangyuan's eyes brightened. "Seventh Master!" Lightbulb felt a wave of relief. "It really is Seventh Master!" Star couldn't make sense of it. "Seventh what?" Li Banfeng looked down at the mat and said, "Keep your guard up. It's coming back again."