Star Gate

Chapter 119: Undercurrents in Silver City

We’re on the same page here!

Li Hao was also putting on an act. Since the guy in front of him was potentially associated with Yama, there was no need to erupt in open hostilities at this particular point in time and fully offend the guy. And he’d sought the young man out for a conversation...

Did it have to do with the eight families?

Did he want to build a relationship because Li Hao was the heir to the eight families?

“Forget it, perhaps you don’t understand,” Qiao Peng chuckled when the young man ignored him. “You might when you get a bit older. Youngsters don’t understand matters like these. We’re neighbors now you can come by for a visit when you have time.”

As for why Li Hao could live here, he wasn’t that perplexed. Was it hard for a Night Watcher to find a decent place? Not to mention, he’d received word that this fellow had recently become a deputy director. That wasn’t a big surprise either, on account of Yuan Shuo.

The luxury car slowly drove away. Li Hao followed it with his eyes for a while before pedaling faster on his bike.

Qiao Peng!

He would remember the name. Perhaps the guy was one of those who’d dug up his ancestors’ tomb.

......

Law Enforcement.

It was now the Night Watcher branch.

There were only nine official members of the Silver City Night Watchers. Li Hao recruited an additional ten mundanes from the Inspectorate to manage day-to-day and administrative support. They were officially open for business today.

Li Hao had his own office in this building and a silk banner hanging from one of the walls. He was a man of his word and really did bring Zhou He’s silk banner over to his new office, hanging it up like the commendation it was. It was the first silk banner in his life and thus, worthy of respect.

Zhou He had given him a house, a car, battle experience, and his life. Li Hao needed to remember his kindness, no matter what!

He’d just entered his office when Liu Yan knocked and pushed open the door without waiting for a response. “Time to go, stop looking at your silk banner. Chief wants us in for a meeting!”

“This early?”

“Chief has always been efficient!” Liu Yan smiled winsomely. “How did you sleep last night? Were you afraid?”

“Nope.” Li Hao hastily shook his head. I wouldn’t dare say so. Are you going to move in if I was? That would be the really scary thing!

The two chatted as they headed upstairs to the conference room.

......

The conference room.

The others were mostly assembled when Li Hao arrived. Wang Ming was hot on his heels. They’d all just sat down when Liu Long swept in with his customary decisive air and trench coat.

“The Silver City Night Watcher branch has just formed. We should do whatever we need to do while there’s still a Dominator in residence!” Instead of sitting down, he cut straight to the point. “I’ll cut a long story short!

“Silver City did not have an official supernatural agency before. It’d always been the Inspectorate in charge of the entire city’s security. The government does not have troops stationed here either. The Inspectorate is the city’s largest law enforcement agency and its only law enforcement agency!

“Not everyone is mundane in a city of one million. Silver City has martial masters and supernaturals among the citizenry. We don’t have many Darkmoon, but we have Starlight!

“There are several areas in Silver City that need to be emphasized. First, the Veteris Institute. Li Hao is familiar with that. Second, the city government. They are in charge of civil administration. We handle military affairs, they handle civil. We do not interfere with each other.”

The city government was in charge of all matters that did not require force. More than a law enforcement agency was required for the peace of a city; many other departments were necessary as well.

The city government was not the same system as the Inspectorate, but they were all governmental systems. They did not infringe upon each other. Civil did not intermix with military, while military did not interfere with civil.

“Third, the eighteen martial dojos of Silver City. I mean the ones opened by official martial masters!

“Fourth, the six major corporations of Silver City!

“These people are more or less meeting points for martial masters and supernaturals. Or they might work for other bigger factions, or they wish to start a faction themselves. They are all the main sources of instability for the city!”

The Inspectorate possessed its share of martial masters. Liu Long and his people were all martial masters, as did Mu Sen command his own force. As for supernaturals... the agency really didn’t have any. If they did, they sent the talents to the Night Watchers unless the supernatural themselves was unwilling. However, inspectors who made the crossover were almost always willing to join.

This gave rise to a peculiar situation. Some of these other places might have a few supernaturals, but the Inspectorate didn’t have a single one. Well, now they did, and more than one.

Everyone looked at each other. Wang Ming was willing to say a few words more after eating with Liu Long last night. “Director Liu, do you mean...?

“Tidying up and putting things in order!” Liu Long answered crisply. “The Inspectorate didn’t have sufficient authority or strength before. We had to give certain people a longer leash! Now that the Night Watchers have been formed, we must let the city’s various factions know that Silver City is still under official rule!”

Wang Ming said nothing more.

“Then what goals do we need to accomplish, chief? Simply establish our authority?” Li Hao asked.

