Star Gate

“Don’t delete anything!” Liu Long continued in his calm tones. “Those have nothing to do with you. Don’t worry, I’m not a bad guy. We’re all protectors of Silver City and won’t do anything irrational.”

“Do as you wish!” Mu Sen left without another word. It was best to limit his interactions with Liu Long. The guy was not a logical person and would drag him down sooner or later.

“We can finally flex our muscles with complete freedom!” Liu Long suddenly smiled.

Though no one knew what he meant, they were all seized by excitement. Wang Ming joined them in this thrilling sensation, but soon sensed something different. Liu Long was looking at him… strangely.

The fuck! Wang Ming cursed subconsciously. What you looking at me for? I’m just an outsider, you don’t have something in mind for me, do you?

“Let’s all go to Li Hao’s place after work tonight to celebrate the formation of the new branch!” Wreathed in smiles, Liu Yan called everyone together for the group’s first social occasion. Liu Long wasn’t the enthusiastic type and everyone left in the conference room would be eating out of the same figurative pot in the future. “Little Wang, Little Hu, Little Li, are you three okay with that?”

“……” The three looked at her. Li Meng and Hu Hao quickly turned to Wang Ming. You’re the boss, what you say goes. They are three outsiders unfamiliar with this group. It was up to Wang Ming if he wanted to lay down the law in this very moment, or forever bow his head.

Wang Ming didn’t care about any of that. This was all transient and temporary to him. He would leave soon, so there was no point in expending effort to fight Liu Long for power! Besides, Huang Yun wanted him to get close to Li Hao. This mission had to be accomplished, so the handsome young man quickly nodded in acceptance.

“Very well, let’s go to Director Hao’s place!”

The turn of events left Li Hao speechless. My place? I have no idea where the kitchen is in my new place. Liu Yan seriously knows how to make things a hassle. Why don’t we go out to eat?

“Then it’s settled.” The beaming Liu Yan didn’t care what the young man thought. “The Inspectorate should’ve arranged lodgings for the three of you. It’s been a long and arduous journey. Why don’t you get settled in first, we’ll come pick you up later.”

“Thank you for going to the trouble!” Wang Ming left without another word. He didn’t want to stay a single second longer than he had to. It was too uncomfortable! Although Li Hao and Liu Long couldn’t care less, the same couldn’t be said for him. His pride was too strong and he couldn’t bear it. It curdled his insides to think of how those supernaturals had injured him with one blow and he’d needed Liu Long to save him.

The three newcomers left together. Liu Long snorted with laughter the moment they disappeared from view.

“Not bad!”

Liu Yan nodded and smiled as well.

“It’s those three.” Yun Yao inclined her head in approval. “At least we’ve fought together before. They have some fire to them. While they’re newbies, they’re not complete rookies. They’re all Darkmoon and not some of the oily supernaturals that we’ve seen…”

The team was quite satisfied with these three. Lack of battle experience wasn’t a problem. The Demon Hunters had been mostly concerned about being sent stubborn, lone warrior types or those who wanted to vie for authority. That would make for a difficult time then.

Not all supernaturals turned a blind eye to mundane power. Some wouldn’t mind committing detestable acts in the name of fame and wealth. But not these guys, these guys were fine.

“They’re good!” Chen Jian proclaimed with a broad smile. “They helped us with the supernaturals last time, so we’re all acquainted. Wang Ming is stronger than us, so it’s all good!”

Liu Long nodded. This was why he was at ease. He didn’t care about power or authority either, but he would defend his territory to his last breath if someone came for it. He understood how important this team was—they were all trusted people who’d gone through life and death together. He wasn’t willing to place their lives in anyone else’s hands. That made an easy environment for fatalities.

“Sis, I don’t have anything to make food with,” Li Hao muttered with the onset of a headache. He ignored what the team was talking about.

“Are you an idiot?” Liu Yan rolled her eyes. “Order in! Have the restaurant deliver! We’re just eating at your place, who’s cooking there?”

“……” Li Hao’s jaw dropped. Was this what it meant to play host? I’ve learned something new today! So it’s just borrowing my place, huh? Here I was, bashing my brains out on how to handle this!

“Let’s do as Liu Yan says,” Liu Long laughed. “We can just eat whatever, the food doesn’t matter. Hosting a welcome dinner for them is a show of goodwill. You can grow closer to Wang Ming as we eat, Li Hao. Chat with him, especially about the supernatural affairs to come.” The chief paused. “Especially about the eight families!”

Li Hao stilled with seriousness. He needed to pay attention to this!

He truly wanted to understand more about the eight families, but neither his teacher nor the others knew much. Who knew if the Night Watchers knew more? The best way to learn more might be to interrogate Ying Hongyue. A pity that that was impossible. Right?

