"Hey, Mr. Ming. Is that so? Alright... okay... I’ll co over right away."
It was another weekend. Wang Lan was planning to go to the dical departnt to continue grinding Star Martial Toxins for experience and skill points when he received a call from Ming Baiye right after stepping out of his dorm.
The Tianjian Bureau had encountered another tricky case and hoped Wang Lan could assist.
Wang Lan rode his electric motorcycle to the Tianjian Bureau, where Director Ming had just finished a case briefing and greeted Wang Lan with a slightly embarrassed, apologetic smile.
"Wang Lan, your primary duty is to study. Honestly, I wouldn’t have called you if we weren’t really short-handed."
"It’s no problem; I was resting anyway. I saw the n rushing around when I arrived. Has it been very busy recently?"
"Weren’t you there that day? The mastermind framing you, the origin of so many Space Stones, and so on... Each line of investigation requires a lot of manpower and resources. Although the Tianjian Bureau of Modu City has high standards, Modu City is only so big, so it’s impossible to allocate as many personnel as an entire province could. Especially for this type of work, it’s all about the numbers."
Ming Baiye was venting his frustrations to Wang Lan, who could only respond with a dry laugh.
"Mr. Ming, what case has got you so tangled up?"
"There have been several incidents recently where individuals with mysterious identities were murdered."
"People with mysterious identities?" Wang Lan looked at Ming Baiye in surprise. Such a term shouldn’t be coming from Ming Baiye’s mouth.
As long as soone is from Jade Country, they definitely have an identity. For the Tianjian Bureau, Jade Country’s professional special agent intelligence departnt, to fail to ascertain their identities—is that appropriate?
Ming Baiye raised his hand to turn on the projector on the wall and turned off the lights. A series of photos appeared on the projection.
"This is from the night of November 7th, at the entrance of Red Dust Bar. Two n were assassinated by a mysterious person as they left the bar. The Tianjian Bureau intervened imdiately, but strangely, the two n killed had no identity records. Even after their fingerprints, facial features, and DNA were entered into the Cloud Sea System, nothing matched any existing identities. These two n seed to have appeared out of thin air, with no birth records, schooling records, or employnt records..."
"A blank slate of a person? But aren’t there caras at the entrance of the bar? Didn’t the caras capture the murderer’s appearance?"
"They did, but it’s useless!"
The screen changed to a photo of the captured murderer. The instant Wang Lan saw the photo, he felt a bit uneasy.
Damn, Deadpool!
"What? You know him?" Ming Baiye asked in confusion.
"No, his outfit resembles a character from an ani I’ve seen: dressed in a red tight suit, with two swords on his back. But obviously, it’s not him. Dressed like that, he really doesn’t have to worry about being caught on cara."
"After that incident, another person was murdered in an alley. This ti, there were no witnesses or caras, and the victim, similarly, had no identity records. Up until today, December 10th, thirteen people have been killed, and all the victims lacked identity records. This might be why the killer targets them."
"Could they be from a secretive organization? And soone is hunting down its mbers? No, that’s not right. If they were from so secret organization, they would still need legitimate identities for cover. No identity records an that soone was hiding them from birth. Or maybe... soone is capable of altering the Cloud Sea System."
"That’s what I need your help to look into. I’m assigning you four capable team mbers," he said, picking up the phone. "Send the mbers of the independent S-Group to my office."
Soon after, four young n and won knocked on Ming Baiye’s office door—two n and two won, a perfect balance.
All four were in military uniform, looking very sharp. Wang Lan thought the Tianjian Bureau’s military uniforms were the most stylish he had seen among various versions, unlike the uniforms of the regular military, which were rely tops and trousers with a belt in between. The n’s uniforms featured long trench coat-style jackets; sumr attire had short sleeves, autumn attire had long sleeves, and the winter version included a lining. The won’s uniforms consisted of a short jacket with shorts or a skirt, while the winter uniform was a long coat. So, even if soone had average looks, donning this military uniform would automatically enhance their appearance by thirty percent, not to ntion that all four in front of him were genuinely attractive. The two n were one masculine and one handso; the two won, though different in appearance and temperant, both deserved to be called beauties.
In contrast, Wang Lan’s casual attire seed sowhat plain before the four.
"Let introduce you. This is Mr. Wang Lan, a major attached to the Action Departnt. This is Yang Yang, the temporary leader of the independent S-Group; this is Liu Yifeng; the tall woman is Zhang Xiao, and the long-haired woman is Bai Xu. Bai Xu is a perception-type Star Martial Warrior with exceptional perception abilities. Zhang Xiao’s Innate Ability is air manipulation. Liu Yifeng is a Wind Attribute Star Martial Warrior, mastering two A-rank Star Martial Skills. Yang Yang is a Gold Attribute Star Martial Warrior with top-notch close-combat abilities. They have just finished their drill as an independent squad and haven’t been put to use yet. Wang Lan, what do you think of them as your temporary team mbers?"
"Their composition is very balanced, and their complentarity is high. It’s just that I’m only a major," Wang Lan said with a wry smile.
Before him stood one lieutenant colonel and three majors. In terms of seniority and military rank, Wang Lan was the junior.
"What’s the problem? The Tianjian Bureau only considers ability, not rank or seniority. Besides, with all the contributions you’ve made, you could have been promoted to general already if it weren’t for how recently you joined the Tianjian Bureau."
