The New Recruit

Yang Wenqing did not hesitate. He went straight to the team leader's office and knocked on the door.

After entering, he found Deputy Director Gao seated behind his desk, his gentle smile still on his face. When Yang Wenqing came in, he pointed to the chair opposite him, signaling for Yang Wenqing to sit. Then he took out a document marked "Top Secret—Destroy After Reading" and handed it over, saying:

"These are some materials retrieved from the Provincial Police Department archives. You may only read them once. After that, they will destroy themselves."

Yang Wenqing's expression sharpened, and he nodded solemnly. "Yes, Deputy Director Gao."

He drew a deep breath, rose to take the document, broke the seal, and pulled out the papers within. The title read: <City Defense General Bureau Forbidden Item Archives—No. 329—Partial Information on the Soul-Absorbing Crystal>.

Below was a list of the core and supplementary materials needed to refine a "Soul-Absorbing Crystal." Every item made Yang Wenqing's eyelids twitch. Its vessel required a Basic Soul Jade, while a flesh-and-blood furnace had to be drawn using certain yin-attributed spiritual materials to refine it. The document listed twenty relatively common yin-attributed spiritual materials.

"The Provincial Police Department cannot possibly give us all the data. Obtaining the materials needed to refine it is already the limit. If the refining method for this thing were to leak by accident, it would be a disaster."

Deputy Director Gao's tone carried a trace of teasing. What he was teasing was the method for refining the thing itself, which was no secret within certain organizations of evil cultivators.

After memorizing the materials in the document, Yang Wenqing handed it back to Deputy Director Gao. "Our province consists of separate island chains. Although we are on the coastal frontier, the outer waters are covered with dense Monitoring Formations, and there are formations between the islands as well. Contraband simply cannot be transported back and forth. It must have been refined locally. We only need to investigate according to the materials listed in this document."

Deputy Director Gao nodded approvingly. With a slight tremble of the hand holding the document, it turned into a patch of ashes. "That's right. That was how previous cases were investigated too. And many times, some investigators even deliberately left the clues in place, quietly watching as the prey completed their rituals step by step..."

He smiled. "It's like the previous Spiritual Energy Riot. If their ritual is completed, they may refine quite a few good things. As I said before, even if a monster truly gets created, that may not necessarily be a bad thing."

He lightly tapped the desk with his left hand, then abruptly changed the subject. "But since you want to investigate, as your direct superior, I will certainly support you. After all, the greatest taboo in cultivation is for one's thoughts to remain obstructed."

Then he stared at Yang Wenqing and said, "I'm not saying this to encourage entrapment. Otherwise, once it is discovered, not only you, but everyone on your chain of command will be purged by the General Bureau. The General Bureau's eyes cannot tolerate even a single grain of sand."

Yang Wenqing nodded as though he understood, though not entirely. At present, he was only a Police Sergeant, still working to figure out the rules for surviving within the City Defense System and trying to understand this superior of his. Yet the more he interacted with him, the more unfathomably complicated the man seemed.

Just as Yang Wenqing was about to take his leave, Deputy Director Gao spoke again. "I told you to fill out the Third Squad. More than a month has passed now. Do you have any candidates to recommend? The Police Alert Center has mentioned many times that no one from your squad is on duty at night."

As he spoke, he took another stack of files from a drawer. "I found several people for you. Two are veterans who were promoted to senior security officers last year, another two are from your cohort, and there is also an externally hired communications specialist. Have Liu Qin train her for a month first, then arrange for her to work the night shift."

When Yang Wenqing took the files, Deputy Director Gao produced another document. "This is a recommendation slot for the Municipal Communications Academy. This slot does not require an examination. You can consider selecting one person from the younger generation of your Lineage. Be quick about it. Submit it before registration closes in July."

That made Yang Wenqing hesitate somewhat.

"Take it!"

Deputy Director Gao emphasized.

Yang Wenqing could only reach out and accept it.

When he returned to the Third Squad office, Wu Yan had already gone out to handle a case, while Liu Rong and Liu Qin were on duty.

Yang Wenqing returned to his desk and began reviewing the files. The one on top was the file of the externally hired communications specialist. The photograph showed a young woman wearing glasses. Her records stated that her name was Lin Wan, twenty-four years old, a graduate of the Municipal Communications Academy. Her professional skills had all been rated "Excellent," and she had worked at the County Administrative Office for two years.

He then looked through the files of the four security officers. One of them made him pause—it was Zhao Qin. Clearly, his family had pulled strings for him, though those strings were not especially strong if he had ended up assigned to work under Yang Wenqing.

This also proved that the others did not have the powerful connections Yang Wenqing had imagined. Someone had merely called in favors with Deputy Director Gao and offered some valuable gifts.

"A Rong, take these files to the Archives Division for filing. Then have them speak with these people as soon as possible and get them to report in within three days." Yang Wenqing handed the files of the five people to Liu Rong.

As Liu Rong accepted them, Yang Wenqing picked up another stack of files. "These files are no longer of any use. Return them as well and have them refiled."

After Liu Rong left, Yang Wenqing took a blank sheet of paper from his drawer and quickly wrote down the names of the twenty yin-attributed spiritual materials he had seen in the top-secret document. To ensure safety, he did not note their purposes and merely listed the names.

Once he had finished, he rose and walked over to Liu Qin. Handing her the paper, he said, "Access the City Defense Bureau's materials management system and commercial registration database. Search for all companies and merchants registered within Thousand Reef County that engage in the mining, processing, or bulk trading of these materials."

As he spoke, he took out his identity badge and lightly touched it to Liu Qin's Communication Badge. Spiritual light flowed between them as temporary authorization was granted. "I've given you the relevant search permissions. Report directly to me once you have results."

Liu Qin felt the faint ripple of authorization activation coming from her badge. Hearing how solemnly her team leader spoke, she carefully accepted the talisman paper, quickly scanned the unfamiliar material names written on it, and said softly, "Yes, Team Leader!"

Yang Wenqing returned to his desk and continued improving the reports from several previous cases. Ever since the Third Squad had become busy, he had not stopped working on this stuff.

Near the end of the workday, Liu Qin approached Yang Wenqing's desk with a report in hand.

"Team Leader, the search has produced results." She handed him the report and lowered her voice. "After cross-referencing the list, I found three companies."

Yang Wenqing accepted the report and read through it carefully.

Liu Qin explained from the side, "Zhenyuan Mining primarily engages in the extraction of various types of stone. Last year, they obtained an exploration permit for the seabed in the Port District, and our geological data shows that they discovered a small Soul Jade vein there."

"Chen's Woodcraft has long included small amounts of 'Sunken Yinwood' on its raw-material procurement lists. Haifeng Chemicals primarily produces water-treatment agents, and its purification workshop purchases large quantities of Deep-Sea Chilled Water every month."

Yang Wenqing merely nodded slightly, put away the documents, and said, "Organize the information on these three companies into a report for me. Then you can get off work."