Federal Bureau of Investigation

Selina raised her head and looked at He Ao, who had picked up the handgun, in confusion.

But He Ao was looking behind Selina.

A corpse still dripping blood collapsed onto the hotel floor. His eyes were wide open, and he clutched a small pistol tightly in his hand. A tiny bullet hole showed between his brows.

The bullet had entered through his forehead, pierced through the back of his skull, and blown away half his head.

A single shot to the head, without the slightest hesitation.

He had actually wanted to appear calmer, but that did not fit the image of a rookie investigator killing someone for the first time. So he could only try to look a little blank, like a rookie whose body had reacted on instinct in an emergency.

Of course, firearms proficiency was not He Ao's ability. It was Ander's talent.

Ander himself had considerable talent with firearms, which was why he had been transferred to serve as Selina's assistant. Over the past half hour, He Ao had been adapting to Ander's body and habits.

Selina gave He Ao a somewhat shocked look. She had only brought this rookie along to let him "see the world," but she had not expected He Ao to give her such an unexpected surprise.

He Ao kept his gaze blank as he looked toward the Silver Suit subordinates holding guns.

Those people had never put down their weapons from the beginning. He Ao did not know why Selina had not acted against them, but as long as they kept their guns raised, they remained a threat.

Under He Ao's gaze, they slowly lowered their weapons, held their heads, and crouched down.

Though Selina was experienced, she would not kill people. This young-looking fool, on the other hand, truly would.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation had the authority to shoot dead anyone who resisted during an operation.

It was not that these people did not know fear. They simply had something to rely on.

Bang--

The suite door was violently smashed open, and police officers in black uniforms filed in. "Dawn City Police Department! Everyone, hold your heads and crouch down immediately!"

--

After half an hour of hassle, He Ao and Selina finally left the hotel.

The muscular man in the tank top and his surviving subordinates were taken away by agents who had arrived from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, while the Silver Suit group was taken away by the Dawn City police.

He Ao and Selina sat side by side in the back seat of a Federal Bureau of Investigation vehicle, sinking into a brief silence.

He Ao still had to keep pretending to be a rookie who had just killed someone.

He knew what someone should feel the first time they killed. First came a deep sense of loss, an empty feeling of something falling away, followed by fear and terror. If that terror reached its peak, it could even trigger physical reactions such as nausea and vomiting.

As a trained Federal Bureau of Investigation trainee investigator, Ander naturally could not have too strong a physical reaction, but there still needed to be a faint sense of emptiness and fear.

He Ao had never received professional acting training, but he understood the feeling of killing someone for the first time, so his performance was fairly convincing.

"Your mental fortitude is even better than I imagined," Selina said after thinking for a moment. She patted He Ao on the shoulder and smiled. "It's okay."

As his commander, she needed to pay attention to He Ao's mental state, and among rookies, his performance was already very good.

With a light turn of her hand, a small glass vial containing pale green liquid appeared in her palm. It was the item the two groups had been trading just now. "Do you know what this is?"

He Ao shook his head.

"IB-Ⅱ. A highly addictive hallucinogen. Everyone who injects it becomes crazily obsessed with it, even to the point of losing their fortune and destroying their family."

Selina looked out the window. The vehicle seemed to be passing a small park full of mechanical toys, where young children played beside the toys. "If this stuff spreads into Dawn City, countless children will lose their parents and families and be left homeless. Many, many people will die unnatural deaths. So you did not kill one person. You saved countless families."

At the end, Selina turned back and looked He Ao in the eyes, speaking each word clearly. "Therefore, what you did was justice."

"Justice?"

He Ao savored the word.

He turned toward the window on his side. Across from the mechanical park where the children played stood an old building. Beneath it, in a corner of the street, several disheveled Homeless Men sat before triangular tents, biting into cold bread as they watched the children playing in the park.

Above their heads, a huge display was embedded in the middle of the building.

The display seemed to be airing some sort of program.

A host wearing a neat white shirt and a black silk hip-hugging skirt, with exquisite makeup, sat upright on a pink sofa and looked into the camera.

"Viewers, welcome to today's fifteen-minute program. Our guest today is Mr. Christos, the most popular candidate in this mayoral election."

