The items sent by the Demon Suppression Division appeared on Nan Zhi's desk within two days.
Aside from a set of Demon Suppression Division arrest officer uniforms that fit her so perfectly they seemed tailor made, there was also a palm sized waist token representing her status as an arrest officer.
The waist token had a primitive design, square in shape and quite heavy. On the front, neat small characters were engraved: "Fourth class arrest officer under the jurisdiction of the Northwest Circuit Demon Suppression Monastery."
The back was exquisitely carved with the patterns of the four sacred beasts: the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger. Each sacred beast looked majestic and radiated a divine light.
Just looking at it, one could feel a deterrent force that struck straight at the soul.
Of these two items, the former was just a standard uniform. Aside from looking good, it provided no attribute bonuses.
However, the attribute bonuses provided by the latter were quite interesting.
【Demon Suppression Division Arrest Officer Waist Token: +20 Reputation, 20% chance to awe low level demons and ghosts.
Combat Power +10 (The Great Zhou of Shenzhou; wherever Empress Wu's gaze falls is sovereign territory.)
(A pseudo dharma treasure refined from Tianshan cold iron and fine gold, it has a certain deterrent effect on low level spirits, vengeful ghosts, and demons.)】
【Demon Suppression Division Faction Favorability: Friendly (As a newly joined rookie arrest officer, you still need to work hard to gain the recognition of your peers.)】
【Shen Luohe Favorability: Two hearts】
【Hua Xijian Favorability: Three hearts】
By joining the Demon Suppression Division, Nan Zhi had not only found a way to obtain a Mirage Pearl but also gained two friends. She was quite satisfied with this outcome.
As for the thirty taels of gold earned from slaying the demon tiger, Nan Zhi chose to withdraw them into the real world.
Six gold ingots, each weighing five taels, were arranged neatly on the table. Their brilliant golden glow was enough to make anyone feel happy from the bottom of their heart.
According to the current sky high price of gold, if Nan Zhi sold them all, she could basically enjoy a life of lying flat.
But after looking at them for a long time, she simply locked the chubby gold ingots into her bedside drawer.
Nan Zhi felt that, in the end, she was still an ordinary person.
And being an ordinary person, she naturally wanted to avoid trouble.
Selling the gold was simple, but having such a massive amount of money enter her account all at once would surely bring endless trouble.
In truth, Nan Zhi was quite satisfied with her current state of life.
Her savings were enough to spend, her salary could cover the monthly rent and utilities, she used the subway for travel, and she didn't have many social obligations. Her biggest hobby was playing games.
If she spent money, it was usually on in game purchases, but she was generally restrained and had no real addiction.
So, she would go to work during the day, slacking off and chatting with colleagues, and then return home at night to play the game and cultivate.
Life after starting her path to immortality didn't seem much different from before.
But Nan Zhi knew that something substantial had changed.
She was no longer timid or hesitant; instead, she was more confident and poised.
With a foundation of strength in her heart, any change felt like nothing more than a minor interlude in the waves of her life.
I have my trump cards.
I am unstoppable.
I forge ahead.
Nothing can block my path.
That feeling was truly wonderful.
...
“Hey, hey, hey, have you heard?”
On the first day back at work, Zhang Qiuyu pulled Nan Zhi into the pantry, her eyes filled with gossip.
“The boss of the game company on the twenty seventh floor was hauled off to jail. I heard his family is looking everywhere for connections, trying to find a way to bail him out.
And also, remember how they said Chen Ping committed suicide? Well, guess what?
The game company's official website posted another obituary the day before yesterday, saying ‘deeply mourning our dedicated employee, Comrade Chen Ping’ and marking the ‘one and a half year anniversary of Comrade Chen Ping's unfortunate death from a fall during production.’”
She winked at Nan Zhi, appearing to have discovered some incredible secret.
“Look at that, look at that. I told you there was something fishy. The guy's been dead for over a year, so why post an obituary now or mark a ‘one and a half year anniversary’? I've lived this long and I've never heard of such a thing!”
“Who says otherwise? There's even more ridiculous stuff.”
Nearby, Da Liu, an office veteran who was making coffee, leaned in and shared mysteriously.
“The building's property management underwent a major overhaul because of this too.
Remember that girl downstairs who said she saw a ghost? I heard that as soon as she resigned, she posted on social media celebrating that she landed a government job.
Tsk tsk, you just watch. If there isn't something going on here, I'll take your last name.”
Nan Zhi felt that her colleagues were truly a group of miraculous beings.
Usually, these people either stared with lifeless eyes, dealing with superiors like wandering spirits.
Or they were listless, radiating a frantic energy as if they wanted to perish along with this terrible job.
But the moment they encountered gossip, they became as energized as if they had been injected with stimulants, their eyes and ears catching everything.
No matter how hidden the news was, they could always ‘hear’ a little bit of it.
Aside from these oddities, the building's elevators had also been modified during their seven day paid leave.
In the past, any of the six elevators in the building could go directly to any floor.
But the company had notified them yesterday that the elevators had been upgraded, and employees now needed to swipe cards to enter the company.
Want to go to other floors?
Sorry, that's not possible.
“Oh? I really didn't know that. But did you notice the elevators when you came in today?”
Nan Zhi made herself a cup of coffee, frowning after just one sip.
“It seems like all the buttons for floors above the twentieth have been removed. Did a new company move in upstairs? That was fast.”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I think it's a bit strange too.”
“I haven't heard of any employees from the companies upstairs resigning, though.”
“The last incident was left unresolved, but I heard the government suggested that enterprises ‘reduce the burden’ on employees and discourage overtime. That part is actually quite nice.”
“I know about that. My sister's company also sent out a document saying they're responding to the call and won't force overtime anymore.”
“I was so embarrassed coming to work today. You even have to take off your shoes for security. If I didn't know better, I'd think we were working for some secret agency.”
“Right? The fruit knife in my bag was confiscated, and they gave me a plastic fruit knife. I mean, seriously??”
“It should be a good thing. People are so full of hostility these days; having stricter security is fine.”
Nan Zhi felt like laughing as she listened.
In fact, she had noticed something was wrong the moment she stepped into the building today.
Two massive, heavy security scanners had been added to the entrance, with property management claiming they were new equipment installed because of the complex flow of people.
The familiar security guards from before had vanished, replaced by a group of fit, handsome young men with buzz cuts, all standing over 1.8 meters tall.
The killing intent they radiated couldn't be hidden even by their wrinkled, cheap security uniforms.
They must have seen blood before.
What kind of security guards are all fit twenty somethings in their prime with buzz cuts?
Was the government planning to secretly protect Hongxing Mansion?
Does this mean that after Chen Ping fulfilled his wish, he didn't go to reincarnate?
From all these changes, the government's attitude toward Chen Ping was evident.
Nan Zhi stirred the coffee in her cup, not feeling surprised.
Having just spent an extremely pleasant holiday, everyone was suffering from withdrawal symptoms now that they had suddenly returned to work, so they were all crowding into the pantry to slack off.
The group was chatting heatedly until the supervisor appeared at the door with a dark expression, causing everyone to scatter.
Only Nan Zhi slowly carried her coffee back to her workstation to continue her thoughts.
What kind of identity should she use to contact the government?
How could she ensure a win win cooperation while protecting herself?
What kind of identity would prevent the government from being wary while also making them believe her words unconditionally?
My head is so itchy; I feel like I'm about to grow a new brain.
Rate on N.U.
