AZI Volume 1 Chapter 9
"…"
Standing outside a single-floored building, Long Hua—who had just parked his bike after arriving, can't help but frown.
Hanging above the entrance of this building is a wooden signboard that reads DB 06-07.
(In the end, I'm still traveling between the third ward and the sixth ward…)
This building is none other than the Disciplinary Bureau office that Long Hua has been assigned to—according to a text message on his phone.
(How old is this building? These walls look…)
Cracks and holes can be seen on the walls of the building, making it questionable as to how long this structure may hold.
Raising a sigh, Long Hua walks up to the building, and upon pressing his hand onto the doorknob—
*Thud…* the door leans forward and falls onto the ground.
"…"
Walking into the building and picking up the door, Long Hua places it back into position.
"Welcome."
"Good day. Umm…"
Welcoming Long Hua into the office is a young lady dressed in a grey-colored business suit.
A portion of her long black hair is tied into a bundle and held together by an oriental hairpin made from jade.
This traditional hairstyle combined with the air that emanates from her, gives one the impression that she hails from a wealthy family.
Held in her hand is a cup of coffee that she is taking a sip out of without a hint of noise. "Handsome," could also be used to describe her demeanor.
Placed against the left walls of the office are two computers that look to be well over 20 years of age. One of the monitors even has its screen cracked.
On the right side of the office space is a self-serving bar that looks rather modern, and to the far-right corner of the back are the restrooms.
Positioned in the center of the room is a large square table surrounded by three damaged leather sofas.
On the side that isn't blocked by a sofa is a large desk. The person occupying the damaged leather rolling chair was facing the other way.
"Captain, at least greet the new recruit."
Turning towards the large desk, the purple-eyed young lady calls to the person—who seems preoccupied with a handheld game console judging by the noise.
"Hm?"
As the leather chair turns around, a man dressed in a short sleeved black jacket over a black shirt with fingerless gloves looks to Long Hua with his dark eyes.
His bar code tattoo is imprinted onto his right arm, and seeing as how he is leaving it exposed, he probably doesn't expend any effort to hide it even while out in public.
"First one to show. Welcome to the squad, name's Yè Chén, and hope to see you live through your first year of service."
Towards Long Hua, the man directs a thumbs up with a cheap smile on his face.
"He's not very reliable looking, is he? My name is Lǐ Xuě, pleased to meet you."
"1029-874, Long Hua."
"You can burn that card now, since you won't ever be needing it again."
"Right…"
As Ye Chen turns his attention back to his phone, Long Hua walks over to the sofa opposite of Li Xue and sits down.
"How many more are there?"
"Not including you, there's two more. Might be a long wait, you want something to drink?"
"Nah, I'm good. Here's my medical papers."
Placing the papers onto the table and sliding it forward, Long Hua leans back on the sofa and closes his eyes prior to dozing off.
"Came prepared. Good to see."
...…
As another half-hour's worth of time passes, the fragile door is once more dropped onto the ground as two more individuals walk into the office with an expression of bewilderment on their faces.
"Welcome."
"…Welcome."
Having heard the sound of the door being knocked over, Long Hua wakes up from his nap and greets the two newcomers with a yawn prior to getting up from his seat and voluntarily fixing the door again.
Rather quickly, the sofas are occupied.
"Do you two have your medical records?"
"Here."
"…"
As two packets of paper are slid over, Li Xue looks them over and nods.
"Everything checks out then. Err… Yù Jī, you're… Male?"
Towards the question—
"Correct."
Yu Ji answers with unusual quickness.
A perforated leather glove wraps around Yu Ji's right hand, most likely meant to hide his bar code tattoo seeing as how his left hand is gloveless.
Black hair and deep blue eyes, cropped black jacket with short pair of black pants that stops below the kneecaps—along with black leather boots, the outfit doesn't seem to be the issue, but their face can only be described as far too feminine. No doubt, no one would think them to be a man, if they were put into a skirt.
"I see. And Qíng Yuè you're… 18?"
"Correct."
Large newsboy red cap over a head of pale pink hair that reaches halfway down her back. Wrapping around her neck was a white sash. Red coat over a white shirt, coupled with a pair of short pants. Her outfit seems to only make her already short stature shorter than what it already is.
If she were put into a middle school student's uniform, she could easily fit right into the classroom's environment.
"…"
Looking around, Li Xue suddenly feels like this entire squad is made up of oddballs.
"Long Hua, do you have something about you that makes you seem… Unique?"
"Hm? My Relic is fused with my body, would that count?"
"How rare."
Stuffing his phone into his pocket, Ye Chen stands up from his seat behind the large desk and walks over to the sofa to sit down by Li Xue's side.
"Looks like our squad is made up of a bunch of oddballs. So, for a bit of an icebreaker, tell us about your experience in the ballot drawing."
As a rule, a single Disciplinary Bureau squad is made up of two Sinners who have been to the frontlines and stayed there for at least five years.
Seeing as how Ye Chen and Li Xue had been here ahead of him, Long Hua surmises them to possess live combat experience against Immortals for at least five years.
"I just drew and got a ballot labeled with D."
