Chapter 18: Everyone's Happy

Shelley's revelation that the young man beside her was the true inspector left everyone in the room staring at him.

He's our new inspector?

Lucas was equally shocked by Shelley's sudden decision to shoot the "new inspector."

Shouldn't she have lured him to a deserted place before doing that?

Now the man lay dead in the chair, blood splattered everywhere.

As the leader, should he sit in that chair or not?

'Shelley, Shelley, you were pulled out of prison by Agatha but weren't given a significant position. Don't you reflect on that?'

Lucas turned to Zane and said, "Go, deal with the body, and get me a new chair."

"Yes, Inspector!"

Zane, being strong, quickly hauled the body and chair out, returning shortly with a new chair.

Under everyone's gaze, Lucas walked to the inspector's desk and sat down.

He placed his cane to one side and put the inspector's appointment letter in the drawer.

Then...

"I am extremely dissatisfied with the way you handle things! This man should have been discreetly dealt with by me, and then I would have come with the appointment letter to take office.

Everything would proceed smoothly without alarming anyone.

But because of your reckless actions, we've had a major incident that severely impacts the mission entrusted to me by the Grand Princess!"

Shelley and Zane immediately stood at attention.

"Sorry, Inspector."

Lucas waved his hand, his tone slightly softer, "Since it has already happened, I don't want to deal with my future subordinates on my first day in office.

Today's incident is… someone came here with a forged inspector's appointment letter to deceive us. As a result, he was recognized and killed on the spot.

Does anyone have any objections?"

Letting a "message" sit in the Seawall District Secret Intelligence Bureau's inspector's office with the appointment letter was a major employment accident.

Especially when it involved a secret mission from the Crown Princess.

If the headquarters pursued this and found out the cause, everyone in the Seawall District Secret Intelligence Bureau would bear significant responsibility.

But if this incident was described as a con artist trying to deceive them, the Seawall District Secret Intelligence Bureau would not only be free of blame but also gain credit.

The inspector would take office normally. Everyone would be happy.

"Writing" incident reports was the Seawall District Secret Intelligence Bureau's specialty.

As for Lucas's identity, no one in the room doubted it.

Zane had informed them earlier not to rush to verify the "new inspector's" identity or let him roam freely.

Everything should wait until Black Mamba arrived.

This indicated that he already knew there was an issue with the "new inspector."

Black Mamba, after reading the appointment letter, had no hesitation in shooting the "new inspector" and claimed it was under the Grand Princess's orders, implying she had other channels of information about the inspector's appointment details.

Perhaps the orders were in the hidden cipher.

Moreover, Black Mamba arrived late today and came with the real inspector.

This practically confirmed that Black Mamba and Zane knew the inspector and the appointment letter would arrive separately.

A mistake led to the "imposter" coming with the appointment letter.

In any case, it was best to downplay the incident.

Everyone together said, "The inspector is wise!!."

Done!

Lucas finally felt a weight lift from his heart.

Gathering the materials needed for the secret ritual would still take some time, and his current strength wasn't enough to wander around this world carelessly.

Being able to sit in the Seawall District Secret Intelligence Bureau's inspector's office was far better than being out there, constantly on edge.

The important thing now was to collect the items for the ritual as quickly as possible.

With power, he could handle any changing situations.

"Since everyone agrees... Karina!" Lucas called out the name of the inspector's office confidential secretary.

Karina was a shy and somewhat introverted young girl, dressed in a light green professional suit, wearing a pair of oversized black-rimmed glasses.

Her light blonde hair was combed to the right, covering her right ear.

Lucas knew that her right ear had a metal auricle connected to her brain's nerves, giving her extraordinary hearing and memory, but it also made Karina somewhat self-conscious.

"Inspector... Inspector! What can I do for you?"

"This case report is your responsibility. Make sure to include everyone's contributions."

"Yes, Inspector!"

Turning a bad situation into a good one, everyone was quite impressed with their new inspector.

"Alright, you don't need to introduce yourselves. I know each of your profiles. If there's nothing else, you can leave now and get on with your work."

"Yes, Inspector!"

Lucas's "subordinates" left the office one by one.

As Shelley was about to leave, Zane stopped her and then addressed Lucas, "Inspector, last night there were two serious murders in the Seawall District. One was at the dock storage area in Windshield Alley, and the other at the headquarters of the Mad Axe Gang, with many casualties.

Especially at the Mad Axe Gang... Their leader, Jumu, was killed, and almost half of their core members are dead. They've suffered a major blow!"

Lucas thought, wasn't that my doing?

And...

"What does that have to do with us? Isn't that the Seawall District Security Bureau's jurisdiction?"

Zane glanced at Shelley. Shelley was surprised to hear that such a major incident had occurred last night.

She explained to Lucas.

Storm City had a total of six districts, each with a branch of the Secret Intelligence Bureau.

Although all branches reported directly to the Imperial headquarters and had no hierarchical relationship with each other, the funding for their activities came partly from the headquarters and largely from the city's finances.

Thus, the allocation of these funds was controlled by the central branch.

"Inspector, the funds from headquarters barely maintain our normal operations. The money we get can be spent on a few drinks and it's gone.

The undercover agents and informants not on the official payroll still need to be paid, and there are many visible and invisible expenses.

The central bureau... uses taxpayer money to protect taxpayers, prioritizing the new and wealthy districts. Our Seawall District is three times the size of other districts, yet we receive only a tenth of their funds, if not less.

Other district bureaus each have over a thousand spies, not including the unlisted ones. Our bureau, with both overt and covert agents, has only about four hundred people, covering such a large district. How can it be enough?

Therefore, we accepted sponsorship from some businessmen and gangs.

The Mad Axe Gang was one of our major sponsors. Now that their leader is dead, many will want to seize their controlled assets.

As their backers, if we can't protect them now, other sponsors will lose faith in us."

Zane, understanding more about the unfolding situation, added, "I've already sent a team to the Mad Axe Gang headquarters to block the Security Bureau. We must act quickly, or the Security Bureau will take over the Mad Axe Gang's headquarters!"