Not long after dinner, Huai Shi once again found himself in the interrogation room of the Special Affairs Department.
It felt as warm as coming home.
Although he was wrapped in bandages from head to toe, and his facial wounds were still smeared with gentian violet, it was far from glamorous.
Then, he once again saw the person in charge of the Special Affairs Department, whom he had met once before. He remembered... his surname was Fu, right? Was this surname really that common? Or was it just his imagination? So, of all surnames, why this one? This uncle probably never enjoyed the treatment of a top leader his entire life...
Noticing Huai Shi's pitying gaze, Director Fu knew full well what this kid was thinking. Recalling how this kid's news had completely ruined his happy family dinner, he seethed with an anger he could barely contain and berated, "Huai Shi, what on earth are you trying to do? Don't you have school tomorrow! Thinking of skipping classes at such a young age, do you plan on ending up in jail when you grow up?"
School starting, my foot! Why do you sound like the dean of discipline!
Feeling the pressure of the start of school in such a strange place, Huai Shi's heart was instantly filled with a whirlwind of emotions. "Someone paid money to take my life, I'm desperate too!"
"This is your second 'palace visit,' isn't it? In less than half a month, you've been caught by the Special Affairs Department twice. You really have some nerve—"
Director Fu suppressed his anger, sat down across the table, opened the report handed over by his subordinates, and pointed to the title as he shouted, "Another violent assault case? Seven people seriously injured, five of whom are still in the ICU! Don't you think you're getting a little too arrogant?"
"Can you please not always assume I'm up to no good?" Huai Shi sighed, pointing to the wounds on his shoulder and arm. "The one closest to the artery missed by just a centimeter. This was self-defense..."
"Enough, don't give me that." Director Fu picked up the remote control, aimed it at the huge TV in the corner, and pressed a button. The screen lit up, revealing the gruesome scene in the alley.
In the surveillance footage, the crowd clashed with the young man.
Immediately after, it was like waves crashing against rocks. Some were sent flying, their screams silent in the recording. Then, it was an utter rout. From the first to the last, the scene was as brutal as someone with a weapon storming into a kindergarten.
Everything was silent. There was no sound of breaking bones, no audible cries of agony as they fell, and no gurgling as blood flowed from their mouths and noses. It was as if they felt no pain.
When an iron hammer struck his body, he didn't flinch or step back. When a blade slashed his back, he showed no hesitation. Acting with savage abandon, as if indifferent to everything, he launched a near-suicidal attack to bring down every visible person.
From start to finish, it took just three minutes.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the young man's face remained expressionless.
Only after no one in the alley moved did he turn around, retrieve his suit, and sit wearily on a fire hydrant, waiting for the distant wail of police sirens.
Blood trickled down his pant leg, forming shallow puddles on the ground, reflecting his calm eyes.
It was bone-chilling.
The video ended abruptly.
Immediately after, Director Fu's angry voice thundered as he slammed the table, "Huai Shi, didn't you say you knew no Martial Arts?"
"I was born with... I mean, I'm self-taught, is that not allowed?" Huai Shi flinched. "Or was I supposed to let them hack me to death on the spot to be considered normal?"
"This is a violent brawl. With a Sublimator involved, that elevates the crime." Director Fu stared into Huai Shi's eyes. "You know that the Special Affairs Department specifically manages such incidents, don't you? Last year, I sent a Little Brag not much different from you to the Border. Guess how he's doing now?"
Huai Shi tentatively asked, "He has achieved nirvana and is living joyously ever after?"
"The grass on his grave is as tall as you are!"
Director Fu turned to leave but hesitated as he pushed the door open. He looked back at him and said, "I've seen the testimony from that group. I know you were acting in self-defense. But at that time, did you really have no other choice, Huai Shi?"
"Huh?" Huai Shi was bewildered.
"You're a Sublimator. The moment you sublimated, you ceased to be an ordinary person. In many situations, you have more options and the full extent of your power precisely because you possess that power." Director Fu looked into his eyes. "But does so-called power really have to be demonstrated on the weak for you to feel its worth?"
"..."
Huai Shi didn't know what to say. As Director Fu turned again to leave, he heard a voice from behind, "Um... wait a minute!"
He slowly turned back, his expression indifferent. "Do you have anything else to say?"
"..." Huai Shi hesitated for a long time, then slowly raised his hand and asked weakly, "I'm feeling a bit hungry. Do you provide meals here?"
BANG!
The door was slammed shut.
By the time Ai Qing arrived, Director Fu had already smoked half a pack of cigarettes in his office, yet the simmering rage in his heart still couldn't be suppressed.
He wanted to hit someone. He wanted to beat up a minor. To hell with the Protection of Minors Act...
"Where is Huai Shi?" Ai Qing asked.
