Greed

Back when Qiu Tu had come over earlier, Fang Ming had already noticed A Tai. After all, in a cataclysmic world where the average height hovered around one meter sixty or seventy, the one-meter-ninety A Tai stood out like a crane among chickens. Combined with his hulking, barrel-chested build, it was difficult not to notice him. So hearing Qiu Tu say that, Fang Ming looked A Tai up and down, an interested expression showing on his face. Yet he did not say much, merely nodding. "Fine. Leave three or four behind to help maintain order." Hearing Fang Ming's response, Qiu Tu looked at the group of temporary agents, considered briefly, and called out names: "A Kun, Houzi, A Shui. You three stay with A Tai to maintain order here." "The rest of you head back to the security post first." With that, Qiu Tu shot a subtle look at the hook-nosed man standing beside A Tai. The hook-nosed man gave an imperceptible nod, then led the remaining temporary agents away from the scene. Having sorted out A Tai, Qiu Tu and Fang Ming escorted Qin Shuman back to the inner-city villa together, while the other Special Service Department agents remained on standby at the scene, keeping order while waiting for personnel from the Political Department to arrive. On the way back, Qin Shuman sat in the back of the dilapidated sedan, Fang Ming sat in the front passenger seat, and Qiu Tu drove. Back then, his predecessor had managed to flatter Yan Chen and secure a post as an agent precisely because driving skills were rare in a zone pending planning. And for Qiu Tu, who had transmigrated from the modern era, driving was naturally second nature. Watching Qiu Tu drive with smooth stability, Fang Ming asked curiously, "Agent Qiu, your driving skills are quite impressive. Does everyone in your Administrative Office have skills like this?" Hearing Fang Ming's question, Qiu Tu glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled. "Doesn't the Administrative Office just handle logistics for all the other departments? You have to pick up a grab bag of miscellaneous skills. "Unlike you folks in the Special Service Department—great benefits, top gear, tremendous authority. All you need to do is focus on training without worrying about anything else." At this point, he sighed with feigned longing. "Everyone across the other departments is deeply envious of you, and everyone would love to transfer over." Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Fang Ming gave an affirmative grunt without modesty. Though Qiu Tu's words carried a touch of flattery, they were the plain truth. As one of the Investigation Bureau's two ace divisions, the Special Service Department was indeed the department every agent dreamed of joining. However, the threshold for entering the Special Service Department was exceptionally high. Even now in its formative stage, it demanded physical fitness far exceeding ordinary people in the cataclysmic world. An average agent had no hope of joining. Thinking of this, A Tai's hulking, muscular frame suddenly sprang to Fang Ming's mind. His heart stirred, and he probed tentatively, "Agent Qiu, that A Tai..." Seeing Fang Ming take the bait, the corners of Qiu Tu's mouth curled slightly. Without letting anything show on his face, he followed his plan and introduced A Tai with a mix of truth and fabrication: "Oh, A Tai? He's my distant cousin. Ever since we were kids, he's been bold and eager to fight, very forthright, but he's just missing a screw in the head. "Back when Xinjie City was still a Cataclysm Zone, he joined a gang and got blood on his hands. "Later, when Xinjie City was slated to be established, the Military Department moved in ahead of time to wipe out underground syndicates. His gang was eradicated, and because he resisted the Military Department, he was blacklisted. He was on the run, hiding here and there all the way until Xinjie City was founded. "So later, when the director recruited agents to form the Investigation Bureau, he couldn't participate in the selection. "His parents looked after me when I was young, so after I became an agent and he came seeking my help, I couldn't bring myself to turn him away. I pulled some strings to get his criminal record scrubbed and introduced him to Jiuxiang Street to work as a temporary agent. "He might be a bit rough and dim, but he knows how to repay kindness. That's why when he heard I was ambushed today, he rushed over with his colleagues without a second thought." In a few short sentences, Qiu Tu laid out A Tai's history and personality, giving Fang Ming a solid impression. Yet Fang Ming said nothing further, acting as though he had