Ark, Just Tell Me Whether the Mission Was Completed

"Miss Secretary, what did you think about me reporting you back then?"

"I don't have any opinion. I shouldn't have used my phone carelessly during work hours." Miss Secretary shook her head, not daring to voice any objection. She neither dared to shift the blame onto Luo Chen nor onto Motley, who had hinted that she should exclude Luo Chen.

"How can you not have an opinion?" Luo Chen's lips curled into a scornful smile, his eyes gleaming with disdain and provocation.

"I don't understand what you mean, sir."

Luo Chen's smug gaze swept across everyone present as he said in a rather mocking tone:

"You all don't understand, huh? Then let me tell you what I was thinking at the time. When someone hinted that you should exclude me, they did it out of helplessness. I knew that."

"I also knew you had no choice. I knew some of you were about to retire, some had promising futures ahead of you, and some wanted to warn me but didn't dare disobey your superior's orders."

"But guess what? I reported all of you. Heh heh."

The Mission Objective Was Easily Completed!

The meeting room was exceptionally quiet. After Luo Chen finished speaking, not a single person made a sound.

Miss Secretary had been cut by Luo Chen's words like a fallen leaf in the cold wind, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

Her once-timid eyes now flickered with flames of anger and helplessness, as though they might burst forth at any moment.

Her generously endowed chest heaved violently, every breath seeming to squeeze raging fury from her throat, carrying a searing pain.

Her clenched fists trembled incessantly beneath the table, as if she wanted to crush all that humiliation and anger in her palms.

Her face was as pale as a thin sheet of paper, veins bulging on her forehead—the marks of rage and unwillingness crashing wildly through her blood vessels.

Her lips were tightly pressed together, yet they couldn't conceal the trembling breaths leaking through her teeth.

At that moment, her body seemed to have lost all strength, and she could only barely support herself against the chair. That anger and humiliation were like a sharp blade piercing deeply into her heart, hurting her so badly she could barely breathe.

She sat there, trembling all over, rage and humiliation entwining into an indescribable force that surged through her body.

At that moment, she seemed like a volcano on the verge of erupting, ready to spew that fury at any time.

If she had lost even a trace more of her rationality, she would already have started cursing him out.

"Sir, you knew I had no choice?" Miss Secretary gritted her teeth as she asked.

"Of course. Otherwise, why do you think I kept asking you questions that day?" Luo Chen laughed in his clear voice.

Upon hearing that, Miss Secretary's blood pressure soared to its limit.

That bastard Luo Chen had indeed deliberately stacked up her mistakes that day, all to make her punishment worse.

This thing knew perfectly well about her difficulties, yet still deliberately made things worse for her.

Luo Chen had practically ruined her promising career with his own hands!

"Ah... why did you do this?"

The moment Miss Secretary asked that question, Luo Chen's teasing expression vanished. He raised his head and looked at the Lungmen Guard Department flag on the training grounds outside the window, saying solemnly:

"Because the dignity of the Lungmen Guard Department must not be violated!"

Luo Chen had spent all that time giving dark, ulterior reasons, only to suddenly elevate the theme with that final line. Even if that truly had been his purpose, no one would have believed him.

That was the art of speaking.

In Miss Secretary's eyes, Luo Chen was deliberately using her to pad his accomplishments.

"You... you're such a—"

Miss Secretary finally couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes wide with fury, she began cursing Luo Chen out on the spot.

Yet she searched through every filthy word in her mind and felt none of them were enough to describe the extent of Luo Chen's bastardry.

Looking at the Villain Group members below, each of them red-faced with anger, Luo Chen felt much better.

Now this had the flavor of the Avengers.

I nearly made you lose your jobs. How could you not be angry?

"I know you're furious with me, but don't be angry just yet. I haven't finished speaking." Luo Chen's voice remained calm and steady.

That steady tone only made the people below even angrier.

Miss Secretary was so furious that she immediately sat beside Motley. "Team Leader Motley, I will absolutely obey your command in this exercise."

Motley saw that the secretary he had failed to win over all morning had defected to his side after just a few words from Luo Chen, and he couldn't help feeling pleased.

This Luo Chen really was a genius at handling interpersonal relationships.

