Chapter Ninety: The Ape-Man

Yuegong Lingna and Chen Zi’ang took the elevator up from underground.

“Are you all right?” Chen Zi’ang asked with concern. “You look a little pale.”

“It’s nothing. I accidentally hit the corner of a desk when I went into the intelligence archive just now.” Yuegong Lingna gave a strained smile.

“Did it hit you hard?” Chen Zi’ang asked, startled. “Do you want to go to the infirmary?”

“No need.” Yuegong Lingna smiled. “But I did give her a vicious kick too. I bet everything in the drawer is smashed to pieces.”

“Hm. Damaging public property isn’t good behavior,” Chen Zi’ang lectured her. “The desk wasn’t doing it on purpose.”

That was hardly certain… Yuegong Lingna curled her lip.

“How are things with the new boss?” Chen Zi’ang asked again.

“Pretty good.” Yuegong Lingna said with a smile. “She’s ten thousand times better than Baba Nagayasu.”

That was truly awful… Chen Zi’ang advised her, “You’d better behave yourself. This boss is no idiot.”

“Got it,” Yuegong Lingna said lazily.

…Of course she wasn’t an idiot. She was the most treacherous, the most vicious, the most cunning, and the most ruthless woman in the entire cosmos.

Fortunately, she seemed to regard those memories as the influence of another parallel universe, and had therefore remained resistant to them, along with the emotions they carried.

That gave me time to prepare.

“You haven’t had lunch. Should I buy you something?” Once they returned to the surface, Chen Zi’ang asked again.

“A curry bun, please, Senior,” Yuegong Lingna said obediently.

“No problem. I was planning to get myself something to drink anyway.” Chen Zi’ang waved it off.

Yuegong Lingna watched him leave, thinking that a senior as gentle as this could never be handed over to anyone else.

Next time, I should try assassination.

Chen Zi’ang left the Public Security Bureau and went into the convenience store across the street, where he picked up a curry bun and a bottle of drink.

At the checkout, he saw someone come in from outside—it was none other than Baba Nagayasu, who had just lost his job.

Looking at the other man’s haggard, desolate expression, Chen Zi’ang found that much of his dislike had faded away. He merely nodded in greeting, then prepared to leave.

Baba Nagayasu made no sound, only asking the clerk for a pack of cigarettes.

When he returned to the office and gave the curry bun to Yuegong Lingna, Chen Zi’ang mentioned how he had run into his former down-and-out boss at the convenience store.

“Don’t be silly, Senior,” Yuegong Lingna said. “If you were the one who got fired, he’d definitely come over and chat with you in a friendly way, just to laugh at you.”

“In fact, you not going up to greet him was already being very considerate of his dignity.”

“That I didn’t think of,” Chen Zi’ang said lightly. “But it doesn’t matter. We’ll never see him again anyway.”

He set the drink on the desk and began checking his inbox. Yuegong Lingna devoured the curry bun and opened a beauty tutorial video on her tablet.

At two in the afternoon, all the operatives of the Sixth Countermeasures Division, including the intelligence team, gathered in the large conference room to attend the first meeting convened by the new leader.

Most of them looked somewhat tense. After all, the new boss’s temperament was still unclear, and given the old saying that newly appointed officials like to make a show of force, things might not go smoothly.

Only Chen Zi’ang and Yuegong Lingna wore smiles, having already taken seats as far from the boss’s position as possible.

There was no need to say much about Yuegong Lingna. After all this time in the office, everyone knew the girl was a cute, ultra-sweet type; even if the least popular chain-smoking old-timer was filling the room with smoke and polluting the air, she would still politely ask whether the ventilation fan could be turned on. Smiling like that was perfectly normal.

The odd one was Chen Zi’ang… Though he was excellent at his work, socially he was rather dull, the sort who wasn’t very good at the whole smooth-talking routine. What was he smiling about?

So Lu Yunfeng quietly sent Chen Zi’ang a message:

“What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about me,” Chen Zi’ang replied.

“No, no, your smile is very strange,” Lu Yunfeng insisted. “What happened? Did you and Yuegong get together? Or did you score your first kill? Are you going to be a father? Did her dad agree to let you marry into the Yuegong family?”

“None of those,” Chen Zi’ang typed back. “I’m looking forward to your expressions once you get to know the new boss.”

Lu Yunfeng fell into thought.

He certainly knew that when the new boss kicked Baba out, Chen Zi’ang had been standing right there watching. That perhaps meant he had known the new boss for a long time.

So… the new boss was an idiot? A weirdo?

An even more outrageous idiot than Baba?

Lu Yunfeng’s confusion did not last long, because Xia Qingyu was clearly not the kind of leader who liked using tardiness to assert her authority. She entered the conference room about ten minutes early.

“Looks like everyone has a good sense of time,” she said with a faint, indifferent sweep of her eyes through the room, confirming that all were present. “To avoid wasting my time, let’s begin the meeting ahead of schedule.”

Chen Zi’ang looked around. The male colleagues all seemed somewhat surprised, clearly not expecting the new boss to be such a stunning beauty.

The female colleagues’ expressions were far more complicated. After all, the division already had a little beauty in Yuegong Lingna, and now another great beauty had arrived. That was hardly good news—after work, if they went drinking together at an izakaya, they probably wouldn’t attract much male attention at all.

“My name is Xia Qingyu. I am the head of Intelligence Department Five, and from now on, your superior.” Xia Qingyu spoke in a calm tone. “With the approval of the Sector Governor, the former Sixth Countermeasures Division of North Pole City Public Security Bureau will, effective immediately, be separated from the public security system and reorganized under the Homeland Security Intelligence Bureau as the Fifth Department.”

“The division chief will be changed to Chen Zi’ang, and the deputy division chief to Yuegong Lingna. The two of you will be responsible for daily operations from now on and report directly to me.”

No one spoke. Everyone present was an old hand in the system, and they knew that whether they were shocked by the whereabouts of Takahashi Junsuke or couldn’t understand why Chen Zi’ang had risen to the top, this was not the time to show it.

In the face of a new boss, the safest approach was, of course, to remain silent and accept everything. Otherwise, if one left a bad impression, the rest of one’s career here would likely be finished.

“The decoupling from the public security system must be completed within three days,” Xia Qingyu continued. “The workplace will also change accordingly. You will be notified within this week.”

“Wait. I have a question.” Chen Zi’ang raised his hand.

“If it isn’t a meaningful question, I’ll have you thrown out of the conference room,” Xia Qingyu said coldly. “Speak.”

“The intelligence team leader, Suifeng Riko, is still recuperating,” Chen Zi’ang said quickly. “Without her cooperation, the Grand Intelligence Archive may not be able to prepare for transfer within three days.”

“Thank you for your concern.” Someone suddenly pushed the door open from outside. It was the pale-faced Suifeng Riko. “I’m a little late. The rationality check took quite a long time.”

Everyone looked at her in astonishment. Yuegong Lingna moved her chair closer to Chen Zi’ang and left her a seat’s worth of space.

“Any questions now?” Xia Qingyu asked with raised brows.

“No.” Chen Zi’ang sat down obediently.

“Good.” Xia Qingyu said with a cold laugh. “Chen Zi’ang, that question of yours wasted us three seconds.”

“I think someone’s pointless opening remarks lasted more than three seconds,” Yuegong Lingna suddenly said.

“Get out!” Xia Qingyu said icily.

Yuegong Lingna stood and left without the slightest hesitation.

“All right,” Xia Qingyu said serenely. “The humanoid ape has left. Does anyone else have any issues with this meeting?”

No one wanted their human status denied, so everyone remained silent.

The End