"Listen up, you four. From now on, Wang Lan is your temporary captain. Don’t let his young age fool you; at least five high-level Demon Clan spy groups have fallen to him. And he has personally killed six or seven high-level Demon Clan spies. Starting now, you four must fully obey Wang Lan’s orders and assist him in investigating these mysterious murders."
"Yes!"
"Alright, you can go now." The four saluted and left the office.
Stepping outside the office, their gazes kept exchanging. Having trained together for over half a year, they were very familiar with each other, yet they could see skepticism in one another’s eyes. All four had been chosen from thirty trained elites; wasn’t each one of them extraordinarily talented with a boundless future? The independent groups were special operations squads of the Modu City Tianjian Bureau. Although each squad had only four mbers, they carried out the highest-level missions. In the entire Modu City Tianjian Bureau, there were only seven such independent groups, and their designation was ’S,’ signifying the Bureau’s expectation for them to be super squads. And the first leader of this super squad appeared to be a teenager, barely seventeen or eighteen? Even if this young man was already a major... it just didn’t seem reliable.
"I say, Old Yang, the case we’re supposed to investigate seems to require technical skills, not much to do with strength, right?" Liu Yifeng asked in a hushed voice, leaning against a stone pillar outside the office building.
"If you’ve got sothing to say, spit it out. Don’t beat around the bush."
"Being a major at such a young age definitely signifies a genius. He must be at least at the peak of Star Cloud rank, or in the early stages of Galaxy rank. But still, he’s young and lacks experience."
"Didn’t Director Ming say that four or five Demon Clan spy groups have fallen into Captain Wang’s hands?" Bai Xu asked in her soft voice.
"Do you actually believe that? This type of genius, with a family background and resources we can only envy. Tagging along to pick up so effortless rits that are then attributed to him—I’ve seen that kind of thing plenty of tis," Zhang Xiao said, arms crossed and sowhat disdainfully.
"You’d better keep those words to yourselves. Think about it: majors under the age of twenty—how many can you find in the entire military, no, in the entire Ministry of Defense system? Soone like him, even with a good family background and privileged status, must have real skills. In the Tianjian Bureau, the hierarchy and system are different. No matter how high your military rank is elsewhere, it’s reset here, and you have to climb up again. That ans Captain Wang’s major rank was earned within the Bureau. I haven’t heard of him before, so he might have been parachuted in. Regardless, while we may outrank him, he’s the team leader by position. Even if it’s temporary, I don’t want to hear any dissent while he’s in charge, not even behind-the-scenes chatter. We’re soldiers. Our duty is to obey, obey, and obey again. Understood?"
"What if his orders are clearly wrong?"
"We can file a complaint; we can lodge a complaint with Director Ming afterward, but his orders must be followed unconditionally. This is basic common sense. Do I need to teach you this?"
Obviously, Yang Yang held absolute authority in the four-person squad. So when he spoke, Liu Yifeng and Zhang Xiao fell silent.
"Huh? What are you guys doing here?"
"Captain."
"Good day, Captain."
"Reporting, Captain! From this mont on, we are your team mbers. We cannot disband without your orders."
"Is that so? Alright then, you guys go back and change into civilian clothes. We’ll et at the entrance in twenty minutes. Oh, do you all have cars?"
"Each independent operations team is equipped with two vehicles to facilitate our missions."
"I see. Then take to the vehicles first. I ca on a donkey, so it’s not convenient for to move around without a car."
In the open-air parking lot, a domineering off-road vehicle and a low-key business van were parked in S-designated spots. The vehicles were brand new; Wang Lan noticed the odoter hadn’t even reached two hundred kiloters.
Wang Lan patted the off-road vehicle, quite satisfied. This, dammit, is what a man should drive.
"You guys go change into civilian clothes; I’ll wait for you here."
Sitting in the car, Wang Lan browsed his phone, looking at the detailed information about the case he had just taken on. Two mission progress prompts appeared in his mind. One was the revenge mission for Ma Chuchu. It was the first task he accepted after coming to the Modu City Star Martial Academy, and it remained uncompleted. The other was the newly accepted mission: to solve the mystery of these murders and find the killer.
The Tianjian Bureau’s original approach was to investigate the victims’ identities, hoping to uncover the reasons for their deaths and the killer’s motives. But due to recent frequent ergencies in Modu City, the investigation had been sporadic. Almost twenty days had passed with no progress, yet the killer’s murderous hand hadn’t stopped. More than a dozen people had died just like that.
Soon, the four returned to Wang Lan’s side. Out of their military uniforms, they no longer had such a serious deanor, possessing a more youthful and lively vibe instead. That’s more like it, he thought. It’s not like they’re attending an important event or eting soone crucial. Why dress so seriously and stiffly? They were all in their early twenties to around thirty, yet they made themselves look as if they were in their forties.
"Captain!"
"Get in the car!"
"Captain, let drive. I have an A-level military license."
"Huh? Is that a lack of trust in my driving skills? Well, Comrade Old Yang, bias and arrogance are unbecoming. As for my driving skills... not to boast, but your distrust is entirely justified."
PFFT! Bai Xu suddenly choked and started coughing violently.
"Just trying to lighten the mood. No need for such a dramatic reaction, right?"
But apart from Bai Xu, the other three were expressionless, their faces devoid of emotion.
"Captain, where should we start the investigation?"
"Phoenix Plaza."
"Phoenix Plaza? I don’t rember there being any cri scenes there."
"It’s almost twelve o’clock. Aren’t you hungry? Let’s eat first and then investigate."
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