Top Three in Power at the Investigation Department! (10,000 Words, Please Vote!)

The appointment letter had been faxed from Headquarters to the Organization Department of the New Realm City Investigation Department.

The person who received the fax was a Section Chief Wu from the Organization Department.

At the time, he had been gossiping about Qiu Tu with a section chief from another department, discussing whether the news from over half an hour ago—that Qiu Tu had been promoted to Minister of the Political Department—was real or fake.

However, with no reliable channels, the two of them were clearly more inclined to believe it was fake.

Holding a thermos cup and taking small sips of goji berry tea, Section Chief Wu said with faint disdain, "I think Qiu Tu and Director Tang intentionally released this rumor."

"We've gotten to know Qiu Tu somewhat over this period."

"He's especially good at using schemes and manipulating public opinion."

At that point, Section Chief Wu paused. "I remember when he had just gained a foothold in the department, he used the Director and Secretary Bai's names to build momentum for himself."

"These are all tricks he uses regularly."

Sitting across from him was a rather beautiful woman.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with a palm-sized oval face and exquisite features like a carefully sculpted work of art. Her slightly upturned eyes gave her an innate seductive charm.

What made her even more captivating was the black tear mole beneath her eye. It not only gave her a touch of pitiable fragility, but also softened her aggressiveness.

If Qiu Tu had been there, he would have recognized her as Guan Xiao, the head of the Political Department's Espionage Section.

Guan Xiao was an old hand in the Political Department. She had come down from the Shelter alongside senior figures such as Yan Chen, Lai Shun, and Guan Weihua.

She had made tremendous contributions during the Political Department's preparations. She had also personally established its espionage network, working tirelessly and earning great merit.

Back when there had been a vacancy for a Political Department Deputy Minister, the two strongest candidates had been her and Section Chief Wang from the Intelligence Section.

Unexpectedly, after the two of them fought over it for so long, Qiu Tu had swooped in and taken the position.

Furthermore, she was Guan Weihua's niece, and the deputy minister in charge of her area was Zhang Jian. Unlike Section Chief Wang from the Intelligence Section, she had no need to curry favor with Qiu Tu.

Thus, whenever she met Qiu Tu, she never lacked courtesy, but neither was she particularly warm.

Now, hearing Section Chief Wu belittle Qiu Tu, Guan Xiao said resentfully, "Old Wu, you're absolutely right."

"When Wang Shun and I fought for the position of Political Department Deputy Minister, Qiu Tu used schemes to snatch it away."

She clearly still remembered the situation vividly. "At the time, Wang Shun's and my resumes and files had already been sent to City Hall."

"But who would have thought that City Hall would send them back?"

"And it wasn't just once. They sent them back twice, three times."

"After that, the Military Department and Security Department immediately started building momentum for him."

"If Qiu Tu hadn't arranged that behind the scenes, I'll blow him for three days and three nights!"

Hearing Guan Xiao's bold and uninhibited words, Section Chief Wu's gaze could not help lingering briefly on her moist flaming red lips.

"Gulp." Section Chief Wu swallowed, then hurriedly lowered his head and drank his goji berry tea.

Perhaps noticing his embarrassment, Guan Xiao crossed her right leg over her left and half-reclined on the sofa. Looking at him with a half-smile, she teased, "Old Wu, what's wrong? Your tigress at home can't even keep you in line anymore, and you still dare set your sights on me?"

Section Chief Wu waved his hands repeatedly. "Don't say nonsense, don't say nonsense. I didn't."

Guan Xiao smiled, both seductive and wicked. "I didn't think you'd dare. With that little body of yours, I'm afraid you'd die in bed."

After saying that, Guan Xiao extended a hand and inspected the manicure she had gotten for herself. Then she said casually, "Enough. Let's not talk about that killjoy Qiu Tu."

"Are you going to tell me or not? How does upper management plan to choose someone for the deputy minister position Qiu Tu left behind?"

"Is there anything I can do?"

Hearing the words of this female devil, Section Chief Wu gave a bitter smile. "My lady, how would I know? I just follow the Minister and the Director. They—"

Before he could finish, the fax machine on the desk suddenly began to hum, followed by the clacking sounds of fax printing.

Section Chief Wu stopped mid-sentence. He muttered curiously, "It's almost quitting time. Who's sending a fax?"

After saying that, he stood up and tilted his head to glance at the fax still printing.

With just one look, his expression changed sharply.

He hurriedly grabbed the bottom of the fax. The instant it finished printing, he pulled it out and began scanning it at a rapid pace.

Seeing him like that, Guan Xiao yawned and said, "If you need to work, go ahead. But before that, at least give me a straight answer. What are the chances I'll get that deputy minister position?"

"They aren't going to transfer Qiu Tu back when the time comes, are they?"

