Special Department

Though Jiang Yue had become the owner of Villa No. 9 and officially joined the ranks of the rich, even if he hadn't, he still wouldn't have gone looking for a dog.

The world had mutated. Demons and monsters were about to run rampant, and you wanted him to go find you a dog?

Fifty thousand yuan might buy his labor, but could it buy his common sense?

Jiang Yue didn't even care to take another look. He headed toward the police station.

When the staff heard he was looking for Officer Han, they were quite polite. They told him Officer Han was in a meeting and asked them to wait in his office.

They waited for over an hour before Officer Han finally returned to his office, looking exhausted.

Officer Han was rather surprised to see Jiang Yue.

"Little Jiang, this is your cousin, the owner of those pants, right?"

"That's right. Officer Han, where's the monster being held now? I'd like to see it." Jiang Yue didn't want to beat around the bush, so he got straight to the point.

When Officer Han heard Jiang Yue make that request, he immediately felt a headache coming on and rubbed his cheeks vigorously with both hands.

Last night, as the one who'd solved the case, he'd certainly enjoyed his moment in the spotlight. But it had come at a price. People from every department wanted to see him and ask him about what had happened. They'd kept him busy until dawn, and he hadn't even had a chance to close his eyes.

He'd barely managed to get some breakfast down when the station held another meeting.

He'd been busy ever since, and had finally gotten a chance to take a comfortable breath. He hadn't expected Jiang Yue to show up again.

Strictly speaking, Jiang Yue was the real hero of the case, so there was nothing unreasonable about his request.

The problem was that ever since other departments had gotten involved, the police station had been pushed to the sidelines.

Even though he, Officer Han, had solved the case, that fact hadn't changed much.

He'd certainly get some credit, but he had no say whatsoever in what happened to the monster.

"Is there a problem?"

"If the monster were still at the station, there wouldn't be any problem at all. But... the Special Department took that thing away from the scene last night. All the departments started arguing over it right there."

"The Special Department? What are they planning to do with it?" Jiang Yue frowned.

"Who knows? I'd guess they want to study it."

Sure enough, what he'd been worried about had come to pass.

Study it? Study a wicked monster like that? Did they really want to make things even worse?

"Officer Han, do you know the person in charge of the Special Department?" Jiang Yue still wanted to see the Year Eater.

"Little Jiang, people from the Special Department aren't easy to deal with. Are you sure you want to meet them?"

"No! But I still want to see that monster again."

"That'll be difficult. But since you're asking, Little Jiang, I have to give it a try."

Officer Han took out his phone, ready to call and sound them out. He thought it was almost impossible, but Jiang Yue had done him a huge favor. Now that Jiang Yue had made such a small request, he couldn't just do nothing and live with himself.

Before he could make the call, one of his subordinates knocked and came in.

"Captain Han, someone's here to see you."

Officer Han put down his phone and went outside. As he passed Jiang Yue, he patted him on the shoulder, gave him an apologetic smile, and gestured for him to wait a moment.

A few minutes later, Officer Han came back with a smile.

"Little Jiang, what a coincidence! The person you want to see just came to see me. Now you can't refuse to meet him."

A middle-aged man with hair that was half black and half white walked in through the doorway.

He wore black-framed glasses, and his poker face practically had the word "stuffy" written all over it.

His upper and lower eyelids left only a narrow slit. No matter how he shifted his eyes from side to side, he seemed unable to open them any wider.

Yet, every so often, a sharp glint shot through that slit, carrying a hint of arrogance. His whole demeanor made it clear he didn't want anyone getting close.

"Little Jiang, this is Director Luo. Director Luo, these are the Jiang brothers. I know why you came to see me, so we can talk openly."

To be fair, Jiang Yue didn't like Director Luo at first glance.

It wasn't anything personal against Director Luo. Jiang Yue simply always kept his distance from people who made it clear they didn't want anyone near them.

"Hello." Director Luo extended a stiff hand, his poker face showing none of the usual social pleasantries.

While they shook hands, Captain Han locked the office door.

The office fell silent. No one spoke first.

Officer Han busied himself with the tea, pouring a cup for everyone.

