The Pitiful Guard Department

The Poor Guard Department

"I'm suspected of murder?" Wang Wen put on a fearful expression. "Who did I kill?"

"The leader of that group is dead. According to the testimonies of eyewitnesses at the scene, you were the one who killed him!" The female guard looked impatient.

"Dead?" Wang Wen turned his head toward the Dean in confusion. "Dean, the student doesn't understand. Why is it that when thugs attack me with knives, the Guard Department doesn't arrest the thugs, but instead comes to arrest me, the victim? Even if the other party is truly dead, they deserved it. Must I die myself to prove my innocence?"

"You are just sophistically quibbling!" the female guard shouted angrily.

Upon hearing Wang Wen's question, the Dean could finally no longer hold back. He stepped forward and said coldly to the guards, "I have served as Dean for seventeen years, and I have always believed that I have fulfilled my duty to teach, instruct, and resolve doubts without a guilty conscience. Today, I feel ashamed because I cannot answer the question my student has asked. I would like to ask you officers: does the Guard Department exist to protect the good or the thugs? Is it here to uphold justice or to shield evil?"

The female guard was stunned. "Dean, please don't misunderstand. We are just following routine..."

"Enough." The guard in the center adjusted his hat and issued an order: "Take him directly to the World Security Headquarters. Whether he is a victim or a suspect, he has an obligation to cooperate with the investigation."

The Dean wanted to say something more.

The guard saluted him in farewell. "Sorry to bother you. Please go back to your work; no need to see us out."

Wang Wen cooperated and walked outside with the guards. As he reached the door, he turned back and said to the Dean, "Dean, thank you."

Being able to say those words proved that the academy was still a place that valued justice and was willing to stand up for its students.

But ultimately, in this world, one still needs solid personal strength to make sense of things.

He followed the guards out of the academy.

There were many students watching.

Among them were many familiar faces.

Yu Zhi's expression was complex, the thin boy looked worried, and Cheng Queyi, who was comforting him, gave Wang Wen an "OK" gesture, though he didn't know what it meant.

Wang Wen didn't overthink it and calmly followed the guards into the vehicle to leave.

He had long planned how to clear his name; he wasn't worried about being entangled by such a trivial matter.

This was merely going with the flow.

In his past life, as a top-tier tower climber, he had been above the law and had never looked at these guards with any real regard.

Now, returning from the nine-hundredth floor, he was all alone—no strength, no team. Having been tipped off by an elder, he knew there was no chance of cooperation with his old employer; the First Consortium would swallow someone as small as him in one bite.

The path he considered most ideal and familiar was cut off.

He had to find another way.

Since he couldn't find people in the outside world, he might as well go to the Guard Department and see if there were any suitable candidates.

Come to think of it, the Guard Department had a natural advantage regarding the World Tower.

The guards were all well-trained, physically fit, and possessed resilient characters; in essence, they could be excellent tower climbers.

Unfortunately, the Guard Department also had a natural disadvantage.

That was poverty.

Compared to various large-scale conglomerates, the financial resources of the Guard Department were far too limited, which led to a shortage of personnel and the inability to let people enter the tower to sacrifice themselves at will.

The term "elite" is mostly a result of survival of the fittest.

Without a certain base number for screening, even if the basic aptitude is high, the level ultimately reached may not necessarily exceed the elite teams cultivated by large-scale conglomerates with all their might.

The reason is simple: the elite teams of large-scale conglomerates survive and emerge from countless lives struggling in the tower.

They find those who can break through the two-hundredth floor from one hundred million hundred-floor climbers.

Then they find those who can break through the three-hundredth floor from one million two-hundred-floor climbers.

Then they find those who can break through the four-hundredth floor from ten thousand three-hundred-floor climbers.

Then they find those who can reach five hundred from one hundred four-hundred-floor climbers.

Finally, they gather everyone from all batches who can break through the five-hundredth floor to form a team and challenge the ultra-high floors above five hundred.

This cultivation model is simply invincible.

The Guard Department simply doesn't have enough personnel to sift through.

Therefore, since ancient times, the Guard Department has struggled to survive in the cracks, and any large-scale conglomerate could boss them around.