The camera switched to the other side. A silver-haired man in a neat white suit appeared on the display. He was tall, handsome, and looked dependable. "Hello, everyone. I'm very happy to have been invited to Fifteen Minutes today to explain my campaign platform. If I become mayor, I will implement universal medical insurance, raise taxes on conglomerates, create more jobs..."

The Homeless Men beneath the building seemed to hear the speech on television, and they raised their heads to look at the screen.

"Mr. Christos, sorry to interrupt, but this is an interview program, not your live campaign speech."

The host hurriedly interrupted Christos.

"Oh, oh, oh, that's wonderful. I thought Fifteen Minutes meant I had to prepare a fifteen-minute speech. I even prepared a fifteen-minute speech draft." Christos somehow produced a thick stack of speech papers, folded them, and tucked them into his pocket.

"To make up fifteen minutes, I even added a few jokes. Now it seems I don't need to fill fifteen minutes after all. That really is good news..."

He Ao could no longer hear the rest, because the vehicle he was riding in had already moved away from the television broadcasting the program. It turned into a narrow street and finally stopped in front of a somewhat secluded building.

"Come on, let's take a look at your new office." Selina led He Ao through the main entrance and toward the elevator.

"This entire building belongs to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but at present, only floors forty through sixty-nine, as well as basement levels one through three, are used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The rest has been rented out to subsidize the budget."

Selina lit up the button for the fifty-second floor and smiled at He Ao.

"Rented out?"

He Ao thought about it. The aboveground portion of the building looked to have at least a hundred floors, but only thirty were actually in use. It seemed most of it had been rented out.

"Yes, and not cheaply either." Selina smiled. "Some chain hotels, apartments, and businesses are very happy to stay with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We give them a strong sense of security."

Ding--

As they spoke, the elevator reached the fifty-second floor. The entire ascent had taken less than two minutes, smooth and quiet.

As the elevator doors opened automatically, a series of small cubicles divided by frosted glass came into He Ao's view.

"The fifty-second floor is home to the Criminal Investigation Division." Selina led He Ao past the entrances to the cubicles. Some doors were slightly open, while others were tightly shut. Everyone inside was busy, and few looked up to notice the two of them. Finally, they stopped before a cubicle in a corner.

A sheet of white paper was taped to the cubicle door with transparent tape. It read: [Criminal Investigation Team Two]

Selina pressed her hand against the cubicle door. With a soft creak--, the lock opened, and Selina pushed the door open and walked inside.

"Criminal Investigation Team Two is a newly established team. Although we're on the fifty-second floor, we aren't under the Criminal Investigation Division. We're under the Wilderness Field Operations Division. Our supervisor is a bald man named Smith. Um... you'll see him soon enough."

The cubicle was furnished very simply: two desks, two chairs, and two ultra-thin displays.

"For now, Criminal Investigation Team Two consists of only the two of us." Selina casually closed the door and leaned against a desk. "Although you began interning at the Federal Bureau of Investigation a long time ago and should already understand our duties, I still need to explain them to you.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's main responsibility is investigating cases involving the wilderness or multiple cities. Cases within the city that do not involve other cities fall under the Dawn City Police Department's jurisdiction. Of course, there are sometimes overlaps, and we work together to resolve them.

For example, the two groups we just arrested: that big idiot was a wilderness drifter, so he was our responsibility. The ones in Silver Suits were members of the local Money Rat Gang, so they were the Dawn City Police Department's responsibility. Sometimes, when the police department cannot solve a problem, they also come to us for help."

She looked at the still somewhat confused He Ao and smiled. "The Federation's system is just this troublesome. You'll understand it gradually. Let's talk about something happier."

She took out a silver bracelet and handed it to He Ao. "While you were unconscious, I already connected your bracelet to the Dawn City Federal Bureau of Investigation system.

I don't know how it worked in the city you came from, but here in Dawn City, salaries are paid weekly. Your weekly salary is eight hundred Federal currency, and the previous week's salary will be deposited into your account every Wednesday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has purchased full social insurance and commercial medical insurance for you..."

Selina was still speaking when the display on the desk suddenly lit up, revealing a balding middle-aged man.

"Selina, some bad news. A dangerous guy may have slipped into Dawn City."

"Who?"

Selina stopped speaking and looked at the display.

"Mu Xiu, priest of the God of Chaos. An Evil God priest who possesses reason."

Smith said calmly.