The Unmoving Slack-Fish Among Us

"No need for formalities."

Seeing that Chen Fu seemed about to stand and salute, Lan Yan pressed down lightly with his right hand. Chen Fu's butt had just left the bed when it was forced back down, making Le Yu's eyelids twitch violently.

Although there had only been the faintest trace, Le Yu clearly saw a flash of light across Chen Fu's shoulder. Evidently, Lan Yan had pinned Chen Fu down with a weak long-distance light burst!

Dragon-Grasping Crane-Control was nothing miraculous to an Awakened. Setting aside long-range killing techniques like Sword-Wielding Combat Arts, even ordinary people could occasionally "call things over" in daily life. With a casual gesture, they could summon everyday objects into their hands.

However, this sort of object control usually had a short range, at most two or three meters, and was always accompanied by extremely flashy special effects. Lan Yan's casual long-distance touch across three meters had displayed his solid fundamentals and Spiritual Cultivation to the fullest.

Simply put, he was an expert at showing off.

"We're off the clock, so don't worry about the Department's formalities while we're outside. During work, we're superiors and subordinates. After work, I'm just a visitor here to see a patient." Lan Yan walked over and sat in the chair beside them. He picked up an apple from the fruit basket. "Captain Qian, would you like an apple? I used to peel apples all the time. I'd say I was pretty good at it."

"I would. Sorry for the trouble, Director," Le Yu hurriedly said.

"Haha, thank you, Captain Qian, for giving me a chance to show off." Lan Yan seemed quite pleased as he gently began peeling the apple. "To be honest, my hands have been itching to do this, but I don't actually like eating apples, so hardly anyone knows about this special skill of mine..."

If you don't like eating apples, why did you learn to peel them...? Le Yu secretly grumbled, but aloud he teased, "How could ordinary people possibly be worthy of eating an apple peeled by you, Director?"

"So, Captain, does that mean you've turned misfortune into fortune this time?" Chen Fu asked with a smile.

Lan Yan shook his head as he peeled the apple. "You're still being too formal... But that's my fault. I was the one who addressed you by your positions first, making you think I'd come on official business."

He paused. "I actually wanted to address you by name, but although I'm a little older than you, we aren't two generations apart. Calling you by name would make it seem as if I were looking down on you—don't get excited. I know that's not what you mean. But my family has strict rules, and I've long since grown accustomed to observing these little courtesies in social interactions."

Lan Yan shrugged and smiled bitterly. "Though now that I think about it, these rules seem to have driven everyone else a thousand miles away from me."

Chen Fu could not help saying, "If you don't mind, Director, you can call me Chen Fu or Little Fu. That's what all my friends call me."

"Then you needn't call me Director either. Just call me Brother Lan." Lan Yan looked at Le Yu. "I'll call you Yuliu. I hope Captain Qian doesn't mind."

"Not at all. I think Yuliu sounds much better than Captain Qian." Le Yu smiled. "I'm just worried that if I get used to calling you Brother Lan, and accidentally do so in the Statistics Department, people might think you're my backer."

"As long as you and Little Fu serve the Statistics Department faithfully and responsibly, I, Lan Yan, will be your greatest backer in the Statistics Department!" Lan Yan declared firmly. "As long as I, Lan Yan, am here, you'll be able to display your talents in the Statistics Department. No one will be able to frame or suppress you!"

So he came to recruit us...? Le Yu and Chen Fu could not help exchanging a glance.

The word "recruit" was somewhat ambiguous. After all, they were already Lan Yan's subordinates, and obeying his orders was only natural. However, after Li Shijie of Team Five was arrested, the newly promoted captain of Team Five became Deputy Director Kui Zhao's subordinate. Combined with the fact that Team Three's captain, Yin Guyue, was also close to Kui Zhao, Kui Zhao could suddenly command half of the Statistics Department's combat strength.

Le Yu did not understand these struggles among the upper levels, but the Statistics Department was now practically the Gestapo of Star Engraving Prefecture, the true ruler of Star Engraving Prefecture. Prefect Ding Yi definitely would not be willing to let Lan Yan monopolize power. Kui Zhao's rise to power was probably a strategy to divide that power.

