Ark, Just Tell Me Whether the Mission Was Completed

"Hoshiguma! Calm down... Luo Chen and I aren't what you think."

Half an hour later.

Hoshiguma returned to Luo Chen's dormitory with an embarrassed look on her face.

She sat in a chair with her eyes lowered, not daring to look directly at Luo Chen. Her usually lively eyes were now filled with guilt and embarrassment.

Hoshiguma knew she had done something wrong.

She had misunderstood her partner, and she had misunderstood Luo Chen too.

The two of them already had a twisted history they did not want the world to know about, yet she had acted like a shameless thug and forcibly ripped open the scar they wanted to avoid.

Luo Chen's time as a student had overlapped with Old Ch'en's government-sponsored studies in Victoria for only two short months.

Yet during those two months, Luo Chen had met Old Ch'en and started dating her, only to be forced apart later because one was in Lungmen and the other in Victoria.

The love, hate, and tangled drama that happened between them could easily fill a million-word novel.

And Old Ch'en had always pretended not to know Luo Chen before this, which meant the drama between them had to be exceptionally melodramatic.

Combined with Old Ch'en's personality, she had probably taken the initiative to end the relationship on the grounds that she was too busy with work, though she still held a trace of lingering attachment in her heart.

Luo Chen, meanwhile, was the kind of person who never regretted a decision once he made it. Since he could keep pretending not to know Old Ch'en, that meant he had completely let go of his feelings for her.

Taking all that into account, along with Hoshiguma's many years of television-watching experience, she imagined what Old Ch'en had gone to see Luo Chen for that day.

Old Ch'en had probably wanted to rekindle their old flame, only to be flatly rejected by Luo Chen.

Unable to swallow it, Old Ch'en had recruited Luo Chen into the Lungmen Guard Department.

After all, Old Ch'en only broke established rules when she was extremely angry.

And being ruthlessly rejected by her ex-boyfriend was exactly the sort of thing that would make her furious.

A relationship problem between two young people had somehow been interpreted by her as workplace coercion.

Ch'en had been hurting after Luo Chen rejected her, and then Hoshiguma had gone and beaten her up.

What a colossal misunderstanding.

Without You, Who Will Shoulder the Burden of Collusion Between Black and White?

With Hoshiguma staring at him with guilty eyes the whole time, Luo Chen felt a headache coming on.

The dormitory door was still lying on the floor, and Auntie Hoshiguma did not even know to fix it.

Otherwise, when he left later, he would have to pay a fine to the dorm manager.

"Ghost Sis, it's still working hours at the Lungmen Guard Department, isn't it? Aren't you going to assist Superintendent Ch'en with her work?"

"No. I'm too ashamed to face Old Ch'en now."

Hoshiguma covered her old face. Old Ch'en's left cheek was probably still swollen, and she truly did not know how to face her.

She would calm down for a day, then apologize to Old Ch'en tomorrow.

Hoshiguma raised her restless hands and touched her horn, deliberately changing the subject.

"By the way, Little Chen, do you really want to join the Lungmen Guard Department?"

"Ghost Sis, shouldn't you already know the answer to that? If I didn't want to join the Lungmen Guard Department, would I have worked this hard to get here?"

"That's true." Hoshiguma lowered her head.

When Luo Chen's career came up, she began to worry.

Looking at it now, Luo Chen entering the Lungmen Guard Department had been purely an accident.

No matter what Old Ch'en had been thinking a few days ago, once she calmed down and accepted reality, she would definitely draw a complete line between herself and Luo Chen.

And without Old Ch'en's connections, Luo Chen, whose abilities were far below average, would very likely be eliminated in an internal assessment.

Since Luo Chen had made up his mind to join the Lungmen Guard Department,

he needed to understand the harsh workplace that awaited him.

Thinking this, Hoshiguma spoke bluntly.

"Little Chen, I have to tell you in advance that the work ahead of you won't be easy."

"Not only does Lungmen Guard Department work require extremely strong professional skills, you also need to understand how to handle workplace relationships."

"Your superior is Superintendent Swire. She has always been at odds with Ch'en in the Lungmen Guard Department. Since you entered because of Ch'en, she already has quite a few objections to you."

"And the Public Security Management Brigade where you'll be working is Swire's direct department. Because of Swire's stance, they definitely won't be friendly toward you."

"Once you start, you must watch what you say and do, or you could very well be isolated outright!"

Hearing that he might be isolated, Luo Chen's steady heartbeat sparked with a slight interest.

He deliberately lowered his head, sighed, and put on a worried expression.

"Ghost Sis, all those social intricacies you mentioned are really too difficult for me."

"But I really want to get closer to them, even become comrades who can entrust their backs to each other."

"What should I do?"

Luo Chen's frail appearance successfully awakened Hoshiguma's maternal instincts.

At that moment, even Hoshiguma, who had the strongest principles, wanted to drag Luo Chen along to give Swire a gift and ask her to look after him.

But Hoshiguma quickly shook her head.

