Ding Huan and Yan Mei walked into the City Patrol Guard headquarters, only to see four or five people spreading out haphazardly, chewing on something elongated; each person’s face exhibited an extreme sense of pleasure.
"Brother Huan, this is the Joy Stick. I’ve heard about it. This thing is addictive, yet fatally toxic. Once someone starts using it, it’s very hard to quit. Over time, the user will deplete their Essence Blood and die."
Upon seeing the Joy Stick, Yan Mei showed a fearful expression and whispered to Ding Huan.
Coming from a merchant family, he was all too familiar with the Joy Stick from the Taoist Realm—his mother died because of it.
Ordinary people couldn’t even afford to consume it.
"We’re here to sign up to join the City Patrol Guard. Who is in charge?" Ding Huan asked.
Seeing there was no competition here, Ding Huan couldn’t bother to say that he was here to apply for a job.
"I will help you register." A timid voice came forth.
Ding Huan previously hadn’t used his Divine Will, and it was only after this voice sounded that he saw a thin figure, as frail as a monkey, emerge from a corner.
As for the other five people chewing on the Joy Sticks, they didn’t even glance towards Ding Huan’s side.
They were well aware that every so often people would come to West Wind City to meet their demise.
It was because of these regularly sacrificed individuals that they could enjoy their pleasure for so long.
If it were not for the City Patrol Guard’s need to maintain a certain record of dispatches, they would really be too lazy to recruit more people.
"Are the two of you here to apply to become City Patrol Guards?" The slender man asked cautiously.
Ding Huan replied, "We’re applying to be captains, are the positions for the chief and deputy chief available here?"
The slender man shook his head:
"No, there’s no more. The chief gets two Crystal Stones a month, and the deputy gets one Crystal Stone a month."
"Very well, then register us." After saying this, Ding Huan casually picked up the law book of Blazing Star Lord Country, which was set aside, and began to flip through it.
Having heard that Ding Huan wanted to apply for the chief and deputy chief positions, the five City Patrol Guards chewing on the Joy Sticks looked over in astonishment.
Still, no one said a word.
"May I ask what the chief’s name is?"
The slender man asked a very amusing question, but no one found it funny.
"The chief is me, Ding Huan. The deputy chief is him, Yan Mei."
After going through the law book, Ding Huan said with a smile on his face.
He had Divine Will; although the law book was rather thick, with Divine Will, everything was simply imprinted in his memory with a quick scan.
"Okay." The slender man took out the appointment letters for the chief and deputy chief, wrote down the names of Ding Huan and Yan Mei, then handed over the two appointment letters to them.
Ding Huan’s gaze fell on the appointment letter, and he was somewhat surprised.
These were Magic Artifacts?
"You just imprint a Hand Seal on it, and then it will carry your information."
The slender man’s tone was still fraught with timidity.
Ding Huan and Yan Mei pressed their hands on the appointment letters.
The next moment, Ding Huan’s appointment letter showed his information.
To call it information, it was just a line of text.
Ding Huan, City Patrol Captain of the West Wind City under Blazing Star Lord Country. Responsible for all security matters within West Wind City.
Before Ding Huan could put away the appointment letter, a man who had just finished chewing his Joy Stick rose to his feet, squinting his eyes at Ding Huan:
"Since you’re the captain now, why don’t you take charge of today’s case at the North City Ore Store?"
Ding Huan replied calmly, "What is your status?"
"I am Qi Zhenyu, a member of the City Patrol Guard for twelve years, currently a level-four City Guard." The man said with a sharp tone, clearly not recognizing Ding Huan as a worthy captain.
Ding Huan asked again, "And who am I?"
"Aren’t you just someone who has just joined the City Patrol Guard?" Qi Zhenyu said with disdain.
"I am the captain, so what right do you have to order me around?" Ding Huan said indifferently.
Hearing Ding Huan’s words, the others were taken aback and then burst into loud laughter.
Once everyone had laughed it out, Qi Zhenyu gave Ding Huan a sighing look:
"Young man, you want to bite off more than you can chew right from the start. Aren’t you afraid of choking to death? Let me teach you; in the City Patrol Guard, the captain isn’t the highest authority. Whoever stays here the longest holds the greatest power.
So I can order you around. If you don’t want to do it, then I have the right to kill you."
"Oh, after you kill me, do the Crystal Stones for this month end up in your hands? Or if I die outside, do my Crystal Stones also end up in your hands?"
Ding Huan retorted mockingly.
"Not stupid, but once you’ve pressed the Hand Seal, there’s no turning back." Qi Zhenyu said with disdain.
"Who made that rule?" Ding Huan’s tone remained the same as before.
One of Qi Zhenyu’s companions had also finished his Joy Stick and stood up sharply upon hearing Ding Huan’s words:
"What, you don’t accept it? This is a rule set by our City Patrol Guard and has been acknowledged by the City Lord of West Wind City."
At this moment, a disheveled woman burst in:
"Qi brother, people from the Iron Power Alliance in the outer city want to take my husband away. They not only beat us and robbed our goods but also want to abduct him..."
"We have no control over the outer city matters." Before Qi Zhenyu could speak, the man who had confronted Ding Huan earlier spoke up again.
Qi Zhenyu also said, "That’s right, you handle it yourself, the outer city has nothing to do with us."
