Once, I wanted to be a good person

Hearing the question from the man dressed in noble attire, the person thought for a moment and then said, "Your Excellency, I'm not sure myself."

"I've looked into his records."

"But he comes from a low-level city's slum area, so there's very little documentation and records available."

"The only somewhat valuable records are from his time in Bai Zhi's Special Case Team."

"However, that team is entirely under Bai Zhi's control, and nobody knows if those records are true or false."

"Just take the incident where he, a mere junior Awakener, instantly killed five Fusers. That seems a bit too exaggerated."

"Moreover, the way he used stratagems to identify spies hidden within the Special Case Team seems more like it's been made up or exaggerated."

"After all, when the Security Bureau tallied and recorded the team's props, it was discovered that Bai Zhi used a total of two 'Twenty-Two Winged Angels' during her case investigations."

"Still, there are many doubts about this matter. For example, how did Bai Zhi come across the intelligence on the Rejuvenation Society?"

"Or... how did she learn that we were smuggling 'Ming 28'..."

The nobleman listened, then silently nodded his head, his fingers gently tapping on the armrest of the chair.

After a moment, he slowly said, "Whether it's true or not, we must not take it lightly."

The person assured, "Rest assured, Your Excellency."

"Although I have my doubts about some of his merits... I place great emphasis on him."

"I've set up a trap that will keep him too busy to meddle in our affairs, and too preoccupied to investigate the Flower Morning Festival and compete with us."

"This trap will launch tonight. By tomorrow, Bai Zhi will realize that everything she has struggled for is but an illusion..."

The noble man gave him a glance and nodded in satisfaction.

"Fine. As long as you have a clear grasp of the situation."

"However... you must understand that Bai Zhi is just a minor issue; our main opponent is still Gu Qing..."

"Make sure to keep a close watch. Do not let him beat us to the punch."

The person replied, "Yes!"

........

That very night in Emerald City, all Security Bureau Commissioners' communicators received a message,

[The Security Bureau meeting will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow on the 5th floor large conference room.]

[At that time, new members will join the bureau, and a summary of the last phase of tasks will be presented along with the allocation of the next stage's tasks.]

[All commissioners not on urgent duty, please attend on time.]

A brief message stirred up a stormy response.

Within the official departments, there are hardly any secrets to speak of.

Rumors had been circulating for days that the upper echelons were placing great importance on this year's Flower Morning Festival, hence the inclination to rely on Deputy Director Gu Qing to mobilize all the resources of the Security Bureau and investigate the matter thoroughly.

To unravel the secrets of the Flower Morning Festival, the Flower God's Holy Maiden, and the Flower God once and for all during this festival.

However, following that, there were new rumors that when the upper management was discussing this plan with Deputy Director Bai Zhi,

Bai Zhi flatly rejected it. Not only did she refuse to work under Gu Qing's direction, but she also requested to operate independently, initiating a rivalry with Gu Qing.

And it was for this very competition that she specifically recruited Fang Ze, a thorn in the side, from the lower-level city.

Now, combining these rumors with the message, everyone could see things were finally falling into place.

It seemed that this Flower Morning Festival, the Security Bureau was indeed going to split into two teams for separate investigations.

After two years of "open and covert fighting," it was very likely that the two deputy directors would settle their contest during this Flower Morning Festival event once and for all, deciding who would be the next director!

As one of the three key figures in this event, Fang Ze, of course, drew the attention of many commissioners in the Security Bureau following the message.

After all, everyone knew too much about the two deputy directors already.

One was of commoner origins, amiable, without airs, generally laid-back, but highly reliable during critical moments. Many cases that others found enigmatic and inexplicable would become clear once they reached his hands.

His strength had never been fully revealed, but it was generally considered to be formidable.

The other, born into nobility, was beautiful and proud, like a goddess high above. It was a pity, though... that such a pretty head had so little inside. She preferred to deal with certain problems through violence.

Compared to the two deputy directors, however, people knew far too little about Fang Ze.

Especially since that morning, Fang Ze had been apprehended as a suspect by Xun Yi, one of Gu Qing's loyal subordinates.

Rumored to be implicated in the killing of a Director of the Investigation Bureau.

And now, a suspect today, he's joining the Security Bureau tomorrow?

What exactly is going on?

Fueled by this curiosity, many people began to inquire about all sorts of information on Fang Ze.

Under the deliberate spread by interested parties, Fang Ze's information was soon laid out for all to see.

As an "early-stage Awakener, who instantly killed five Fusers."

Or as one "who uncovered three spies using strategic wit alone, without the need of any artifacts."

Or "lured a Mysterious organization into making a move against him alone, only to turn around, capture them, and extract intelligence on the Mysterious organization"...

There were many such exaggerated feats, all of which were eagerly unearthed by the inquisitive.

And the commissioners of the Security Bureau were somewhat shocked by these feats.

Were these really true?

They all seemed so over-the-top, didn't they?

And was even the Director of the Investigation Bureau he killed a spy? Discover exclusive tales at empire

Was it a case of failed recruitment followed by self-defense?