Under these circumstances, it was perfectly normal for Lan Yan to come and build a relationship with Qian Yuliu and the others from Team One. At that thought, Le Yu's heart stirred slightly. Although Qian Yuliu was the captain of Team One, he had always been an "executor" and had never been able to enter the true "decision-making circle." If he pledged his loyalty to Lan Yan now, might he have a chance to become Lan Yan's trusted aide?

Le Yu coughed and cupped his fists. "Yuliu is willing to devote himself to the Statistics Department until his dying breath. I will never let Brother Lan down!"

Chen Fu also cupped his fists. "Me too!"

"I'll remember this." Lan Yan lightly struck his chest and gave them a simple return salute. "To reward Team One for its accomplishments, I've already applied to Prefect Ding to grant military ranks to all of your team members, on par with the Coastal Army. The various benefits and second salary go without saying. If you can achieve more merits, I'll do my best to secure opportunities for you to train and spar in the military camps."

"Unless something unexpected happens, ordinary agents will receive the rank of Junior Seaman, Little Fu, you'll be a Senior Seaman, and Yuliu will be a Coastal Lieutenant."

Chen Fu froze for a moment before erupting with delight. "Thank you, Director... Thank you for your support, Brother Lan. From now on, I'll have no objections whatsoever. I'll do whatever you command!"

Lan Yan's attempt to win them over was not merely empty promises. Since Chen Fu and Le Yu had pledged their loyalty, he immediately threw out a heavyweight bomb—military ranks!

This world had no saying like "a good man shouldn't become a soldier, and good iron shouldn't become a nail." On the contrary, because the barbarians from all four directions constantly invaded the borders, the local armies of the eight governing regions had to remain stationed at the frontier to repel them. The importance of the military was self-evident. Combined with the prevailing martial spirit, soldiers naturally enjoyed a steadily rising status.

Military ranks were divided into five levels—"generals, colonels, officers, specialists, and soldiers." "Soldiers" and "specialists" were further divided into four grades each: second-class private, first-class private, senior private, and private first sergeant; assistant specialist, deputy specialist, full specialist, and senior specialist. The "Senior Seaman" rank Chen Fu would receive was level eight. However, specialists and soldiers were merely low-level executors in the military. Regardless of whether they were level one or level eight, soldiers' treatment did not change.

But once someone became an officer, everything was different. Even the lowest-ranking assistant officer possessed the qualifications to participate in military decisions, and even the authority to mobilize the Judicial Department and military without permission. Others might not necessarily obey, but they might not necessarily refuse either.

The Coastal Lieutenant rank Le Yu would receive was a level-nine mid-ranking officer. Aside from the practical benefits, the Radiant People had always placed great importance on military experience. Having once served as an officer or above was an honor that brought glory to one's ancestors, especially for ordinary families.

Just look at Chen Fu's current expression, his eyes shining as if he wanted to kneel down and lick Lan Yan's boots, and it was obvious that he had been completely hooked by Lan Yan's bait. He was certainly delighted to receive the rank of Senior Seaman, but Le Yu had become a mid-ranking officer, a Coastal Lieutenant. How could a man who cared so much about his dignity not be consumed by envy?

Compared with the military ranks, Le Yu was more interested in the "military camp sparring" Lan Yan had mentioned.

Aside from playing cards, he had spent the past few days making a rough investigation into this world's average level of martial strength. He was shocked to discover that the "Basic Eight-Grain Flow Bite Combat Arts" on his system panel already counted as solid mid-tier strength among martial artists, at the Entry Level. One step beyond that were the combat arts instructors at Star Engraving Military Academy who had reached the "Mastery" realm.

As for martial artists in the higher Pinnacle Realm, Le Yu only knew that they existed in the military camps. They were extremely difficult to encounter in the cities.

But whether it was the "Perfected (Intermediate)" realm or the "Pinnacle Realm (Advanced)," neither was a level Le Yu could reach through his own efforts.

It was not merely because his talent was insufficient. Even the exceptionally gifted Qian Yuliu had stopped at the basic realm. In truth, that was because the basic realm was the limit of cultivation.

To use esports as an analogy, the highest rank a player could reach by fighting bots was Silver. As for higher ranks, they could no longer be achieved by fighting bots—or cultivating. To improve, one had to participate in ranked matches and compete alongside players of higher ranks.

Combat arts were the same. To raise one's combat arts beyond the intermediate level, one had to fight countless experts. Only through the experience gained from real combat could a martial artist reshape the combat arts into their own form, giving the combat arts life rather than giving life to the combat arts.

