Chapter 138: Chapter 120: Fantasy
"? Weak? We’ve always been like this, okay?!" Li Kang was instantly provoked, his face flushing red as he retorted, "You can say I’m weak! But you have no idea how deep the Captain’s Office’s foundations run."
"Besides, the cultivators in the Captain’s Office aren’t just us in the special ops brigades! It’s just that we’re the only ones deployed directly to the front lines... When it comes to powerful individuals, the other departments have plenty!"
"That’s true." Chu Bamboo nodded in agreement, thinking of the Second Realm Cultivator, B2. His simple assent, however, cut Li Kang’s next words short!
"Alright!" Chu Bamboo placed his hands behind him, propping himself up as he leaned back on the bed. Though phrased as a question, his tone was firm. "Let’s get down to business. You didn’t come here just to chat about this, did you?"
Li Kang fell silent. He pursed his lips and finally said, "I... recommended you to headquarters!"
"?" To be honest, even though Li Kang was speaking perfect Dream Language, Chu Bamboo suspected he was hallucinating. His brain almost short-circuited.
’Recommended? Recommended for what?’
He hesitated for a long moment before pointing to himself uncertainly. "You didn’t... propose that I become the captain of the Second District’s Special Operations Brigade, did you???"
After seeing the confirmation in Li Kang’s eyes, Chu Bamboo almost laughed in exasperation. ’Are you kidding me? It’s not April Fool’s Day... Not that the dream civilization even celebrates that holiday!’
"Temporary captain! It’s temporary!" Li Kang quickly added, reading Chu Bamboo’s expression. "You know, even if this entire affair was your accomplishment from start to finish, we can’t just parachute you in... so it’s temporary at most! But if you do a great job, we can naturally drop that word... And I also told headquarters about your other position. They’ve given special approval for you to hold both concurrently!"
"Captain, are you being serious?" This time, it was Ning Linglong who voiced her doubt. Her eyes screamed, ’Are you messing with us?’
"Uncle Zhu, he... he’s only in the First Realm! And a Body Cultivator, you can’t just..." Ning Linglong caught herself, a nervous expression crossing her face as she glanced at Chu Bamboo. "Uh, Uncle Zhu, I’m not looking down on you, but this is really... Crap, what am I even saying..."
"I know what you mean." Chu Bamboo raised a hand to stop Ning Linglong, his expression unreadable as he stared at Li Kang.
"But your game isn’t about raw power!" Li Kang said softly. This idea of his hadn’t come out of nowhere, nor was he trying to cause trouble. It was because this incident had given him the first opportunity to have a deep conversation with Zhang Hai without the two of them resorting to personal attacks.
And then it hit him: his own situation wasn’t an isolated case—
Even that old god-stick of a Third Realm Cultivator was just as obedient and trusting of Chu Bamboo!
For a moment, he even suspected that the old god-stick’s blind devotion to Chu Bamboo surpassed even his own...
’If both he and that old god-stick are like this... then there’s no way Chu Bamboo can’t handle those crafty old Second Realm veterans in Zone Two.’
With all these factors piling up, he decided to take a bold step. Of course, his original intention was just to float the idea, to put Chu Bamboo on headquarters’ radar. He truly never expected... that headquarters would actually say yes!
’This...’
’So...’
"Not interested," Chu Bamboo refused point-blank.
If it were a position as an Honored Guest Elder for the Second District Special Operations Department, where he didn’t have to do anything and could just collect some Cultivation Resources and a salary, that would be fine!
But making him captain?
And end up like Li Kang, wandering around the district with his team every day, cracking down hard on unaffiliated Transcendents?
’Forget it...’ Unless it was for some grand purpose like saving human civilization, he’d much rather be a freeloader!
If he were truly that power-hungry, Zhou Ze probably wouldn’t be dead right now—he’d likely still be stuck in Li Xuan’s old post.
