Mu Sen said nothing further in the face of Liu Longâs insistence. âIâll give the list to you when I get back.â He nodded.
âDonât delete anything!â Liu Long continued in his calm tones. âThose have nothing to do with you. Donât worry, Iâm not a bad guy. Weâre all protectors of Silver City and wonât do anything irrational.â
âDo as you wish!â 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.
âWe can finally flex our muscles with complete freedom!â 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? Iâm just an outsider, you donât have something in mind for me, do you?
âLetâs all go to Li Haoâs place after work tonight to celebrate the formation of the new branch!â Wreathed in smiles, Liu Yan called everyone together for the groupâs first social occasion. Liu Long wasnât the enthusiastic type and everyone left in the conference room would be eating out of the same figurative pot in the future. âLittle Wang, Little Hu, Little Li, are you three okay with that?â
ââ¦â¦â The three looked at her. Li Meng and Hu Hao quickly turned to Wang Ming. Youâre 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 didnât 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.
âVery well, letâs go to Director Haoâs place!â
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 donât we go out to eat?
âThen itâs settled.â The beaming Liu Yan didnât care what the young man thought. âThe Inspectorate shouldâve arranged lodgings for the three of you. Itâs been a long and arduous journey. Why donât you get settled in first, weâll come pick you up later.â
âThank you for going to the trouble!â Wang Ming left without another word. He didnât want to stay a single second longer than he had to. It was too uncomfortable! Although Li Hao and Liu Long couldnât care less, the same couldnât be said for him. His pride was too strong and he couldnât bear it. It curdled his insides to think of how those supernaturals had injured him with one blow and heâd needed Liu Long to save him.
The three newcomers left together. Liu Long snorted with laughter the moment they disappeared from view.
âNot bad!â
Liu Yan nodded and smiled as well.
âItâs those three.â Yun Yao inclined her head in approval. âAt least weâve fought together before. They have some fire to them. While theyâre newbies, theyâre not complete rookies. Theyâre all Darkmoon and not some of the oily supernaturals that weâve seenâ¦â
The team was quite satisfied with these three. Lack of battle experience wasnât 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 wouldnât mind committing detestable acts in the name of fame and wealth. But not these guys, these guys were fine.
âTheyâre good!â Chen Jian proclaimed with a broad smile. âThey helped us with the supernaturals last time, so weâre all acquainted. Wang Ming is stronger than us, so itâs all good!â
Liu Long nodded. This was why he was at ease. He didnât 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 wasâthey were all trusted people whoâd gone through life and death together. He wasnât willing to place their lives in anyone elseâs hands. That made an easy environment for fatalities.
âSis, I donât have anything to make food with,â Li Hao muttered with the onset of a headache. He ignored what the team was talking about.
âAre you an idiot?â Liu Yan rolled her eyes. âOrder in! Have the restaurant deliver! Weâre just eating at your place, whoâs cooking there?â
ââ¦â¦â Li Haoâs jaw dropped. Was this what it meant to play host? Iâve learned something new today! So itâs just borrowing my place, huh? Here I was, bashing my brains out on how to handle this!
âLetâs do as Liu Yan says,â Liu Long laughed. âWe can just eat whatever, the food doesnât 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.â The chief paused. âEspecially about the eight families!â
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. âDonât be in a rush to leave! Now that weâve officially become a Night Watcher branch, we canât continue to operate from the basement! Go find an office building for us to move into. We donât have many belongings or equipmentâ¦ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âSure, Iâll have the law enforcement team move out of this building so we can take it over. That saves us the hassle of a move!â
The rest of the team stared at him. Damn, son! Youâre as blackhearted as they get! Make the law enforcement team move? Look at how many we have and how many they have!
âWhat?â Perplexed, an embarrassed Li Hao scratched his head. âOur headquarters are here and itâs 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.â
ââ¦â¦â Liu Yan burst into giggles and Liu Long waved an extremely exasperated hand. âYou figure it out! But itâs all on you if people complain!â
Truly blackhearted! The new branch was only just formed, but here they were going to take someone elseâs place like a dove occupying a magpieâs 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.
â¦â¦
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. Wasnât that a hard pill to swallow?
âCaptain!â greeted inspectors passing by. The team was still used to calling him captain. Liu Long grabbed a nearby bulky man.
âOld Zhou, why are you guys being so proactive? The kid didnât threaten you guys, did he?â
âHow could he?â chortled the old veteran. âAnd would Commissioner Inspector Li ever do such a thing? Didnât 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?â
He paused, a weird tone creeping into his voice. âYou two⦠know about that, right?â
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 didnât 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.
âWe do!â Liu Long answered gruffly. âThatâs all it took for you guys to bounce up and down like this?â
âOf course not!â Old Zhou laughed loudly. âCaptain, Commissioner Inspector Li is a highly educated person, alright! Heâs 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?â
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 Haoâs 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.
âOld Zhou, that domain is very dangerous. Youâre a veteran inspector, so you should know more about what weâre talking about.â Liu Long furrowed his brows. Why could the inspector barely contain his excitement like some of the youngâuns?
âCaptain, Iâm not hoping to become one of those!â Old Zhou smiled easily. âCommissioner 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 itâd be a waste not to take advantage of this, since itâs no skin off our backs. Under normal circumstances, Night Watchers⦠ahem, can set up a mundane help center that requires a bit of staff. Itâd be a shame to not take advantage of a gig that offers a promotion and a raise, wouldnât you say so?â
Liu Long felt a bit awkward. Is that so? I donât know, Iâve never thought about this before. I see! So the Night Watchers also have an administrative back office for support duty? Heâd 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. âLi Haoâs got some good thoughts in him and knows how to obtain benefits for our brothers. Itâs true, we donât care about promotions, but Old Zhou and the others do. Any that get promoted is a good thing since itâs upstairs picking up the tab.â