Therefore, the intermediate-level combat-arts experts Le Yu had encountered were either former soldiers, like Kui Zhao and Mu Feihong, or from the Royal Academy, like Li Shijie. As for "military camp sparring," it was an activity in which military martial artists engaged in chaotic group sparring, using a large number of battles to nurture batches of high-level martial artists.

Thinking about it carefully, Le Yu felt secretly alarmed.

The sparring and military ranks had hit Chen Fu and Qian Yuliu's sweet spots perfectly. Le Yu was interested in the sparring as well because he had been influenced by Qian Yuliu's memories.

With a single sentence, Lan Yan had not only promised them benefits but also drawn them a much larger pie. Yet Le Yu could not bring himself to dislike it. Instead, he felt increasingly awed by Lan Yan.

Terrifying. Is this the political skill of someone in power?

Did he see that I've been playing cards all the time lately and come to knock me back into line?

But no matter how brilliant your schemes are, I'm an unmoving slack-fish among your subordinates. What can you do about me?

As for whether slacking off might get him fired by Lan Yan, Le Yu was not worried in the slightest. Once he completed the system's Survive 15 Days mission, he would definitely find a way to slip away.

Come on, let's see whether you'll lose patience and fire me first, or whether I'll skip work and resign before you can. Run, run, run!

Le Yu put on a sincere expression. "Brother Lan, I truly can't wait to leave the hospital and return to work so I can repay your kindness!"

"No, no, this has nothing to do with me. Prefect Ding noticed your team's accomplishments, which was why he approved my application." Lan Yan smiled. "Before the official notice of the rewards arrives, please don't spread the word. If Prefect Ding suddenly makes other arrangements, I'll be caught in the middle."

"How could that happen? How could we blame you, Brother Lan?" Le Yu did not believe that Lan Yan would tell them about an uncertain matter. Besides, even if Le Yu and Chen Fu's rewards really fell through, after this sincere conversation with Lan Yan, they would certainly only resent Prefect Ding.

His words were watertight yet warm and cordial. Although Le Yu had already decided that the director of the Statistics Department was a great villain, it was genuinely difficult for him to feel any dislike toward Lan Yan while interacting with him.

After chatting for a while, Lan Yan suddenly asked, "Yuliu, you heard what Little Fu just said about the Statistics Department's investigation into the gunshot wound you suffered, didn't you?"

Le Yu glanced at his right arm. Although the gunshot wound had already healed, the tender white skin that had grown over it was so conspicuous that it looked as if it might split at the slightest poke.

"Chen Fu and I both believe the sniper was an official agent."

"There's no need to avoid the subject. In Star Engraving Prefecture, the most likely person capable of using powerful firearms to snipe someone is an agent from our own Statistics Department."

Lan Yan frowned slightly and sighed. "The biggest question now is, why did he risk exposing his identity to snipe Yuliu? Does this sniper have anything to do with the Lin Family? Did he deliberately fire during the operation to arrest the criminals because he wanted to frame the Lin Family, or was he an assassin sent by the Lin Family in the first place?"

"Yuliu, do you think we need to arrest the Lin Family members again?"

Le Yu's expression did not change. "There's no need. I didn't notice anything unusual during the battle. They probably didn't know about the sniper. Otherwise, they should have surrounded and killed me while I was under fire. Besides, arresting them immediately after we've just finished the operation would severely damage the reputation of our Statistics Department."

Lan Yan glanced at Le Yu. "Since you say there's no need, Yuliu, I trust your judgment."

"By the way, Yuliu, since you didn't come to work today, I'll tell you about the key mission discussed at today's meeting. According to our intelligence, an Anti-Light Organization called 'White Night' is attempting to infiltrate Star Engraving Prefecture. The Statistics Department's main task from now on will be to find a way to uproot White Night completely."

Does that make me one of the 'roots' you mentioned...? Le Yu nodded repeatedly to show that he understood. "Team One will work hard. We'll definitely capture these Anti-Light Rebels."

"With someone deliberately shielding these Anti-Light Rebels, this mission won't be easy. And besides... the Statistics Department isn't united either."

Lan Yan handed the peeled apple to Le Yu and said:

"For example... what do you think about a traitor within the Statistics Department?"