Book 3, Chapter 94: Chaos

Sun Rao frowned at the message.

It said that the son and daughter of a senior executive from some company from another Central City had left their hotel and were wandering around Glowing Dew District. They were going to various places that were deemed unsafe, so the department wanted them to keep an eye on them so that nothing would happen.

Sun Rao didn’t want to do this, since they had more serious business on their plates. However, the department had given them an order, so they had no choice but to obey.

The armored patrol car turned around and headed to the location shown on their Realm Pass.

Chen Chuan checked and found that the siblings were normal people. “They’re not martial artists. Shouldn’t this be the City Patrol’s job?”

“You’re right that it shouldn’t be our job, but if they cause trouble, the City Patrol won’t be able to clean up the mess. In the end, we’ll be the ones who’ll have to wipe their asses. With that being the case, it’s better to prevent them from causing the mess in the first place,” Sun Rao said in resignation.

“If they’re the children of a senior executive, they should have security guards following them. Do we really need to watch over them?” Chen Chuan asked.

“They do have security guards, so they’ll be fine. Problems arise when they’re the ones causing trouble. We had one such case a month ago.

“The guy was the uncle of a high-ranking government official. He thought that he didn’t have to worry about getting into trouble since his family would protect him. So, he took a stroll at night going wherever he wanted and ran into an armed group throwing bodies away. Out of curiosity, he insisted on taking a look. He got killed and thrown into the sea for his efforts.

“The one who killed him was a martial artist from a resistance group with a bounty on his head, so the central government and the public have been demanding answers from the department. They want us to take accountability. Since the tournament is about to start, the department doesn’t want anything to happen during this time.”

“How do you intend to deal with this problem?” Chen Chuan asked.

“We can only follow them and stop them from doing anything out of line,” Sun Rao said.

They drove to the location shown on the Realm Pass. Soon, they saw a dark-green convertible in front of them. It was driving around wherever it pleased.

There was a security guard wearing sunglasses sitting in the back seat, while a pair of teenagers around fourteen years of age sat in the front. The teenagers’ faces were covered in thick makeup, and their dyed, platinum hair danced wildly in the air.

The girl had been bobbing her head to electrifying music when she suddenly received a notification and looked behind her. “Someone’s following us. I think they’re from the Resolution Department.”

“Perfect timing. Watch me shake them off.” The boy became even more excited. He floored the gas pedal, and the engine roared as the car sped up down the road.

Sun Rao watched it coldly. He didn’t ask the driver to speed up. If they followed them, the two brats would just get even more excited. In any case, he had a better way to deal with them.

He contacted the department and asked whether there were any resonators who could change the route of the boy’s Realm Pass, only to be told that the resonators in the department were all busy with something else and couldn’t do something this trivial. Then, they told him to deal with the problem on his own.

Since he couldn’t get anyone to help from the department, he contacted a resonator he was familiar with and said to Chen Chuan, “Resonators have always been rare, and the good, trustworthy ones are even rarer. I have a resonator I have been working with long-term, and he even has a Class One Domain License. I can recommend him. If you encounter any problems in the future, you can go to him.”

“Thank you, Senior Sun,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.

Sun Rao wasn’t doing this purely to take care of him. Resonators who often worked together with the Resolution Department could get authority to do certain things much easier, so they were really just helping each other.

Soon, the teenagers shook them off. As if they had done something amazing, they cheered and gave each other high-fives, but after driving down the road according to the route the Realm Pass showed them, they noticed the Resolution Department’s car next to them.

Immediately, they realized that something was wrong, and they felt pissed. The boy turned around and said, “Lao Qian, stop them.”

The security guard gave them a look but did nothing. Going along with their antics was as far as he would go. He was absolutely not going to attack the Resolution Department’s car. He still wanted to live, thank you.

“How boring.”

When they saw that the security guard was not moving, while the Resolution Department’s car kept following them as the Realm Pass kept bringing them in circles, they knew that they couldn’t have any fun. The siblings became even more pissed. The girl gave the driver the middle finger before turning around toward the hotel.

Sun Rao seemed to have been expecting that, and he huffed. “Don’t feel annoyed by this, Chen Chuan. If you’re going to keep working in the Resolution Department, you’ll run into these things too. Just think about ways to get promoted. Then, you won’t have to go through all this trouble.”

“Do you intend to stay with the Resolution Department after you graduate?” Chen Chuan asked.

“Of course,” Sun Rao answered without hesitation. “I’m already familiar with how things operate here, along with the people. If I go to other departments or companies, I’ll have to communicate and familiarise myself with the people and environment there. This costs time and money. While the salary in the Resolution Department isn’t high, sometimes, you can earn money from side jobs. You also get to enforce the law and don’t have to care about what the companies think.

