When Zong Ruoan saw Xia Chujian at the Mulan City checkpoint, almost beaten to death by Fan Chengcai's men, he developed a strong dislike for that man.
But he couldn't say that to Huo Yushen.
Zong Ruoan composed himself, and said calmly, "The Disciplinary Department is supposed to be a powerful organization managing local security. They are the enforcers of the law. When they break the law themselves, the damage to social order is immense."
Huo Yushen listened to Zong Ruoan without expression, then said blandly, "When has the Disciplinary Department ever maintained social order? If that bunch of good-for-nothings could maintain order, how would Bounty Hunters have become a legitimate organization?"
Zong Ruoan: "..."
Completely unable to refute.
But he had his own convictions and beliefs.
Zong Ruoan said, "Inspector Huo's view is indeed insightful. But I can't control that much. I just want to eliminate those petty schemers in the places I can see."
Huo Yushen said indifferently, "On Guiyuan Star, the Fan Family has become too powerful. Just a third-rate small Noble family, but relying on their marriage ties with the Governor of Guiyuan Star, they have taken control of the entire Disciplinary Department. If you really want to rectify the Disciplinary Department system on Guiyuan Star, you need a thorough purge from top to bottom."
His tone was extremely light and faint, but the content of his words sent chills down one's spine.
Zong Ruoan only heard the words "thorough purge", and it was as if he saw blood and killing intent filling the sky.
He instinctively disliked such methods, and said seriously, "I will investigate carefully."
Huo Yushen remained noncommittal, and nodded slightly, "Alright, do as you wish. The Special Security Bureau will definitely support you."
"Thank you, Inspector Huo!" Zong Ruoan breathed a sigh of relief, saluted Huo Yushen, and then said, "However, this is not my main purpose for seeking you out today."
Huo Yushen stared at him speechlessly for a while, his voice, with a metallic magnetic quality, low and deep, "...In the future, when reporting work, state the main points first."
"Yes, Inspector Huo." Zong Ruoan said, continuing to play the three-dimensional holographic projection video.
"Inspector Huo, look, this is the video I originally retrieved for Xia Chujian, to use as evidence to complain about Wang Yixiao to the school. According to the bureau's practice, we download the ten minutes before and after the specified time point together."
"And then saw this..."
He moved Xia Chujian's time point forward by ten minutes.
Then, on the screen, Wang Yixiao came to her office, found a medicine bottle in a hidden place, and poured out two pills from it.
Then, she dug out a little bit of powder with her fingernail and fed it to the goldfish.
Next, one of the goldfish grew small horns, but quickly turned belly up, and died along with the other goldfish.
Zong Ruoan's voice was slightly agitated, "Seeing this, I immediately had Lu Jianpeng take Wang Yixiao's body to the hospital for an autopsy."
Huo Yushen nodded, "...Did you focus on checking her fingernails?"
"Yes! At the time, she used her fingernail to dig out a little bit of powder and sprinkle it into the fish tank, causing the goldfish's genes to mutate."
"Fortunately, we arrived in time. Any later, and her family would have sent her to the crematorium to be cremated."
"After the autopsy, we found that we couldn't detect any abnormal medicinal effects in her body. Our only evidence is that little bit of residual powder in her fingernail."
"After analysis and purification by the technical staff, we discovered abnormal components that can cause gene mutations!" Zong Ruoan said excitedly.
Huo Yushen couldn't help but sit up straight, and asked seriously, "Are you sure it's a chemically synthesized drug, not a natural ingredient?"
Zong Ruoan nodded emphatically, "My subordinates at headquarters specifically tested it three times, and confirmed that it is a chemically synthesized drug."
However, Zong Ruoan paused, and added, "But it is also very likely that this chemically synthesized drug is based on some kind of natural ingredient. But after extraction and processing, plus chemical agents, for large-scale drug manufacturing, it is a chemical drug."
Huo Yushen raised his eyes to look at the ceiling of the conference room, pondered for a moment, and said, "Looking at the appearance of those two pills, it's already a very mature process."
Zong Ruoan agreed, "Yes, this shows that not only is someone secretly doing research on Gene Evolution, but they have been doing it for quite some time."
He added, "I even feel that if we follow the clues, we will find an entire supply chain!"
Zong Ruoan said excitedly, "Imperial law already strictly prohibits gene research, and secretly developing chemical drugs that can cause gene mutations is already a serious crime!"
Huo Yushen nodded, finally praising Zong Ruoan, "Well done, as expected of the Director of the Information Department, very information-sensitive. This case will be your responsibility."
Zong Ruoan was stunned for a moment, and declined, "I am only responsible for big data. If you want to investigate this case, at least the Action Division needs to step in."
