Ark, Just Tell Me Whether the Mission Was Completed — Chapter 36

Luo Chen took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and shouted in a booming voice, "Attention, everyone!"

The moment he spoke, everyone in the office straightened their backs and turned their eyes toward Luo Chen in unison. Their faces were full of seriousness as they waited for him to continue.

Seeing everyone react in exactly the same way, even the well-traveled Hoshiguma was startled.

The last time she'd seen such a bizarre scene had been during a raid on an illegal religious compound.

Looking at the team members he'd trained for two days, Luo Chen felt a surge of pride.

He knew these team members were all elites of the Public Security Management Brigade, jointly shouldering the responsibility of maintaining public order.

And as the acting brigade commander—pending confirmation—he had to lead by example and guide everyone forward.

"What is our department's slogan?" Luo Chen suddenly asked.

"Impartial and just, enforcing the law like a mountain!" everyone answered in unison.

"What is our mission?"

"To make all evil tremble before us!"

Luo Chen nodded and continued.

"Very good! We must be impartial and just, enforcing the law like a mountain. No matter what difficulties and challenges we face, we must hold fast to this belief and protect our duties and mission. Now, let's throw ourselves into the coming training and work with even greater enthusiasm and firmer conviction!"

As Luo Chen finished speaking, all the officers in the office resumed their work without daring to slack off in the slightest.

"Ghost Sis, see? Our Public Security Management Brigade is very united. You don't need to worry about me being isolated."

"Uh..."

As Hoshiguma carefully studied the officers' stern, earnest faces, an unsettling feeling quietly crept into her heart.

Their eyes seemed to reveal an indescribable fear, making her feel somewhat uneasy.

Did this count as unity?

"Ghost Sis, is Superintendent Ch'en doing alright?" Luo Chen was someone who cared deeply about the details.

If he'd heard correctly, Hoshiguma had heard it from Chief Ch'en.

"Old Ch'en's doing fine. Why do you ask?"

"Ghost Sis, let me tell you a story about Superintendent Ch'en. I just took a picture—Superintendent Ch'en and Superintendent Swire seem to have a really good relationship. Ghost Sis, do you want to see it?"

"What picture?... What? The two of them actually shook hands?" Hoshiguma's eyes widened round, disbelief flashing in her pupils as though she wanted to find even the slightest flaw or falsehood in the scene.

"Of course. They're both the soft-hearted, sharp-tongued tsundere type, after all."

"What does tsundere mean?"

"It's like this..."

Over the next few days, under the guidance of the enthusiastic officer Luo Chen, the entire Lungmen Guard Department learned that Superintendent Ch'en and Superintendent Swire were two soft-hearted, sharp-tongued tsunderes.

Four days later.

Lungmen Guard Department Headquarters, conference center beside the training grounds.

Today, all the personnel who had been investigated by the Special Inspection Group had completed their reviews and been reassigned to the exercise's Villain Group to carry out planning work.

Aside from the five people placed under formal investigation, the remaining thirty-one had all arrived at the conference center early, as instructed by the Lungmen Guard Department.

Motley, who had once been the brigade commander, had arrived an hour and a half early. His purpose was simple.

As the leader of the Villain Group, he wanted to win more people over to his side.

Otherwise, if everyone stood with Luo Chen, what would be the point of him being the group leader?

He had heard about what Luo Chen had done in the brigade recently. Within a few days, Luo Chen had consolidated the department through threats and inducements, leaving everyone afraid of Luo Chen's retaliation and forcing them to cut ties with their former commander, Motley.

Motley was furious about this. To reclaim his influence from Luo Chen, he had used his connections in the Governor's Office and his contacts in the Intelligence Division during the investigation to dig into Luo Chen's background.

Luo Chen was just an orphan. He had no family, no backing, and was neither a classmate nor a friend of Superintendent Ch'en.

The only higher-up in the Lungmen Guard Department he was relatively close to was Hoshiguma. But Hoshiguma had only occasionally offered him help as a neighbor in the past. She had never applied to the Governor's Office or the Lungmen Guard Department for any support on Luo Chen's behalf.

All this information showed that Luo Chen was completely bluffing and borrowing another's authority. He had no real power of his own.

The reason he'd been able to deal with so many colleagues was simply because he had used one person to eliminate another.

Though reluctant to admit it, Motley finally understood why Luo Chen had asked whether, as a brigade commander, he should know the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations.

That's right. Those people had simply been taken down by the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations.

If he had told everyone to be more careful back then and driven Luo Chen out of the department before they could be caught with any dirt on them, would things have turned out differently?

Fortunately, he still had a chance. As long as he did a good job as group leader during this exercise, returning to the department would only be a matter of time.

And the prerequisite for being a good leader was uniting the group members and excluding Luo Chen.

However, Motley's ideals were full, while reality was painfully thin.

These people didn't believe what he was saying. Pressured by Luo Chen's intimidating presence, they didn't dare casually choose a side.

"Carter... we've been old comrades for years. Let's discuss this exercise in advance."

"Sorry, Group Leader Motley. I want to wait until Officer Luo Chen arrives."