merely asked in passing. Driving along, Qiu Tu glanced at Fang Ming out of the corner of his eye. Seeing Fang Ming lost in thought, Qiu Tu knew things were almost certainly in the bag. The reason he had steered the conversation toward the Special Service Department was precisely to bait Fang Ming. As a Rank 1 Agent of the Special Service Department, Fang Ming held recommendation rights, allowing him to recommend ordinary agents into the department. Agents brought in through this channel would naturally bear their recommender's label, becoming direct subordinates. Therefore, while the Special Service Department was not yet fully staffed, team leaders did everything they could to scout talent and recruit them into their own factions. Thus, Qiu Tu had deliberately paraded A Tai before Fang Ming and casually guided the topic toward joining the Special Service Department—all to lure Fang Ming in. Once Fang Ming took the bait and recommended A Tai into the Special Service Department, it would be equivalent to Qiu Tu driving a nail into the Investigation Bureau's most formidable department, making many future maneuvers vastly easier. His past life in a fraud syndicate had taught Qiu Tu that greed was humanity's greatest original sin, and properly exploiting an enemy's greed was the most potent weapon in the world. It was true for Fang Ming, and tonight, it would be true for Yan Chen as well. Xinjie City had been designated as a zone pending planning for only a brief year. Everything was waiting to be rebuilt, and many areas lay in ruins. But that did not include the district of the rich and powerful. Long before, when the Military Department arrived early to purge the underground forces in Xinjie City, the future mid- and high-level administrators had already dispatched people to build their residences here. Thus, when Qiu Tu drove up to Yan Chen's urban villa, what met his eyes was an expansive estate garden. Within the garden grew an artful arrangement of rare mutated flora: mutated noble dendrobiums, mutated zephyranthes lilies, and mutated cinerarias blooming in vibrant competition, their fragrance saturating the air like a living oil painting. On either side of the winding path stood neatly trimmed hedges. The golden glow of the setting sun spilled over the path, breathtakingly beautiful. Looking through the rearview mirror at the crumbling, dilapidated tenements and potholed streets left behind, Qiu Tu felt as if he were gazing at two entirely different worlds. Passing through the garden gates under the scrutinizing gazes of the Security Section guards at the gatehouse, Qiu Tu drove the car all the way to the villa entrance. Arriving at the entrance, Fang Ming stepped out first to open the door for Qin Shuman. But Qin Shuman hesitated, reluctant to get out. Seeing her like this, Qiu Tu fell silent for a moment before offering pointed reassurance: "Miss Shuman, don't worry. The director won't be angry with you just for sneaking out to have some fun. "Tonight, I'll explain everything properly to him." Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Qin Shuman froze for an instant. Then, as if grasping his meaning, she let out a sigh of relief, gathered her skirts, stepped lightly onto the ground, and exited the car with her head down. Watching Qin Shuman and Fang Ming walk step by step into the pitch-dark maw of the villa, Qiu Tu's gaze turned profound, without a single ripple of emotion. He then drove around to the backyard. After handing the car over to a servant, he too walked into the villa. [2:53:51] Three hours flew by in an instant. At 18:15 that evening, a soft knock sounded on the door of the reception room where Qiu Tu was resting. Qiu Tu opened the door to find a dark-skinned maid in her thirties with a waist like a water barrel standing outside. Seeing her, Qiu Tu's eyes flickered slightly. For she was Qin Shuman's personal maid, and the key witness who would accuse him of having an affair with Qin Shuman: Cui Lan. "Agent Qiu, the director requests your presence." Hearing Cui Lan's words, Qiu Tu's face remained as calm as a placid lake. He glanced at the countdown in the upper left of his vision. [00:18] He had to admit, this cheat was remarkably precise. When it said five hours, it truly meant five hours. Thinking this, he took a quiet, deep breath, adjusted the collar of his uniform slightly, and said in a low voice, "Lead the way." Cui Lan nodded with outward deference, but as she turned to lead the way, she could not suppress the gloating smirk playing at the corners of her lips. Qiu Tu caught her shifting expression clearly, yet said nothing. His gaze merely deepened.