Chapter 92 - 91: Shocked Jiangsan City

To be honest, Li Jianye had been ready to grab him and flee back to Jiangsan City overnight...

There was no helping it; the Special Fifth Bureau’s reputation was just too terrifying.

Anyone they interrogated, even if completely unrelated to the case, would have three layers of skin stripped off them!

Their investigations weren’t just a matter of asking a few questions. They’d pull your entire life story, right down to the brand of diapers you wore.

Under those circumstances, even if you were innocent of the crime in question, any other past transgression was sure to come back to haunt you...

But what he never, ever expected was...

"An advisor... to the Special Fifth Bureau!"

Li Jianye gasped, staring intently at Xu Huo as his mind reeled.

’They hire advisors?’

’I’ve never heard of such a thing!’

’That bunch of petty, shameless Living Yamas looming over the entire country... actually broke tradition and hired an advisor!?’

"Kid, you’re not pulling my leg, are you!?"

Li Jianye was completely bewildered. He remembered Xu Huo was the criminal investigation advisor for the Jiangdong District squad in Jiangsan City.

Was he the captain of that squad?

’Damn it, since when was a criminal investigation division’s advisor on the same level as the Special Fifth Bureau’s!?’

’Are these the kinds of resources a Level 1 Police Chief like me gets to enjoy!?’

’Did I get up too fast this morning? Am I still dreaming?’

Even though he knew Xu Huo wouldn’t joke about something like this, Li Jianye couldn’t help but ask.

"Why would I lie to you for no reason..."

Xu Huo shrugged helplessly. He really had no reason to hide this.

’It’s four thousand a month!’

"Haaa..."

Li Jianye sucked in a sharp breath, then suddenly froze. A realization seemed to dawn on him.

Without moving his head, he darted his eyes to the side.

He found his gaze meeting Qian Hua’s and Wang Hu’s. The three of them exchanged a look.

Li Jianye said nothing. He quietly took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and Qian Hua.

Then...

He immediately whipped his phone out of his pocket and rapidly tapped a few keys.

Qian Hua did the same, hastily pulling out his phone and dialing his direct supervisor’s number.

RING... RING... RING...~

...

...

「In the provincial capital city of Haiyun Province.」

"Alright, meeting adjourned. This concludes our discussion on the incident involving Jiangsan City."

Inside the massive office, as a firm voice spoke, the sound of rustling papers and closing books immediately followed.

This was the conference room.

They had lost count of how many similar meetings they had held. All they knew was that they were endless.

"Tsk, Old Chu, you’ve really torn a huge hole in the sky this time. This is never going to end."

A man in a white shirt stretched his body slightly, then looked at Chu Linhai, who was twisting the lid of his thermos of tea.

The case involved multiple provinces, making arrests extremely complicated.

They also had to consider whether the arrest process would cause any unnecessary casualties...

"Heh, you’ve still got the nerve to talk about me."

Chu Linhai took a sip from his thermos, blowing on it first before taking a small drink. He then looked at the other man teasingly.

"Jiangsan City is almost ready to make its move. You guys, on the other hand, haven’t done a single thing."

"When the time comes and you tip them off, we’ll see how you handle the fallout, old boy!"

Hearing this, Su Jie’s good mood vanished instantly. He clicked his tongue and glared at him.

With Sun Jian’s arrest in Jiangsan City, it would be troublesome if they didn’t act quickly within their own jurisdiction. Correspondingly, once things in Jiangsan City were settled, they would also have to speed things up. It was a delicate situation where one move affected everything.

Chu Linhai was about to say more.

But in the next second, his personal cell phone rang.

"Your personal line?"

Su Jie noticed the model of the phone and raised an eyebrow. Instead of leaving, he watched Chu Linhai with keen interest.

The caller ID read: Li Jianye.

Chu Linhai paused for a moment, then, with no intention of hiding it, answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Boss, Xu Huo became an advisor!"

The moment the call connected, an incredibly loud voice blasted from the phone, making Chu Linhai’s ear ring.

