A Joyful Occasion for All

Shelley's statement carried significant weight, causing everyone in the room to turn their gaze towards the young man beside her.

He was their new detective?

Luke was also very surprised by Shelley's sudden action of shooting the "new detective" dead.

Shouldn't she have lured him to a deserted place before acting?

Now, like this...

A dead body sat slumped in a chair, a large pool of blood splattered around.

As the leader, should I sit or not?

Shelley, Shelley, you were pulled from prison by Agatha but not given a position of importance; don't you reflect on yourself?

Luke said to Pisco, "Go, dispose of the body, and get me a new chair."

"Yes, Detective!"

Pisco, being strong, carried the "new detective's" corpse and chair out, and soon returned with a new chair.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Luke walked behind the detective's desk and sat down.

He placed his cane aside, then took the detective's appointment letter and put it in the drawer.

Then...

"I am extremely, extremely dissatisfied with the way you all operate! Originally, I should have secretly dealt with this person, and then I would have taken office with the appointment letter.

Everything would have proceeded according to protocol, smoothly and without alarming anyone.

But because you all arrested people indiscriminately, you caused this major incident during my inauguration, severely impacting the mission the Grand Princess entrusted to me!"

Shelley and Pisco immediately straightened up.

"Apologies, Detective."

Luke waved his hand, his tone softening slightly as he said, "Since things have happened, I don't want to punish my future subordinates on my first day in office.

What happened today was... someone came here with a forged detective appointment letter to commit fraud. You all recognized them and killed them on the spot.

Do any of you have any objections?"

Allowing a "letter carrier" to brazenly sit in the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau's detective office with the appointment letter was an absolute major inauguration incident.

Especially with the Grand Princess's secret mission tied to it.

If the main bureau investigated and uncovered the cause of the incident, the entire Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau would undoubtedly bear significant responsibility.

However, if this incident were described as a fraudster attempting to deceive them, the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau would not only be blameless but also credited with merit.

The detective's inauguration proceeded normally.

Everyone was happy.

"Fabricating" case reports was what the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau excelled at.

As for Luke's identity, no one in the room doubted it.

Pisco had already spoken to them that morning, telling them not to rush to confirm the "new detective's" identity or let him wander around.

Everything was to wait until Black Mamba arrived.

This indicated he already knew the "new detective" was problematic.

Black Mamba, after examining the appointment letter, had unhesitatingly shot and killed the "new detective," and then claimed to be acting under the Grand Princess's orders, suggesting she had learned the inside story of this detective's inauguration through other channels.

Perhaps the order was in the encrypted message.

Moreover, Black Mamba's late arrival today, and coming with the real detective, basically confirmed that Black Mamba and Pisco had known for a long time that the detective and the appointment letter would arrive separately.

It was just that a mistake had occurred in the interim, leading to the "letter carrier" arriving with the appointment letter.

In any case, it was best to downplay such matters as much as possible.

Everyone said in unison, "It is the Detective's wise command."

All settled!

Luke's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally relaxed.

It would take some time for Clear Sky to gather the materials needed for the secret technique, and his current strength was not suitable for running around this world. Being able to sit in the Cape District Secret Intelligence Bureau's detective office was much better than being in constant fear outside.

The most important thing now was to steadily collect the items needed for the secret technique as quickly as possible.

Only with strength could he deal with the ever-changing situation.

"Since everyone agrees... Kailina!" Luke called out the name of the detective office's confidential secretary.

Kailina was a very young and somewhat introverted girl, wearing a light green women's business suit and a pair of comically large black-rimmed glasses.

Her light yellow hair was combed to the right, covering her right ear.

Luke knew that her right ear was a metallic auricle connected to her brain nerves, giving her hearing and memory far beyond ordinary people, but also making Kailina somewhat self-conscious.

"De... Detective! What do you need, please instruct me."

"Hand this case report over to you; make sure to include everyone's contributions."

"Understood, Detective!"

What had been a disaster turned into a blessing, and everyone's impression of the new Detective improved significantly.

"Alright, there's no need for any of you to introduce yourselves; I already have the files on every one of you. If there's nothing else, get out and get back to your work."

"Yes, Detective!"

Luke's "subordinates" filed out of the office one by one.

Just as Shelley was about to leave, Pisco called her back and spoke to Luke, "Detective, two vicious murders occurred in our Cape District last night. One at the warehouse docks in Windbreak Alley, and the other at the Mad Axe Gang headquarters. Many people died.

Especially the Mad Axe Gang... their leader, the Horned Demonkin Jumu, is dead, and nearly half of their core members were wiped out. They've suffered a massive blow!"

Isn't that what I did? Luke thought to himself.

And besides...

"What does that have to do with us? Shouldn't the Cape District Security Bureau be handling that?"

Pisco glanced at Shelley.

Shelley hadn't expected such major events to have occurred last night.

She stepped in to explain things to Luke.

Raging Wave City was divided into six districts, each with its own branch of the Secret Intelligence Bureau.

Although these branches reported directly to the Imperial General Bureau and held no hierarchical relationship with one another, their operating funds—aside from a portion allocated by the General Bureau—mostly came from the city's treasury.

Consequently, the power to distribute these funds fell into the hands of the Central Branch.

"Detective, the allocation we receive from the General Bureau barely keeps this place running; the money that actually reaches our hands would be gone after just a few rounds of drinks.

We have to pay the unofficial agents and informants under us, not to mention the countless other visible and invisible expenses.

The Central Bureau, however, uses the excuse of 'protecting taxpayers with taxpayer money' to prioritize funding for the New City District and the Rich District. Our Cape District covers an area equal to three other districts combined, yet we receive only a tenth of the funding—or even less—compared to them.

Every other Secret Intelligence Bureau branch supports over a thousand agents, not counting the covert ones. Our branch has only four hundred, both public and secret, to manage such a massive district. How could that ever be enough?

That is why we accept sponsorship from certain merchants and gangs.

The Mad Axe Gang is one of our major sponsors. Now that their leader is dead, there's no telling how many people are looking to swallow up the industries they control.

As the backers of the Mad Axe Gang, if we fail to protect them now, it will cause our other sponsors to lose faith in us."

Pisco, having learned more about the situation, added, "I've already sent a team to the Mad Axe Gang headquarters to block those people from the Security Bureau. We must react as quickly as possible, or the Security Bureau will swallow up the Mad Axe Gang's headquarters!"