"...You’re really... not going to consider it?" Li Kang’s expression twisted with a hint of regret as he stressed, "I put my neck on the line for you! Plus, headquarters has some pull with Governor Lu; that’s how they got you this temporary oppor—"
"That’s my final answer. Tell headquarters that," Chu Bamboo cut him off with a wave of his hand. "If there’s nothing else, you can get lost. Oh, right. You two and the rest of the team, don’t bother coming back tonight!"
Chu Bamboo patted the bed beneath him and said lazily, "The Divine Being couldn’t bear to see me go, so it even prepared a bed. I’m planning on sleeping here tonight!"
"If you two sneak in in the middle of the night, you might give me a heart attack!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Bamboo flopped onto the bed and stretched languidly.
"Hm?" Ning Linglong fell into a thoughtful silence. After a few moments of observation, her eyes gradually lit up. She nodded eagerly. "I get it!"
"...?" Li Kang paused to think. He glanced first at Chu Bamboo, then at the silver walls, and finally at Ning Linglong. He thought for another moment, and then, as realization dawned, he sucked in a sharp breath.
Trembling, he pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and dabbed the cold sweat on his forehead, rambling incoherently.
"Th-th-this... I, I, I get it! We won’t disturb you. We absolutely will not disturb you. Hehe, hahahaha... I’ll leave right now, right now."
"?" Chu Bamboo froze. Watching Li Kang’s flustered, almost panicked retreat, he fell into contemplation for the second time—
’Did Li Kang misunderstand something?’
...
「In a hallway of the Police Chief Bureau.」
Li Kang shot an expressionless glance at Ning Linglong, who seemed lost in thought, and cleared his throat.
"Er, ah! Captain, wh-what is it?"
"Wipe your drool," Li Kang said calmly.
"?!" Ning Linglong instinctively wiped at her mouth before realizing. She glared daggers at Li Kang. "Captain, are you messing with me?"
"You’re only just now figuring that out?" A hint of amusement entered Li Kang’s voice, but it was quickly suppressed. He narrowed his eyes. "You aren’t thinking about something... shocking, are you?"
"What kind of person do you think I am?" Ning Linglong waved her fist in frustration. "That’s the Underground Temple! How could I possibly do *that* sort of thing in front of the Divine Being..."
"The fact that you reacted so quickly proves you were imagining it!" Li Kang sneered, landing a direct hit.
"!!!"
Ning Linglong froze. ’Wh-what do I do...? He baited out my ultimate move! I have no way to counter this!’
Then, as Ning Linglong was breaking out in a cold sweat, she heard Li Kang’s low, slightly hoarse voice. "But it’s to be expected. Even a Divine Being... so for you to be like this, it’s normal."
"?" Confusion flickered in Ning Linglong’s eyes.
"Haven’t you realized it yet..." Li Kang shot Ning Linglong a look and sighed heavily. "I always used to wonder why Ah Zhu could be so at ease in the Underground Temple. I just assumed it was because he himself was special! After all, ever since he was a kid, he’s always been... But this time, I think I finally understand why!"
Li Kang sighed dramatically. "This time, the Divine Being specifically gave him a bed... A bed! Why a bed, of all things?"
At this moment, Li Kang felt his own mind trembling.
In fact, when the thought had first occurred to him back in the Underground Temple, his first reaction had been, ’It’s over. Am I about to face the Divine Being’s wrath?’
’This is too blasphemous!’
’But...’
The most terrifying part was that he had actually walked out of the Underground Temple Base completely unscathed...
’I mean, really! With You acting like that, and me thinking what I did!’
To be honest, the Great God’s attitude finally killed the last bit of hope in Li Kang’s anxious heart...
’You might as well have just struck me with lightning!’
"???" Vice Captain Ning’s expression went rigid. She stopped walking, her brain completely overloaded.
Finally, she stiffly turned her head toward the women’s restroom.
’No way.’
’Don’t do it!!!’
...
「Meanwhile.」
Chu Bamboo was still memorizing with all his might, channeling the same desperate energy he’d once used to cram for his college entrance exams.
