Inspection Bureau

Biodata

Mandate and Authority

• Nominally a branch of the United Government police department, but its core personnel serve as the Anomaly Suppression Bureau's outer operational arm for bizarre and supernatural cases. 9
• Investigates violent yin-energy fluctuations, anomalous deaths, evil entities, heterodox arts, and cult activity. 9 12 141 182
• Can conduct searches, detain suspects, and use lethal force against those obstructing investigations into prohibited practices. 115 182 185
• Its jurisdiction extends beyond ordinary criminal policing; ordinary police generally do not interfere when the Bureau handles supernatural affairs. 93
• The Bureau and the Anomaly Suppression Bureau primarily rely on orthodox martial arts and blood qi, which suppress yin-evil entities. 15

Organization

Relationship with the Anomaly Suppression Bureau

• The Inspection Bureau operates as a frontline and local enforcement body connected to the Anomaly Suppression Bureau. 9 47
• Merit points are shared between the two organizations and may be transferred upon reassignment. 47
• Stronger martial artists commonly advance from the Inspection Bureau to the Anomaly Suppression Bureau; Copper Skin Realm practitioners are rarely left in Inspection Bureau service. 211
• After the Japanese Concession conflict, the United Government began directly appointing Jin City's district-bureau directors rather than allowing the Anomaly Suppression Bureau to do so. 213

East District Branch

• The East District Branch is housed in a gray-brick compound marked “Inspection Bureau East District Branch.” 115 271
• Its staff includes a General Affairs Section, squad offices, guards, and a branch director. 115
• The branch has ten squads. Third Squad is responsible for the complicated commercial and residential area south of East Street. 115
• Squads must patrol their jurisdiction at least once weekly; monthly spot checks verify their movements. 115
• Chen Mo joined Third Squad after graduating from the Anomaly Suppression Bureau training program. 113 115

Other Offices

• Linhe County's Bureau fields squads under Yue Shan to investigate anomalies and eliminate lower-tier heterodox sects. 39 40
• The Southern Jiangxi Inspection Bureau in Ganzhou occupies a former prefectural magistrate's residence converted into a government office. 241
• County branch postings are regarded as dangerous and poorly resourced compared with Jin City's local bureau or Anomaly Suppression Bureau headquarters. 112

Personnel and Ranks

• Inspector — A senior title held by figures such as Yue Changkong; inspectors can command major suppression operations and wield Blood-Qi Furnace Realm techniques. 35 39 210
• Director — Leads a district branch. Shen Dajiang directed the East District Branch before being replaced by Wang Zhonghe. 115 213
• Deputy Director — Zhou Peiwen serves as a senior East District Branch administrator. 156 271
• Squad Captain — Commands field squads, assigns cases, evaluates merit, and manages team discipline. 40 47 115
• Inspectors / Field Agents — Black-uniformed personnel assigned to patrols, investigations, arrests, and anomaly suppression. 9 40 115

Uniforms and Identification

• Personnel wear dark or black uniforms distinguished from standard police attire by an embroidered crossed sword-and-shield emblem bearing the character for “Inspect.” 9
• Field uniforms are treated for limited resistance to ordinary yin energy but cannot reliably stop weapons or powerful spells. 40
• The uniform bears a silver “Ji” (Inspection) character and basic talismanic cloud patterns; it is designed for movement during field operations. 41
• A blood-activated waist token or bronze badge links to the holder's aura and functions as identification, warning, and communication equipment. 40
• Badges use three alert levels; rapidly flashing red light signals the highest-level all-hands assembly, requiring personnel to report within half an hour. 207

Standard Equipment

• Evil-Slaying Blade / horizontal saber — Standard melee weapon; effective against ordinary ghosts and capable of killing human opponents. 40 115
• Wind-Breaking Three Styles manual — Foundational military and Bureau blade art emphasizing fast, accurate, stable, ruthless combat. 40
• Mauser pistol — Issued for emergency self-defense during dangerous operations. 42
• Evil-Breaking Bullets — Silver-powder and red-copper ammunition with limited lethality against yin-evil entities; less effective against non-corporeal or highly resilient targets. 42
• Merit token — Records merit points, which may be redeemed through Bureau offices or archives. 47

Merit System

Operational Record

• Responded to the Black Tiger Gang's supernatural incident after detecting a violent yin-energy fluctuation; Yue Shan's team identified signs of outside intervention. 9
• Yue Shan intercepted and damaged Chen Mo's Paper Puppet while investigating the gang's annihilation, preserving a fragment as evidence. 10
• Investigated Funeral Street and Deliverance Studio following the Black Tiger Gang case. 12
• Assigned Chen Mo to assist Yue Shan's squad in clearing heterodox sect activity in Rat Alley, the Old Wharf Warehouse District, and the abandoned Dragon King Temple area. 39
• Conducted a joint assault on the Soul-Stitching Crone's gathering site, supported by soldiers around the abandoned dye house. 42 47
• Took over the investigation into the flayings at Willow Leaf Alley and assigned the case to Third Squad. 141
• Investigated the Beast-Making Art case involving the Changle Gang and suspected human victims transformed into livestock. 182
• Mobilized against the Japanese Concession after it erected barbed wire around a seized buffer zone, dismantling the fence while ordered not to initiate combat. 207 209
• Fought on South Gate Outer Street against Japanese onmyoji, ninjas, and shikigami during the escalation with the Japanese Concession. 210 211
• Continued operating in Linhe County under Yue Shan, though his squad yielded to an overwhelmingly powerful unidentified cultivator rather than risk destruction. 268

Constraints and Internal Issues

• Although empowered to act against gangs and supernatural threats, the Bureau must balance its operations against Jin City's major factions, foreign concessions, churches, and criminal organizations. 54
• The Chamber of Commerce financially supports Bureau operations and can exert pressure through threatened funding cuts. 182 185
• Chen Mo was made to take leave and relinquish his acting captaincy despite acting within regulations, to appease the Chamber of Commerce after the Changle Gang incident. 185
• Director Wang Zhonghe later reassigned Chen Mo to logistics as punishment; Inspection Bureau personnel sent there performed heavy manual labor while logistics staff handled clerical work. 271
• The Bureau has suffered severe losses in dangerous cases, including at least eight Inspection Bureau officers at Green Dragon Shoal. 15

Notable Personnel

• Yue Changkong — Inspector and senior Anomaly Suppression Bureau figure; commands major operations and assigned Chen Mo to temporary Linhe service. 35 39 210
• Yue Shan — Linhe County captain; an elite martial artist with blood qi nearing the Copper Skin and Iron Bones threshold during the Black Tiger Gang investigation. 9 15
• Shen Dajiang — Former director of the East District Branch; led the response to the Japanese Concession's barrier seizure before being removed from office. 207 213
• Wang Zhonghe — Shen Dajiang's successor as East District Branch director, appointed under the United Government's new arrangement. 213
• Zhou Peiwen — East District Branch deputy director who navigates political disputes and attempts to protect Bureau personnel. 185 271
• Ge Zhendong — Veteran captain of Third Squad; responsible for the southern East Street jurisdiction. 115
• Zheng Changkong — Later captain of Third Squad, appointed during the Willow Leaf Alley flaying investigation. 141
• Zhao Tie — Yue Shan's squad member specializing in divination, feng shui, formations, and early-warning monitoring. 40 47
• Zhou Ling — Yue Shan's squad member skilled in marksmanship and hidden weapons. 40
• Wu Tong — Yue Shan's squad blade user. 40