Holding 50,000 taels of silver notes, Lu Zhenghai couldn't wait to immediately run to the Guangming Auction House.
However, he had something more important to do: return to the Garrison.
Having accomplished a great deed, shouldn't he go back and collect his reward?
When Lu Zhenghai returned to the Garrison, the gazes directed at him were no longer just shock and disbelief.
Instead, they were filled with extreme flattery, ingratiation, and awe.
If he could solve the case of Gao Shihan's death within a day or two, it might have been a coincidence.
But what about this case involving the Grand Tutors Residence?
Lu Zhenghai's name was starting to gain fame not just within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but throughout the entire Imperial City.
"Hahahahaha... Hahahahaha..."
Lu Zhenghai had just started walking toward Centurion Song's office, still quite a distance away, when he heard Centurion Song laughing heartily.
Seeing Lu Zhenghai arrive, Chief Huang and Banner Chief Fang walked out from inside.
"Chief Lu, you're incredible!" Banner Chief Fang, Fang Qian, forced a smile onto his stern, resolute face.
"Just Luck, just Luck..."
Banner Chief Fang immediately straightened his face: "If it was merely Luck, then does the fact that I led a team for a month and found nothing mean I have bad Luck?"
"Heh heh..."
"Chief Lu, tonight, at the Tongle Restaurant, let's have a drink." Banner Chief Fang extended an invitation.
To be honest, Lu Zhenghai solving the Grand Tutors Residence case was a huge help to him.
Otherwise, he would have had to continue investigating endlessly, and the key was that finding nothing was truly tormenting.
Lu Zhenghai personally rescued him from this sea of suffering.
As for Lu Zhenghai seemingly stepping on him to gain fame, Fang Qian didn't care at all; this was Lu Zhenghai's own ability, so why should he be angry?
On the contrary, Fang Qian previously had the reputation of being a famous detective like Conan.
Whenever a difficult-to-solve case occurred, they would only look for him, which created enormous pressure.
Now, if any more cases appear, even if they aren't all handed to Lu Zhenghai, he can at least take on a significant portion, right?
"Brother Lu, just now, Centurion Song deliberately went to find Centurion Wang and asked him, right in front of him, how to deal with you, saying that you killed Zheng Qu and Luo Wang in the street, which was an egregious act, and required an explanation for everyone in the Garrison!" Chief Huang described the scene vividly, his face full of smiles.
"And then?" Lu Zhenghai also had a face full of smiles.
"Then, Centurion Wang gritted his teeth and said that since you accomplished a great deed, how dare he ask for an explanation from you? If he dared to ask you for an explanation, the superior officers would ask him for one, and the Grand Tutors Residence would ask him for one. He also said that Luo Wang and Zheng Qu were drunk and insisted on provoking and sparring with a superior officer, and since blades have no eyes, their deaths were well-deserved."
"Hahahaha..."
Chief Huang said: "Oh, you should have seen Centurion Wang's face; he was practically twisted with anger! Centurion Song was overjoyed, and your reward will definitely be substantial."
Sure enough, when Lu Zhenghai walked into the office, Centurion Song immediately said: "This time, your superiors are rewarding you with 30,000 contribution points, and I am personally rewarding you with 20,000 contribution points, totaling 50,000."
Holy cow.
That's incredible.
50,000 contribution points is definitely a terrifying figure.
Put it this way: an ordinary Banner Commander would have to work diligently for ten to twenty years to accumulate 50,000 contribution points.
Both involved solving serious cases, and the death of Gao Shihan even involved military equipment.
It seemed the Gao Shihan case was bigger, yet why did the Grand Tutors Residence case yield more reward points?
First, since the Grand Tutors Residence case could not result in a promotion for Lu Zhenghai, the reward points had to be increased.
Lu Zhenghai had only held the position of Banner Commander for a few days, and his strength wasn't sufficient, so it was indeed inappropriate to promote him directly to the Rank of Centurion.
Second, the Grand Tutors Residence case allowed the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Grand Tutors Residence to draw closer, which was a great thing for the entire Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard looked incredibly powerful, in a sense, they were just the Emperor's blade.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard offended too many people and was often targeted and impeached by many ministers during court sessions.
