"Please come in."
A robust voice came from inside the room. Cheng Ye turned his head, patted Raul's stiff shoulder, and pushed open the door to enter.
As the duty station chief of the North Station, Ben Towns had a private office measuring 150 square meters.
The office was divided into inner and outer areas.
In the outer area, a large floor-to-ceiling glass window covered the entire west wall, offering a panoramic view of the wilderness outside the inspection station.
A large walnut desk was placed in front of the window, with neatly arranged leather folders and brass paperweights. An old-fashioned clock ticked steadily in the corner.
The inner rest area was separated by a sandalwood screen inlaid with mother-of-pearl patterns, vaguely outlining the contours of a leather sofa and a whiskey cabinet.
This was a man who knew how to enjoy life.
Cheng Ye stepped in slowly, his gaze sweeping across the wall facing the door, where photos of past duty station chiefs of the North Inspection Station were hung, finally settling on a solitary photo in the center.
The man in the photo had a neatly trimmed gray beard and eyes as sharp as a hawk's, embodying the stereotypical image of a quintessential English gentleman in Cheng Ye's mind.
The real person was currently sitting behind the large desk, holding half a cigar between his fingers, leafing through documents, while ash fell steadily into an ornate wooden ashtray, forming a small pile of light gray snow.
"Hello, Chief Towns, I'm Cheng Ye, the intern prosecutor reporting for duty at the North Inspection Station today."
"Young man, I've heard of your name."
Ben Towns slowly lifted his head and set down the documents with a smile, "But that goes back seventeen years, back when your grandfather was still around."
"My grandfather?"
Cheng Ye remained expressionless.
The details of how Cheng Long died and where, Liu Bi had kept tight-lipped about, saying only that the truth would be revealed once Cheng Ye completed his first field mission and could survive independently, not to mention he hadn't even heard of this 'grandfather.'
Something's not right, how did the previous life have so many powerful relatives?
With such a background, it shouldn't have been so miserable in the Inner City, where he remained... ahem, ahem.
"Ah, you don't resemble Cheng Long at all, but as for your grandfather, you truly do resemble him..."
Towns' gaze drifted a bit, speaking incoherently, as if reminiscing about events from long ago.
It took more than ten seconds before he gradually came back to his senses.
"If you didn't fire a shot, I would have given you a 90 on today's performance. You've shown greater potential than Cheng Long at this age, you're more mature and resourceful."
"If you just fired one shot, I'd drop your score to 70. Understanding how to use the rules to protect yourself, to restrain enemies, is worthy of praise for the wise!"
"But unfortunately, you fired two shots. I can only give you a passing score of 60. Don't learn from Cheng Long, and especially don't learn from Liu Bi. They've gotten this far not on muscle and recklessness, but... luck."
Speaking slowly like instructing a younger family member, Towns occasionally flicked the ash from his cigar.
"Alright, you don't need to worry too much. I have some ties with old Cheng Wu. Although he didn't have the face to ask me to look after younger members before he left, I won't specifically 'focus' on you at this time either."
"Stay within the inspection station, and I'll ensure you're absolutely safe. No one will specifically target you."
"Beyond that line..."
Towns pointed outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Cheng Ye turned to look, seeing a bold yellow line about three meters wide across the eight inspection lanes.
The yellow line stood out prominently. To cross it would mean leaving the lanes, effectively entering the wilderness outside the quarantine zone.
"Any more questions?"
"No, thank you for your care, Chief Towns. I will remember it in my heart!"
Cheng Ye bowed slightly, gaining a bit more fondness for the old man before him.
Given the man's position, there's no need to trick him. If he really wanted to make a move, there are countless ways to do so.
But if he's saying these things, it implies that the Western Faction isn't as unified as it seems, and there are likely differing voices internally.
This also aligns with logic; it's peculiar if a faction has only one voice left.
"Alright, since you've reached 60, it's the first review score you deserve. Remember to see me for a signature before each shift rotation."
Towns pulled a piece of paper filled with text from the leather folder.
The upper half of the paper contained Cheng Ye's basic information, while the lower half was the intern evaluation section, stamped with the crimson seal of the North Inspection Station at the bottom.
According to the rules for transitioning from intern to official inspector at the inspection station, Cheng Ye needed to obtain three such evaluation sheets from the Central Inspection Station and the North-South Inspection Station to move out of the intern phase and become an official Second-Phase Inspector.
Towns was willing to give him one at this moment, clearly acknowledging his performance upon reporting in. Be it in means or mentality, he met the minimum standards of an Inspector.
Of course, Cheng Ye guessed that if he could get that so-called '90,' he wouldn't just be holding one sheet, but perhaps two or even three.
But...
"Thank you, Chief!"
"Go on."
