Let's suspend you for now

"Minister Lucas," Shen Que said, "I heard you seized my ore."

"Th-this... there must be some misunderstanding!" Lucas could barely get his words out.

What was this?!

Pheromone suppression?

But wasn't he a Beta?!

The two Trade Department staff members stood trembling beside him. One was even an Alpha, and he was hardly faring any better.

"Why haven't you served the Office Director tea?!"

He scolded the staff beside him, then approached Shen Que and softened his voice.

"Director, if there was a problem with your ore, you could have come straight to me. Why go through an appeal...?"

Appeals went on their performance records.

Shen Que stopped the staff member who was about to fetch tea and said slowly:

"The Trade Department has its rules. We filed an appeal through the proper channels so no one could accuse us of... seeking special treatment."

He cast a seemingly casual glance at the receptionist.

The receptionist looked ready to give up the ghost.

"Yes, yes... you're absolutely right, Director..."

Lucas could only nod.

"But here's something interesting."

Shen Que tipped his chin toward the documents.

"I didn't see a smuggling assessment report for my ore in there."

"Wh-what?" Lucas hurriedly ordered his subordinates, "Look again, now!"

One subordinate's voice trembled. "We've already checked three times, Minister."

The other spoke even more quietly. "That piece of ore isn't among the confiscated goods, either."

Lucas's heart hung in suspense, mingled with a flicker of delight. "Could there have been... a mistake?"

Dion cleared his throat. "Your staff did indeed come to my shop and take that piece of ore."

The young apprentice, who had finally realized that their longtime customer was the Young Lord, lifted his chin. "We have surveillance footage in the shop. You can check it anytime!"

Lucas's suspended heart promptly died again.

"Get me the people who seized the ore yesterday!" he shouted.

Three minutes later, two Betas joined the terrified lineup.

"That's them," the young apprentice identified them. "They were so nasty! They demanded we hand over the ore the moment they arrived and threatened to smash up the shop if we didn't. Look, my lord's consort, I still have bruises on my arm from where they shoved me!"

"Was it you?" Lucas demanded sternly.

The two Betas looked at each other, unable to utter a word.

"Not talking?" Shen Que said coolly. "Then let's suspend you for now."

Both staff members' legs went weak.

"Director! We did go, but we had the paperwork! It even had the Ore Department's stamp!"

"Impossible!"

Xingyao Beauty's stubborn temper flared at once.

"Who stamped it for you? Why is there nothing in our records?"

The two Betas exchanged a glance. "It was... Minister Gabi..."

Xingyao froze.

"Oh?" Without even raising his head, Shen Que tapped the sofa's armrest and told Anya, "Then bring Gabi here so we can ask him."

Anya left.

He looked at the two Betas. "If you have anything to add, there's still time."

The two Betas were utterly despondent. "D-Director, we really were following procedure!"

"A few days ago, we received a tip that Dion's Artisan Workshop had a piece of smuggled ore. The informant provided detailed evidence, from its extraction to its registration as lost. There was even a map of the smuggling route!"

"We immediately took the documents to the Ore Department."

"Both deputy ministers were inspecting the mining area at the time, so I gave the documents to Minister Gabi."

"After reading them, the minister said everything was in order and quickly stamped them. He also told us the stone was extremely rare and had to be seized as soon as possible."

"Then didn't he tell you that when seizing an extremely rare symbiotic stone, someone from the Ore Department has to be present to identify it?" Xingyao asked. "Or have you worked here all these years without even learning that rule?"

The two Betas fell silent again.

Whether deliberately or not, they glanced toward Lucas.

Lucas was drenched in sweat.

The moment Gabi's name came up, his heart had already sunk halfway.

He finally remembered-

Yesterday morning, Gabi had come to him and said there was an ore seizure order that required someone from the Ore Department to accompany the team. But he was too busy, so he could only trouble them to take on the extra work.

Lucas, who knew only how to say "Yes, yes, yes," had signed the confirmation without even looking at it.

It was over...

He was really done for this time...

His mind raced through his eighteen ways of shifting blame and twenty escape routes, searching for something he could use.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a rough white stone hanging around Shen Que's neck.

Lucas paused.

What was that ugly thing?

Why would the Young Lord's consort go out wearing something so beneath his status...?

Could it be... that Pei Ji really didn't like him, just as people on the Star Network said?

He instinctively looked at Shen Que, hoping to find more evidence, only to meet Shen Que's cold, piercing gaze the next instant. Frightened, he hurriedly lowered his head.

Gabi arrived shortly afterward.

The terrified lineup grew to seven.

"D-Director... you wanted to ask me something?"

"I hear you signed off on a symbiotic stone seizure assessment a few days ago," Shen Que asked casually.

"Well, I've signed off on plenty of assessments... which one do you mean, Director?" Gabi played dumb.

"You've signed off on plenty of symbiotic stones?" Shen Que countered coldly.

"N-no, not those... yes, I think there was one. I remember..." Gabi glanced at Xingyao. "It was a symbiotic stone smuggled from the Eden Star System... some kind of crystalline sand gold and aquamarine symbiotic stone, I think..."

"Minister!" Xingyao stamped his foot in anger. "Crystalline sand gold can only occur in White Sand Star's asteroid belt! How could it have been smuggled from the Eden Star System?"

"Huh? Really?" Gabi scratched his head. "I genuinely didn't know. The paperwork for that stone was complete, so I assumed there wasn't a problem..."

"It seems Minister Gabi's knowledge of ores is somewhat lacking," Shen Que abruptly interrupted him.

He lifted his eyelids. "Then let's suspend you for now. Apply for further training and spend some time broadening your experience."

"Wha..." Gabi, who had been shamelessly brazen a second earlier, immediately lost his nerve. "Director! I've held this position for ten years! No one has more experience than I do!"

"You don't get to decide whether your experience is sufficient," Shen Que said.

"Xingyao, contact the Personnel Department and have them process the minister's suspension. While the minister's post is vacant, Jin Yi will serve as acting minister."

"Huh?" Xingyao hadn't caught up.

Gabi panicked. "Director! Director, you can't make that decision! You can't suspend me over one mistake! Th-the Lord will certainly blame you when he finds out!"

"One mistake?" Shen Que laughed in anger. "Xingyao."

The Omega, who had just opened his terminal and notified the Personnel Department, looked up at his call.

"Tell Minister Gabi the average price of a high-purity symbiotic stone."

Xingyao frowned. "Symbiotic stones with a purity above 95 percent are priceless and virtually unobtainable. In the past hundred years, only one, weighing three grams, has appeared at the Golden Butterfly Auction. Its final sale price was 780 million Starcoins."

"Seven... seven hundred million..." Gabi stood rooted to the spot.

Lucas was already stunned.

Seven hundred million... and it weighed only three grams!

The room fell utterly silent.

With a click, the door opened.

A woman in uniform and rectangular glasses stood in the doorway, with two humanoid Enforcement Units behind her.

"Sorry to interrupt. I'm the head of the Personnel Department. I heard someone here has been suspended."

The woman adjusted her glasses.

"Under regulations, non-staff members are prohibited from entering the General Affairs Office."

Red scanning beams flashed. The Enforcement Units advanced mercilessly and dragged Gabi away as he struggled and wailed.

The woman considerately closed the door.

Amid the terrifying silence,

Shen Que spoke again. "Since there was indeed a problem with the seizure paperwork, we can now... discuss the second issue."

His icy gaze swept over every member of the Trade Department present.

"Where... is my ore?"