Hearing Guan Xiao's question, Section Chief Wu looked up from the fax. With a bitter smile, he looked at her and said, "The bad news is that Qiu Tu really does seem to be getting transferred back to the Political Department."

"Huh?" Guan Xiao was startled. "Transferred back to the Political Department?"

Section Chief Wu nodded, then continued with a bitter smile, "The good news is that his transfer back to the Political Department won't affect your competition for deputy minister."

"Huh?" Guan Xiao froze. She clearly did not understand what Section Chief Wu meant.

She thought for more than ten seconds before suddenly looking at him. With disbelief written all over her face, she said, "Y-you mean Qiu Tu really got promoted to Minister?!"

"How is that possible?!"

As she spoke, she sprang up from the sofa, strode to the desk, snatched the fax from Section Chief Wu's hand, and quickly read through it.

When she saw that it was an official appointment letter bearing the seal of Headquarters' Organization Department, and that it had indeed appointed Qiu Tu as Minister of the Political Department, she was completely dumbfounded.

Holding the fax, her eyes went unfocused. "It's actually real?"

"How did he do it?"

As she spoke, the dazed look in her eyes suddenly seemed to ignite with two flames called ambition.

Qiu Tu.

Qiu Tu.

There were no secrets in the Investigation Department.

Especially when information had not been sealed off immediately.

Thus, before long, every department in the Investigation Department that had not yet gotten off work learned that Qiu Tu had been promoted to Minister of the Political Department.

Most people's first reaction upon hearing the news was: Bullshit, right? Who made up this joke?

But as more and more people learned the news, and as Management Deputy Director Yu Zhengyi and Organization Department Minister Shi Youxin hurried into Yan Chen's office, everything began to seem real.

So, very quickly, every department in the Investigation Department began discussing the matter.

There were really only two questions everyone was most curious about.

The first was what exactly the Shelter was doing. Why would it slap Director Yan in the face?

Normally, in order to help the highest-ranking officer establish authority within their own department, the Shelter would try its best to support that officer in everything.

Yet this time, after Yan Chen had removed Qiu Tu from his post and transferred him elsewhere, the Shelter had promoted Qiu Tu right back up.

That was simply too unusual!

The second question was what background Qiu Tu had. Why was he able to obtain the Shelter's support?

And hadn't he been promoted far too quickly? He had risen five ranks in just a few months. Even in the Cataclysm Era, when everything was still being rebuilt, that was outrageous.

Did he have some kind of treasure that could help him get promoted?

And he had even been promoted to Minister of the Political Department!

It had to be known that among the Investigation Department's upper echelon, the Minister of the Political Department ranked fifth in status, behind only the four directors.

But in terms of power, the position ranked among the top three!

As the Investigation Department's most important intelligence, espionage, and inspection department, the Political Department possessed tremendous status and power.

Moreover, the Political Department reported directly to the Director and was not affected by the deputy directors at all. That made its status even more transcendent.

Throughout New Realm City, the Minister of the Political Department wielded terrifying power as well. Aside from the three top leaders and several deputies who controlled multiple powerful departments, the Minister of the Political Department almost crushed every other minister and department head of the same rank—except those in the Security Department.

Thus, considering power and influence together, the Minister of the Political Department generally ranked somewhere around tenth to twelfth in all of New Realm City.

He was a true Big Shot with overwhelming power!

By the time they analyzed things to that extent, most agents gossiping about the matter no longer felt jealousy.

After all, jealousy could only exist between friends and rivals on the same level. When someone surpassed you so quickly that you no longer had even the hope of catching up, it was impossible to feel jealous.

What most agents felt instead was regret!

They regretted not approaching Qiu Tu when he had been at his lowest point that day, declaring their loyalty and recommending themselves.

Adding flowers to brocade could never compare to offering charcoal in snowy weather.

Especially since Qiu Tu was famously protective of his people and generous.

Thus, not long after learning that Miao Feng from the Logistics Equipment Division and Qiu Tu's secretary, Tan Huimin, had voluntarily sided with Qiu Tu at that moment, the agents in the Investigation Department who had missed their chance were so jealous they practically stomped their feet.

They felt the two of them would surely board the promotion elevator and rocket into the sky.

Qiu Tu was not sure whether Miao Feng had boarded the promotion elevator or whether he would take off.

But he was certain that Tan Huimin had indeed boarded the promotion elevator—and she had been taking off, taking off, and taking off without stopping, remaining high in the clouds and barely coming down at all!

At first, Qiu Tu had held back somewhat. But when he discovered that Tan Huimin simply wanted to vent, he indulged the Beautiful Young Woman.

