Ark, Just Tell Me Whether the Mission Was Completed

Luo Chen casually settled the matter of Captain Sun's brawl with Evan.

When Evan heard that, he did not dare offer even the slightest objection. He could only give those people a small reminder:

"Go easy. Don't beat him too badly. If someone dies, the nature of the matter changes."

Luo Chen smiled and waved his hand, warmly inviting Captain Evan to sit down for tea.

"Captain Evan, ignore them. We're all officers here, so we know what's what. What do you think about the matter of the temporary brigade captain?"

Evan's eyes shifted as he answered solemnly:

"Brigade Captain Luo Chen, a brawl like this has far too terrible an impact on the environment. How about you classify it as a work injury and let him go home on leave?"

Luo Chen replied generously, "I've always listened to my friends' advice."

"Since Captain Evan has said so, I'll reluctantly recommend myself to my superiors."

"As for Captain Sun, we'll handle it as you suggested. I hope you can go back and have a proper talk with Captain Sun as well."

"If he knows what's good for him, he'll apply to transfer to an administrative department himself, so we can avoid hurting everyone's feelings."

Dear readers, are you satisfied with the anthropomorphic characters? Please spare some votes.

When Dragons Fight Tigers, Harmony Is Lost. We Must Twist Ourselves into One Rope.

Morning.

Inside Swire's office, sunlight filtered through the translucent curtains and spilled across the neat desk, which was piled high with documents and materials.

At that moment, Swire was bent over some urgent work, her brows tightly furrowed in concentration.

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the office door. Her assistant entered shortly afterward, holding a document with an odd expression.

"Missy, this is a public opinion survey the Public Security Management Brigade just sent over."

The assistant handed the document to Swire, her voice carrying an almost imperceptible hint of strangeness.

Swire raised her head and accepted the document. Her gaze swept over the title on its cover—Application to Recommend Officer Luo Chen as Acting Brigade Captain—and her brows furrowed even deeper as confusion flashed through her eyes.

"Luo Chen?" Swire muttered. The name was not unfamiliar to her.

At first, she had assumed this guy was some useless waste Ch'en had slipped in through the back door.

But a few days ago, the rookie had caught her attention by reporting more than forty people.

At the time, Swire suspected Ch'en was trying to make her look bad, so after the meeting ended, she went to confront Ch'en.

Yet when Ch'en heard that Luo Chen had reported forty colleagues, her reaction had been absurdly dramatic.

Not only had she looked pained, she had even scratched her head in frustration, as though those forty people were all her beloved friends and family.

In the end, Ch'en had dragged Swire along to verify the evidence of wrongdoing against those violators. Only after the two of them confirmed everything was correct did they allow the Special Inspection Group to continue the investigation.

Ch'en had been unprecedentedly easy to talk to, leaving the originally furious Swire unable to stay angry. The matter had simply been dropped.

And just as she had sent her assistant to investigate public opinion within the Public Security Management Brigade, this application had been delivered to her.

The entire Public Security Management Brigade had recommended a rookie to become acting brigade captain? It sounded like pure fantasy.

She opened the document and began reading its contents carefully. As she read further, her expression gradually turned grave.

The document described in detail Luo Chen's performance within the Public Security Management Brigade—how he had earned the respect and trust of the members through his outstanding abilities and unique insights, and how he had stepped forward at critical moments to resolve numerous thorny problems.

The contents were so fake that Swire wondered whether the person who wrote it had been dreaming when they did.

Still, putting the contents aside.

The fact that Luo Chen had been recommended was real.

After all, it was no simple matter for an entire department to recommend one person as acting brigade captain.

It required not only sufficient strength and ability from the person in question, but also the support and recognition of the entire Public Security Management Brigade.

And now all of that had appeared in a rookie? Was that even possible?

If it had been any other senior official, they would have voided such an outrageous application outright and appointed an officer to parachute in instead.

But Swire's innate instinct for investment made her sense that something was off.

When something was unusual, there had to be a reason. Opportunities lay in all kinds of unusual details.

Swire gently closed the document. She decided to meet this guy in person.

"Assistant, call the Public Security Management Brigade and have this Luo Chen from the application come to my office."

"Oh, and has the Action Team's financial reimbursement form been submitted?"

"It has, but..."

"What is it?"

"The Action Team spent 32% over budget, but receipts can only be found for 18% of the expenses. Officer Ch'en said you should find a way to make up the remainder..."

Bang!

Swire slapped the table and rose to her feet, snarling, "That Flop Dragon! Does she think I'm her nanny? She can't even prepare reimbursement forms properly? Is she useless?"

"Tell that dead dragon that if she doesn't produce the reimbursement forms, none of this money will be reimbursed."

Half an hour later.

Inside the Lungmen Guard Department offices, the atmosphere was as tense as a drawn bowstring, ready to snap at any moment.

In Swire's office, Ch'en—the ringleader of black-and-white collusion—was arguing with an extraordinary blonde girl. Their quarrel could be heard even from far away.

One of them was red-faced, her finger practically poking the other's nose as she shouted furiously:

"You can't even figure out such a simple financial statement, Flop Dragon! Is your head full of mush? I'm telling you, if you can't make it up today, you won't get reimbursed a single cent."