If she really did that, she would not be helping Luo Chen. She would be harming him.

She would be destroying Luo Chen's dream with her own hands.

What he wanted to become was a good officer who contributed to Lungmen, not some useless fool who only knew how to flatter his superiors.

Besides, Swire was even more strict about separating public and private matters than Old Ch'en.

If she went to give Swire a gift, Swire would definitely pay even more attention to Luo Chen.

With Missy's personality, she would definitely test Luo Chen harshly and make him work overtime until he vomited blood.

The best approach was still to help Luo Chen build good relationships with the people at the bottom of the department. As long as he integrated into the team, Swire would not pick on him.

"Little Chen, don't worry yet. I'm not very familiar with the Public Security Management Brigade, but I've heard some rumors about them."

"As far as I know, the Public Security Management Brigade has a relatively harmonious atmosphere. Other than Deputy Captain Carter, who has quite a temper and cannot tolerate the slightest offense, everyone else is quite decent. If you don't provoke them, they won't provoke you."

"Oh, right. Wang Hao, captain of the First Squad, was classmates with Carter at the police academy. They have an excellent relationship."

"If you can't get along with Carter, you can try getting close to Captain Wang Hao. Maybe after eating together a few times, you'll fit right in."

"People just need to drink together a little, and then their relationship gets better."

Luo Chen nodded slightly as he listened to Hoshiguma's advice.

Carter. Wang Hao.

He remembered those troublemakers.

Once he started the job, he would make sure to thoroughly scrutinize their lifestyles.

Luo Chen raised a hand to interrupt Hoshiguma.

"Ghost Sis, before I start, I want to study the Lungmen Guard Department's rules and regulations first."

"Do you have the latest version of the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations?"

"Um... I do, but I forgot where I threw it."

As she spoke, Hoshiguma's old face turned red. In truth, after the regulations had been issued, she had used the book to prop up a table leg.

She only needed to return to her office to get it.

But what would Luo Chen think if he saw the table-leg imprint on the book?

He would definitely think she was a lazy, unmotivated officer. If Luo Chen thought that, her lofty image would be ruined.

"How about this? I'll borrow one from a colleague. Wait here for a moment."

While Hoshiguma went to find a copy of the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations, Luo Chen did not sit idle.

He called Chen Huijie again.

"Hello... What do you want from me?"

This time, Chen Huijie did not launch into a fiery tirade the moment she opened her mouth like last time.

Instead, her voice was weak and lifeless, carrying a hint of utter dejection.

"Officer Ch'en, you really need to take care of yourself. Without you, who will shoulder the burden of collusion between black and white in Lungmen?"

Chen Huijie instantly perked up when she heard that.

"XX you XX, you really are such a..."

"Such a what?"

"Such a handsome guy! Such a darling, all right? I'm asking you, Luo Chen, what exactly do you want? Can you please leave me alone?"

Luo Chen immediately became displeased upon hearing that. His tone hardened as he criticized her.

"Officer Ch'en, look at you, getting worked up again!"

"We're grasshoppers tied to the same boat. There's nothing but open sea outside. Do you think it's so easy to jump off?"

"And don't forget, you still owe me a favor. If I hadn't taken a little loss, it wouldn't just be one side of your face that was swollen."

The half of Chen Huijie's face that had just stopped hurting began to ache again the moment Luo Chen brought it up.

And it was the kind of pain that ran from her face straight into her heart, liver, spleen, and stomach.

"Fine! Fine! Fine! So I should thank you, then?"

"You're welcome."

"If you called just to mock me, then you've achieved your goal. I'm going to the Medical Department for a checkup now, so I'm hanging up."

Luo Chen continued to criticize her.

"Officer Ch'en, you're already a superintendent. Why are you still so impatient?"

"But seeing as you're injured, I won't nag you today."

"I want to build good relationships with my colleagues in the Public Security Management Brigade and create a harmonious group. Can you give me their résumés? I need to run background checks on them."

"You..." Chen Huijie was about to refuse, but the aching half of her face made her withdraw that decision.

Forget it. Let that stupid cat worry about it.

"Fine, one last time! Then we're even."

A Connected Hire? I'll Go Meet Him.

Early morning.

Luo Chen picked up the briefcase containing the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations and walked out of his home.

Facing the morning breeze, Luo Chen held his head high and set off to report to the Lungmen Guard Department.

On the way, Luo Chen casually passed the home of the girl who had stolen his wallet, glancing inside through the broken window.

The girl inside noticed someone outside and cautiously looked toward the door as well.

Their gazes met, and it seemed as though an electric current surged through the air. Luo Chen searched the girl's room with curiosity in his eyes, while Gravel looked thin and pale, her eyes hiding deep anxiety, as though she feared the coming storm more than anything.

Gravel clenched her fists while Luo Chen furrowed his brow.

But when Luo Chen saw a Yan dictionary and a set of first-grade elementary school exercise books on the table, his tightly furrowed brow suddenly relaxed.