Director Fu lifted his hand and pointed towards the interrogation room. "Still in there eating our boxed meals. He's on his sixth one already. Could you please just take your Astronomical Society's pig back home?"
"It's a growth spurt, quite normal," Ai Qing responded calmly.
On her way, she had already grasped the sequence of events. Director Fu certainly wasn't going to extend the accusatory attitude he had adopted towards Huai Shi to a proper Inspector.
In Dongxia, the relationship between Inspectors and the Special Affairs Department was often awkward, a tension rooted in their differing official stances.
It was well-known that even Sublimators who had not been implanted with a Stigma possessed abilities and physical prowess far beyond the reach of ordinary people. Therefore, to best address the threat from the Border and prevent the misuse of power—strength that could otherwise defend Current Circumstances and the Border in wartime—all Sublimators are exempt from military service. In other words, no organization or power could conscript Sublimators for combat at any time, nor could they subject Sublimators to illegal detention or inhumane experimentation. The only exception was the Astronomical Society, acting under a resolution by the Five Constants within the Jurisdiction Bureau.
This edict, inscribed into the Twelve Bronze Statutes, has, to a certain extent, preserved the personal safety and freedom of Sublimators.
However, to prevent Sublimators from recklessly abusing their powers, any crime committed by a Sublimator would incur an increased sentence, and all penal servitude would be carried out in designated locations within the Border.
The Special Affairs Department exists as a coercive institution established to prevent Sublimators from oppressing ordinary people. Most of its members are undoubtedly elite-trained soldiers who suppress through collective military action, using long spears, short guns, battle axes, and missiles to teach lessons.
In Current Circumstances, protected by the [Three Great Locks], apart from the very few The Crowned Ones, the greatest source of violence was the military. Let's not even talk about things like Little Boy or Big Ivan, or missile bombers; the frontal firepower coverage of a single artillery battalion, coupled with coordinated armored infantry, was enough to give any fiends and evil spirits a very hard time.
One should never even think about confronting the military head-on. Whoever tries, dies. Even Sublimators are no exception.
The responsibility for adjudicating the facts of a Sublimator's crime and issuing a Black Envelope lay with the Inspectors.
Inspectors generally didn't clash with the Special Affairs Department; maintaining the balance between ordinary people and Sublimators was usually sufficient. More often than not, if the Special Affairs Department needed to act, a phone call to the Inspectors to file a case would suffice. What Inspectors really had to worry about, besides Border development, were conflicts between Sublimator groups vying for interests—disputes so intense they might end up with their brains getting knocked out. In the worst-case scenario, even that was tolerable, as long as the violence didn't spill over and affect ordinary citizens trying to live their lives peacefully.
Whoever causes trouble gets taken down. Current Circumstances only has so much space; it can barely accommodate several Natural Enemies, much less the tumult of so many people causing trouble.
Fortunately, Xinhai was truly tiny. Even Sublimators numbered only a handful, perhaps seven or eight, hardly enough to form a significant presence or cause a stir. Everyone lived a rather detached, Buddha-like existence: some worked as Cowherds, others as Two-Path Traffickers, and there were even those who ran detective agencies and slacked off all day. It was remarkably worry-free.
After Ai Qing had dealt with those who had been surreptitiously tripping people up, there was no lingering animosity between her and the Special Affairs Department. A nasty brawl wasn't enough to cause a full-blown conflict. It was a minor incident, not enough for either side to let personal emotions interfere with their work. After a simple exchange of information, they moved straight to the main topic.
"Who attacked him?"
"A bunch of no-good trash who can't make it to the big stage..." Mentioning this agitated Director Fu. He piled the files one by one on the desk, enumerating them, "Members of illegal gangs, human traffickers, fugitives, and unemployed drifters and other societal riffraff... What in the world is all this?"
Saying this, he couldn't resist lighting another cigarette. Noticing Ai Qing, he pushed open the window, took a couple of harsh drags, then stubbed it out. He pulled a mobile phone from a bag and asked, "You've heard of [The Collection of a Thousand Evils], haven't you?"
"That Darknet app?" Ai Qing frowned upon seeing the skull icon on the mobile screen.
Actually, although this app presented as software, its nature was far more complex, verging on being a toxic influence. Even within the Astronomical Society, a dedicated file had been established for it. Unfortunately, due to the existence of the Border· Darknet, it had always been impossible to eradicate.
In essence, it could be described as an intermediary platform for the Dark Side World. It facilitated all trades that satisfied humanity's dark desires. These included murder, abduction, kidnapping, the trade of human organs, and slaves. It even dealt in deeper elements targeted at Sublimators, such as Stigmas, Border Relics, Source Crystals, and offerings. In short, it covered everything under the sun; there was nothing it did not touch upon.
And now, someone had posted a bounty for Huai Shi on it...
But who would be bored enough to pick a fight with a salted fish?