“If that’s it, chief would’ve done so with his previous action,” Liu Yan chuckled. “They can’t possibly be unaware that chief killed three supernaturals!”

There was indeed no need to exert themselves just to reinforce their authority.

“It’s not just that,” Liu Long rumbled. “But that... a portion of the factions shelter evil and condone corruption! We didn’t have the ability or excuse to clean these vermin out before, but we do now that we’re Night Watchers!”

Having broached the topic, he continued without reservation. “And also, this is to earn a little extra on the side! Killing supernatural criminals and stripping their mysterious power is another important source of power. Don’t just look to upstairs for our resources. Headquarters only allots ten cubes to Silver City every month! Three cubes for the chief commissioner, one cube for commissioner inspectors, half a cube for inspectors, and the rest to be distributed among ourselves.”

With nine people in the Silver City Night Watcher branch, there was one chief commissioner, three commissioner inspectors in the form of Li Hao, Liu Yan, and Wang Ming, and the rest who were inspectors. The two supernaturals were also first rank inspectors.

Based on the standard wages, 8.5 cubes a month were sufficient for Silver City. Ten cubes were a generous allotment. According to black market prices, Li Hao’s monthly salary was in the millions!

No matter what, one cube of mysterious power a month was a significant amount. It was why countless people scrabbled after a spot in the Night Watchers.

However, it was too little for Liu Long.

Three cubes would’ve been sufficient before, particularly as it was a steady source of income. Thirty-six cubes a year was quite a lot.

But now, he didn’t find it enough because everyone was stronger. One cube a month was nowhere near enough for someone like Liu Yan. That tiny amount could barely strengthen a Sunderer’s body, to say nothing of crossing over to the supernatural.

Therefore, he needed more energy.

Wang Ming and his comrades widened their eyes at such a naked admission. Liu Long was talking about killing people for their mysterious power! This was too... cruel! Were the powerhouses of this locality all like this?

“But this also creates an atmosphere of danger!” Li Hao ignored the supernaturals’ obvious dismay. “The Night Watchers aren’t invincible. We’ll have mishandled our duties if we end up forcing supernaturals to join enemy organizations.”

Liu Long frowned. His word had been unquestionably accepted before. What did the kid mean by this? Was this opposition to his proposal?? He was just notifying the group of his decision; all the team needed to do was follow orders. He was used to this style and didn’t like being contradicted, not even from Li Hao.

The young man grinned innocently, seemingly aware that Liu Long was dissatisfied. “Chief’s primary goal is the peace and safety of Silver City. At the very least, we need to ensure that no trouble arises internally.”

Liu Long inclined his head.

“Therefore, I think that we should show them courtesy first!” Li Hao suggested. “We can send official notices to each faction, inviting all official martial masters and supernaturals to meet with the Night Watchers. They will be given special permits after they put themselves down in the official record.

“Those who bear our special permits can freely go about their business in the city. We’ll spin it as we need to pay particular attention to them because their destructive abilities are more powerful than the norm. I’m sure that those who don’t intend on causing trouble won’t mind this.

“This is how they do it in White Moon, right?” Li Hao looked at Wang Ming.

“Yes.” The handsome young man nodded. “However, there are many powerhouses at White Moon. The Night Watchers don’t pay them much attention so long as they aren’t too out of line. Everything is fine as long as they don’t make trouble inside the city.”

“Then it’s proof that this measure is very appropriate!” Li Hao smiled. “We construct order for the supernaturals! Silver City was too small before and lacked an official organization to execute this policy. This time, I recommend officially putting it in motion!”

Liu Long looked silently at the young man for a while. “Continue!”

“Those who have entered themselves in our systems and carry the special permit are up to code. Those without are stowaways with ulterior motives. At that point, we’ll have a right and proper excuse to carry out the law!”

“You’re farting after taking off your pants!” Liu Long frowned. “I’m not saying that this is a bad idea, but that there’s no need for it!”

“Chief, we’re official personnel and not members of those supernatural organizations. We still need to stand at the highest peak of law and morality to judge and sentence others. We can’t view ourselves as supernaturals in the wild!”

Such was Liu Long’s style—rough around the edges. That hadn’t been a problem before when the Demon Hunters were a fringe organization. Things were different now that they were part of the regular troops. The old ways could not be perpetuated!

After spending a few years at the Veteris Institute and another with the Inspectorate, Li Hao was well aware that falling within the confines of the law sometimes saved quite a bit of trouble. They needed to stand at the highest peak of the system before pronouncing their verdict, not make a mistake that could be exploited by others.

After all, Silver City possessed mediocre strength and needed support from their superiors. They weren’t an independent nation—they could do whatever they wanted to then.