"But when you collected the Crystal Stones, didn’t you guarantee that as long as it happened within the city, I should come to you? They may be from the outer city, but they robbed my store inside the city…"
The woman spoke with grief and indignation.
"Get out." Qi Zhenyu kicked the woman out.
After the kick, he seemed to remember something and said to Ding Huan and Yan Mei:
"You two get out with her and handle this matter. Remember to respect your seniors next time."
After finishing that sentence, he raised his hand and slapped Ding Huan’s face.
Ding Huan sidestepped, and Qi Zhenyu’s slap missed its mark.
He chuckled,
"No wonder you dare to question me like that. You’ve got some moves, huh?"
Ding Huan ignored Qi Zhenyu and continued on his own,
"According to Article Eleven of the Blazing Star Lord Country City Patrol Guard Law, any City Patrol Guard who commits insubordination shall be executed without mercy."
After saying that, Ding Huan looked at Qi Zhenyu with a sly grin,
"Do you think you’ve been insubordinate?"
"Your ancestor..."
Qi Zhenyu was furious, but he had only uttered three words before Ding Huan sent a Wind Blade his way.
Qi Zhenyu’s head was cleaved off by this Wind Blade and rolled more than ten meters away, his eyes still filled with terror and disbelief.
Ding Huan carefully avoided the bloodstains, then turned to the skinny man and said,
"Our City Patrol Guard regulations stipulate that no matter what happens, a detailed record must be made. Did you get all of that down?"
At this moment, Ding Huan had realized that this skinny fellow was a Record Officer of the City Patrol Guard, responsible for logging all incidents occurring inside and outside of the Guard.
"Yes, yes, I’ll write it now..."
The skinny man’s face was pale, his voice stammering as he didn’t dare disobey Ding Huan’s words, quickly jotting down every detail of the recent events.
Ding Huan was too fierce; the man dared not make any careless entries.
"You..." The man who had earlier doubted Ding Huan’s compliance also turned pale.
How did such a bold man appear, daring to kill a City Patrol Guard within the Guard’s own ranks?
City Patrol Guards being killed was usually a result of them sticking their noses where they didn’t belong and getting killed, but being killed within the Guard itself was unheard of.
No, this person before them was also a member of the City Patrol Guard, and moreover, a Captain.
But there had never been such a Captain in the City Patrol Guard before. Why wasn’t this one playing by the rules?
What did the laws of the Blazing Star Lord Country state about a Captain killing a Guard?
"Now it’s your turn. You just now committed insubordination..."
Before Ding Huan could finish, this member of the City Patrol Guard threw himself to the ground,
"Senior... no, Captain, I was just muddled from chewing on a Joy Stick, please spare me, Captain."
Ding Huan’s expression darkened, "Why should I show you any mercy?"
"I, I..." Cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the City Patrol Guard.
He was sure that Ding Huan was a formidable Cultivator.
You say you’re a Cultivator, but is it amusing for you to come here and fight with us for this bowl of rice?
"It’s not that I can’t forgive you. Just now that woman came to report a crime. Take some men and solve her problem and report back." Ding Huan pointed to the woman who had been kicked out the door.
"Thank you, Captain, thank you so much..."
Hearing Ding Huan’s words, the woman at the door immediately knelt down to thank him.
She had been terrified by Ding Huan’s dreadful methods, but thinking that her husband was about to suffer the same fate as the dead Qi Zhenyu, panic filled her heart.
"This, this..." The man hesitated.
The Iron Power Alliance outside the city was no pushover, and going there might very well get him killed.
"If you don’t want to go, then forget it..." After saying this, Ding Huan raised his hand and sent forth another Wind Blade.
"I..." The man felt death looming over him, and before he could say out the word "I’ll go," his head was cleaved off by Ding Huan again.
Ding Huan looked at the trembling Record Officer,
"Not only did he commit insubordination just now, but he also refused to comply with a superior’s orders. Record all of that."
"Yes." The skinny young man quickly bent down to write rapidly.
Ding Huan turned his attention to the remaining three.
These three hadn’t finished chewing their Joy Sticks, but they’d already thrown them aside, and their joyful expressions were gone without a trace.
The three were looking at Ding Huan with faces full of terror.
Ding Huan coolly said, "I’m now ordering you as your Captain to handle the Iron Power Alliance’s occupation of someone else’s store. What do you think of that?"
The three men stood up reflexively,
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"We will heed the Captain’s commands and go there right away."
Ding Huan nodded, "Yan Mei, you and Lao Liu go take a look and handle it accordingly."
"Yes, Brother Huan," Yan Mei said immediately.
Ding Huan was confident in Yan Mei’s abilities; he definitely would not come out on the losing end.
Once the group had left, Ding Huan then turned to the Record Officer,
"What’s your name?"
"I’m Peng Leizhi. I’ve been a Record Officer here at the City Patrol Guard for three years," the skinny young man replied anxiously.
Ding Huan nodded,
"Well done. You clean up this place."
"Yes." Peng Leizhi quickly responded.
When Ding Huan turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something,
"Where’s the best place to live in West Wind City?"
"In the Crystal District," Peng Leizhi blurted out.
(That’s all for today’s update, my friends. Good night! Sorry for the half-hour delay today, something came up.)