"Looks like I'll have to be the one to get things started?" Officer Han broke the awkward silence.

"Little Jiang, I'll be direct. What you want to see is now in the department Director Luo is in charge of. If you want to see it, he has to agree."

Jiang Yue gave the slightest nod. "Director Luo, has the Year Eater woken up?"

"Hm?" A sharp glint flashed from Director Luo's perpetually narrowed eyes.

"You said that thing was called a Year Eater?"

"That's right! If it wakes up, you'd better keep your distance from it." Jiang Yue knew that without offering something useful, there was little chance he'd get to see the Year Eater.

"You know about this thing?"

"I know a little."

"So you were involved in the events yesterday, too?" Director Luo gave Jiang Yue a meaningful look, then glanced at Officer Han.

"That's right." Jiang Yue no longer denied it.

Officer Han chimed in. "Director Luo, the thing is, Little Jiang is young and probably isn't used to dealing with people like us. As for who deserves the credit, he deserves the most."

For the first time, Director Luo's stiff expression cracked, and his face took on a striking look.

"Old Han, now that's the truth. I could tell from the start that you couldn't have subdued that thing." Director Luo stood up without hesitation and said to Jiang Yue,

"You want to see it? Let's go!"

Jiang Yue had expected he'd need to say a lot to persuade him. He hadn't imagined things would go so smoothly.

"Old Han, get the car. We're all going."

Old Han was taken aback. He'd assumed he wouldn't be needed. He hadn't expected Director Luo to invite him along and even ask him to drive.

They drove a long way, all the way to an abandoned auto repair shop on the outskirts of the city.

Was this really where the legendary Special Department was hiding?

As they went farther inside, Jiang Yue realized the desolate exterior was just a facade.

There was a whole other world inside.

After entering a dilapidated building, they turned this way and that, passing several locations. In an inconspicuous corner, they found an elevator.

Once it started moving, Jiang Yue realized it was going down.

Every number on the elevator's keypad needed a minus sign in front of it to indicate the correct floor.

The elevator stopped at 4. They'd reached Level -4.

Jiang Yue had never seen such an odd setup. Most shopping malls had at most two basement levels, and even three were rare.

This was the first time in his life he'd seen a fourth basement level.

The elevator doors opened. They passed through several corridors before stopping in front of a metal door.

"Everyone, turn off your phones first," Director Luo reminded them.

After making sure they'd all powered down their phones, Director Luo stepped forward for a facial scan, then pressed his fingerprint.

The heavy metal doors clanked as they slowly slid apart.

A blinding light shone out, bright as day.

Director Luo led the other three inside. They turned several corners, as if navigating a maze, and finally stopped beside a glass structure.

He pointed toward a thick glass enclosure dozens of meters away. "See that?"

The glass was high-strength blast-resistant material, made from military-grade composites. It was far sturdier than ordinary reinforced concrete.

Jiang Yue watched through the glass for a moment, then frowned. "It's still asleep?"

"It woke up once after six this morning. We were worried it'd be hard to control, so we gave it another dose of anesthetic. It should be waking up again soon. Little Jiang, can you see any changes?"

"It hasn't been consuming anyone's lifespan, so it's growing weaker. It's clearly starting to revert to its original, aged state. In other words, it's regressing." Jiang Yue had a natural eye for observation.

Even Director Luo, who came from the Special Department, probably couldn't match Jiang Yue in that regard.

Director Luo couldn't help showing his admiration.

It seemed Old Han had been right. This young man really might have been the one to deal with the monster.

"Director Luo, you've locked it up. You aren't really planning to study it, are you?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" Director Luo asked humbly.

"I don't need to say it. You already know the answer, don't you, Director Luo?" Jiang Yue then added, "By the way, Director Luo, could you do me a favor and let me go in to talk to it for a few minutes?"

"What's there to talk about with it? Besides, aren't you afraid of the risk?" Director Luo asked, looking slightly surprised.

"There's something I want to sound it out about. Don't worry, it's strictly personal. It won't pose any danger to society."

Director Luo fell silent, clearly weighing the matter.

A moment later, Director Luo entered his fingerprint, and an opening appeared in the glass enclosure.