Qing Yue is the first to answer, which is then followed by Yu Ji.
"I took someone else's ballot, and went through some reassignment papers."
"…?"
Contrary to Qing Yue, who had a look of shock, everyone else didn't seem too surprised.
"And you?"
"I kicked the box into the air, and plucked the one I wanted."
"In front of the person in charge?"
"They did send five guys after me an hour or two later. We talked and… I sent them on their way."
(These two are dangerous.)
Looking between Yu Ji and Long Hua, Qing Yue can't help but make an expression of unease. She could easily guess what sending people on their way had meant.
"You two sound promising already. Qing Yue… I guess you're just really lucky?"
(Fat chance of that being the case. Someone- Maybe her Guild pulled some strings for her?)
"In any case, this person who is giving off a cheap smile is named Ye Chen. He's the squad leader or captain, whichever you prefer calling him by. Despite how he looks, he does have six years of frontline combat experience. My name is Li Xue, and I shall serve as second-in-command when necessary. I have five years of frontline combat experience."
(Six years? Wouldn't a sane person get out of the frontlines after the initial five-year period?)
With introductions now out of the way, Li Xue moves onto explaining the job of this office.
"Rogue Sinners have been rising in numbers over the past few centuries, the job of dealing with them is a part of the Disciplinary Bureau's mission. Outside of dealing with rogue Sinners, we are also tasked with exterminating any Immortals that may appear near our ward. That's the general description of our office. So long as we fulfill these two tasks, we can basically do whatever we want."
"…Not to be rude, but can you really call this an office?"
Looking around and seeing how damaged everything aside from the self-serving bar is, Yu Ji can't help but frown.
"Which is why, all our hard-earned money will be put into renovating this place. After getting the place looking decent, we can split the pay five ways."
"…How much do you think that will cost?"
"Probably 700,000 NWD? The government pays each squad 110,000 NWD a month."
Five years after the start of the Great Immortal Wars, all the world's currency has been changed into New World Dollars.
"That's about seven months of pure government salary."
Doing the calculations in his head, Long Hua voices his answer.
"About 50 rogue Sinner related jobs if it's something major, 150 if it's all minor. Ah but if we take down an Immortal, then the issue would be solved in an instant."
Cutting Ye Chen off, Li Xue says—
"Quit dreaming. I'd rather we take things slow. Once you've been to the frontlines, this place looks like heaven."
"A man can dream, can't he? I'll say this again, but I do look forward to seeing you three make it through your first year of service alive."
"…"
"…"
"…"
Among the three who are considered new recruits, the one who looks the most displeased by the situation is Yu Ji.
"C'mon kids, show some spirit. Be glad you get to spend the next five years in this dump—instead of going off to the frontlines like most of your peers. About 450 Sinners are able to get into the Disciplinary Bureau per city."
"Hey, captain."
"Ask away, 2nd Lieut. Long Hua."
A look of surprise appears on Long Hua's face upon being called a lieutenant by Ye Chen, but then again, once a Sinner has graduated from one of the specialized institutions, they are automatically drafted into the army.
Being called with the lowest rank of a commissioned officer didn't seem too inappropriate at this point.
"Do you and second-in-command know each other? You two seem rather familiar with one another."
"I'm glad you aske-"
"This bastard here, is the one who got my father killed when I was about to enter high school. So, I'll stop at nothing to kill him during our operations. Do be understanding, if he just so happens to die at a critical moment, or one day vanishes from the face of the earth."
Silence looms in the air upon Li Xue saying these words with a harmless smile on her face.
"…"
"…"
"…Is this squad really going to be okay?"
"Your guess is as good as mine 2nd Lieut. Qing Yue, but let's make it work, shall we?"
"So other than sitting around and waiting, what else do we do?"
"Not much other than what you've just mentioned. Showing up and staying until closing hours is still necessary though. Ah before I forget, shall we exchange phone numbers to keep in contact?"
No one saw any reason not to do so, hence they readily took their smartphones out and began the exchange process.
Upon completion, Yu Ji turns to Li Xue, and asks—
"Renovation costs taken into account; do we still get a salary?"
Noticing the hint of distress in Yu Ji's eyes, Li Xue thought for a moment.
Different people have different difficulties, and from the looks of it, Yu Ji's is tied to money, which isn't uncommon among Sinners.
"I can set some cash aside to give you a normal salary for three months, but you would need to pay it back over time once our office's situation stabilizes."
Asking for further details to someone who they have only just met today would be considered rude, hence it would be best to just brush the matter off with a reasonable solution instead.
"I can do that."
"…"
Glancing at Yu Ji, Long Hua notices the same as Li Xue. However, he was no saint for he was taught to treasure his monetary assets.
"If there's any other concerns and questions, you can ask them whenever you want. If you need some privacy to raise your concerns that can also be arranged."
"Office's hours of operation?"
"9 AM to 7 PM. …Technically hours of operation are 24 hours a day, if a call or order is received from the tenth ward."
The tenth ward is the smallest ward, and is situated on an island surrounded by a lake. It is also where this city's main command tower is located.
The chief of GC012, city lord, as people of such position are called is a woman by the name of Fāng Qí.