NOVPUB
Chapter 457: Chapter 453: A New Storm
How many people are there in the Outer City District of Wind and Rain City?
Eighty million!
A full eighty million!
The Holy Dynasty had absorbed exiles from all over the world.
If these exiles had identities, statuses, or skills, upon arriving in Wind and Rain City, they would spend a fortune to buy residences in the city immediately.
In the past, the Holy Dynasty even had to introduce a contribution value system because these exiles brought so much gold and silver that it devalued the currency...
Just like the shared construction area in Blue Star’s housing.
It indirectly doubled the prices in the Holy Dynasty, thus achieving the aim of harvesting more wealth from the exiles.
Under such circumstances, the house prices in the Inner City of Wind and Rain City had reached a level unattainable by ordinary people.
Considered prodigies of heaven and capable of dominating an entire county, the Qi Refining Realm and Gang Condensation Realm masters in the Qiantian World had to devise plans and run around just to buy a house in Wind and Rain City.
Even those Refining God Immortals, comparable to Great Demons and military generals, found it hard to truly enter the upper society.
At most, they would serve as guards for big families or middle management in major powers, earning salaries higher than those of Qi Refining Realm, Gang Condensation Realm, Hugging Pill Realm, and Demon God Warriors.
For this class, some things that should have been theirs had already been there when they fled to Wind and Rain City.
Those that shouldn’t have been theirs, no matter how hard they tried, were impossible to obtain.
If they insisted on living in luxurious mansions or refused to be ordinary, there was only one way —that was to stay in the Outer City District.
To stay in the Outer City District, which lacked city walls for protection, lacked the City Guard Army’s constant patrols, and was somewhat akin to a "urban-rural fringe area."
Ambitious individuals who refused to be ordinary.
Lower-end martial artists who couldn’t make it in the Inner City.
Exiles who came from outside but still had some capabilities.
Plus, the out-of-control individuals and Demonic Cultists lurking in the shadows and fanning the flames.
Under these circumstances, the order in the Outer City District was never stable.
If not for the fact that this was a world where a myriad of great powers were concentrated, any chaos would have been swiftly suppressed by the powerhouses of the Inner City like demolishing dry weeds, the Outer City District couldn’t even maintain the seemingly stable situation it had now.
...
At this moment, at the Law Enforcement Court in the Southeast Outer City District.
Gu Jinlai entered calmly with his hands behind his back.
As he arrived, the guards and staff of the Law Enforcement Court all came out to meet him.
Not long ago, Gu Jinlai had led law enforcement officers to raid various powers and seized a dozen forces, making everyone at the Law Enforcement Court recognize this powerful Martial King.
Despite the battle with Thunder Origin Sect, rumors had circulated that Gu Jinlai had offended major figures of the Martial Saint Institute and was likely to be removed from his position and questioned, but the subsequent capture of Lei Jie and the extensive promotion by the City Lord Mansion had once again elevated Gu Jinlai’s reputation to its zenith.
Now that he returned to the Law Enforcement Court, the entire place was abuzz as if they had found their backbone again.
Tang Zhengxiao, An Yu, and others immediately put down their work and rushed out.
"Dean, you’ve arrived."
"Dean... about the Thunder Origin Sect, and the Fang Family, and the Bai Family... has it all passed?"
The two had looks of anticipation and joy on their faces.
Gu Jinlai met their gazes and calmly nodded, "It has passed."
He stated plainly, "I’ve been reassigned as the chief of the Outer City District. Gather the elite of the Law Enforcement Court, and follow me to my new post. The enforcement in the Outer City District must be held in our hands, and currently, I only trust you."
"Zone Leader!?"
Upon hearing what Gu Jinlai said, Tang Zhengxiao and An Yu couldn’t help but widen their eyes.
Outer City District Chief!?
Skip from Deputy District Chief directly to Outer City District Chief!?
They had anticipated that as long as Gu Jinlai could survive the crackdown on the Fang Family and Bai Family, his battle strength, comparable to Peak Heavenly Beings, would surely earn him a promotion, but they had never expected such a huge elevation.
Moreover, it was the position that mattered.
Oversight of all matters in the Outer City District.
That was the authority over life and death of a population of eighty million in the Outer City District.
"Dean, you... what you said... is it true..."
Tang Zhengxiao felt his voice trembling and stuttered for a long while before he could finish his sentence.
But once he had spoken, he immediately slapped himself and quickly added, "Look at what I’m saying, of course, it’s true! With the Dean’s ability, ascending to Zone Leader is indeed a title well deserved!"
"All right, prepare yourselves. I’ll give you an hour," said Gu Jinlai calmly.
"Yes, yes, we’re on it. Dean, please have a seat inside," Tang Zhengxiao said, leading Gu Jinlai to the office and asking the clerks to bring tea and snacks.
Gu Jinlai did not trouble them further, visiting his own office to gather the documents he needed to take with him.
Less than an hour later, Tang Zhengxiao and An Yu were ready.
The twenty or so elites they had selected were not very high in cultivation, but they all possessed the strength of at least Qi Refiners and official Demon God Warriors.
Their abilities and integrity had been verified.
Upright and incorruptible.
In the aspect of investigating cases, even martial generals and Martial Sects could not compare to them.
Seeing them ready, Gu Jinlai didn’t waste any more time and led them out directly.
No sooner had they left the Law Enforcement Court than they saw Zhen Chuanzong, a Deputy District Chief who had been his peer, hurrying over with his group.