"Colonel Zong, your work ability is very strong, there is no doubt about that. This time, if you can investigate this case and catch the entire supply chain behind it, the position of Deputy Inspector of the Special Security Bureau will definitely be yours." Huo Yushen said slowly, appearing to trust Zong Ruoan extremely.
Zong Ruoan had never been valued by Huo Yushen like this before, and his mood was particularly complicated.
He said, "If Inspector Huo trusts me and gives me this opportunity, I will definitely do my best! But the position of Deputy Inspector is not necessary, I have only been in this department for three years, my qualifications are too shallow."
"...Our department is the one that values experience the least." Huo Yushen stood up, hands behind his back, and said indifferently, "Anyone who likes to talk about seniority won't last a day in my territory."
Zong Ruoan: "..."
What is he talking about?
That's too scary...
Huo Yushen's expression turned stern in an instant: "Because I will send them on field missions immediately. Those without ability will either die at the hands of the enemy, or betray us and die at my hands."
Zong Ruoan: "..."
He said nothing, silently giving Huo Yushen a military salute.
Huo Yushen, with his hands still behind his back, said without a change in expression, "The Private Club case and Wang Yixiao's case happened one after the other. Take some time to investigate what connects them, but don't put too much effort into it."
"However, Wang Yixiao's case involves the research and development of gene drugs, which is a derivative clue that needs to be closely monitored."
In a few words, he pointed out the direction for Zong Ruoan.
Zong Ruoan quickly saluted again: "Yes, sir."
"Also, do you have any leads on the private starship you were asked to investigate?"
"We are investigating, it should be soon."
Huo Yushen nodded: "Then first rectify the Disciplinary Department and the Fan Family." After speaking, he walked towards the door of the conference room.
But after a few steps, he turned halfway, without turning his head, and asked, "...Were those modified photos that Wang Yixiao showed taken by her, or were they sent to her by someone else?"
Zong Ruoan was stumped by the question. After thinking for a while, he said, "It's not clear yet. The technical department just checked, and the storage chip of Wang Yixiao's Quantum Optical Brain was severely damaged. The data inside is gone and cannot be recovered."
"Oh? Damaged to this extent? Even the Special Security Bureau's Information Department and Intelligence Division working together can't recover it?" Huo Yushen turned around at this time and asked Zong Ruoan.
Zong Ruoan majored in information technology in college and knew a lot about this, saying, "If it's just data overwriting, we can recover it without any problem. But the storage chip in Wang Yixiao's Quantum Optical Brain is obviously physically damaged, and to the point where it cannot be repaired. So the data cannot be restored."
Huo Yushen immediately said, "Check Wang Yixiao's cloud account. See if she has a habit of backing up to the cloud at any time."
Zong Ruoan's eyes lit up and said, "Good idea! I'll have someone check it right away."
After speaking, he remembered and said, "By the way, I can also ask Xia Chujian to see if she knows where Wang Yixiao got these photos, because she was the person involved at the time, the person Wang Yixiao directly threatened with these photos."
Huo Yushen seemed to be reminded and asked thoughtfully, "What case does the document you had Xia Chujian sign involve?"
Zong Ruoan didn't expect Huo Yushen to even ask about this, so he had to say, "It was at the Mulan City checkpoint, when their Dark Night Hunter team returned from the Exotic Beast Forest. Fan Chengcai took a fancy to the team's Combat Aircraft, so... he made up a reason, saying they colluded with Humanoid riots, and wanted to force a confession."
"I happened to be there at the time. If I hadn't gone down, Xia Chujian would have been... killed by them." Zong Ruoan said euphemistically.
Huo Yushen's face didn't show any reaction, and he asked, "Fan Chengcai used people from the Disciplinary Department to attack that team?"
Zong Ruoan shook his head, then nodded, and said, "Fan Chengcai used his subordinates in the Disciplinary Department to do it, but he still knew his limits. In the Dark Night Hunter team, only Xia Chujian is an ordinary person without Mental Strength, so they only attacked her. The other four are all Gene Evolvers and were not harmed. Therefore, she was beaten the worst..."
Huo Yushen seemed to suddenly become interested: "...Is there any surveillance video?"
Zong Ruoan had no choice but to bring up the recovered surveillance video and show it to Huo Yushen, explaining, "This has been recovered, because Fan Chengcai cut off the surveillance at the time."
Huo Yushen stared intently at the virtual video, watching the whole process of Xia Chujian being beaten, Su Xing, and then resisting.
"...Fan Chengcai used Humanoids to attack normal humans?" Huo Yushen glanced at Zong Ruoan, "This doesn't count as Fan Chengcai's problem?"
