I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Patrol Duty

District 3, which Xiao Liang mentioned, was composed of three main factories. One of them was the county’s only power unit assembly plant and was considered a pillar industry for the county. The other two were seafood processing plants.

This block was usually deserted on weekdays, with few shops on either side. The main patrol areas were a wet market and various major intersections, along with checking the IDs of any strangers.

”If we run into anyone suspicious, you cover me. I’ll go question them,” Li Ming instructed Yang Wenqing the moment they entered the patrol zone.

”Okay.” Yang Wenqing nodded. During his one-year internship, he had only needed to follow behind his captain. In that time, he had encountered one incident of large-scale livestock mutation caused by Spiritual Qi fluctuations and twice assisted the branch office in cornering members of an Evil Cult Organization. Brawls between martial artists who hadn’t even reached the Qi Cultivation Stage were even more common.

Now that he was an official officer, he would have to be on the front lines when encountering such incidents. He could no longer hide behind his captain like before, handling only minor, peripheral tasks.

”Don’t be too nervous. If anything truly major happens, it won’t be us on the front line.” Li Ming chuckled and patted Yang Wenqing’s shoulder. He was a veteran officer who had been on duty in this area for nearly five years. Next year, he might be promoted to senior officer just by putting in the time.

As they spoke, the two arrived at a small intersection. A monitoring Array was carved into the ground beneath it. Li Ming said to Yang Wenqing, ”You check it.”

Yang Wenqing nodded. He formed a set Spell with his left hand, activating an Array inside his police badge. A blue light shot from the badge toward the center of the intersection. The next moment, a web-like Array appeared in his vision, enveloping everything within a 500-meter radius, including the sky above.

”No problems here.”

Yang Wenqing carefully inspected the traces of the Array network. Only after confirming there were no records of contamination did he release the Spell.

Li Ming, who had been standing guard with his right hand on his holster, relaxed. He reminded Yang Wenqing, ”The captain must have told you to never be careless when activating a monitoring Array. In our county branch office alone, at least one colleague dies from this every year on average.”

Yang Wenqing nodded gravely. During his patrols with the captain, he had heard the same warning at regular intervals.

The two continued their patrol. Whenever they entered a new block, Li Ming would patiently give Yang Wenqing a brief introduction. Pedestrians on the street would subconsciously give them a wide berth. When they approached some of the smaller factories, the heads of security would come out to chat for a moment.

Around nine o’clock, the two reached the entrance of the power unit assembly plant. The factory was called Xinsheng. It had its own dedicated militia team patrolling inside, so the two only needed to activate the monitoring Array at the gate. After the scan, the militia squad leader guarding the gate came over to talk with them for a bit.

Next, they patrolled the other two large seafood processing plants and the wet market. After confirming there were no issues, they took a half-hour break before resuming their patrol along the same route. They repeated this cycle three times, and just like that, it was twelve o’clock.

Shortly after the mechanical clock on the County Civil Affairs Bureau building struck twelve, Sister Liu’s voice sounded in their ears through their badges: ”Don’t forget to go to Li’s.”

Immediately after, Captain Xiao Liang’s voice came through. ”Wenqing, you and Li Ming go first.”

The patrol team couldn’t all go to eat at the same time. In this world, accidents could truly happen at any moment.

The ”Li’s” Sister Liu mentioned was a fast-food restaurant designated by the East City Public Security Office. When Yang Wenqing and Li Ming arrived, many of their colleagues were already eating. After Yang Wenqing explained their purpose to the owner, the owner immediately brought out a platter of sliced roast goose.

”The two roast geese have been cut into four portions as Chief Liu requested,” the owner explained as he set down a platter of roast goose.

”How much?” Yang Wenqing asked.

”One hundred and twenty-one,” the owner replied, handing a bill to Yang Wenqing. He then added, ”One twenty is fine.”

Yang Wenqing didn’t haggle. In this world, all poultry except for pork and mutton was relatively expensive. They couldn’t be farmed on a large scale because occasional outbreaks of Spiritual Attribute would cause them to go mad and mutate, making them a hassle to deal with.

Perhaps because he hadn’t satisfied his cravings in a while, Yang Wenqing ate especially fast, and so did Li Ming. In just ten minutes, the platter of roast goose was empty. As the two left Li’s, they both instinctively glanced at the seafood restaurant next door.

From the seafood restaurant’s entrance, four uniformed officers were emerging boisterously. Surrounded in the middle was a slightly chubby young officer.