In that case, Wang Ming was the next best alternative.

Li Hao nodded and set out to look for restaurants when Liu Long waved him back. “Don’t be in a rush to leave! Now that we’ve officially become a Night Watcher branch, we can’t continue to operate from the basement! Go find an office building for us to move into. We don’t have many belongings or equipment…”

“Sure, I’ll have the law enforcement team move out of this building so we can take it over. That saves us the hassle of a move!”

The rest of the team stared at him. Damn, son! You’re as blackhearted as they get! Make the law enforcement team move? Look at how many we have and how many they have!

“What?” Perplexed, an embarrassed Li Hao scratched his head. “Our headquarters are here and it’s not that easy to move a treasury. So have the law enforcement team move, their stuff is easier to move. I can call for a moving company.”

“……” Liu Yan burst into giggles and Liu Long waved an extremely exasperated hand. “You figure it out! But it’s all on you if people complain!”

Truly blackhearted! The new branch was only just formed, but here they were going to take someone else’s place like a dove occupying a magpie’s nest! Li Hao was showing his true colors now, wasn\'t he? He could look forward to curses thrown his way!

The rest of the team ignored the young man and chatted for a while before heading downstairs.

……

The group blinked when they reached the first floor. A hotbed of activity, the law enforcement team bustled to and fro as they moved items in perfect harmony. Liu Long looked around with astonishment. Since when were these guys so easily persuaded? And they all wore smiles on their faces? Had something good happened?

This location had been their office for a very long time and they were suddenly being told to move. Wasn’t that a hard pill to swallow?

“Captain!” greeted inspectors passing by. The team was still used to calling him captain. Liu Long grabbed a nearby bulky man.

“Old Zhou, why are you guys being so proactive? The kid didn’t threaten you guys, did he?”

“How could he?” chortled the old veteran. “And would Commissioner Inspector Li ever do such a thing? Didn’t you say that if we finish the move today, we can all choose a gun from Captain Liu or your office? That we can even take the cannon if we want?”

He paused, a weird tone creeping into his voice. “You two… know about that, right?”

Liu Long and Liu Yan looked at each other with resignation. The hell they knew about! The kid seriously knew how to bullshit.

But the more they thought about it, the more it didn’t matter. They could always get more weapons; the ones in their offices were kept there for easy access. Not to mention, since they were now part of the Night Watchers, they needed to turn in the Inspectorate weapons. Night Watchers were rarely equipped with conventional weapons.

“We do!” Liu Long answered gruffly. “That’s all it took for you guys to bounce up and down like this?”

“Of course not!” Old Zhou laughed loudly. “Captain, Commissioner Inspector Li is a highly educated person, alright! He’s someone meant for big things! He says that moving away now is so that we can return with our heads held even higher. I hear… that um… they… are recruiting new members?”

He looked expectantly at Liu Long. The Night Watchers were not a secret to the law enforcement team. Law enforcement members had personally participated in the supernatural battle of Silver City a few days ago. Everyone knew about the existence of supernaturals.

Based on Li Hao’s words, this building was being requisitioned as Silver City also hosted a branch of that agency now. Everyone on the law enforcement team had a chance to join it, but there would be a selection process. Anyone who moved away now could move back once they passed through the process. They would come back with a raise, increased benefits, and the chance to become supernatural!

The team was highly excited about this possibility.

“Old Zhou, that domain is very dangerous. You’re a veteran inspector, so you should know more about what we’re talking about.” Liu Long furrowed his brows. Why could the inspector barely contain his excitement like some of the young’uns?

“Captain, I’m not hoping to become one of those!” Old Zhou smiled easily. “Commissioner Inspector Li says that he can recruit a few people for administrative duties. Our rank will increase by one level and our salary double. The salary comes from upstairs, anyhow, not your pockets. The commissioner inspector also says that it’d be a waste not to take advantage of this, since it’s no skin off our backs. Under normal circumstances, Night Watchers… ahem, can set up a mundane help center that requires a bit of staff. It’d be a shame to not take advantage of a gig that offers a promotion and a raise, wouldn’t you say so?”

Liu Long felt a bit awkward. Is that so? I don’t know, I’ve never thought about this before. I see! So the Night Watchers also have an administrative back office for support duty? He’d originally assigned those tasks to Li Hao, but to think that the young man would outsource his work in the blink of an eye. The young man was really something!

Liu Yan and the others busily suppressed laughter. Chen Jian was the first to break. “Li Hao’s got some good thoughts in him and knows how to obtain benefits for our brothers. It’s true, we don’t care about promotions, but Old Zhou and the others do. Any that get promoted is a good thing since it’s upstairs picking up the tab.”