“You’ve only been here for half a year, haven’t you? You haven’t come into contact with many things. Once you do, you’ll understand that the Resolution Department is a great place, which average people don’t even get the chance to join.

“An Cheng wants to join a company so he can earn more money. He wishes to become a senior executive, like some of our upperclassmen, and live a dignified life, but I think he’s too idealistic. Unless you’re cunning, you won’t be able to survive in those companies. Sooner or later, you’ll end up eaten and spat out.”

The teenagers took a stroll around before returning to their hotel. Once the convertible headed to the underground parking lot, the armored patrol car stopped at the entrance.

“We’ll wait here for a bit. Once they’re upstairs, we’ll head to the Swordfish Gang’s base,” Sun Rao declared.

Right after he finished, their Realm Passes started beeping. This time, it was the City Patrol requesting help with a martial artist suspected to be suffering from functional dysregulation syndrome.

Sun Rao’s expression turned stern. Martial artists suffering from functional dysregulation syndrome were caught in their own hallucinations. No one could tell what they were going to do, so they had to be taken out immediately.

Hence, they had no time to keep watch over the hotel. Once they submitted a report about sending the siblings back to the hotel, they headed to the place where the martial artist was.

***

The siblings had parked their car and were ready to return to their suite when they saw that the Resolution Department’s car was gone. The girl gasped and said, “They’re gone!”

“So?” the boy snapped. “If we leave, they’re going to return and keep an eye on us again.”

“Heh. Let them, then. I know a place we should visit. If they want to come, let them. We might even be able to see something fun.”

The girl whispered into her brother’s ear, and his eyes lit up. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

They ran back into their convertible and drove out. Soon, they sped down the road.

***

According to the location on the Realm Pass, the armored patrol car arrived at a general warehouse area at Glowing Dew District’s port. The City Patrol had already secured the perimeter. When they saw the Resolution Department’s car, the leader immediately waved at them, and the City Patrol members removed the barrier ropes and barricades with familiar ease to let the car in.

Chen Chuan had received information about the martial artist while they were on their way. He was a security guard captain in charge of the port’s safety, but then turned around and killed the manager of the warehouse and even injured a few of his teammates with a weapon. Right now, he was hiding in one of the warehouses.

“As long as he’s here, all is still well,” Sun Rao commented.

Then, he said to Chen Chuan, “I’m sure you’ve heard of functional dysregulation syndrome. Usually, they have an episode whenever something upsets them. Once the symptoms appear, they need medicine from big pharmaceutical companies, or they have practically no chance to recover. Even if they do, the chances of them having another episode in the future become much higher.

“During an episode, their compatibility with the implants increases. Since their judgment becomes compromised, they are also no longer scared of death. Because of this, such people have to be taken out immediately.”

When the car stopped, Sun Rao opened the door. “I’ll go in to take him out. Wait here and see whether the department gives us any other orders.”

Chen Chuan nodded and watched him leave while drawing his gun out from its holster.

After ten minutes, Chen Chuan heard a few clear gunshots from the warehouse area. Some more time passed before the blinking, red notification on his Realm Pass disappeared. The City Patrol guards ran inside. Soon after, Sun Rao walked out unharmed.

Once he returned to the car, he shut the door and said, “I figured out what happened. Yesterday, gang members stole some goods from the warehouses. The manager had put those goods there, and some of them were contraband obtained through illegal channels. They got mixed with non-contraband goods, of course. The manager then had a discussion with the gang leader, and they agreed to have the gang take the contraband goods by ‘stealing’ them. After they were sold, the two would split the profit equally between them. The manager could also get compensation from the security and insurance company.

“But the security guard captain was a responsible man. When the gang members came to steal the goods, he should have clocked off his shift, but he was worried and patrolled the area one more time. It’s at that moment that he noticed some of the security guards working with the gang members to move the goods.

“The security guard captain killed the gang members and got into a fight with the security guards. In the end, he managed to protect the goods, but ironically, before the sun rose, the security company fired him on the grounds of him fighting with his colleagues.”

Sun Rao shook his head. “Some people within the security company were clearly in cahoots with the warehouse manager. That’s why the security guard captain’s actions offended them. Worse still, after he went back home, he learned that one of the gang members he killed... was his son.”

Chen Chuan took a look at the security guard captain’s information and noticed something. “He graduated from Martial Valor University?”

“Not the main campus. He studied in one of the branch campuses and worked hard in Central City for twenty years. He did not have a single criminal record and had even become a citizen with the help of a senior at work. Now, it’s all gone.” Sun Rao huffed and looked at the people outside. “Twenty years of hard work...”

A long time passed before he continued. “We’ve been delayed here long enough. We have to go back to watching Zhe Rong. Let’s—”

They received another message. Sun Rao’s expression changed as he cursed and said to the driver, “Lao Wan, go to Elephant Tavern! Hurry!”