Director of the Investigation Bureau

Half an hour later, Lu Chengchuan emerged from the guest room.

The villa servants were bringing dishes to the table. Gu Mingwei had been about to send his daughter upstairs to knock on the door, but when he saw Lu Chengchuan come down on his own, he hurriedly greeted him.

"Mr. Lu, dinner is just about ready. Please, have a seat."

There were not many people at the table: Gu Mingwei's family of four, plus him, the guest. During the meal, only Gu Mingwei spoke with him. The others kept their heads down and ate from their bowls.

By the end of the meal, only Gu Mingwei had a smile on his face.

After dinner, Lu Chengchuan left. Gu Mingwei had his driver take him back. On the way, his phone rang again. He picked it up and saw that it was Zhou Yaning.

"Hello, Captain Zhou. Is something the matter?" Lu Chengchuan felt incredibly busy. He had barely resolved one matter when another came knocking.

Gu Mingwei and the people from the Investigation Bureau had been taking turns looking for him, coordinating their visits quite seamlessly.

"Our director would like to meet you. Do you have time?"

In the days since returning from Little Stone Village, she had been handling the matter of the strange patterns. During that time, she had also reported Lu Chengchuan's situation to her superiors. The director had long known of him, but there was not enough reliable intelligence regarding Little Stone Village to draw any conclusions for now.

With the situation still unclear, the director had proposed meeting him in person, and Zhou Yaning promptly made the arrangements.

"Why does he want to see me? Can I say I'm not free?"

His dealings with the Investigation Bureau had only been about mutual benefit. What could their director possibly want to discuss with him? Lu Chengchuan's first reaction was to refuse, but Zhou Yaning seemed to have anticipated that. Unhurried, she said,

"I found a new martial art manual. If you come over, I'll give it to you. How about it?"

"I suddenly have time. Where are you?" The instant he heard there was a martial art manual, Lu Chengchuan immediately changed his mind.

If there was a martial art manual, why hadn't she said so earlier? He would not have refused otherwise.

"Driver, please take me to the city Armed Forces Department building."

Zhou Yaning sent him a location, and Lu Chengchuan quickly told the driver to change course.

The driver was Gu Mingwei's personal chauffeur. He understood how important this distinguished guest was to his employer. Hearing that Lu Chengchuan wanted to go to Moon Lake Plaza, he immediately reset the navigation without another word.

Forty minutes later, the sedan stopped on the street outside the Armed Forces Department building. Lu Chengchuan got out and was about to make a call.

"Mr. Lu!"

Just as he was about to call, a somewhat familiar voice rang out. Lu Chengchuan looked toward it and saw Zhou Yaning's subordinate, Qian Xiaoling, jogging over.

"Mr. Lu, the captain asked me to wait for you here. Please come with me quickly, the director is waiting for you."

Qian Xiaoling led him into the government building, and the two took the elevator to the twelfth floor.

Inside a private office, Zhou Yaning sat carefully in her chair. Before her stood a desk, and behind it sat her direct superior, Zhang Chengyan, director of the Investigation Bureau.

The middle-aged man looked unremarkable, but he was the head of the Guangnan Province Investigation Bureau, holding astonishing authority.

"Xiao Ling just messaged me. He's already here."

Qian Xiaoling had just sent word that Lu Chengchuan had arrived, and Zhou Yaning hurriedly reported it to her superior.

"He's here? I've wanted to meet him for a long time. If I hadn't been so busy, it wouldn't have been delayed until now."

Zhang Chengyan had constantly heard Zhou Yaning say that this man was formidable, very formidable. He had long wanted to meet him, and today he finally had the time.

"What is your assessment of him?"

"Very formidable, and very mysterious. He isn't an Esper, but his martial arts are even more powerful than Esper abilities. It would be effortless for him to kill our entire team. His personality is fairly normal, though he does like practicing martial arts."

Zhou Yaning had worked with him several times. If nothing else, she had personally witnessed just how powerful Lu Chengchuan was.

"By your account, for a martial artist to reach such a level... he truly is impressive."

Knock, knock, knock...

As the two were talking, someone knocked on the door. Qian Xiaoling had brought someone to the director's office.

"Come in." Zhou Yaning glanced at the director and told them to enter quickly.

Qian Xiaoling opened the door and let Lu Chengchuan enter alone. As an ordinary member, she was not qualified to hear a conversation between leaders, much less eavesdrop from the doorway.

"You're Lu Chengchuan? Have a seat."

Zhang Chengyan watched him enter and continued watching until he stood before him. Honestly, he could not see anything particularly special about him. He only felt that the young man was strong and energetic, and that his eyes seemed to shine...

Lu Chengchuan did not stand on ceremony. He walked over and sat down before speaking. "You're the director of the Investigation Bureau?"

Listening from the side, Zhou Yaning felt the last shred of hope in her heart die.

She did not know what to say. At least Lu Chengchuan had used an honorific, so it did not quite count as being rude.

Zhang Chengyan chuckled. He had held a high position for many years, and few people spoke to him so directly. Even in a special department like the Investigation Bureau, there were still certain things one needed to learn, after all. They were still an official institution.

But Lu Chengchuan did not care about any of that. In his eyes, the man before him might be powerful and highly placed, but expecting him to flatter the man because of that was impossible.

"I'm Zhang Chengyan, the head of the Guangnan Province Investigation Bureau. Yaning has mentioned you to me more than once. Now that I've met you, you truly are extraordinary."

Zhang Chengyan was merely being polite. He really had not seen anything extraordinary.

Do not assume that someone successful could tell at a glance who was formidable and who was not. Such judgments required more time and the accumulation of the person's own work. Lu Chengchuan had already proven that he could fight, so even if Zhang Chengyan could not see anything special, the facts before him made him acknowledge Lu Chengchuan's strength.

"Did Director Zhang want something from me?"

The moment Lu Chengchuan said that, Zhou Yaning shook her head slightly again. That was far too direct. Who asked a question like that...

Zhang Chengyan showed no reaction. Since the man was so straightforward, he would be straightforward as well.

"I want to know just how strong you are. I'd like to see it for myself." Straight talk for a straightforward man. He simply wanted to know how capable Lu Chengchuan was.

Zhou Yaning's heart remained utterly calm. They could talk however they liked; it had nothing to do with her.

"I don't mind demonstrating, but who will cooperate with me?"

If they merely wanted to see, Lu Chengchuan did not particularly mind. But who was supposed to fight him? Were they going to make him demonstrate catching bullets barehanded?

"We have plenty of people here. Finding a hundred wouldn't be a problem. Yaning, tell Secretary Hong to summon Chang Hao's team and your team. We'll gather at the training grounds."

Zhou Yaning went aside to call people. Not long after she returned, Zhang Chengyan rose and headed for the training grounds outside the office building.

The three set out first. When they reached the training grounds, another team was already training there. They moved to the other side so as not to disrupt them.

Within a few minutes, the secretary brought the two teams to the training grounds.

An Investigation Bureau team had six members. Many Espers had awakened among the older teams, and with Espers recruited from outside as well, quite a few teams were made up entirely of Espers.

No one knew why the director had summoned them. Once they arrived, Zhang Chengyan walked over.

"I called you here to assign a task." As he spoke, he turned toward Lu Chengchuan. "This gentleman is an expert I invited. He'll spar with you. Chang Hao, you're the strongest Esper in our Investigation Bureau, so make sure you put on a good showing for me!"