"Ellie... that kid set you up this time. I'll help you get justice later."

"Sorry, sir. My suspension was entirely my own fault. It had nothing to do with anyone else."

"Conference Room Three, this should be the place."

Following the map markers of the Lungmen Guard Department, Luo Chen arrived at the meeting point right on time.

By the time he reached the door, everyone else was already inside.

Luo Chen stepped onto the wooden floor, producing a faint creak. It wasn't loud, but it drew everyone's attention.

Black hair, black eyes, and looking like a successful professional while being rotten to the core inside—this was definitely that Biyang's Late Intent.

The moment Luo Chen appeared, most people simultaneously wore constipated expressions—furious, yet too afraid to say anything.

"Hey! Everyone's here so early? I was thinking of catching a few latecomers and criticizing them publicly."

"Officer Luo Chen, this mission is so important. How would we dare arrive late?"

When Luo Chen appeared, one person among the crowd was rather excited and immediately went up to greet him.

It was Carter, who regarded Luo Chen as his adoptive father. If it hadn't been for Luo Chen, he would still have been deceived by his ex-wife and fake brother.

Luo Chen had made him see the dangers of love.

Walking into the conference room, Luo Chen looked over the scattered seating arrangements and quickly assessed the situation inside.

Six people sat behind Group Leader Motley. They were clearly Motley's most steadfast supporters.

The remaining twenty-odd people sat in groups of two or three throughout the room, showing that they were still observing the situation—or had formed temporary little cliques.

And Carter's reaction showed that Carter wanted to be his bootlicker.

There were so many factions within a tiny group of thirty-two people that Luo Chen couldn't help frowning.

This was terribly disunited!

The Villain Group was a collective. Everyone needed to unite first.

How could the Avengers not join together to deal with Thanos?

Luo Chen felt the current situation was bad, so he walked up the steps to the podium and lightly tapped the microphone.

"Good morning, colleagues! Before the meeting begins, I would like to..."

Luo Chen smiled as he greeted everyone, but before he could finish his first sentence, Motley interrupted him by rapping his knuckles against the table.

"Deputy Group Leader Luo Chen... I'm the leader of the Villain Group. Shouldn't presiding over the meeting be my responsibility?"

"Group Leader Motley, do you want to challenge me?" Luo Chen still wore a smile, but his words made everyone present feel as though a storm was about to break.

Naturally, Motley wasn't frightened by Luo Chen's question. He imitated Luo Chen's approach from some time ago and began citing the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations.

"I'm merely reminding you to distinguish priorities. According to the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations, the group leader has priority in speaking at meetings."

"Very good. So Group Leader Motley won't let me speak? You've decided to get in the ring with me?"

"I'm only reminding you of the Lungmen Guard Department's rules. If you have no objections, then come down."

"Fine, Group Leader Motley. Since you sincerely want to get in the ring with me, let me make this clear in advance—you could die."

"Hmph. What a bluffer. Get down already." Motley snorted disdainfully, telling Luo Chen to come down from the podium at once.

Knowing Luo Chen's background inside and out, he knew that if he wanted to seize control, the first thing he had to do was expose Luo Chen as a paper tiger.

He had to weaken Luo Chen's intimidation in everyone's eyes.

At that moment, Carter, who had been waiting below for a chance to show his loyalty, seized the opportunity and stood up to rebuke Motley.

"Group Leader Motley, don't go too far! You're not the brigade commander anymore."

Luo Chen shot Carter an unhappy glance. Could you not say something so pathetic?

How had Motley gone too far? Did Luo Chen need Carter to show loyalty for him?

Could everyone just be a little more united?

Luo Chen turned to Motley and said, "Group Leader Motley, I propose we throw this noisy fellow out."

"Huh?" Carter was completely dumbfounded.

He had spoken up for Luo Chen, so why did Luo Chen want to kick him out of the exercise group?

Motley was also bewildered by Luo Chen's actions. This was the first time in his life he had seen Luo Chen handle things this way.

However, since Luo Chen was willing to kick out Carter, who supported him, Motley had no objection.

"I agree. Carter, you don't need to participate in this exercise."

"Ah—ah—ah?"

Under everyone's amused gazes, Carter walked away questioning his life.

With that disruptive element gone, Luo Chen still didn't step down from the podium. He placed both hands on its edges and spoke into the microphone.

"According to the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations, a subordinate who disrupts meeting order without a superior's permission will be suspended for five days."

"As a resolute enforcer of the Lungmen Guard Department Regulations, I have decided to voluntarily accept the punishment and suspend myself for five days."

"And before I leave, I hope all of you can unite and decisively win the exercise one week from now."

When they heard that Luo Chen was suspending himself, Motley became the one questioning his life.

No, wait!

What's going on? I only wanted to expose the paper tiger. Why did he surrender on his own?

That kid had clearly said he wanted to challenge me. Isn't this script wrong?

Logically, shouldn't he be fiercely competing with me for leadership?

Just as Motley was pondering Luo Chen's true intentions, Luo Chen pointed at the secretary whom he had once reported for watching television dramas: