After a long effort to persuade Mostima, she finally allowed him to come to the office.
When Wang Fei arrived, he greeted the people still in the office with his usual cheerful demeanor.
"Hey everyone! How's it going?"
When everyone saw that it was Wang Fei, they each reacted with varying degrees of excitement.
"Oh wow, Inspector Chen! Welcome back! Did you just return to Lungmen?"
"Yep, just got back. Sorry I didn't bring back any souvenirs—it was kind of an urgent trip."
"Inspector Chen! Is it true that you're actually a prince from Yan?!"
"Haha, if I were a prince of Yan, then you all would be emperors by now."
"Inspector Chen! Want to grab a drink with us after work?!"
"Sorry, I've got something urgent to take care of. Maybe next time."
After Wang Fei walked off, a group of new employees—who had never seen him before—began whispering to their coworkers, asking who that man was. The nearby colleagues who overheard them turned and scolded them immediately.
"You idiot! How can you not know who that is? That's Inspector Chen Wang Fei, former deputy chief of Special Operations Unit 1! He was the youngest person ever selected for the special ops team at the age of 18, and he's one of the most accomplished officers in Lungmen's history! All the major cases in Lungmen and the slums over the past few years? He was the one who helped resolve them! And even after he left the special unit, he's continued to support the office with all sorts of work. The reason Deputy Commissioner Chen and Director Swire advanced so quickly? It's all thanks to his help! Everyone here knows that!"
"Th-Then why is someone that amazing still just an Inspector?" one of the new staff asked, confused.
The nearby colleagues let out synchronized sighs.
"...That's a complicated story."
"But here's what you need to understand: if you want to move up the ranks in a place like this, aside from doing your job, you also have to know how to curry favor with the higher-ups. But Inspector Chen isn't that type of person... He's honest, and he holds firmly to justice—just like his sister. But... he's just an orphan, adopted by Madam Wei. His sister, on the other hand, is a princess of Lungmen. With a gap like that, it's pretty clear who's going to get more recognition."
"Inspector Chen is incredibly capable, but he refuses to bend in the face of evil. At the same time, he's compassionate to the kind and the poor. That's why the people in this office and the citizens love him so much. But it also makes him a thorn in the side of those in power who'd rather exploit that image for their own gain."
"Boss... are you sure you should be saying all this out loud in the office?" a junior staff member said nervously.
"What are you worried about? I'm old already. If they fire me now, I'll just go home and look after my grandkids. Not like Chen—still young, yet working tirelessly, never once caring about how unfair the world is. Sigh... Things might've turned out better if Director Neidh was still around."
Neidh was the former Chief Director and the head of Special Ops Unit 1. She and Inspector Chen were close—almost like siblings. Wang Fei became an inspector largely thanks to her support. But two years ago, she was caught in an Originium dust explosion during a mission and became infected. That led her to resign from the unit, much to everyone's regret.
Nowadays, she no longer lives in Lungmen and has been traveling the world in pursuit of her dreams.
That incident greatly weakened the Protectors' Office, which had not seen such a loss of strength in decades. Director Neidh was immensely skilled and trusted by many higher-ups. Fortunately, before the office could fall further, Elder Sister Chen revealed her own astonishing talent and rose rapidly through the ranks—thanks in part to her younger brother's help. Now she's one of the office's leading figures and has made the Guardian Unit as strong as it is today.
"Wait... all of that really happened?"
"Of course it did. So next time you speak, be careful. Inspector Chen might not care what you say, but the people close to him are a different story—especially his sister, Deputy Commissioner Chen. She's... intimidating."
Unaware of the conversation his coworkers were having, Wang Fei walked toward his private office.
He knocked on a door that was nearly twice his size. A woman's voice responded from inside.
"...Who is it?"
"It's Inspector Chen." After Wang Fei spoke, there was no verbal reply—just the sound of a chair being pushed back hastily.
That prompted him to open the door without waiting.
"Excuse me," Wang Fei said with a bright smile as he stepped in and saw a familiar figure sitting alone.
The messy dark-blue hair made him frown a little, and her exhausted expression made him even more upset.
"I... I didn't tell you to come in! What are you doing here?!" the woman at the desk shouted, trying to smooth her disheveled hair like a child caught by a parent.
"Oh, you didn't? Oops, my bad. But it's cold outside, so I thought I'd warm up in here for a bit," Wang Fei joked. He shut the door and walked over to her, casually picking up a report from her desk and reading it without asking.
"Hm... more of these boring reports again? Didn't I tell you to let the data division handle these things?"
"I just wanted to double-check to make sure everything's in order. And—don't change the subject! Aren't you supposed to be in the hospital right now? Did that cat even give you permission to leave?!"
"Nope. I snuck out. Someone around here made me worry too much," Wang Fei replied, looking at her directly.
"You're saying it's my fault?" the woman said accusingly.
"Exactly. It's your fault, Hui-jie." Wang Fei nodded, looking at his sister, who clearly hadn't slept in days. He knew her too well to rest easy in the hospital.
She was just like him—when she was anxious, she had to find something to do. But in her case, it often meant pushing herself too far.
Chen Huijie frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she noticed the scar on his eyebrow. Her expression shifted instantly, and she looked down, speaking in a guilty tone.
"...I'm sorry."
