Chapter 56: Let's Have Some Fun

Chapter 56: A Sparring Match

Spring wind fills the sails of success, horse hooves fly swift; in a single day, all of Chang'an's flowers are viewed.

At least in the eyes of the Shu Road Logistics staff, Li Jun, who dared drive a Black Yu Off-roader straight to the Group headquarters entrance, conducted himself in a manner fully deserving of this verse.

A lone rider breaking through the pass on a rainy night; a head-on duel with Fei Baiju, the Section Chief of Action Division Three of Tianfu Heavy Industries; plus the recently infamous Edict Operation of Songpan Wei Chongzhen circulating wildly within the Group.

In the eyes of many, this new Supervisor risen from the slums of Jiulong Street in the Chicken-and-Goose District was a rare combat pragmatist among the Security Department supervisors of recent years, likely to completely reverse the Department's former reputation for weakness and incompetence.

However, for these corporate drifters, the matter they cared about most was still Li Jun's beheading of Qian Jindong.

This was a violation of the Group's ultimate taboo. By rights, Li Jun should not only forfeit his life, but his consciousness should be cast into the Group's private prison for a century of penal labor to atone.

Yet the outcome defied everyone's expectations.

Whether it was the upper echelons of Shu Road Logistics or the true masters behind the Group, the Yizhou Gu Clan, none issued any punishment against Li Jun, not even a verbal reprimand.

This was rather abnormal.

One must understand Qian Jindong was no backgroundless minion. Simply sharing a surname with the Grand Steward who managed the Gu Clan's internal affairs, great and small, was enough to let him thrive like a fish in water within the Group.

The facts bore this out. Over the years, the treasure notes Qian Jindong had extorted, blocked, and demanded in various Security Department operations were likely an astronomical figure.

Though unknown how much was offered up to that Grand Steward, the remainder alone sufficed to support Qian Jindong's extravagant lifestyle, indicating just how vast this sum was.

And the Group's master, Gu Yong, had always turned a blind eye, tacitly approving Qian Jindong's embezzlement.

Yet such a well-connected insider had now been killed for an utterly absurd reason.

In the eyes of the schemers, this meant either Li Jun enjoyed favor at its zenith, or he was wielding the knife for someone else.

But whichever it was, Li Jun was not someone mere wage slaves could afford to provoke.

Amidst countless evasive gazes, Li Jun stepped through the Group's main gates.

This was his first time at Shu Road Logistics headquarters. The building's interior decor everywhere revealed the financial might of a major conglomerate and the deep heritage of a Confucian aristocratic clan.

Wherever his gaze fell, all was classical elegance. Every piece of furniture and furnishing was carved from sandalwood. A massive ink-wash landscape painting hung at the reception position.

On two massive pillars, suspiciously exceeding ritual propriety, hung a couplet: Great wisdom, great courage, awe shaking the four directions; Establish trust, establish righteousness, a promise worth a thousand catties.

The horizontal scroll bore four large gilt characters in regular script: "Shu Road Logistics".

The brushwork was vigorous, the structure distinct.

Even Li Jun, who knew nothing of calligraphy, could sniff out an expensive aura from them.

Li Jun smiled faintly at the graceful young girl peeking at him from behind the reception desk, just about to step forward and ask for the Security Department's location, when a clear, bright female voice rang out from behind.

"Presumably you are Supervisor Li. Qi Zhu has been waiting long."

Li Jun turned. The woman calling herself Qi Zhu wore a blue jacket-and-skirt, her black hair coiled in a bun, a pair of spectacles from the Western barbarians perched on her high nose bridge, her gaze sharp, her bearing capable.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Secretary to Director Gu of the Group Security Department. The Director sent me to brief Supervisor Li on the Group's basic situation."

Li Jun noted the other's aura was exceptionally weak; she was indeed just an ordinary clerical worker.

"Then I'll trouble Secretary Qi."

Qi Zhu stepped aside, letting Li Jun go first. Her expression was polite, yet exuded a coldness that kept one a thousand miles away.

One after the other, they mounted a sedan-lift shaped like a pavilion. Once the floor was selected, carved wooden railings rose around them on all four sides, then slowly began to ascend.

The transparent view allowed a full panorama of the entire Shu Road Logistics Group layout.

"The Group has twelve floors in total, taking the meaning of the Three Teachings, Nine Streams, and Twelve Sequences."

"Of these, the topmost twelfth floor represents the Confucian Teaching, and is also where Young Master Yong's office is located."

Qi Zhu's peripheral vision swept over this new supervisor rumored to be audacious and reckless. Her tone grew heavier by half, a warning:

"Normally, if Supervisor Li wishes to find Young Master Yong to report work, you must remember to make an appointment in advance. You absolutely must not set foot on the twelfth floor without authorization, or you will be punished by Group regulations."

Li Jun heard the warning in her words, awkwardly touching his nose. It seemed his persona as a reckless brute was holding up well.

"Floors one and two are the Business Department and General Office, handling the Group's business allocation and internal affairs."

"Floors three and four are the Intelligence Collection and Analysis Departments. Here you can query the power dynamics and black market transactions of the vast majority of regions in the entire Southwest."

Qi Zhu added: "These intelligence reports are divided into four grades—Tian, Di, Xuan, Huang—by importance, each requiring corresponding rank to access. With Supervisor Li's authority, you can view Xuan-grade intelligence."

Listening to Qi Zhu's introduction, Li Jun felt a surge of emotion. Finally, a reliable intelligence source.

In the past, Li Jun's intelligence sources were all underground black market informants. The intelligence sold by these people was not only exorbitantly priced, but its authenticity was impossible to discern.

The wrist guard equipment Gu Jia gave him could only connect to the Group's database, and in terms of timeliness for urgent intelligence, it still fell short.

Though his authority only allowed querying Xuan-grade, at least the information obtained was genuine, particularly regarding Sequences.

Once bitten by a snake, ten years fearing the well rope.

The matter of Wu Ji's genetic collapse left Li Jun with lingering trepidation.

Actually, Li Jun had another intelligence channel, one of the top in the entire Great Ming Empire: the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

But Li Jun had never considered obtaining information from them. Because the moment he opened his mouth, even just probing indirectly, the whole affair's causes and effects would be guessed eight or nine parts out of ten.

"Floors five through eight are respectively Warehousing, Valuation & Trading, Equipment R&D, and other departments. These are all business departments, having frequent dealings with the Security Department under Supervisor Li's jurisdiction, so you may pay them more heed."

"As for the ninth and eleventh floors, that is where the Security Department resides."

Li Jun froze for a moment, asking: "What about the tenth floor?"

"The Group's private prison."

Qi Zhu's cold voice carried a faint dread. She seemed unwilling to elaborate on the tenth floor, closing her mouth after a concise introduction.

Ding.

A crisp copper bell chimed inside the sedan-lift. The wooden plaque fixed under the pavilion eaves displayed the characters "Eleven".

This time Qi Zhu stepped forward first, leading Li Jun straight to the corner of the floor, quickly arriving before a door marked 'Private Use'.

Qi Zhu pushed open the door. Behind it lay a massive training ground.

A short, stout figure wearing the same black standard martial uniform stood in the center, looking at Li Jun with a smile.

"Care for a bout? Let's have a play."

Li Jun smiled silently, cracked his neck, and declared loudly: "Then let's play."