Judgments on values like good and evil, beauty and ugliness, right and wrong, and high and low status are never absolute in this world; they shift according to different eras, different environmental conditions, and different subjects. What is termed justice and wickedness are often merely the subjective pronouncements of the masses. Sometimes, true evil hides just behind the facade of righteousness.

However, these grand concepts seem far beyond the purview of a small-fry like myself to critique. My name is Wang Lei, twenty-six years old, and still a bachelor—just kidding, though I am indeed quite alone, a single eater with no one else to feed. I joined the civil service right after graduating from the police academy, working harder than any rooster wakes or dog sleeps, yet I still haven't managed to break into the Major Crimes Unit to handle the really big cases. Now, I spend my days in Huabei County dealing with petty nuisances on every street corner, but at least I'm serving the people.

Just now, I finished breaking up a brawl involving four street punks. Watching those bruised and battered young men, I couldn't help but feel a flicker of satisfaction.

"Brother Lei, the Chief wants to see you." Just as I was about to continue lecturing the hoodlums, Huang Zekai showed up at an inconvenient moment to drop the news—and when the Chief calls, it never means good things.

I knocked lightly on the Chief's office door, then pushed it open and stepped inside. In our precinct, everyone gets along well, and we usually skip excessive formalities.

"Chief, what's up?" I asked quietly.

"Stop with the pleasantries," the Director looked up at me briefly.

"Turn in everything you're issued today. Report to the Municipal Bureau tomorrow."

The Director finished speaking and immediately tossed a file at me. Before I could even process his words, I was ambushed by the document. I eagerly flipped it open, but the contents turned out to be far beyond my expectations.

"Transfer order?" I felt a bit dizzy.

Why was I being transferred without any apparent reason? Seeing the details inside only confused me further. Although the Liyuan Police Station is just a local branch, I was doing reasonably well here; not only did I fit in well with colleagues and superiors, but I’d also contributed significantly to the public safety of the Liyuan district. Despite having neither merit nor demerit on record, they were shipping me off to the Municipal Bureau—it truly felt like they were discarding me the moment my usefulness ended.

If it were a transfer to a better department, fine, but what in the world is this so-called "Special Affairs Investigation Office"? I’d heard of the Special Investigation Division, but this "Special Affairs Investigation Office" was something I’d never encountered.

"You want me to be a spy? Director, you must think too highly of me," I could only categorize this Special Affairs Office as a secret police unit for now.

"Spy? This Investigation Office is technically under the Special Investigation Division. You better cherish this chance, kid. It’s not me thinking highly of you; it’s someone else. You’re secretly thrilled but still putting on an act for me. What’s with the pretense!" The Director gave me a look of utter disdain, as if he could see right through my thoughts.

"Fine, a spy office it is. But there has to be a reason for this transfer, right? And who was it again that thought so highly of me? I don't want to leave without knowing why," I challenged the Director, raising an eyebrow, hoping for an explanation.

"A reason? Why don’t you ask your mother for the reason she gave birth to you? Now scram, I’m feeling irritable today—I might just set you on fire!" The Director showed no mercy and spoke with his usual sharp tongue.

"Alright, I’m gone. Don't miss me too much." Seeing the Director wave me off, I wisely turned to leave. Just as I was about to shut the door, I stuck my head back in, feigning innocence, and told the Chief, "My mother gave birth to me to continue the family line."

I slammed the door shut, and I thought I could hear a low growl emanating from the room.

One last night out with the brothers. Huang Zekai managed to summon quite a crowd to celebrate my departure, not even sparing me a quiet last supper. I can’t clearly recall how the night ended, or who carried me back to my place, but one thing was obvious: I woke up late.

I scrambled out of bed and dressed quickly. As I grabbed my jacket, I noticed it was speckled with small, purplish-blue petals. How strange—in October, to find flowers of that color. I have no idea where I picked them up. Time was pressing, leaving no room for such trivial thoughts; I brushed them off carelessly and headed out.

It takes about an hour by bus from my place to the An'yin Municipal Bureau. The office location for that spy outfit was picked quite remotely. After nearly getting lost in a spiral, I finally spotted the faint sign reading "Special Affairs Investigation Office" hanging weakly at the end of the corridor.

"Knock, knock, knock." I knocked formally, standing up straight to appear as alert as possible.

As I heard the doorknob turning from inside, I was immediately confronted by a face so ridiculously unattractive it could make even my own invincible handsome face look distressed.

"Haha! You must be Brother Lei? I'm Bao Qiang, just call me Xiao Qiang!" The owner of the ugly face grinned as soon as he saw me. Xiao Qiang? That sounds like an insect species. I truly wonder where he got the nickname 'Brother Lei' from.

I nodded stiffly and forced a twitching smile in return. I was sunk; this unimpressive-looking fellow was almost certainly one of my future colleagues.