Although the Emperor always protected them, the pressure was still immense.
Drawing closer to the Grand Tutor, the head of all civil officials, was extremely useful now.
Centurion Song continued:
"Also, originally, as a Banner Commander, the five Squad Leaders under you—while you could nominate them—needed to be discussed and finalized by the Centurions and the superior officers."
"Now, your superiors have said that you can nominate all five Squad Leaders yourself; there's no need for further discussion, and the superiors will fully agree with your choices!"
"Of course, don't go overboard. Having one or two candidates who are only at the second or third layers of the Acquired Realm as Squad Leaders is acceptable, but you can't have all five."
... "Yes!" Lu Zhenghai was overjoyed.
This was the true reward.
Don't underestimate the significance of these five Squad Leader positions.
Using these five positions, he could completely win over his subordinates, and from now on, he would be a person with his own core team.
"Alright, scram!" Centurion Song said, laughing and scolding him.
Lu Zhenghai walked out of the office and immediately headed to the Treasure Pavilion.
With 50,000 contribution points in hand, he was extremely wealthy and had to spend them!
The third floor of the Treasure Pavilion.
Lu Zhenghai ultimately chose a bottle of Yellow-Grade Medium Grade spirit gathering pill, containing a full 50 pills.
He planned to always keep spirit gathering pills on hand.
They were very effective.
He still hoped to Cultivate the Supreme Primordial Cycle Technique and One Sword Flying Immortal to the stage of Minor Achievement soon.
Even the introductory stages of these two were incredibly potent.
If he reached Minor Achievement, tsk... Unfortunately, these two, one a heaven grade low rank and the other an Earth Grade High Rank, were both Advanced Cultivation Techniques.
The more Advanced the Cultivation Technique, the more Comprehension Ability was required to Cultivate it to the stages of Minor Achievement, Major Achievement, and Perfection.
Since his Comprehension Ability was ordinary, keeping spirit gathering pills constantly on hand was necessary.
Moreover, the spirit gathering pill wasn't expensive; 50 pills only cost 14,000 contribution points.
Next, Lu Zhenghai steeled his heart and went all-in with the remaining 36,000 contribution points on the Mysterious-Grade Low Grade dragon essence pill—four pills in total, which were certainly not cheap.
Since it dared to be called the dragon essence pill, it definitely contained a certain amount of Dragon Essence within it.
Of course, since it was Low Grade Mysterious-Grade, the Rank wasn't high, and this Dragon Essence was likely from lower-grade hybrid Dragons like Earth Dragons or Sky Dragons.
But that was still very, very good.
Remember, anything that touches the word Dragon signifies power.
Right, the Great Yu Dynasty has demons!
Earth Dragons, Sky Dragons, and the like, all belong to the demon category.
So-called demons are wild beasts that form an inner core within their bodies and can absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Demons are generally divided into Lesser Demons, Greater Demons, Demon Kings, and so on.
However, the eras where demons frequently appeared were the ancient and primordial times; in the current era, demons rarely appear before humans.
It is said that tens of thousands of years ago, the Imperial Dynasty court at that time even had a specialized Demon Hunting Department.
This department no longer exists in the current era.
If demons ever truly cause chaos, the burden would likely fall first upon the shoulders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
After leaving the Treasure Pavilion.
Lu Zhenghai called Zhou Hu over and had him spread the word: the superiors had decided to hand over all five Squad Leader positions under Chief Lu to Lu Zhenghai to decide entirely by himself.
After the news spread.
Lu Zhenghai went to his own office within the Garrison.
Only those who reached the Banner Commander Rank had their own office in the Garrison.
His office was certainly not as large or luxurious as Centurion Song's office.
But it was at least twenty to thirty square meters, which was decent.
Sitting in his office chair, many Squad Leaders and ordinary guards soon came to pay their respects.
Lu Zhenghai questioned them one by one.
He didn't leave his office for the entire day, and by evening, he had already decided who the five Squad Leaders under him would be.