Bullying with Power

Jiang He's reputation was not limited to Southwind Academy. Among the upper circles of Southwind City, she was widely discussed as idle gossip.

Fatty Sun had not expected this young brother before him to have such a legendary past.

"But he's still only a second-tier professional. A little messing around shouldn't be a problem..." he reminded him. "Little brother, you can't really do anything to him, or it'll be troublesome. His identity in the Research Department is also a protective talisman."

"Alright, I'll follow your arrangement, big brother." Su Chen readily agreed.

If they could pry Qi Chuan's mouth open, things would become much easier.

Seeing that he did not persist, Fatty Sun finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Mm... go with your new colleagues. They should be back about now. They earned a collective honor, so they ought to celebrate."

"A newly promoted second-tier professional... I'll follow along in secret too, just in case anything goes wrong." Fatty Sun sounded relaxed.

Fatty Sun led him downstairs to the garrison hall. Three floors had been hollowed out to form the spacious area, which was filled with Inspection Guards returning from patrols or preparing to head out. Their low voices created a noisy din.

In Rest Room 0512, Fatty Sun pushed open the door. The excited chatter inside abruptly paused, and several pairs of eyes turned toward them.

"Section Chief Sun..." A man stood up. His upper body was bare, covered in scars, and he wore a close-cropped haircut.

"Old Zhao, this is your new team member, Su Chen. Get acquainted." Fatty Sun stepped aside, revealing Su Chen.

"Su Chen, this is Zhao Xiong, your patrol captain."

Zhao Xiong gave him an odd look, while the other six people kept glancing over as well.

They had received notice yesterday about some parachuted-in second-generation heir. At first, they had complained about getting another useless freeloader.

Then, that morning, they had inexplicably received orders to raid a black-market hideout, and just as inexplicably earned a collective Third-Class Merit.

Some of the smarter ones quickly realized that this had been specially arranged for that second-generation heir.

With benefits falling from the sky, their resentment naturally vanished. They even felt rather grateful.

"Zhao Xiong, come with me for a moment." Fatty Sun called Zhao Xiong away.

Su Chen stayed behind to greet his teammates. There were four men and two women. Aside from Zhou Xiong, who was a professional, the others were not, though none of them were ordinary people either.

"Lily, didn't you say you wanted to repay him with your body?" someone teased, looking at the woman in a crop-top tank. She had bronze skin, evenly proportioned muscles honed through years of rigorous training, shoulder-length short hair, and fairly pretty features. She looked valiant and spirited.

"Handsome, interested?" She was not shy either, raising a brow at him.

"Enough joking around." Zhao Xiong returned and said solemnly, "We've got an overtime assignment. Gear up and assemble in five minutes."

Everyone was surprised, and several gazes shifted toward Su Chen. They realized it might have something to do with him.

Still, no one said much. They reopened their lockers and took out their equipment.

"Su Chen, your combat uniform hasn't arrived yet, so don't wear one today," Zhao Xiong said.

The group was well-trained. They finished changing in four minutes, boarded a patrol vehicle, and headed toward their destination.

"Captain, what's the mission?" A scar-faced burly man leaned over to ask.

They had introduced themselves earlier, so Su Chen knew his name was Han Da.

"We received intelligence that a certain location may be concealing contraband." Zhao Xiong kept his eyes forward.

"Oh." Han Da withdrew thoughtfully.

Su Chen watched the light outside the window gradually dim. He had not expected the aggrieved party to be a second-tier professional; he just did not know what level his profession was.

About half an hour later, they finally arrived at their destination: an upscale apartment building. With their uniforms, they went straight up to the sixteenth floor.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Inspection Guards?" Qi Chuan opened the door. He had already seen Zhao Xiong and the others through the peephole, seemingly unsure what was going on.

But when he opened the door and saw Su Chen standing off to the side, his expression immediately changed. "Su Chen? It's you!"

Su Chen answered with a smile.

"Mr. Qi Chuan, we received a tip that you may be concealing contraband here. We have been ordered to investigate," Zhao Xiong said with meticulous seriousness.

"Contraband?" Qi Chuan's expression turned cold as he stared fixedly at Su Chen.

"Move!" Han Da rudely tried to force his way inside. He shoved Qi Chuan, only to stagger backward himself.

"You're resisting!?" Han Da's face darkened.

"Move aside," Zhao Xiong said seriously.

Su Chen glanced at Fatty Sun, who was faintly visible at the end of the corridor.

Qi Chuan's expression was ugly. He had not expected that a mere refugee back then could now use power to oppress others.

He knew why they had come, and he knew what would happen next, but there was nothing he could do. He could only helplessly step aside.

"Lily, the living room. Han Da, the bedroom..." Zhao Xiong swiftly gave out orders. The others scattered, while he himself remained in the living room, watching Qi Chuan.

"Tut..." Su Chen looked around the room. It was not small and had been kept neat and tidy. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the nightscape.

More importantly, a wedding photo of Qi Chuan and Jiang He hung on the wall.

"You and Teacher Jiang really must love each other deeply." Su Chen sighed as he stood before the wedding photo and stroked "Jiang He."

The corner of Zhao Xiong's mouth twitched. Touching another man's wife's picture in his own home... that was a bit too much.

The muscles in Qi Chuan's cheeks twitched, but his face remained expressionless.

Su Chen lowered his hand from the photograph, his tone filled with sentiment and nostalgia. "Your wife was really wet..."

Flames burst from Qi Chuan's pupils, and the temperature in the room abruptly rose!

Zhao Xiong's muscles tightened. Lily, who was pretending to search nearby, widened her eyes.

But it lasted only an instant before Qi Chuan restrained himself and returned to an expressionless state.

Because Fatty Sun had appeared at the doorway. Though his body appeared to be covered in fat, it radiated a terrifying aura. The killing intent in those mung-bean-sized eyes made Qi Chuan's heart tighten.

He can really endure... Su Chen found it regrettable. His status was different now. If Qi Chuan truly made a move, it would count as attacking an Inspection Guard, making the nature of the matter entirely different.

Fatty Sun would be justified in killing him on the spot.

"Captain, found it." Han Da emerged from the bedroom holding a small glass bottle containing a gorgeous pink flower.

"Powder Poppy, a hallucinogen and a Level One prohibited item. Please come with us," Zhao Xiong said gravely.

Qi Chuan seemed to have expected this. He merely sneered and cooperatively held out his hands.

The electromagnetic shackles locked shut. The group returned to the Inspection Department and threw him into a temporary inspection cell.

"...Mm, he's a second-tier intermediate professional—Fire Refining Soldier..." Zhao Xiong looked through the glass at the silent Qi Chuan, then lowered his head to inspect the test report. "His professional development progress should still be under 5%..."

"Su Chen, we can hold him for seven days at most." Zhao Xiong looked at the young man beside him.

"I understand." Su Chen nodded. "Can we keep starving him?"

"We have to provide food, but he's a professional and has high nutritional needs. We can give him low-nutrition meals, which is about the same as starving him," Zhao Xiong said.

"Arrange it that way." Leaving those words behind, Su Chen turned and left, deciding to return in a few days to question him.

"Captain, what is this second-generation heir trying to do? He's not even going that hard on the guy." Han Da sidled over with a sly grin. "Want to add something extra?"

"Do as he said. Don't make decisions on your own," Zhao Xiong rebuked him.

Han Da nodded sheepishly.