"Come in quickly! Everyone's waiting for you!" Seeing my smile, the fellow became even more enthusiastic.

Damn it, why did my mouth betray me into smiling!

As I stepped into the office, I saw a middle-aged man sitting in an old chair, crossing his legs. I ignored the others for a moment because the main man in charge—this old dog—was eyeing me up and down while taking a drag from a cigarette.

"You must be Wang Lei? I'm Jiang Haitao, your new superior, the Director of the Special Affairs Office," Director Jiang said, casually exhaling a smoke ring.

I nodded. Director Jiang’s gaze remained fixed on me, as if I were some alien specimen, which made me somewhat uncomfortable. Now I knew for certain: this godforsaken place was actually called the Spy Office. I wondered if they had Kuomintang connections. If he could examine me so openly, surely I could examine him just as openly?

This Director Jiang clearly didn't bother with tidiness. His skin was dark, and upon closer inspection, I could see small scars on his face. It looked like even if he hadn't come from a regular military background, he’d been through some severe training. Despite this, his stubbled face and languid expression made him look more like a heavy opium smoker—a total ruffian—making me doubt his actual competence.

"First, let's meet your colleagues," Director Jiang gestured toward several people nearby.

I followed his gaze, and only a beautiful woman could instantly snatch my attention like this. Heavens, working alongside such beauty, I'll surely be drained dry sooner or later! Skin as fair and smooth as porcelain, exquisitely delicate features, a siren's aura, a devil's figure—and the police uniform draped over her perfectly accentuated the tempting curves of her chest. My heart fluttered. Okay, I admit I got a little crude.

"Hello, my name is Lan Jinxuan. It’s a pleasure to meet you," the ceramic siren said with a polite smile.

"I am..."

"A notorious playboy, the single flower of the Wang family!"

Pfft, little Miss Lan Jinxuan let out a laugh.

But I couldn't laugh. I had intended to introduce myself properly and formally, but that infuriating, shrill male voice cut in from a corner of the office. How dare he slander me in front of a beauty? Wait till I tear him apart! I looked toward the corner, but besides a few computers, I couldn't see anyone.

"I’m over here! Heh heh, Brother Lei, we meet again!" As the high-pitched voice sounded, Gao Jianning's head popped out from behind a monitor.

That brat—even if he hadn't shown himself, I would have recognized his sinister voice. Gao Jianning is the son of my mother's younger sister; in short, he’s my cousin. He’s only three months younger than me and has always loved exposing my flaws and tripping me up in front of others since childhood. He’s a computer genius; like me, he was forced into the police academy by his father after high school, but he specialized in computers. I never expected to run into him here.

"What are you doing here, you little punk? Are you bored or something!" I glared at him crossly. Even my toes could figure out that he’d probably spilled most of my embarrassing history to these people.

"Where else would I be? This is my current meal ticket, so stop glaring at me, or I might just tell everyone about the time you still slept clutching Mom when you were ten." As soon as Gao Jianning said that, the entire office erupted in laughter.

I really need to find a time to properly deal with this Gao Jianning.

Besides Director Jiang, Gao Jianning, Lan Jinxuan, and myself, there were only two other people in the office. One was Bao Qiang, whom I prefer to call 'Little Scrawny'—his looks were truly the epitome of unflattering. If I were a woman, seeing his lewd smile, I would keep a distance of eight thousand miles. But he certainly won't have trouble finding a wife; his smile hasn't stopped since I walked in. However, looking closely now, I realized he was the only one not wearing a uniform; his attire looked more like that of a street vendor selling stinky tofu. Moreover, he kept staring at me with a bizarre intensity—bizarre because while he was smiling at me, his eyes clearly concealed something much deeper.

The last one was a clean-cut young man who looked about my age, introducing himself only as "Zhang Jiewei." His name suggested mightiness, but it fizzled out with the introduction. His hands, however, never stopped, constantly fiddling with a titanium alloy lighter.

"Alright, let’s get down to business. Although today is the first day of our Special Affairs Investigation Office's establishment, I won't waste time on flowery speeches. In short: under my command, you must obey my orders completely. I am the landlord, and you can only be the peasants, waiting patiently for my exploitation and oppression. Don't even think about resisting; the consequence of resistance is deeper exploitation and oppression!" Director Jiang spoke, and everyone listened intently, but upon hearing the words "the first day," the scalp on my head began to tingle.

"Oh, one thing I must tell you in advance. Although our department is nominally under the Special Investigation Division, we don't officially exist—meaning none of you have formal civil service status. You report directly to me, and I am beyond your jurisdiction. The cases we handle are all rather bizarre and highly unusual. If you leak even a single word about this, I have the means to make you regret it for the rest of your life. Understood?" Looking at Director Jiang's flippant demeanor, his words still carried significant weight.

"Understood!" everyone replied in unison.

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