"An advisor?"

Chu Linhai frowned. "For Linlan City?"

"Didn’t I already tell you about that? That old bastard Zhang Jian in Linlan City is as shameless as ever, even more so than decades ago. Just curse him out for me when you see him."

He already knew Xu Huo was an advisor.

He had even spent a long time chewing someone out on the phone back then before he was satisfied.

Of course, even if he wasn’t an advisor for Hanhai Province and Linlan City, Xu Huo was still Jiangsan City’s advisor.

However...

"No, not Linlan City’s advisor!"

Li Jianye’s tone was incredibly anxious, as if something was about to be snatched away in the next second.

"Then what is it?" Chu Linhai’s brow furrowed. "Another city in Hanhai Province?"

It wasn’t impossible for someone from another city to come poaching. After all, if you’re going to be an advisor for one city, you might as well be one for two.

"Not a city!"

"It’s not something like that!"

Li Jianye was trembling with excitement. He suppressed his elation and said in a low, serious voice.

"The Special Fifth Bureau..."

"An advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau!"

"Just now, the Special Fifth Bureau sent Advisor Xu an invitation to be their criminal investigation advisor!"

"Advisor Xu signed it..."

"He’s the criminal investigation advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau now!!!"

’The... The Special Fifth Bureau?’

Chu Linhai froze. It wasn’t just him; several of his old friends who had been eavesdropping also stopped dead in their tracks, their minds blanking for a moment.

’Special Fifth Bureau?’

’Is there a city or province named Special Fifth?’

’No...’

’Special Fifth... Special Fifth... Special Fifth Bureau?’

Suddenly, something clicked in Chu Linhai’s mind, and he froze on the spot.

It wasn’t just him. The same thought occurred to the others around him, and a specific government unit popped into their heads simultaneously.

"The Special Fifth Bureau... which Special Fifth Bureau!?"

For some reason, Chu Linhai’s voice suddenly grew deep, and his chest began to rise and fall more rapidly.

He hadn’t been exercising—he was just standing there—but he could feel the blood boiling in his veins.

Adrenaline surged through him!

"The one in the Capital City," Li Jianye said hurriedly.

’The Special Fifth Bureau in the Capital City?’

Chu Linhai stopped short. Then, it was as if a nuclear bomb had gone off in his head, the BOOM leaving him utterly blank.

There was only one Special Fifth Bureau in the Capital City!

’An advisor to the Special Fifth Bureau!?’

"You’re not lying to me!?" Chu Linhai’s voice was a few octaves higher.

He knew agents from the Special Fifth Bureau were in Linlan City; otherwise, he would have started cursing out Li Jianye right now...

"How could I possibly lie to you about this!?"

Li Jianye had transformed into King Jiji.

Now Chu Linhai was completely stunned.

His kid...

How did he, in the blink of an eye, go from a good-for-nothing detective to an advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau!?

His phone was on speaker, so everyone around him heard it loud and clear. They all looked at each other, their eyes filled with utter shock.

’An advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau...’

’Does one even exist in the entire country!?’

’Is he joking?’

’Doesn’t seem like it.’

’It’s so outrageous that it’s hard to believe it’s a joke. But if it’s true...’

"Old Chu, is that our twenty-three-year-old Xiao Xu?"

Su Jie suddenly leaned in, looking at Chu Linhai and whispering excitedly.

"Huh?"

Chu Linhai was still in a daze. Hearing the question, he nodded subconsciously.

In Linlan City, there was only Xu Huo, Li Jianye, and Chu Xi. Chu Xi had shown signs of autism as a child and wasn’t suited to be a police officer. It wasn’t Li Jianye. So it had to be Xu Huo.

Which meant...

From this moment on, the Special Fifth Bureau had an advisor.

And he was from Jiangsan City!?

The only one in the entire country!!!

"Holy hell, twenty-three years old, and a criminal advisor to the Special Fifth Bureau!?"

Su Jie felt like he was still dreaming, his face a mask of shock.