Everyone else tried every possible way to win friends over, but he actually took the initiative to make enemies.

It seemed that once this exercise was over, he could lead these officers back to the brigade and seize control again.

On the stage, Luo Chen calmly watched the people below. In just a few minutes, half of them had already moved to sit beside Motley.

As for the remaining half, Luo Chen didn't go easy on them either. He pointed at one of them and began administering emergency treatment to the man's blood pressure.

"Chief Charles, as an old officer of the brigade, everyone knows your glorious record. I greatly respect your contributions to the Lungmen Guard Department, so I didn't come bother you with questions. Instead, I quietly used my phone to monitor problems with your work."

"How was that? Wasn't I considerate?"

Luo Chen's question instantly made the gray-haired old officer clutch his heart.

Charles had already been on the verge of losing it after Luo Chen delayed his retirement. But he had thought that as long as he endured another year or so, he could still retire, so he chose to remain neutral, provoking no one and involving himself in nothing.

Yet he hadn't expected Luo Chen to subject him to this new form of torture, directly triggering his heart condition.

After swallowing several pills in succession, Charles shakily rose to his feet. He pointed at Luo Chen, though he didn't say a word.

But everyone knew that he would never stand with Luo Chen for the rest of his life.

After Luo Chen continued calling out and mocking several more people, every officer who had remained neutral finally moved to sit behind Motley.

"Very good. That's more like it."

Luo Chen nodded in satisfaction. As a collective, the Villain Group members should be tightly united.

There were only thirty-some people, yet they had so many little cliques. What kind of nonsense was that?

"If you have emotions, don't bottle them up. If you bottle them up too long, you won't be able to endure it. In the upcoming exercise, I hope you'll properly assist Team Leader Motley, conduct this important exercise well, and fully carry out the exercise objectives set by Superintendent Swire."

"I hope you take this exercise seriously and carefully study the script with a serious, rigorous attitude. Of course, if you have any questions, you can consult me at any time. I'll also do my utmost to provide you with assistance."

"Finally, let me emphasize one point. To play a villain well, you must completely put yourselves in a villain's circumstances and emotions. Think about how much determination and effort a real criminal must muster when taking such desperate risks."

"Alright, that concludes my speech. Let us work together again in six days."

Luo Chen ended his speech with a smile, though it earned no applause whatsoever.

But Luo Chen didn't care. He knew that Superintendent Swire's second mission objective for him, uniting the team members, had been successfully completed.

Next came guiding these people to make the script sufficiently polished.

However, that wasn't difficult for Luo Chen. Not only had he planned it long ago, he was also preparing to compile his team-building plan into a book and publish a bestselling book on team management.

For that, Luo Chen found trainee Lin Yuxia, who was likewise confused about team management.

In exchange for helping publish the book, he gave her a free practical lesson.

I'm Afraid You Won't Know What's Good for You.

The streets on either side of the Lungmen Guard Department's rear entrance were shaded by lush green trees and blooming flowers. A faint floral fragrance hung in the air, refreshing anyone who breathed it in.

But Lin Yuxia wasn't in a beautiful mood right now. She was troubled and somewhat depressed.

Because it had been several days since she had felt that soul-deep joy of doing a good deed.

Before meeting Luo Chen, the happiness Lin Yuxia experienced was nothing more than the satisfaction of ordinary needs like eating, drinking, and having fun. At a higher level, it was simply receiving praise and compliments from those around her.

But after meeting Luo Chen, Lin Yuxia discovered the joy of self-realization within her soul.

It was an indescribable kind of joy, yet one that made her unable to stop. Once she'd experienced it, she wanted to do it again.

One could even say that only when doing these joyful things did she feel her own purpose on this land—the sublimation of her soul, the continuation of her spirit, the end of mortality.

For a while, she could experience this joy by pretending to be a sucker and passing righteous judgment on unruly underlings.

But gradually, those underlings came up with a new countermeasure. They secretly distributed photos of Lin Yuxia to everyone.

As a result, whenever Lin Yuxia appeared, they firmly followed Luo Chen's four key points and did their work properly.

But the moment Lin Yuxia left, they quickly reverted to their old ways.

Gradually, her acts of doing good became nothing more than performative formalities, which deeply troubled Lin Yuxia.

