Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 612: 385, Member Chapter 612: 385, Member “Do you know, Intelligence Department One is a complete mess right now!”

These past few days, Intelligence Department Three revolved their gossip mainly around Intelligence Department One.

Intelligence Department Three is run by the Qing’s Family faction and it’s also where the Shadow Candidates go to enhance their reputation. Surprisingly, after the Shadow assigned the candidates here, he did not disclose what the next step of their tasks would be.

It seemed like he intended to let the Shadow Candidates collect dust here.

Consequently, with the Shadow Candidates stationary, the detectives of Intelligence Department Three were happy to enjoy their leisure, spending their days bootlicking the candidates, and engaging in leisure activities like eating melons and drinking tea.

Over at Intelligence Department One, Team Seven had exchanged two core members from the Deer Island family with the Jindai family, which was no secret.

And this had stirred up a huge commotion in the intelligence community.

Nobody imagined that the brash maneuver of Team Seven from Intelligence Department One would actually materialize, nor did they expect that the Jindai would secretly capture such important members from the Deer Island family.

For a time, the alliance between Jindai and Deer Island became a laughing stock to outsiders.

Of course, the most mortified were the Jindai themselves. Internally, they had already unanimously agreed not to engage in any transactions with Team Seven, yet they still ended up slandered.

As the saying goes, it’s easy to spread rumors but hard to dispel them. Now, no matter how the Jindai tried to explain, the public remained skeptical at best.

“That inspector from Team Seven of Intelligence Department One is so formidable, managing to bring such disaster upon both Jindai and Deer Island,” a detective said with a look of admiration.

Upon hearing this, Qing Yi thought to himself, that’s my mentor, of course he’s formidable.

He looked around the office, feeling somewhat superior over all other Shadow Candidates, as if inheriting the authority from his mentor.

The ‘son’ refers to a disciple, the ‘father’ to a mentor.

But every time he thought this way, he subconsciously felt something was amiss. How had he come to acknowledge the other as his mentor? Bah, bah, bah.

At that moment, taking advantage of the other detectives being deeply engaged in conversation, Qing Yi slipped into a cubicle in the corner, and called Li Ke. He asked in a calm tone, “Do you know where the master has gone?”

Li Ke was startled, “No idea.”

Previously, Qing Yi often fretted about the trips Li Ke took alone with Qing Chen. Now that he was so close to Qing Chen, naturally, he intended to brag about it.

Qing Yi whispered, “The master has come to City 10, and he’s even become an inspector at the PCA Federation CIA. It’s so impressive…”

This phone conversation lasted over an hour, with Qing Yi unreservedly sharing everything he knew with Li Ke.

Towards the end, Qing Yi casually asked, “What do you think, if I ask the master to support me in the Shadow Competition, would he agree?”

After pondering, Li Ke responded, “The master has always had you on his mind, praising your intelligence. If you speak to him about it, he would definitely agree.”

Qing Yi fell into contemplation.

The next moment, his gaze towards the other Shadow Candidates changed.

What about Qing Wen, Qing Xing, Qing Wu, and Qing Yuan? Those trainee inspectors from Intelligence Department Three, could any compare to an inspector from Intelligence Department One?

Oh, wait. Qing Yi quickly checked himself, Qing Xing was a bit cunning; he still had to be cautious.

And after all, playing dumb to catch the wise was what he was best at!

Qing Yi thought that although he had a formidable mentor to help, it was still crucial to keep a low profile. His mentor was also a discreet person, and surely he wouldn’t appreciate him being too ostentatious.

…

…

Back in Intelligence Department One, Qing Chen sat in his office, meditating with closed eyes.

In his mind’s eye, he sifted through the memories of those files he had reviewed before, attempting to tease out more clues from them.

Qing Mu needed rescuing, but not a single person they could arrest was to be overlooked.

What if another big fish like the lottery station appeared?

Qing Chen calculated the time, there were still ten days until the Time Traveler’s return.

At that moment, Qing Hua walked in, “Inspector, I’ve taken down the whiteboard as you instructed. Are we not going to publicly disclose our arrests anymore?”

In the past few days, Qing Hua had enjoyed the pleasure of hanging the whiteboard, whether it was trading important information with; other intelligence teams had made him feel good every day.

Qing Chen opened his eyes and looked at Qing Hua, “Publicize it, I never said not to.”

“Ah?” Qing Hua paused, “Then why not hang the whiteboard anymore?”

Qing Chen said, “Just stand by the door when you clock off tonight. If anyone from other intelligence units asks why the whiteboard is gone, you just tell them…”

After hearing Qing Chen’s arrangement, Qing Hua was momentarily stunned; he thought to himself, why does his new boss always have so many cunning tactics?

By evening, members of other intelligence units, as usual, came up the stairs to the third floor to check for new intelligence on the whiteboard.

What they found instead was no whiteboard, only Qing Hua still standing there.

The people from Unit Six were puzzled, “Wait, where’s your whiteboard?”

Qing Hua calmly said, “From today onwards, our Unit Seven will no longer hang the whiteboard outside. It’s affecting the internal unity of Intelligence Department One.”

The intelligence personnel from the Chen Clan in Unit Six were immediately upset, “Your Unit Seven is about to tear apart Jindai and Deer Island, and now you think about unity?”

Moreover, when has Intelligence Department One ever been unified? An alliance like that between Jindai and Deer Island doesn’t count as unity.

So, what new mischief is Unit Seven up to this time?

The Chen Clan’s intelligence personnel cautiously asked, “Will hostage exchanges still happen?”

Qing Hua thought for a moment and said, “They will.”

The Chen Clan’s intelligence personnel asked, “But you have to let us know who you have in your possession before we can decide whether to trade.”

The Chen Clan had just reported a missing official from City 10 today, and word had come down for Unit Six of Intelligence Department One to check on the third floor to see if he had been taken by Unit Seven.

If so, they would discuss terms, pay to have him returned, and have all criminal evidence destroyed as well.

Qing Hua smiled and said, “So, our Unit Seven has decided that you all can pay us a membership fee, and with that, members can directly enter our third-floor negotiation room, have tea and discuss projects simultaneously.”

The Chen Clan’s intelligence personnel were shocked, Unit Seven had started a membership scheme?!

Annoyed, they asked, “How much is the membership fee?”

Qing Hua, smiling, said, “One million, annually, actually, it’s not expensive.”

The Chen Clan’s intelligence personnel were nearly swearing aloud, “Didn’t you just catch two big fish at the lottery station? You don’t lack this million!”

Qing Hua humbly replied, “Even a mosquito’s leg is meat.”

Qing Chen had made it very clear to him, the one million membership fee was a minor thing, but the most important part was forcing everyone to pay it.

Subconsciously, this would make everyone feel that Unit Seven was somewhat more powerful than the others.

What Qing Chen wanted was to establish this psychological advantage.

…

That’s all for today, I felt totally drained once I got home, my thoughts also unfocused, allow me a day to recover and I’ll compensate you all in October.

October is nearly here, and I’m preparing a detailed outline for intense updates.