"If I hadn't let you go there alone that day—"
"That was my job," Wang Fei cut her off quickly, placing a hand on her shoulder and starting to gently massage it. Then he pulled a comb from the drawer and began fixing her hair.
"Besides, that area was under my jurisdiction. Even if you hadn't sent me, someone else would've gone. And if something happened to them, you'd still be blaming yourself. Worse, if it weren't me, they might not have survived."
"Or maybe they would have... because they're physically stronger than you," Chen muttered.
That made Wang Fei bristle.
"Wow, do you really think so little of your own brother? Are you even my sister, or did Old Wei send in an imposter?!"
"...Your jokes are as annoying as ever."
"But they always make you smile, don't they?" Wang Fei grinned as he saw her lips curl into a small smile.
"Hmph..."
After finishing her hair, Wang Fei tied it up neatly. Though he preferred her with her hair down, a ponytail wasn't so bad either.
"Fei Fei... what are you going to do next?" Chen finally asked the question she most wanted to ask.
Wang Fei understood perfectly. He was now an infected. Continuing to work at the office would only worry those around him—and if the citizens found out an infected person was working as an officer, it might even lead to resentment.
"Hm... I don't really know yet. But I guess... something like Director Nine. Maybe I'll resign and go search for what I truly want to do."
"If you don't know where to go, then just stay in Lungmen. I'll take care of you," Chen said seriously.
"Sis... do you really think your little brother is that useless?"
He did plan to leave Lungmen—but not anytime soon. First, he needed to grow stronger through the Simulated World System. At the very least, he needed to be capable of surviving alone in the wastelands outside.
Just thinking about the survival hell he endured in childhood was enough to trigger his worst PTSD. He couldn't bring himself to step out of Lungmen unless he absolutely had to.
After talking for a while and helping her finish the important documents, Wang Fei turned to her.
"Hui-jie, let's go home. I haven't eaten anything since morning. How about we stop by that barbecue place you like?"
"..." Chen looked at the remaining stack of documents, sighed, and put them in the drawer.
"Alright, let's go."
The two left the office together. Unlike when Wang Fei first arrived, when people greeted him and asked him out for drinks, now that he was walking out with his sister, no one dared say a word. All he got were admiring and respectful looks from the new staff. He had no idea when he'd made such an impression.
The reason everyone went quiet might be because his older sister was quite a serious person. She was always strict when it came to work. Because of that, it wasn't surprising that she often had a hard time getting along with her coworkers. Besides Beatrix, Hoshiguma, and Huixia, he couldn't even recall the names of any of her other friends. Although he had heard her mention that she had a close friend from university named Fiona—who was now a renowned soldier in Victoria—he hadn't met her yet, so he couldn't say for sure whether that was true or not.
After leaving the office, Chen, who was walking beside him, brushed Wang Fei's hair aside, looked at his scar, and said,
"Good thing the scar doesn't look too bad. Otherwise, a bunch of girls in Lungmen might've had their hearts broken..."
"You don't have to worry about that at all, sis. Even without a face, your little brother's charm is still second to none," Wang Fei said proudly. But Chen, already used to his jokes, didn't pay them much mind. Instead, she asked him without making eye contact,
"So... have you thought about getting married yet? Aunt Fumizuki keeps nagging me to ask about the girlfriend you mentioned, and she keeps wondering when you'll finally introduce her. You're 21 now—it's a good age to start thinking about marriage."
"Sis Huijie, aren't you going to be 24 this—ow!"
"Don't talk about a woman's age. Hasn't anyone ever taught you that?" Chen replied coldly, retracting the fist she had just driven into his stomach.
"So who exactly is your girlfriend? That crazy cat girl? The crybaby? Don't tell me it's that thieving bunny?"
"Sis Huijie... you know what I'm like. How could I have a girlfriend right now? I can't even take care of myself."
"...So you lied to Aunt Fumizuki about having a girlfriend?" Chen asked, genuinely surprised. It had been bugging her since last month, but she hadn't had the courage to ask.
"It's not lying! It was just... um, I said it to keep Mom from worrying, that's all!" Wang Fei felt like he'd been thrown back into one of those simulated scenarios again, where Aunt Muina would always try to set him up with someone. But with Fumizuki, it felt more like real pressure—almost like being forced—unlike Aunt Muina's casual suggestions.
"I see... So that's how it is," Chen's expression softened a little as she allowed a faint smile to creep onto her face—only to quickly hide it again before anyone could notice.
"Then... is there anyone you're interested in right now?"
"Interested in? Well... you, of course."
Chen stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him. But when she saw his grin, she immediately realized he was joking.
"If you dare joke like that again, I'll let you taste my fist a second time," Chen said, raising her fist in mock threat.
Wang Fei quickly raised both hands in surrender.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop joking. Hmm... but if you're asking if there's someone I'm interested in, I'm not really sure. But if we're talking about my type..."
Whenever he thought about the kind of person he liked, the images that popped into Wang Fei's head were always of Margaret and Sophia—the ones Aunt Muina and his grandfather liked to recommend to him—and a vague image of a blue-haired woman he felt like he had seen or met somewhere before... but he couldn't recall her name or face clearly.
"Maybe someone... older?"
"That's all of them, isn't it?" Chen frowned.
"That's why I said I like my big sister the most," Wang Fei laughed. Chen could only shake her head, but deep down, she felt a bit relieved knowing that he didn't have anyone he liked yet.
...............
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