When encountering criminal tower climbers:

It's fine if they are below the three-hundredth floor; weapons can still play a role.

Above the three-hundredth floor, it is difficult to subdue them unless heavy weaponry is deployed.

As for tower climbers on the five-hundredth floor:

They are either the prized treasures of major conglomerates or freakishly powerful human tanks; the Guard Department simply can't do anything about them.

The World Security Headquarters had also made up its mind to form a troop of high-level or even ultra-high-level tower climbers.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, the cost of a guard dying in the line of duty is too high, and the World Security Headquarters dares not let people enter the tower to risk their lives on a large scale.

At most, they only advance bit by bit, playing it safe.

Without money to buy intelligence and lacking the courage to charge forward, the Regional Security Department's tower-climber troops remained stuck between the two and three-hundredth floors, retreating at the slightest sign of danger and unable to break through to higher levels.

The root of the problem was easy to find.

It was just impossible to solve.

Now, Wang Wen had arrived.

The moment he stepped through the gates of the Regional Security Department, he caught a scent.

A scent.

The scent of spicy hot pot.

The personnel inside the Security Department were having a feast.

Beside plates of crisp, tender vegetables, the faint shadow of red meat could be seen.

In a particularly hidden corner, one could even spot a dish or two of thinly sliced fish!

"What is the meaning of this?!" the lead guard who brought Wang Wen in asked loudly upon seeing the scene. "What day is it that you're having hot pot? Did the higher-ups send down a subsidy?"

"It wasn't the higher-ups." A guard with his mouth stuffed full of tofu, radish, cabbage, and meat slices managed to mumble, "It's Tiansheng."

The lead guard paused for a moment, then nodded silently and led Wang Wen toward the interrogation room.

Just then, several new guards entered from outside. The leader, wearing the uniform of a deputy chief of the Security Department, sniffed the air and laughed happily, "Yo, I've only been gone a few days and our food quality has improved—you're even eating hot pot!"

At this, all the guards who had been burying their heads in their food put down their bowls and chopsticks to salute and greet the newcomer.

The deputy chief didn't waste words, waving his hand for everyone to continue eating. Seeing the lead guard leading a stranger toward the interrogation room, he walked over to ask, "Someone new? What did they do?"

The lead guard rolled his eyes and replied, "A local thug died four days ago. Eyewitness testimony says he was the one who did it, so I brought him in for questioning."

The deputy chief looked at Wang Wen with some surprise. "A tower-climber?"

The lead guard didn't say anything.

Wang Wen simply answered for himself, "I am just a student at the academy."

The deputy chief frowned. "Why did you kill someone?"

"I didn't know the person had died." Wang Wen glanced at the silent lead guard beside him and continued, "At the time, over a dozen people were surrounding and beating me with knives. I only knocked them down in self-defense to escape back to the academy. I lost consciousness due to the severity of my injuries and was in the hospital for three days. I had just returned to the academy when this officer brought me here."

Seeing the deputy chief's brow furrow even deeper, the lead guard couldn't help but interject, "Deputy Jiang, this is only his side of the story; the specifics remain to be interrogated."

"Everything I just said is the truth. There are countless eyewitnesses who can testify for me—teachers, classmates, department heads, the dean, and so on—because the incident happened right at the entrance of our academy." Wang Wen did not mention the Intelligence Department of the First Consortium because he did not want to be overly indebted to them at this stage.

If he owed too many favors, his future actions would become more difficult.

Even if these were trivial matters to the First Consortium, they might not even need to act; a single word from them would be enough to make this place release him.

Besides, this really was just a small matter.

"Nonsense!" The deputy chief finally couldn't listen anymore. He slammed his hand against the door frame and scolded the lead guard, "Is this how you handle a case? What does this look like! Release him immediately! If you need to question anyone, bring those thugs in first!"

"Deputy Jiang." Seeing the situation turning sour, the lead guard leaned in close to the deputy chief and whispered, "This was a direct order from the Chief, and Tiansheng even treated us to this hot pot..."

As he spoke, he pointed his finger toward the tables crowded with people.

The steam rising from the tables curled upward, its winding, twisting shape looking exactly like the runny nose of a carefree child.