A voice that sounded like it would be easy to bully came from the entrance of the records repository. Dan Lei immediately looked up and saw a green-haired Foxian girl standing in the doorway.
This Foxian girl was truly a young girl. The Foxian Clan's lifespan was already shorter than that of Xianzhou's other two races, and the one who had appeared now could be completely described as a cub.
However, her special flame-like tail still exposed her identity. This young Foxian was Huo Huo.
Dan Lei calculated that, according to the game, Huo Huo had served the Ten Lords for thirty-eight years. Taking the year 8100 of the Star Calendar, when the Garden of Repose incident occurred, as a reference, she should have joined the Ten Lords' Commission in 8062.
Dan Lei had completed his resignation in 8073, and Huo Huo's profile stated that before she was promoted to an apprentice judge, she had been responsible for Xueyi's maintenance.
Dan Lei had never met Huo Huo before leaving, but she had naturally needed to learn the rules after being recruited into the Ten Lords' Commission. Besides, she had been very young, so ten years had been just right.
Now Dan Lei understood why his resignation had gone so smoothly. It turned out that the Ten Lords' Commission had found someone more suited than him to remain in the Imprisonment Court for the long term—and who could take over immediately at that.
Sure enough, when Dan Bi saw Huo Huo arrive, she immediately introduced her.
"Dan Lei, this girl's name is Huo Huo. She's the Nether Envoy taking your place."
Dan Lei immediately complained when he heard this.
"Nether Envoy? Why was she already one rank higher than me right from the start? I served as a ghost soldier for over a hundred years!"
Dan Lei was joking here. If he had not been a ghost soldier, he would not have been able to resign so easily. A Nether Envoy's salary was not much higher than a ghost soldier's, while the responsibilities were considerably greater. He would not take the job even if it were handed to him.
However, Huo Huo had clearly misunderstood. She immediately clung to the doorknob and said fearfully,
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Mr. Dan Lei, you're the senior who left behind all those work manuals, right? Your skills are far better than Huo Huo's. Huo Huo didn't mean to be one rank above you."
When Dan Lei saw that a single complaint from him had nearly made Huo Huo cry, he immediately stopped fooling around. He did not want to gain a reputation for bullying a little girl.
So Dan Lei hurriedly reached into his pockets, looking for something he could give her to comfort her.
After searching for a while, he found that his pockets were completely empty.
After all, Dan Lei had come to the Imprisonment Court to "turn himself in." Bringing weapons and talismans would easily cause misunderstandings.
Therefore, the only things Dan Lei could take out now were the Conceptual Artifacts in the Holy Grail.
Thus, Dan Lei could only take out a Yoriichi Type Zero automaton and pass it off as a puppet automaton. After materializing it, he placed it directly beside Huo Huo and said,
"Your name is Huo Huo, right? This is our first time meeting, so let me give you a gift as your senior.
"I made this automatic puppet automaton myself. Take it for self-defense. You can name it yourself."
Dan Lei was not worried about exposing his ability to conjure things out of thin air. That ability was not particularly rare in the Star Rail Universe. Most Pathstriders could temporarily store their weapons in tiny spaces opened with their Path energy.
What Dan Lei was more worried about was that the Yoriichi Type Zero automaton was rather ugly. He was afraid that Huo Huo would be startled again after taking one look at it, causing her to cry even harder.
Fortunately, Huo Huo was timid and afraid of ghosts, but she was not afraid of puppet automatons. Moreover, Dan Lei had explained earlier that, with the Swordsmith Village's forging techniques from Demon Slayer, the swords they produced would at most count as antique replicas in Luofu, not dangerous weapons. Although they could still injure people, even the kitchen knives used by the chefs at Meizhan Pavilion were sturdier than those things.
Besides, its main body was made from wisteria wood, which was only of average strength. In the eyes of Xianzhou natives, it really was just a big toy.
Therefore, Huo Huo was not startled a second time. Instead, she felt that this ugly automaton might be able to scare off ghosts.
After calming down slightly, Huo Huo regained her senses and refused timidly,
"No, no need. I can't just accept a gift from my senior."
However, Dan Bi spoke up for Dan Lei at this point because she did not want him to waste time here with Huo Huo.
"Huo Huo, just accept the toy Dan Lei gave you.
"With his abilities, he can make toy-like puppet automatons like this whenever he wants. Besides, this boy is quite wealthy. I estimate that even all my savings over my entire life wouldn't equal his."
After Dan Bi said this, Huo Huo clearly hesitated. Dan Lei immediately pressed his advantage.
"All right, don't hesitate anymore. I've already set this automaton's owner as you. You can study its structure later, and modify it however you want.
"Didn't you just notify the general that you were coming? I have to leave quickly. I can't keep The Shogun waiting. Bye-bye."
As he spoke, Dan Lei unconsciously patted Huo Huo's little head as if he were petting a puppy, then ran off.
Huo Huo was still a little dazed after having her head patted. By the time she came to her senses, Dan Lei had already run far away.
Knowing that Dan Lei had important business, Huo Huo naturally felt too embarrassed to call him back. She could only obediently take the Yoriichi Type Zero with her and consider what name she should give it.
As for Dan Lei, after returning to the Third Interrogation Room, he happened to see Jing Yuan slowly approaching alone from the direction of the Imprisonment Court's central control room. He decided not to enter the interrogation room first and instead waited for Jing Yuan at the entrance.
Dan Lei found nothing strange about Jing Yuan coming alone.
In the Imprisonment Court, the most heavily guarded place in Luofu, there was a military guard every few hundred meters. Moreover, with no fanatic fans around,
a Luofu General of Emanator level would not dare walk alone? Anyone who had such a thought clearly thought far too little of Luofu's general.
In fact, while Dan Lei was watching Jing Yuan, Jing Yuan was also observing Dan Lei.
Jing Yuan was walking slowly on purpose. He wanted to see Dan Lei's reaction.
Dan Lei was a member of the Chizuru Clan, after all. Given Luofu's current situation, Jing Yuan knew that quite a few members of the Chizuru Clan held opinions about him.
In particular, when Jing Yuan arrived, he had glanced through Dan Lei's information. Strictly speaking, this man was the grand-disciple of Yun Hua, the former Cauldron Master of the Alchemy Commission whom Jing Yuan had expelled from Luofu. He had ample reason to be dissatisfied with Jing Yuan.
However, judging from Dan Lei's behavior now, Jing Yuan felt that even if Dan Lei was dissatisfied with him, at least he was showing him respect.
But Dan Lei had not chosen to come forward, and his expression showed none of the unease a subordinate would display upon meeting a superior. This proved that he had no intention of ingratiating himself with Jing Yuan, or even of making himself familiar.
From this behavior, Jing Yuan could basically confirm that this Dan Lei was not of the same faction as Luofu's Dragon Master Council. After all, when those people saw him, they would more or less show looks of disdain.
If they saw him from a distance, most of them would pretend not to notice him. By now, they would certainly already be sitting inside the room.
Jing Yuan was a man who understood etiquette, and he generally did not put on airs. In a situation with no bystanders and where the other party had not been rude, he naturally would not deliberately make Dan Lei wait any longer.
Thus, Jing Yuan quickened his pace and walked briskly up to Dan Lei, smiling as he said,
"You're Mr. Dan Lei, right? Please don't stand at the entrance. Let's go inside and sit down to talk."
Dan Lei nodded. Out of respect for the position of Luofu General, he took the initiative to open the door and said politely,
"After you, General."
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