Accompanying him were two other District Chiefs, Primordial Spirit Monarch Qiu Mengsheng and Qu Yuan, who had already advanced to Martial King.
Upon meeting, Zhen Chuanzong greeted with a warm smile, "Warm welcomes to District Master Gu to inspect our Southeast Outer City... The mansion of the Southeast Outer City District Chief is always your home..."
"Of course, I am quite familiar with the situation in the Southeast Outer City District," Gu Jinlai stated indifferently.
Zhen Chuanzong’s face showed a hint of embarrassment, "Although District Master Gu has been in office here for a short time, the great achievements you’ve made have astonished us all..."
"No need to be astonished. I will hold a district chief meeting in three days, and I’ll report more there," Gu Jinlai replied, glancing at a not-so-distant place, "District Chief Fang Jianfei puts on quite the airs."
"This... District Chief Fang heard that someone had embezzled public funds and left the District Chief Mansion to investigate below, so he couldn’t make it in time to meet District Master Gu for inspection..." Zhen Chuanzong hurriedly explained.
"How come I wasn’t aware that District Chief Fang has become so diligent? If District Chief Fang feels that the position of district chief of the Southeast Outer City District isn’t enough to maximize his abilities, it wouldn’t hurt to try elsewhere," Gu Jinlai said, retracting his gaze, and quickly headed towards the Zone Master Mansion with Tang Zhengxiao and the others.
This scene immediately filled Zhen Chuanzong with anxiousness.
Meanwhile, Qu Yuan, who had just stepped into the Martial King stage, was flickering his eyes, evidently deep in thought.
...
The Zone Master Mansion was located in the North Outer City District.
This district was also the most bustling in the Outer City.
Heading north would lead into the Inner Circle’s Midnight City, and crossing Midnight City would take one to the core of the Holy Dynasty—the Imperial Capital.
Most wealthy caravans also came from the north, and as the gateway to Wind and Rain City, the North Outer City District naturally needed to maintain a good image.
The Zone Master Mansion and the District Chief Mansion of the North Outer City District were less than three miles apart, occupying an estate of about four to five square kilometers.
Outside this estate, there were also many departments of the Outer City District.
The branch of the Demon-slaying Hall, Martial Arts Academy, Security Institute, Law Enforcement Court, Commerce Bureau, etc.
This area of ten square kilometers was essentially the office area of the Outer City District.
Gu Jinlai, along with his personnel, directly sought out the former zone leader.
This Zone Leader was a disciple of City Lord Zhao Hua, named Yu Shengzhi, and was a Top Deva.
Facing Gu Jinlai, whose combat strength had been verified to indeed be comparable to that of Peak Heavenly Beings, Yu Shengzhi did not show the typical arrogance of a Heavenly Being, and helped him understand the workings of the Mansion.
Cultivators always strived for efficiency in their actions.
In just one day, Gu Jinlai had officially taken charge of the Zone Master Mansion.
Two days later, with Yu Shengzhi accompanying, the district chief meeting commenced.
In this meeting, Gu Jinlai formally assumed his role, exercising the rights of the zone leader.
At the same time, he also gained a rough understanding of the situations in other districts.
Of course, this understanding was merely derived from the written reports of the various district chiefs, the authenticity of which was unknown.
...
Several days passed.
At the office area.
Tang Zhengxiao and An Yu swiftly brought a stack of files to Gu Jinlai, "My lord, these are the major and important cases that we have filtered out from the archives of the Law Enforcement Court Headquarters."
They had also categorized these case files.
Beyond the crimes committed, these categorizations also included the backgrounds involved.
Gu Jinlai took these case files, examining each one.
The contents were indeed shocking.
After a while, he finally finished reading these files and placed them on the table.
"Stability," Gu Jinlai uttered, seemingly with a hint of sarcasm, "This so-called stability involves several tactics. First, silence those who have been wronged so they can’t voice out; second, incarcerate all the righteous seekers of truth under various charges; third, expel them from the country. Additionally, there’s a final method..."
His gaze fell on one of the documents.
Demon attacks, Out-of-Control attacks, demonic cultist attacks.
Numbers 182 to 190 on the 14th Street of the North Outer City District were attacked by demons, resulting in three hundred ninety-four casualties.
Numbers 405 to 432 on the 6th Street of the Northwest Outer City were attacked by demonic cultists, resulting in six hundred twenty-two casualties.
Northeast Outer City District 12th Street...
The document listed similar information.
Through the collection and organization of this information by Tang Zhengxiao, a brutally harsh reality was uncovered.
The steadfast reporters and accusers noted in these case files, more than thirty percent of them had died as a result of demon attacks, effectively silencing the accusers.
More than forty percent died at the hands of Out-of-Control and demonic cultists.
Thus, the descriptions of the Out-of-Control and demonic cultists in these files were tremendously villainous, filled to the brim with evil deeds. Gu Jinlai, had he not considered the identities of the victims, would have thought these Out-of-Control and demonic cultists deserved death.
"Truly..." Gu Jinlai began to speak,
but in the end...
he was left speechless.
He looked over these files, picking out five of them.
These three involved the Jin Family of the Demon-slaying Hall, the Cao Family of the City Guard Army, and the Zong Family, Hai Family, and Yue Family, all among the nine Martial Saints.
It wasn’t time yet.
Then he picked another four files.
The powers involved in these four files also had Martial Kings, even Heavenly Beings behind them.
But...
"I need detailed intelligence and evidence concerning these four powers involved in the cases," Gu Jinlai demanded.