For that reason, she consulted Luo Chen about the matter.

Luo Chen said that the reason she felt troubled now was because she knew some evil still existed, yet she was unable to punish it, leaving her feeling powerless.

That powerlessness could make a person anxious, self-blaming, and even depressed.

Thus trapping them in an endless cycle of reflection.

Some people went even further, believing the world had become completely dark and beyond saving, then falling into darkness themselves and becoming inhuman antisocial monsters.

But overcoming that sense of powerlessness was actually very simple.

After all, people grew, and bad people did too. As the enemies of evil, all they needed to do was stay one step ahead of them forever.

As for how to stay one step ahead, Luo Chen didn't explain much. Instead, he told her to come observe it for herself.

So early that morning, Lin Yuxia brought the things Luo Chen needed and quietly waited by the rear entrance of the Lungmen Guard Department.

"Miss Lin Yuxia, you don't look too well today."

Upon hearing Luo Chen's voice, light instantly returned to Lin Yuxia's gloomy eyes. She eagerly went up to greet him.

"Officer Luo! I told you about my problem yesterday. What do you think I should do?"

"Don't rush. We have plenty of time." Luo Chen smiled and waved his hand. "Before that, did you get the goods I asked for?"

"I got them. I tied her up myself last night."

As Lin Yuxia spoke, she led Luo Chen toward the trunk of her car. Once she slightly lifted the trunk lid, they could see Gravel inside, tightly bound hand and foot.

"Good." Luo Chen nodded in satisfaction and pointed toward a bookstore near the Lungmen Guard Department. "This kid stays home studying every day and never gets any sun. I'm afraid she might suddenly drop dead again someday, so this is a good chance to kidnap her out for some exercise—an educational outdoor activity with a little fun mixed in."

"Officer Luo, I didn't expect you to be so attentive and gentle."

"I merely have a sense of service toward others. Come on, let's unload the goods at that bookstore."

Twenty minutes later, Gravel sat trembling in a bookstore chair. Looking at the luxurious and unfamiliar surroundings, she was terrified.

Especially the skyscrapers towering into the clouds outside the window, the clean streets, the patrolling officers, and the energetic, finely dressed pedestrians—all of it showed that Gravel wasn't in the Lower City, but in the Upper City, the place said to rival heaven itself.

If she were healthy, she might have been curious and fascinated by everything around her.

But she was an Infected. Lungmen's Upper City didn't allow undocumented Infected to enter. If the Lungmen Guard Department discovered her, she would be killed immediately.

Across from Gravel sat the mastermind who had brought her here.

That devil in human clothing smiled at her.

"So? Is this your first time in the Upper City? Are you happy? Knowing that you'll die the moment someone discovers your identity, does your heart race and flutter?"

"I..." Gravel was already sending greetings in her heart to Luo Chen's parents in heaven, but she didn't dare show the slightest dissatisfaction. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I just want you to do something for me."

"What can I do for you? You know I have no skills." Gravel warily examined her surroundings, afraid that an officer from the Lungmen Guard Department would come check her identification.

"You don't need to be so nervous. The ones patrolling outside are all from my Public Security Management Brigade." Luo Chen smiled. "This time, I want to hire you to steal something."

The instant she heard the word "steal," Gravel reacted as if she'd developed PTSD and started trembling like a sieve.

"I... I... I stopped stealing a long time ago. And whenever you weren't home, I even added two more locks to your house to stop thieves from getting in."

"Of course I've seen your changes. That's why I'm giving you this stealing mission. No, to be precise, I'm ordering you to retrieve someone else's documents from their person."

"Isn't that still stealing... No... I've turned over a new leaf. Don't try to fool me." After suffering at Luo Chen's hands, Gravel had completely given up her work as a thief.

"Taking someone else's things for money counts as stealing. Taking someone else's things to do a good deed doesn't."

"A good deed? How could stealing someone else's things count as a good deed?"

"Of course it does. The people I want you to steal from aren't ordinary people, but officers of the Lungmen Guard Department. I want you to steal from them to train their sense of crisis. As long as their professional ability improves, they can crack down on more criminals. Isn't that a good thing? Besides, everything you steal will eventually be returned to its original owner, so it doesn't constitute theft. It's merely safekeeping."