Yang Wenqing recognized the officer. It was Zhao Qin, from the same class as him. His family seemed to have some connections in the County Civil Affairs Bureau and owned a leather factory. Back at the Police Academy in the city, he had been very high-profile. He and Yang Wenqing were not cut from the same cloth and had never really interacted.

Zhao Qin’s face was flushed with excitement, and he was clearly in high spirits. He slapped his chest and proclaimed to his companions, ”Don’t be strangers! This seafood feast is just the beginning. Tonight, I’ll treat you all to music and drinks!”

A tall officer beside him immediately chimed in, ”Young Master Zhao is so generous!”

The young officer, addressed as Young Master Zhao, laughed heartily. His gaze unintentionally swept over Yang Wenqing and Li Ming, who were about to leave. His eyes lingered on Yang Wenqing for a second before he turned back to joke with his companions.

Li Ming gently nudged Yang Wenqing’s arm and said in a low voice, ”Let’s go.”

Yang Wenqing nodded.

Just then, Captain Xiao Liang, along with Ye Yong and another official officer, was walking toward Li’s. The five of them exchanged a few brief words before parting ways.

The afternoon was much quieter. The two patrolled their designated route for two more rounds, checking the IDs of a few suspicious-looking passersby who ultimately turned out to be ordinary visitors.

Around four in the afternoon, just before their shift change, Sister Liu’s steady voice suddenly came through the badge communicator: ”District 2, Shisong Street. A small-scale armed brawl has broken out. Li Ming, Wenqing, head there for backup immediately!”

”Let’s go!” Li Ming barked, his right hand instinctively dropping to the holster on his waist as he shot forward.

Yang Wenqing followed close behind. District 2 was the designation for the second patrol team’s area. The officers currently responsible for that zone were Zhu Lin and Wang Yuanfeng, with Zhu Lin being an experienced senior officer.

When the two arrived at Shisong Street, they saw two groups of young men in different work uniforms brawling outside a barbershop. A closer look, however, revealed that only two of the youths were actually fighting. The rest were mostly just posturing.

When Zhu Lin saw Li Ming and Yang Wenqing arrive, he immediately stepped forward and shouted sternly, ”All of you, stop!”

The young men who were just posturing immediately stopped and, with a tacit understanding, retreated to stand on either side. But the two in the middle had clearly lost control, ignoring the shout completely.

”For Xiaojun, I’m going to beat you to a pulp today!”

”In your dreams!”

As they roared, a faint halo of light appeared on the surface of their skin. They had clearly opened their Spiritual Veins. Combined with the boxing styles they were using, their attacks had some real power.

Li Ming said to Yang Wenqing, ”Those are minor boxing styles.”

He didn’t rush forward to intervene, however. Beside him, Zhu Lin and Wang Yuanfeng watched the two separated groups of youths coldly, their right hands resting on the hilts of their swords.

So-called ”minor boxing styles” referred to the self-defense techniques of smaller clans.

After they had been fighting for another ten seconds or so, both of them sporting fresh injuries, Li Ming gave Yang Wenqing a look. The two then charged forward simultaneously.

Li Ming cut in from the side, grabbing the arm of the youth on the left. Using a skillful burst of force, he twisted the arm back. The young man cried out in pain and struggled to resist, but Li Ming kneed him in the lower back and pinned him securely.

Yang Wenqing, meanwhile, rushed the youth on the right. Seeing him approach, the youth instinctively threw a punch at his face. Yang Wenqing dodged to the side while precisely tripping him. The young man’s forward momentum was too great, and with his feet blocked, he lost his balance and pitched forward. Seizing the opportunity, Yang Wenqing grabbed his wrist and cleanly slammed him face-down on the ground, pressing a knee firmly into his back.

”Don’t move!” Yang Wenqing snapped, already pulling out his handcuffs with his other hand.

CLICK. The handcuffs snapped shut.

On the other side, Li Ming had also successfully cuffed the other young man.

Only then did the two youths seem to have cold water splashed on them. Their struggles weakened, leaving only heavy panting and defiant glares.

Zhu Lin walked over. He first nodded to the barbershop owner to signal that everything was fine, then looked at the two subdued youths and snorted. ”Fighting in the street over a girl, and even using your Spiritual Veins. You two are really something!”

Li Ming and Yang Wenqing released their holds, letting Wang Yuanfeng take the two youths into custody. Zhu Lin looked at Yang Wenqing and said with a smile, ”Quick reflexes. That was handled cleanly.”

Yang Wenqing let out a breath. He had fought plenty of people at the Police Academy. ’As long as I focus and draw on the power of the Golden Core World, my opponents’ movements immediately become predictable. This is the deductive ability of the Golden Core World.’