Of course, that did not mean Zhou Yi was going to spend the rest of his life as a lowly IRS Employee relying on such small sums to gain experience points.
This was a world of espionage!
If he was going to earn gray income, naturally he had to make it big!
For example, collecting taxes from terrorists or something?
That phone store from before had only suffered because its clerk had happened to run into Zhou Yi when he was looking for someone to test things on.
Now that he had discovered gray income could count toward his experience points, how could Zhou Yi possibly be satisfied with such a tiny source of income that brought in little money and might cause unnecessary trouble?
He flagged down a taxi and headed straight to the Langley City tax bureau.
The considerate system had conveniently arranged a nearby position for him, and his first day was today.
So, to be precise, Zhou Yi had merely used his ID to extort the phone store owner earlier...
But do not misunderstand. The owner had definitely evaded far more taxes than that over the years.
And although Zhou Yi had not officially started work yet, the credentials in his hand did indeed carry authority. If they truly investigated, the owner's store would be shut down outright, and he might even be fined into bankruptcy.
Do not doubt it. This was absolutely the kind of thing IRS employees could do—and often did.
How else could they have built up such a fearsome reputation?
After completing his onboarding procedures, Zhou Yi was immediately assigned a task.
Tax bureau employees could, in a sense, be divided into two types.
One handled desk work, while the other was sent into the field.
The desk workers could investigate anyone people dared to send their way, while field agents dared to investigate anyone!
And Zhou Yi's position was in field operations.
Once his onboarding was complete, Zhou Yi was assigned to a small team.
"So... Zhou, can I call you that?" Duke asked as he drove.
"Of course." Zhou Yi nodded.
"Good. Zhou, since this is your first day, I'll be responsible for introducing our work to you and helping you get familiar with the working environment and all that..."
Duke scratched his hair. Perhaps because of excessive work pressure, though he looked to be only in his thirties or forties, his hairline had nearly reached the crown of his head. He relied entirely on his long bangs to hide it.
It usually was not too noticeable, but whenever the wind blew... Duke hated the wind.
"First, we'll find you somewhere to live. Then, you wait for assignments," Duke said. "Generally speaking, there isn't much to do. Most cases are trivial little matters, so our daily lives are pretty relaxed and free."
Zhou Yi nodded and casually glanced at Duke's hair.
He did not look all that relaxed or free.
"The main thing is that those trivial matters can be exhausting. And in our line of work, we also have to worry about retaliation from certain people."
"Don't doubt it. Some people are just crazy enough to attack government employees. When that happens, don't hesitate. If you suspect they have a gun, we can open fire in self-defense." Duke began imparting his experience with the ways of "freedom" to Zhou Yi.
"Oh... I see." Zhou Yi nodded knowingly.
"Oh, right. Your gun permit is being processed and should be approved tomorrow. We have a dedicated training range, so you can go shoot for fun when you have time. As for your assigned firearm, it will be issued together with your permit."
Duke said, "Before that, follow me around and get familiar with our future work... But before that, let's find you somewhere you can stay."
Zhou Yi listened casually without paying much attention.
The two of them were not from the same world to begin with. Zhou Yi had not come here to obediently serve as some minor tax bureau employee. He was here to do great things.
Thus, only a little over ten days later, Zhou Yi was promoted after successfully capturing a drug dealer and collecting a large amount of fines and taxes from him.
That was right. The IRS also had the authority to collect taxes on illegal income from drug trafficking, and naturally the taxes were far higher than those on legitimate income!
This was one of the legendary aspects of the IRS. Once, there had been a major drug lord in Chicago. The FBI could do nothing to him because there was no evidence. Yet after an internal IRS review, they discovered that they had not received any tax payments from him?
He was not paying taxes? Brothers, get him!
So the IRS sent an agent to go undercover beside the drug lord. After gathering sufficient evidence, they arrested him for "tax evasion" and fined away nearly all of his assets!
That was a legend of the past.
Not long after, after cracking several major "tax evasion" cases in a row, Zhou Yi became another IRS legend!
By then, it had nearly been a year since Zhou Yi first arrived in this world.
Today, nearly a year later, inside an office.
"Vacation?" Zhou Yi's superior, Chris, asked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Zhou Yi said. "My long-term efforts in fighting criminals have left me in a prolonged state of mental tension. The psychological pressure is too great. I suspect that if this continues, I may develop psychological problems, so I need some relaxation therapy."
"Mental tension? Excessive psychological pressure?" Chris looked utterly bewildered.
"Mm... Is there something wrong with that reason?"
"Is this excessive psychological pressure because your affair with five female coworkers at headquarters was exposed, or because you used that drug dealer's money to stay at Dubai's most luxurious hotel for a month?"
"Or was it because we went to watch a Hollywood movie and saw that you were in it—and even stole the lead actor's spotlight?"
"Uh..." Zhou Yi's mouth twitched, though he did not look embarrassed in the slightest. "All of it, I guess..."
"Forget it." Chris shook his head helplessly. "I don't know what you're planning this time, but Zhou, please restrain yourself a little. Everything you've done has been within the permitted limits, but I don't want to see the day you cross the line and I have to bail you out."
"When I do things, you can rest assured." Zhou Yi raised his brows. "Besides, even if I did commit a crime, who could catch me?"
"That is true." Chris nodded, then leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "I heard you slept with a beautiful FBI agent last time? How was it? What did it feel like?"
"..." Zhou Yi thought carefully for a long while and remained silent.
"What, was she no good? That shouldn't be possible."
"No. I was just wondering which one you were talking about."
There were only four days left until the exam. I'm so panicked...
Before you continue