’A twenty-three-year-old advisor to the Special Fifth Bureau... just how far can he go in the future...’

Su Jie didn’t dare to imagine!

’What was I doing when I was twenty-three?’

’I was still following my master around at crime scenes like a gofer!’

"Good, good, good, good, good, good!"

Chu Linhai’s face was flushed red, his blood surging. He seemed to have been rejuvenated, his eyes glowing with a vibrant light as he said the word "good" six times in a row.

A surprise...

What is a surprise?

This is a surprise!

The Special Fifth Bureau—everyone present knew of it. After all, if you’re involved in criminal cases, you have to know about them, at least a little.

But it was precisely because they knew that they held the unit in such awe.

The moniker "Living Yama" was no joke!

Their numbers were small.

But their rank was high. Even the lowest-level field agent reported to a supervisor far beyond the reach of any local regional leader.

Their people in the Capital City could speak directly with the top brass!

More importantly was the kind of work they handled. They were basically an extreme version of National Security...

They were like the armed police for criminal cases, and the nature of any incident requiring armed police intervention... well, their methods were anything but gentle. Wherever they went, they left a scorched earth!

Anyone they targeted would lose at least three layers of skin. And this unit of Living Yamas...

Had a twenty-three-year-old as an advisor.

Was this a madhouse!

You have to understand, in their world, thirty-five was just the beginning. Forty was a young man. Fifty was your prime, and you could still be in the middle of your career at sixty!

And now, you’re an advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau at twenty-three...

’Sure enough...’

’I fucking knew my judgment wasn’t off back then!’

Chu Linhai was getting excited. He recalled the time he deliberately had his wife pack an extra portion in the lunchbox for Chu Xi, and the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curled upwards.

"Our kid... Special Fifth Bureau, hiss, that kid..."

Su Jie and the others were too shocked to speak.

Chu Linhai, however, snapped out of it and looked warily at the people around him.

"What do you mean, ’our’ kid?"

"I’m the one who worked hard to raise him since he was a boy. What’s it got to do with any of you!?"

Back when he was just a squad captain, he had his hands full taking care of a bunch of kids, sweating bullets. Chu Xi’s childhood autism had been an even bigger worry.

He had fed this boy mouthful by mouthful. It had nothing to do with Su Jie!

"Hey, don’t be like that. You’re making us sound like strangers."

Su Jie felt a pang of jealousy, like a toothache. But the envy was real.

An advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau, at twenty-three...

He couldn’t even comprehend how those two phrases could be put together!

If that were his kid, Su Jie would be laughing himself awake from his dreams and handing out celebratory candy to everyone he saw!

It would be one thing if such a person didn’t exist.

But...

Not only did he exist, but he belonged to his poor buddy who he could barely hold a three-sentence conversation with!

He wasn’t even his biological son! He was just a kid who got a few extra bites to eat thanks to his adopted daughter...

’A few bites of food, in exchange for a twenty-three-year-old advisor to the Special Fifth Bureau...’

’Why couldn’t I have had a daughter like that!?’

Su Jie was so envious his eyes were turning red. Completely bloodshot!

The others around weren’t much better.

This time, Chu Linhai...

...had simply been struck by heavenly fortune. He hadn’t done anything, but luck had come knocking, and there was no stopping it. It would be a lie to say they weren’t jealous!

However...

"Old Chu, have you forgotten? Xiao Xu is still in Linlan City right now."

Suddenly, a voice cut through the air, breaking everyone’s reverie.

Xu Huo didn’t have a badge number; he wasn’t an official police officer. In other words, he was a free agent who could go wherever he pleased.

Right now, he was in Linlan City. He was also an advisor for Linlan City and Hanhai Province.

So, take a guess: did the other side know that Xu Huo was now an advisor for the Special Fifth Bureau?

And if they did...

In that moment of dawning horror...

Chu Linhai froze, not moving a muscle, until...

"Damn it, Old Su, Old Shen, Old Zhao..."

"Round up our people!"