Zong Ruoan smiled wryly: "According to the laws of the Empire, Humanoid attacks on humans are indeed punishable by death. The problem is that Xia Chujian has already killed all these Humanoids. The Fan Family is, after all, a Noble family. They even hired a particularly famous lawyer from the Quan Family to appeal for him in the internal review. The Mulan City Law and Justice Department is even less likely to come forward and sue a Noble for a commoner."
Huo Yushen didn't say anything more and turned to leave.
After he left, Zong Ruoan sat down exhaustedly, propped his head with his hand, and did not leave the first-level conference room for the time being.
No wonder even within the Special Security Bureau, few people are willing to talk to Huo Yushen. He is really too difficult to deal with...
Zong Ruoan's secretary, Lu Jianpeng, came in.
"Colonel Zong, what's wrong?"
Zong Ruoan murmured, "Give me a glass of water."
Lu Jianpeng quickly took a bottle of bottled water from the conference room's refrigerator and handed it to him.
Zong Ruoan unscrewed the cap, drank half the bottle in one breath, then wiped his mouth with a tissue and said, "...Ah Peng, I was really wrong..."
"What's wrong?" Lu Jianpeng was confused.
Zong Ruoan said in a low voice, "I always thought I wasn't worse than Inspector Huo. My university was better than Inspector Huo's, my family background was better than his, and like him, I'm twenty-eight this year. Why is his military rank two levels higher than mine? — Only today did I understand why."
Lu Jianpeng was startled and quickly looked around, making sure they were in the first-level conference room, and that the door was closed, so no one could hear them. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He straightened his tightly buttoned collar and said softly, "Young Master Zong, you are a genuine scion of a prominent family, and the eldest son of the Grand Princess. You will inherit the entire Zong Family in the future. Why did you have to come to this place?"
Zong Ruoan was silent for a long time, then said, "The Zong Family has my eldest cousin from the main branch to inherit it. I won't compete with him… I just want to prove myself, that even without the Zong Family, I can have my own career."
Lu Jianpeng: "…"
"Young Master Zong, why bother? Actually, no matter where you go, the label of the Zong Family can't be removed."
Zong Ruoan suddenly laughed and said, "I know, I just figured it out. Why should I compare myself to Inspector Huo? Besides, he is indeed more capable than me. Although his family background is ordinary, he joined the army at seventeen and rose to Marshal within ten years, and then took control of this Special Security Bureau that is only responsible to His Majesty the Emperor. — I can't compare to that no matter what."
Lu Jianpeng's voice was even softer: "...Young Master Zong, don't get hung up on it... Why can Inspector Huo be the head of the Special Security Bureau? He is indeed capable, but there are others who are more capable, right? For example, the eldest young master of the Quan Family? But why is he the one in control of the Special Security Bureau? Isn't it because he comes from an ordinary background that makes His Majesty the Emperor most at ease..."
The implication was that with Zong Ruoan's background as one of the four great Nobles, the Emperor would be crazy to put a department like the Special Security Bureau in his hands.
Zong Ruoan looked at Lu Jianpeng in surprise: "You're quite smart, kid. Don't hide it in the future… Your master, I, am not the kind of person who is jealous of talent."
Lu Jianpeng chuckled: "I know Young Master Zong isn't that kind of person. To be honest, if Young Master Zong were really that kind of person, I wouldn't still be following you."
Zong Ruoan gently punched him and said, "Inspector Huo has agreed that behind Wang Yixiao's case, there is a major gene drug research and development case involved. Inspector Huo has authorized me to be fully responsible for it."
"Really?!" Lu Jianpeng's eyes lit up. "What about the Disciplinary Department and the Fan Family?"
"That side also needs to be taken care of, but the case needs to be closed as soon as possible. Also, go investigate what the connection is between the Private Club arson case and Wang Yixiao's case. It needs to be clarified before the end of the year."
Zong Ruoan stood up and walked back and forth in the first-level conference room, thinking as he said, "There isn't much time left this year, so let's do the preparatory work first, and next year we'll invest in the gene drug research and development case. At that time, I will coordinate the Information Department, the Intelligence Division, and the Action Division."
Lu Jianpeng knew that according to the Special Security Bureau's practice, once someone is responsible for a special case, they uniformly manage the Information Department, the Intelligence Division, and the Action Division.
"That's great!" Lu Jianpeng also stood up excitedly. "Then let's settle the Disciplinary Department and the Fan Family first!"
Thanks to the Alliance Leader "Jiyu'er" for the reward!
This is the first update, the second update will be at one o'clock in the afternoon.
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 444+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------