Cheng Ye nodded, folded the evaluation sheet, put it into his backpack, and exited the office.
To his surprise, Raul hadn't left, standing by the railing not far from the office waiting for him.
"Hmm? Is there something else you want to say to me?"
Cheng Ye couldn't help but be curious.
By conventional villain tactics, Raul should be saying something menacing now, telling him this isn't over.
As long as he stays at the North Inspection Station for one day, the second-generation heirs will unite against him until he's dead.
Unless one day he's also willing to kneel and beg for mercy, this matter will never blow over.
However, the reality is completely different from what he imagined.
"Inspector Cheng, if possible, I'd like to make a deal with you."
Raul approached, the stiffness on his face gone, his expression now calm with a hint of flattery.
"Oh, let's hear it."
"Garcia is Jamie's uncle, and he's targeting you largely to vent on behalf of his uncle. We encouraged Jamie at the time just to see the Eastern Prosecutors make a fool of themselves. To be honest, whether it was you or another Eastern person today, we would have done the same. It wasn't deliberately targeting you."
Cheng Ye responded with a nasal sound, indicating for him to continue.
"The struggle between the Eastern and Western factions is a conflict among Inspectors, a conflict of interest, and has nothing to do with juniors like us who don't know when we'll inherit power."
At this point, Raul lowered his voice, "Jamie is the only son of his father. Even if he kneels to you today, he'll still be able to become an Inspector in the future. But I'm different... My father has four sons, and I'm the eldest. If I yielded to you today, he would never let me inherit the position."
"So you want me to act with you?"
"No need." Raul quickly shook his head, "As long as you don't spread what happened today, don't promote it among the Eastern community like Jamie's uncle Garcia did, I can ensure nothing that happened today will be remembered, everyone will forget these unpleasant events."
Hmm, there's something here.
Cheng Ye squinted, scrutinizing the blond boy in front of him from head to toe.
Others still bore a naive arrogance, but in Raul, he already detected a calculation beyond his years.
"What do I get?"
"A promise."
Raul immediately straightened up, his fingertips subconsciously rubbing the cuff buttons, "This is the most valuable deal I can offer after thinking it through. As long as it doesn't touch on the faction struggles among Inspectors, I can ensure... within the scope of the North Station, no matter what happens, you can be protected once unconditionally."
"Or to be more precise, even if it involves a direct conflict between factions, if you're stuck at the North Station, I can get you some time to call the Eastern people for assistance."
The first part Cheng Ye didn't care much about, but the latter... made his eyelid twitch after hearing it.
"Your courage seems a bit too much?"
"You flatter me."
Realizing the deal was concluded, Raul breathed a sigh of relief, showing a sincere smile.
"There is only one spot for an Inspector, and my three younger brothers are eyeing it. Do you think I should roll in the mud with them or find friends who dare to fire a shot at the Inspection Station?"
"Alright, I'll pretend nothing happened today."
Cheng Ye waved his hand and walked away.
A bunch of sheltered second-generation heirs, even the orphans from the orphanage are tougher.
Moreover, he never intended to spread this matter outside, and now getting Raul's promise was an unexpected surprise.
But after taking two steps, Cheng Ye suddenly stopped and turned around, almost giving Raul PTSD.
"Is there something else?" Raul suppressed the panic in his heart.
"My duty today should be at Area A. It's my first time here, why don't you take me there on the way?"
"It would be my honor."
Dammit, say that sooner, almost scared me to death.
Raul secretly breathed a sigh of relief but also made up his mind to stay far away from this harbinger of doom in the future.
In fact, it should have been anticipated that someone daring enough to come on their first rotation to the North Station wouldn't be unprepared.
It's just that the other party appeared so young, making everyone mistakenly think they could easily handle him.
But in fact, they weren't even on the same level as Cheng Ye. His ruthlessness was even stronger than some of the Second-Phase Inspectors.
And what made it most troublesome was that this guy knew exactly how to use the rules of the Inspection Station.
To deal with someone this clever, better leave it to the Harlem faction's Inspectors to handle.
...
"This young man is too ambitious, I doubt he'll survive more than a few rounds."
The footsteps outside gradually faded.
A figure stepped out from behind the office screen; it was none other than Deputy Station Master Evan Davidson.
"Acting ruthlessly but lacking stability, in the end, he's just self-willed and harms himself as well as others."
"That's why I said... he's a bit like Cheng Wu."
Towns added with a light chuckle, "But if young people aren't ambitious, can they still be called young?"
The statement had an implicit meaning, clearly a double entendre.
Davidson's expression changed, his back suddenly straightened, "I've been recently busy with field assignments and failed to supervise strictly. The Station Master can rest assured, this type of incident will never happen again."
"That's good. The North Station has been tumultuous lately, inevitably... making outsiders laugh at us."
...