The other refused to back down. "What right do you have not to reimburse us? Do you know what kind of environment our team members fight in every day? How could every single loss possibly be recorded?"

"You don't care, so of course you can't remember. Without records, who knows whether you pocketed this money or split it among yourselves?"

"Don't use your ass in place of our officers' brains. Do you think everyone has as many crooked thoughts as you?"

"What the hell are you saying? What?"

"—What what what what?"

Their furious argument echoed through the office, shattering the previous calm.

The others stopped what they were doing and turned toward the office, their faces filled with helplessness and unease.

A young clerk had been organizing documents when the sudden roar startled him so badly that his hand shook, scattering the papers all over the floor.

He hurriedly crouched down to pick them up. Just then, a passerby also crouched down to help him gather them.

"Thank you..."

"What's going on? Isn't this Superintendent Swire's office? How does anyone dare argue here?"

As Luo Chen kindly helped pick up the documents, he asked the question.

After receiving a call from Swire's assistant, Luo Chen had immediately come to Swire's floor. But the moment he stepped inside, he discovered that the atmosphere was far from harmonious.

Not only were people openly making noise and arguing inside a senior leader's office, they were even disrupting the work of the other staff.

"Obviously, the only people who dare argue here are Superintendent Ch'en and Superintendent Swire."

"It's affecting the work environment this badly, and nobody's going to do anything?"

When the clerk heard that, it was as if he had heard a joke. He shook his head with a laugh. "Who would dare interfere with them?"

But Luo Chen's gaze became firm.

Harmony was precious in all things. Unity was strength.

Only by twisting itself into one rope could the Lungmen Guard Department better strike at evil elements.

As long as everyone was willing to sit down and talk, there was no problem that could not be resolved.

Captain Sun had been so uncooperative at first yesterday, but after sitting down for a talk, hadn't he obediently integrated into the group now?

After helping the clerk straighten the documents, Luo Chen adjusted his clothes and slowly walked toward the source of the conflict.

Under the puzzled gazes of the office staff, Luo Chen pushed open the door everyone had been avoiding.

"Ladies, according to the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations, arguments are not permitted during working hours. Your current behavior has seriously affected the work of your other colleagues."

The moment Luo Chen's voice sounded from the office doorway, Ch'en visibly shuddered.

The muscles in her face stiffened as she turned around in disbelief.

"Luo Chen? Why are you here?"

Meanwhile, the little blonde tiger Swire stood by the window, staring at Luo Chen and Ch'en with an indescribable anger in her eyes.

After a long silence, Swire finally spoke, her voice carrying the domineering air of someone in power.

"You're the Luo Chen who's been causing trouble for me?"

"I don't know what happened with that application of yours, but you must have used some method to incite the others to choose you, right?"

Luo Chen's expression did not change. "Maybe everyone saw that I have a strong sense of justice and dare to shoulder heavy responsibilities, so they wanted me to become brigade captain?"

"I also know this is undoubtedly an arduous task for a rookie, but I will do everything in my power, make use of all my strengths, and organize the department's work well."

He paused before continuing, "I will bring all my strengths and advantages into play, work hard to organize the department, and ensure every task is completed successfully. I believe that with everyone's support and help, I will certainly be qualified for this position."

Listening to Luo Chen, Swire chuckled. "You really have one official line after another. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were in a political theory class."

"Thank you for the praise, ma'am. I'm not good with social niceties, and I'm afraid of offending people, so I can be a little rigid."

"You're afraid of offending people?" Ch'en snorted coldly, silently mocking him.

After Luo Chen appeared, Ch'en no longer wanted to continue this meaningless argument with Swire.

The finances had always been reimbursed before. They would definitely be reimbursed this time too.

That stinking cat was just trying to be lazy this time.

"Tea-snack cat, I still have work to do, so I won't waste words with you. If you still want to settle this in the ring, I'll be ready anytime after work."

After tossing out those words, Ch'en ignored Swire and headed for the door.

As she passed Luo Chen, Ch'en glanced at him. "I advise you to be more respectful when talking to Swire. She isn't as easy to talk to as I am."

Although Ch'en said that to Luo Chen, it was clearly aimed at Swire behind her.

Luo Chen scratched his head in confusion.

They were all adults. What was so impossible about sitting down and talking things over properly?

Why did they have to be so sarcastic?

Hadn't he and Carter had misunderstandings before? Yet after sitting down and opening their hearts to each other, hadn't they become a harmonious adoptive father-and-son pair?

Besides, Luo Chen felt that the hostility between Swire and Ch'en did not come from any deep-seated hatred. Instead, it carried a complicated feeling of pride and coyness.

Could they both be tsunderes?

Luo Chen had the most experience dealing with tsunderes.

As long as you peeled away the proud part of them, all that remained was the coy part.

That was the fundamental principle behind naturally countering tsunderes.

"Superintendent Ch'en, you and Superintendent Swire are very good friends, aren't you? You say Superintendent Swire isn't easy to talk to, but in truth, you desperately want me to get closer to Superintendent Swire, don't you?"

Ch'en, who had already walked out of the office, stopped in her tracks.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

And when Swire heard that, her tightly drawn expression suddenly loosened a little. "Ah... is that so?"

This Life, I'll Never Dare Argue in Front of Luo Chen Again.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. There's something strange about this guy."