Thus, after Tan Huimin had taken off an unknown number of times and finally fallen asleep from exhaustion, Qiu Tu merely picked her up with a trace of tenderness and placed her on the bed in the lounge.

Looking at the marks all over the Beautiful Young Woman's body, Qiu Tu sighed softly. He covered her with a blanket and left the lounge.

Those marks had all been deliberately made by her. Many were in very conspicuous places.

Qiu Tu guessed that she wanted to use those obvious marks to deliberately provoke Zheng Tao.

Qiu Tu did not particularly care. Zheng Tao was his enemy, while his relationship with Tan Huimin had become very intimate.

So long as it could anger his enemy while making someone close to him happy, he was more than happy to see it happen.

With that thought, Qiu Tu went to his office, opened a drawer, took out a lollipop, and called Fang Tangtang while eating it to say that he would not be going back that night.

The lollipops had been prepared for Qiu Tu by Fang Tangtang.

According to her, smoking was bad for the body. If he craved something, he could eat a lollipop to ease the urge.

He should only smoke when he truly could not hold back anymore.

To be honest, Qiu Tu felt that tobacco probably no longer had much Side Effect on a Calamity Descendant like him. But it was still a token of Fang Tangtang's affection, so he accepted it.

After making the call, Qiu Tu returned to the lounge, held the naked Tan Huimin in his arms, and fell into a deep sleep.

He had no idea how long he slept. It seemed like several hours, yet it also seemed as though more than ten hours had passed.

Just when Qiu Tu began to feel muddleheaded from sleep.

In a daze, he seemed to arrive in an entirely new world.

It was a vast Primeval Forest, filled with countless towering trees whose branches and leaves were thick and lush.

They seemed to guard that ancient domain. Moss and vines crawled across their trunks, while the traces of time had carved deep marks into those ancient lives.

The air was filled with the scent of damp earth and fresh wood. Occasionally, a breeze would pass through, making the leaves sway and rustle as if nature itself were playing a melody.

Somehow, Qiu Tu felt that he had formed a strange connection with the forest. But whenever he tried to comprehend it closely, he could no longer find that connection.

What he could feel, however, was that his vitality and Mental Power seemed to be slowly increasing at an extremely faint rate.

If not for the precise control a Second Order Calamity Descendant possessed over every part of their body, he likely would not have noticed such a subtle change.

He did not know how long that continued.

When he woke from his sleep, he discovered that the communicator beside the bed had an unknown number of missed calls.

Qiu Tu was startled, then first looked up at the sky outside the lounge window.

He discovered that the sun was already high in the sky. It was clearly the next day.

At that moment, Qiu Tu instinctively sensed something was wrong—because although he had worked Tan Huimin hard the previous night, with the constitution of a Second Order Calamity Descendant, there was no way he should have been exhausted enough to sleep for more than ten hours.

Something else must have happened.

As he thought about it, he glanced at Tan Huimin, who was still sleeping soundly, and felt a little fortunate. Luckily, his transfer order for the promotion had not arrived yet, so he was still a deputy director in the Administrative Office—a marginal figure in an insignificant department. He was not busy at all.

If he had returned to the Political Department, never mind becoming its Minister—even if he were still Deputy Minister, his subordinates would probably have come looking for him long ago when he failed to get up so late.

If they saw him and Tan Huimin sleeping together naked, it would be a tremendous scandal!

With that thought, Qiu Tu carefully got out of bed and left the lounge with his clothes.

After putting on his uniform, Qiu Tu picked up his communicator and checked it. He discovered that all dozen-plus calls had come from Lin Zuo.

Only the earliest call, from an hour ago, had been from Qin Shuman.

A question mark slowly appeared over Qiu Tu's head. He could not understand why Lin Zuo and Qin Shuman were in such a hurry to find him.

So he sat down in his chair and called Qin Shuman back.

The moment the call connected, Qin Shuman answered.

After picking up, Qin Shuman asked urgently, "Qiu Tu? Are you all right?"

Another question mark slowly appeared over Qiu Tu's head.

He said, "What do you mean, all right? Of course I'm fine."

Only after hearing Qiu Tu's words did Qin Shuman let out a breath of relief.

She seemed especially busy that day, so she got straight to the point. "Did you sleep for a particularly long time Last Night? And then have a very strange dream? In a magnificent forest?"

Hearing Qin Shuman's words, Qiu Tu was stunned at first. Then he said, "Yes. How did you know?"

Qin Shuman took a deep breath and said, "Because every Calamity Descendant in New Realm City had that dream."

After saying that, she paused and added with particular gravity, "Or rather, it wasn't a dream! It was a summons!"

"Our consciousnesses were all summoned Last Night to the area in the Boundless Mind Sea corresponding to New Realm City!"

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Two chapters, ten thousand characters. Please vote, everyone! Love you all.