Chapter 39 I was born with divine strength!_1

Not long after dinner, Huai Shi returned once again to the Interrogation Room of the Special Affairs Department.

It felt as warm as coming home.

Although he was wrapped in bandages all over, and his facial wounds were still smeared with purple medicine, it was far from glamorous.

Then, he saw that person in charge of the Special Affairs Department who he had encountered once before, remember… his last name was Fu, right? Was this surname really that common?

Or was it just his imagination?

Why have such a surname, this uncle probably never enjoyed proper respect his entire life...

Noticing Huai Shi's pitying gaze, Director Fu knew what this kid was thinking just by the heels of his feet. Recalling how this kid's news had disrupted his happy family dinner, he was so angry he felt like exploding, and he 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?"

Damn school starting!

Why do you sound like the head of the disciplinarian office!

Feeling the pressure of the start of school in such a strange place, Huai Shi's heart was instantly filled with complex emotions, "Someone paid money to take my life, I'm also desperate!"

"This is your second time in the palace, 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 lying in the ICU, don't you think you're getting a little too arrogant?"

"Can you not always think that 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 and pressed a button aimed at the huge TV in the corner, lighting up the screen and revealing the gruesome situation in the alley.

In the surveillance footage, the crowd collided with the youth.

Immediately after, it was like waves crashing against rocks.

Some were sent flying, screaming silently in the recording.

Then, it was an utter rout, from the first to the last, as brutal as someone with a weapon storming into a kindergarten.

Everything was silent.

There was no sound of breaking bones, no agony as they fell to the ground, and no buzzing as blood flowed from their mouths and noses.

It was as if they felt no pain.

An Iron Hammer hit them without them stepping back, a blade slashed their backs without a moment's hesitation, savagely as if not caring for anything, almost mutually assured destruction as every visible person was knocked down.

From start to finish, it took just three minutes.

The entire time, the youth's face was expressionless.

Only after there was no one left moving in the alley did he turn around, retrieve his suit, and sit tiredly on a fire hydrant, waiting for the distant sound of police sirens.

Blood flowed down the pant leg, accumulating into shallow puddles on the ground.

Reflecting those calm eyes.

It was bone-chilling.

The video abruptly ended.

Immediately after, came the angry voice of Director Fu slamming the table: "Huai Shi, didn't you say you knew no martial arts?"

"I was born with divine... I taught myself, is that not allowed?" Huai Shi retracted his neck, "Or was I supposed to let them hack me to death on the spot to be considered normal?"

"This is a violent brawl involving a Sublimator, that's a crime with additional punishment."

Director Fu stared into Huai Shi's eyes: "You know that the Special Affairs Department specifically manages such events, don't you? Last year, I sent a kid not much different from you to the Border, guess how he's doing now?"

Huai Shi tentatively asked: "He has achieved nirvana, all joyous and well?"

"The grass on his grave is as tall as you are!"

Director Fu turned to leave, but hesitated as he pushed the door open, looked back at him and said, "I've seen the testimony of that group of people, 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. Often, you can have more options and exert full effort because you hold power."

Director Fu looked into his eyes, "But does so-called power really have to manifest 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: "Wait...wait a minute!"

He slowly turned, his expression indifferent: "Do you have something else to say?"

"…"

Huai Shi hesitated for a long time, then slowly raised his hand and asked weakly:

"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, and still couldn't suppress the evil fire smoldering in his heart.

Wanted to hit someone.

Wanted to beat up a minor.

To hell with the juvenile protection law...

"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, the sixth one already. Could you please just take your Astronomical Society's pig back home quickly?"

"It's a growth spurt, quite normal."

Ai Qing responded with calm.

On the way there, she had already understood the circumstances, and Director Fu certainly wasn't going to extend the attitude he adopted towards Huai Shi to a proper Inspector.

In Dongxia, the relationship between Inspectors and the Special Affairs Department was often awkward, rooted in the stances of both sides.

It was well-known that even Sublimators who had not implanted Stigmas possessed abilities and physical prowess beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Therefore, to address the threat of the Border to the greatest extent possible and avoid having the strength that could have been used to defend Current Circumstances and the Border abused in war, all Sublimators are exempt from military service.

In other words, aside from the Astronomical Society as sanctioned by the resolution of the Five Constants within the Jurisdiction Bureau, no organization or power could conscript Sublimators for combat at any time, nor could they subject Sublimators to illegal detention and inhumane experimentation.

This edict, inscribed into the Twelve Bronze Statutes, has preserved the personal safety and freedom of Sublimators to a certain extent.

But at the same time, to prevent Sublimators from recklessly using their powers, any crime committed by a Sublimator would receive an increased sentence, and all locations for serving sentences are uniformly planned around the Border.

The existence of the Special Affairs Department is a violent institution established to prevent Sublimators from oppressing ordinary people, most of whose members are undoubtedly soldiers who have undergone elite training. They suppress through collective military action, using long spears, short guns, battle axes, and missiles to teach a lesson.

In the Current Circumstances, protected by the [Three Great Locks], apart from the few The Crowned Ones, the largest source of violence was the military.

Without going into what the young boy Ivan did, or anything about missile bombers, just the frontal firepower coverage of an artillery battalion along with coordinated armored infantry was enough to give those fiends and evil spirits a hard time.

Don't even think about taking on the military head-on.

Whoever does, dies.

Even for Sublimators.

And the responsibility for determining the reality of a Sublimator's crime, and issuing a Black Envelope, laid on the shoulders of Inspectors.

Inspectors often didn't pick fights with the Special Affairs Department. As long as they could maintain the balance between ordinary people and Sublimators, it was sufficient. More often, the Special Affairs Department would call ahead to the Inspectors to file a case and that would be that.

What they really should worry about, besides Border development, is conflicts between Sublimator groups vying for interests resulting in their brains getting knocked out. In the worst-case scenario, even having their brains knocked out was acceptable, so long as it didn't spill over and affect ordinary citizens trying to live peacefully.

Whoever causes trouble gets taken down.

Current Circumstances only have so much space; it can barely accommodate several Natural Enemies, much less the tumult of so many people.

Fortunately, Xinhai was truly tiny. Even including Sublimators, there were only about seven or eight, not enough to cause a stir. Everyone was living a rather detached life: there were those who worked as Cowherds, Two-Path Traffickers, and even those who ran detective agencies and slacked off all day... it was remarkably worry-free.

After settling the score with those who had been tripping people up in the dark, there was no reason for Ai Qing to have any issues with the Special Affairs Department.

A nasty brawl wasn't enough reason to break faces.

A minor incident was not enough for either side to let personal emotions interfere with the job. After a simple exchange of information, they moved straight to the main topic.

"Who attacked him?"

"A bunch of no-good trash that can't make it to the big stage..."

Mentioning this got Director Fu agitated. He piled the files one by one on the desk, checking them off: "Members of illegal gangs, human traffickers, fugitives, and delinquents... what the hell are these?"

While saying this, he couldn't help but light another cigarette. Noticing Ai Qing, he pushed the window open, took a couple of harsh drags, then stubbed it out. He pulled out 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 was software, its nature was far more complex, verging on toxic. Even within the Astronomical Society, a dedicated file had been established.

Unfortunately, due to the presence of 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 the dark desires of humanity, whether it was murder, abduction, kidnapping, or the trade of human organs, slaves, and even deeper elements targeted at Sublimators like Stigmas, Border Relics, Source Crystals, offerings... everything under the sun, nothing it did not touch upon.

And now, someone had posted a bounty for Huai Shi on it...

But who would bother to pick a fight with a salted fish for no reason?