I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 124: Chapter 93: A Visitor at Home

The moment the gray-clothed man’s reflection appeared in Yang Wenqing’s eyes, he acted.

His right hand darted to his waist, and the pistol was already in his grip. There was no aiming process; muscle memory from long-term training had his muzzle lock onto the gray-clothed man’s head the instant he raised it.

”BANG!”

A low, sharp gunshot echoed through the silent alley. At the same time, an Armor-Breaking Spell formed, and the bullet shot through the inscribed Dharma Seal.

The gray-clothed man’s head snapped back. The rigid smile on his face was blown open, but the expected spray of blood and gore never came. Instead, what flew out were fine, metallic parts and some kind of dark, gelatinous substance.

’A puppet!’

The thought flashed through Yang Wenqing’s mind, but his hands never stopped moving. He lowered his aim to the puppet’s chest core and fired two more shots in quick succession.

”BANG! BANG!”

The clothing and synthetic skin on its chest were torn apart, revealing a complex and precise internal structure: an interwoven metal skeleton, energy conduits as fine as hair, and some sac-like organs of unknown purpose.

The gray-clothed puppet staggered back two steps. The vacant light in its eyes completely extinguished, and its body, losing all support, crumpled like a true marionette, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Yang Wenqing cautiously approached, gun still raised. He carefully prodded the wreckage with the tip of his boot. After confirming it was completely inert, he immediately pressed the deputy leader’s badge on his belt, activating the internal Communication Array to connect directly to the Third Squad’s duty channel.

”This is Yang Wenqing. Send a team to the South City District. I’ve already shared the coordinates with the City Defense System. I’ve discovered and destroyed one suspicious puppet here. Also, notify the tech division and the medical examiner. I need a full-detail survey.”

His speech was rapid yet clear, but his gaze remained vigilant, scanning the darkness at both ends of the alley.

However, Yang Wenqing was unaware that just across the street from the alley, behind the window of a private room on the top floor of a three-story restaurant, a heavy curtain was pulled back just enough to create an imperceptible crack.

Director Qin calmly watched everything unfold in the alley below. Beside him stood the male and female special envoys from the Provincial Hall. The man toyed with a smooth Jade Pendant, while the woman’s eyes were slightly closed, as if she were performing some kind of perception.

”Decisive reaction, accurate judgment,” the man said, a playful smile on his lips. ”He’s got a strong will, too. To show no hesitation at such a young age is truly rare.”

The woman opened her eyes, a Spiritual Light seeming to flow within them. She looked at Director Qin. ”Director Qin, the Spiritual Qi trail of this puppet’s controller is extremely faint and distant. It was relayed and disguised multiple times, making it very difficult to trace the source.”

Director Qin nodded slightly, his face betraying little emotion.

”This officer is indeed quite good,” the man chuckled. ”Director Qin, you’d better keep a close eye on him. Among all the promising talents in the world, aside from those geniuses at headquarters, this man should be considered one of the best.”

Director Qin’s gaze remained on Yang Wenqing, who was now examining the puppet’s remains below. He said slowly, ”True talent will always shine through, but it will also attract covetous eyes. It’s good that he could withstand this temptation, but the other party’s words weren’t necessarily all lies. True resolve is seeing all this clearly and still choosing to stand where you should stand, and do what must be done.”

He paused, then instructed, ”Log tonight’s events and classify the file as encrypted. As for Yang Wenqing...”

Just then, the woman spoke softly, ”Who knows how many people within the City Defense System they’re targeting. They do nothing more than use some blood-refining and sacrificial Secret Techniques to lure the ignorant. A true dragon among men will naturally walk the righteous path. Only the mediocre believe in shortcuts.”

The man added, ”Exactly. The truly talented will distinguish themselves. Director Qin, if you want to cultivate his talent, that’s perfectly understandable. As long as you don’t break any rules, we won’t say anything more.”

Director Qin gave a slight smile. The curtain was then gently drawn, and tranquility returned to the private room, as if no one had ever paid any attention to the dim alley where a brief confrontation had just occurred.

Down below, Yang Wenqing ended the call. He stood guard, gun at the ready, waiting for his teammates to arrive. At the same time, he tried to banish the tempting words echoing in his mind. He was well aware of human weakness; the more he dwelled on it, the more easily the seeds of temptation would take root and sprout.

Therefore, he had to cast it out completely, cutting off any and all fantasies.

Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps approached. Li Yue and Sun Yi of the Third Squad were the first to arrive, both fully armed and with tense expressions.

”Yang Group Leader!” Li Yue saw Yang Wenqing standing guard and the strange wreckage on the ground. She immediately rushed forward and asked, ”Are you alright?”

”I’m fine.” Yang Wenqing holstered his pistol and pointed to the ground. ”Target destroyed. Preliminary assessment is a remotely-operated precision puppet, possibly connected to the recent cases.”

Immediately after, security personnel from the South City Public Security Office also arrived. Under Yang Wenqing’s command, they methodically set up a police cordon, sealing off both ends of the alley.

Personnel from the tech division and the medical examiner’s office arrived a short while later and began to carefully survey, sample, and document the puppet’s remains.

Yang Wenqing pulled Li Yue aside and instructed, ”For this puppet to be active in the county, it must have had an official identity. Use that identity to investigate the people around it and its social network.”

”Understood, Yang Group Leader!” Li Yue acknowledged the order.

”Good. Thank you for your hard work.”

Yang Wenqing offered a few words of encouragement and then continued on his way home. The subsequent investigation would be detailed, and he had subordinates to handle it. He just needed to wait for the results. More importantly, his presence at the scene of such a basic investigation would only make his team feel constrained.